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With Release 3 of the CompactPCI Serial specification, PICMG doubles the bandwidth and speed of CompactPCI Serial applications. This benefits sectors such as aerospace, industry and automotive.

Wakefield, MA. March 11, 2025. PICMG – a leading consortium to develop innovative open standards in embedded computing – today announces the release of CompactPCI Serial^® Revision 3 (CPCI-S.0 R3.0). With the third revision of the standard, the organization is ensuring future viability and scalability for many years to come. CompactPCI Serial^® was originally developed as an extension of the open CompactPCI^® standard to meet the demand for robust, modular and powerful computer systems in industrial and embedded applications. The combination of high performance, modularity and robustness has made CompactPCI Serial^® a popular standard for industrial applications, automation, and much more – where robustness, interoperability and use in harsh environments with comprehensive connectivity are crucial.

CompactPCI supports serial data transfer rates via PCI Express, USB, and Ethernet, a robust design with AirMax connectors and full interchangeability with CompactPCI cards via 3U/6U slot card systems. Developers can look forward to the completely new opportunities offered by revision 3 compared to revision 2, which are among others:

• Full PCI Express (PCIe) support: While R2 supported PCI Express up to Gen3 with 8 GT/s, R3 extends support to PCI Express Gen4 with 16 GT/s, which means increasing speed by doubling the data rate.
• USB support: USB interface support has been increased from USB 3.0 (Gen1) with 5 Gb/s in R2 to USB 3.1 (Gen2