PICMG IoT.1 interoperable data modeling capabilities have been included in the latest release of the DMTF Redfish specification.
Ongoing work will extend the Redfish job model to support factory orchestration and management via cloud-based platforms like AWS.
A reference Redfish server based on PICMG IoT.x is being developed on GitHub to demonstrate the potential of plug-and-play Industry 4.0 use cases.
WAKEFIELD, MA. PICMG, the consortium driving open standards for modular, scalable computing, and DMTF, have announced that an IP submission containing the PICMG IoT.x firmware specification was accepted and included in the most recent Work in Progress phase of the Redfish® standard. The extensions to Redfish will streamline the creation of plug-and-play Industry 4.0 systems by connecting interoperable data models on IoT.x-enabled endpoints to software-defined converged infrastructure via the Redfish API.
Redfish is an IT industry standard commonly used for data collection and device management in equipment such as data center fans and coolant pumps. Since 2018, PICMG and DMTF have worked collaboratively to extend the capabilities of Redfish to automation and factory equipment, enabling remote management and control of robotic motion platforms, contextualized sensing systems, and other advanced control endpoints.
The result of those efforts is PICMG IoT.1 and IoT.2, which add extensions to DMTF’s Redfish standard, now included in the latest publication.
“DMTF specifies protocols, data formats, and models for interoperable management on control plane infrastructure including edge systems,” said Jeff Hilland, DMTF president. “Since a lot of what we do is applicable to edge hardware, it makes sense to work with PICMG as part of our alliance partner program.”
Extending Data and Control Capabilities
The PICMG IoT.1 firmware specification defines a standard data model for sensor makers and systems integrators, while PICMG IoT.2 addresses the data model and network architecture requirements for the integration of larger sensor/effector networks.
Together, the two specifications accelerate the development and deployment of smart sensors in Industry 4.0 applications. Redfish extensions integrate these capabilities in a larger system of systems context while remaining fully compatible with the PICMG IoT.x specifications.
PICMG is also working on extending the Redfish job model to support cloud-based scheduling and orchestration of factory equipment. This will allow industrial operators to leverage powerful cloud platforms like AWS to manage jobs all the way to control endpoints on a factory floor.
“Imagine a modular factory where every component is interconnected and fully plug-and-play not just at the sensor and effector level, but across the entire assembly line,” said Doug Sandy, CTO of PICMG. “A factory where every piece of equipment has its own associated Redfish service, workloads, and processing could happen wherever they need to, while operators could manage and monitor everything through a top-down hierarchy of building, floor, and line controllers.”
“That’s what PICMG and DMTF ultimately want to support. And with our current work on Redfish, we’ve taken a big step in the right direction,” he added.
Building the Factory of the Future
PICMG’s IP submission recently entered DMTF’s Work in Progress phase and is slated for a projected full release in 2025. During the Work in Progress phase, the development community will have the opportunity to review and comment on the new content of the specification so changes can be incorporated prior to the next Redfish release.
PICMG and DMTF also currently have a team working on an example implementation of the interoperable data environment, expressed in the form of an open-source server. Accessible on the PICMG GitHub repository, new functionality is being added to the server each month with the goal of it becoming fully functional in time for the next Redfish specification release.
DMTF, an industry standards organization, creates open manageability specifications spanning diverse emerging and traditional IT infrastructures including cloud, virtualization, network, servers, and storage. Member companies and alliance partners worldwide collaborate on standards including Redfish, SPDM, SMBIOS, MCTP, PLDM, and more to improve the interoperable management of information technologies. Nationally and internationally recognized by ANSI and ISO, DMTF standards enable a more integrated and cost-effective approach to management through interoperable solutions. Simultaneous development of Open Source and Open Standards is made possible by DMTF, which has the support, tools, and infrastructure for efficient development and collaboration. For a complete list of our standards and initiatives, visit the Standards and Technologies section of the DMTF website.
DMTF is led by a diverse board of directors from Broadcom Inc.; Cisco; Dell Technologies; Hewlett Packard Enterprise; Intel Corporation; Lenovo; Positivo Tecnologia S.A.; and Verizon.
About PICMG
Founded in 1994, PICMG is a not-for-profit 501(c) consortium of companies and organizations that collaboratively develop open standards for high-performance industrial, Industrial IoT, military & aerospace, telecommunications, test & measurement, medical, and general-purpose embedded computing applications. There are more than 150 member companies that specialize in a wide range of technical disciplines, including mechanical and thermal design, single board computer design, high-speed signaling design and analysis, networking expertise, backplane, and packaging design, power management, high availability software and comprehensive system management.
Key standards families developed by PICMG include COM-HPC, COM Express, CompactPCI, AdvancedTCA, MicroTCA, AdvancedMC, CompactPCI Serial, InterEdge, ModBlox7, SHB Express, IoT.x, and HPM (Hardware Platform Management).
This year PICMG celebrates thirty years of developing open computing specifications. And despite three decades of open hardware specs that are used by thousands of companies and countless engineers worldwide, the organization is still largely an unknown—even in our own industry.
But from behind the scenes, PICMG is responsible for billions of dollars of business. It has reduced time to market in virtually every electronics-driven industry. It has empowered companies to innovate by adopting off-the-shelf technologies, giving them space to focus on their core competencies. It has built markets based on coopetition, where companies collaboratively develop open, interoperable specifications then go toe-to-toe once they are ratified.
Even less recognized are the individuals who donate hundreds if not thousands of hours to the creation of PICMG specifications. These engineers are rarely acknowledged for their contributions. They are truly unsung heroes, and PICMG specifications wouldn’t exist without them.
One of these unsung heroes is Stefan Milnor, who recently retired from his role as VP of Engineering at Kontron. In parallel, he stepped down as the long-time editor of COM Express and COM-HPC specifications.
Stefan has been involved in PICMG since the beginnings of COM Express, which is undeniably the most successful computer-on-module in a billion-dollar COMs market. As editor, Stefan incorporated input from numerous technical subcommittees over the years and implemented it into specifications that have been adopted by thousands of organizations building embedded systems. It’s a difficult job that requires a rare mix of technical acumen and attention to detail, and his skill and efficiency will be missed by us all—including some who never knew he was the hand behind their downloaded spec.
Stefan has always been a very private individual. In fact, by the time we could reach out to him for comment he had already left. In some ways, it’s a fitting conclusion for someone who performed yeoman’s work for decades without reward. And although he probably isn’t reading this, his contributions to PICMG and the embedded computing industry deserve to be acknowledged.
Thank you, Stefan, for helping make PICMG what it is today: 30 years strong and counting.
— Jessica Isquith, President, PICMG
Admin Note: Contact Doug Sandy, PICMG CTO, at doug@picmg.org to learn how you can get involved in PICMG’s technical working groups. Contact me, jess@picmg.org if you are interested in joining PICMG or have any questions about our organization.
The PICMG roundtable featured lively discussions on the various PICMG standards. (Pictures: WEKA Fachmedien)
For 30 years, PICMG has been shaping the embedded computing industry with standards. However, the organization is by no means resting on its laurels. Quite the opposite: with ModBlox7, some member companies have developed the first global standard for industrial box PCs.
Under the umbrella of the PCI Computer Manufacturers Group (PICMG), several manufacturers have been working on a new standard for modular industrial PCs: ModBlox7. It is intended to combine the advantages of scalable systems such as CompactPCI with cost-saving box PCs. As a flexible box PC system, ModBlox7 is based on units that are defined in terms of height and depth and can be extended in width as required. At the Markt&Technik roundtable, experts explained why a modular standard is needed in view of the large installed base and the long history of use of box PCs.
Matthias Beer, Managing Director at Ci4Rail, played a key role in the implementation of the new standard alongside Bernd Kleeberg, Managing Director at EKF Elektronik. When asked about the background to the idea of ModBlox7, Beer cites the increasing demand for small, space-saving, and lightweight industrial box PCs. The challenge for developers is interoperability between different PCs and a lack of flexibility.
“Developers have to work with devices they get in shops, regardless of how they are configured. We want to combine the advantages of modular systems with those of a box PC,” explains Beer. Standardizing box PC technology is a completely new idea; often, only the technology used in the box PC is standardized, for example, COM Express modules. For this reason, it was easy to start something new, says Beer.
“We want to combine the advantages of modular systems with those of a box PC.” – Mathias Beer, CEO, Ci4Rail
Thomas Kaminski, Director Product Sales and Marketing Management at Advantech, draws a comparison with the so-called Intel NUC standard. It is the only example where a company has attempted to develop a standard for industrial computers that addresses several vertical markets. “Other companies are more focused on a specific market with a standard product family,” continues Kaminski.
Interoperability as a Major Advantage
The wide range of industrial computers available on the market raises the question of what the advantages of ModBLox7 are compared to off-the-shelf box PCs. Matthias Beer says: “What all standards achieve is to provide interoperability for the user, as well as for suppliers who manufacture products according to the new standard. This means that developers can put together a system from several suppliers. Conversely, manufacturers of ModBlox7 components can exchange and interact with each other—not everyone has to design every component themselves,” explains Beer.
Advantech is one of the largest manufacturers of industrial computer technologies such as box PCs or computer modules. The company manufactures proprietary or custom industrial PCs, but so far not in the new ModBlox7 form factor. Thomas Kaminski explains the reasons for this: “Firstly, we serve completely different markets with different requirements, and we also want to be flexible when it comes to system configuration. We also have to meet the demands of the market, for example in terms of certifications or thermal management. This often leads to a certain size, a certain housing, and a certain shape of PC. I very much doubt that all of this can be accommodated in a single standard for the various markets. However, we are keeping a very close eye on standardization,” says Kaminski.
For Matthias Beer, it was never the intention to force every application into a specific performance class or internal standard, as this was simply not possible. “It was never the intention to revolutionize the market for box PCs,” explains Beer. “Rather, we want to appeal to users of control or diagnostic systems, especially for the rail sector, which is where Ci4Rail comes from,” reports Beer.
Ci4Rail is one of the first PICMG member companies to develop and manufacture devices according to ModBlox7.
Increase Availability with ModBlox7
Another point that is currently the subject of heated debate in the field of industrial computers is processor technology. This is because they are becoming ever more powerful and energy-efficient, which is leading to new innovations on the market. “With ModBlox7, we are addressing low-end to high-end Arm as well as x86 processors up to 20-25 W. However, the standard does not provide for clusters in which two or three CPUs can be stacked. ModBlox7 is more about redundancy, for example in terms of availability,” says Beer.
Timo Korhonen, Chief Engineer Control Systems Division at European Spallation Source ERIC, shares his experience from scientific applications: “There is always a gap between systems with high and low performance requirements,” says Korhonen. You end up with lots of different box PCs or programmable logic controllers (PLCs) in the lab that don’t fit together, he explains. Matthias Beer likes the description: “ModBlox7 fits perfectly if someone wants to do general-purpose computing and have a normal operating system”.
Final Steps of the Specification Process
Bernd Kleeberg explains which points of the specification are currently being worked on and which points still need to be discussed. “With regard to ModBlox7, we have reached the end of the specification process. The technical work is complete. We just need to take the final administrative steps and expect to be ready in the first quarter of 2024. We would like to present the finished specification to the community at embedded world 2024.”
“We would like to present the finished ModBlox7 specification to the community at embedded world 2024.” — Bernd Kleeberg, CEO and Head of Sales, EKF Elektronik GmbH
When asked about the service life of ModBlox7, Matthias Beer says it depends very much on the market. “We are active in the rail business, where a service life of at least 15 years is required. We have to be able to supply and change our product for ten years or more,” adds Beer, unlike in the automation sector, for example, where innovation cycles are shorter. The standard helps here because it offers the possibility of iterating individual parts.
There is also the question of how to achieve higher performance from ModBlox7 PCs and whether documents need to be expanded or provided for this. Matthias Beer says: “What the standard covers are additional cooling options. We are currently talking about including graphics processing units (GPUs) up to a certain level—not the 90 or 200 W versions, but up to about 30 watts, which are suitable for smaller computer vision applications or similar. We want to cover edge AI applications with this,” explains Beer.
AI Applications and ModBlox7: Do They Go Together?
Edge AI is a good keyword, as more and more AI applications are entering the market for embedded computing technology. And the question arises as to whether the opportunities on the AI market are not being taken away by standardization, as the necessary flexibility could be lost in the process. Brandon Lewis, Marketing Officer at PICMG, says: “When we talk about AI, everyone immediately thinks of GPUs, and the first thing that comes to mind is Nvidia. Of course there are other GPUs, and the question is whether GPUs can thermally fit into a small form factor standard like this,” says Lewis. Matthias Beer notes that applications are increasingly networked and that the connection between the cloud and edge devices is much more stable. This makes it very easy for developers to distribute AI applications between the two, explains Beer.
“When we talk about AI, everyone immediately thinks of GPUs, and the first thing that comes to mind is Nvidia.” — Brandon Lewis, Marketing Officer, PICMG
Thomas Kaminski sees the opportunities in AI as one of Advantech’s biggest goals for the next few years. First and foremost, this is about capturing information and processing it at the edge. The next generations of Intel processors are very well suited for this. They have a Neural Processing Unit (NPU), scaling of the core components for more computing power, and AI efficiency. This opens many doors for edge computing. And Intel is also starting to launch its GPU cards. “We have specialized in AI at the edge with the latest generation of Intel and AMD technology,” explains Kaminski.
“We specialize in AI at the edge, using the latest generation of Intel and AMD technology.” — Thomas Kaminski, Director of Product Sales Management, Marketing, and Technical Support at Advantech
MicroTCA Receives Update
In addition to ModBlox7, there are other PICMG standards that are along the same lines, including CompactPCI Serial and MicroTCA. MicroTCA emerged in 2006 from its predecessor AdvancedTCA and was mainly developed for the telecommunications industry for systems with high power density. In 2024, the question is to what extent the standard will play a role at all.
Timo Korhonen can speak from the perspective of scientific applications. Here, MicroTCA is used in areas that primarily process high-frequency (HF) signals, measure electromagnetic fields, or similar. He also sees a growing area of application in image processing. Jess Isquith, President of PICMG, says: “The scientific community has adopted the specification worldwide and new applications are constantly being added. A new version of the specification was even published in 2023. There is a high level of acceptance of the standard, particularly in Asia and Europe,” says Isquith. Bernd Kleeberg disagrees: “We don’t use the standard. One of the main reasons for this is that the administrative effort and associated costs are too high. That’s why we prefer other standards in industrial applications.”
As MicroTCA was originally developed for telecommunications applications, the question currently arises as to whether it is necessary to revise the standard with regard to 5G and 6G. Jess Isquith says: “There is a problem with the connectors, because each connector can only transmit a certain amount of data. So we have to change the specification in terms of the connectors. This is a new specification because the backwards compatibility is no longer given. So we are creating a new set of specifications,” summarizes Isquith.
There has also been a MicroTCA Technology Lab for several years, which is funded by the German government. “The employees are very committed and develop frameworks, standard products, and reference designs,” Isquith adds.
Timo Korhonen adds: “I have been working on this project committee for ten years. We rely on a lot of input from outside, from industry, and from our partner laboratories across Europe. The dilemma here is that, on the one hand, you want to be at the cutting edge of technology, but on the other hand you have to be able to maintain the system because you can’t replace everything when something new comes along. So the longevity of the standard is very, very important,” says Korhonen.
“The long service life of the MicroTCA standard is very, very important.” — Timo Korhonen, Chief Engineer in the Control Systems Division at European Spallation Source ERIC
CompactPCI Serial as a Perennial Favorite
Another PICMG standard also aimed at modular systems is CompactPCI Serial, which was ratified in 2011. In contrast to classic CompactPCI, CompactPCI Serial no longer uses the parallel Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, but instead relies on modern high-speed serial interfaces.
The specification is soon to be extended to 4th generation PCI Express, explains Bernd Kleeberg, one of the initiators of the standard. Kleeberg adds: “The new specification is almost ready and we will publish it in the near future. Among other things, it includes an extension of the backplane connections to 25 or 40 Gigabit Ethernet and the USB ports to up to 10 Gigabit Ethernet. The connection for the CPU card will be changed, but the form factor will remain Horizontal Pitch (HP), so developers can use peripheral cards as before,” explains Kleeberg. In addition, work is already underway on the next version of the specification, which will support up to PCIe Gen 5. However, the form factor will have to be adapted somewhat due to the connector size, says Kleeberg.
“CompactPCI Serial is an interoperable modular standard that fulfills all the objectives of PICMG,” explains Jess Isquith proudly. However, the standard is not as widespread as expected. With the new version of the specification, PICMG has the opportunity to conquer the market anew. The standard is alive and only needs to be technically revised.
“CompactPCI Serial is an interoperable, modular standard that fulfills all the objectives of the PICMG.” — Jessica Isquith, President, PICMG
There is also a new organization, the “Open Group”, which is working on new applications for CompactPCI Serial. “120 companies and organizations have come together to develop a forum for open process automation and to consider how we can introduce standards in this industry. New members such as Exxon Mobil, Schneider Electric, and a handful of others who have never been involved with PICMG are leading by example. We are seeing more and more potential applications for CompactPCI Serial. Other members are also getting involved and contributing their expertise to the new group. This is a very interesting new experience for all PIGMG member companies,” Jess Isquith concludes the discussions.
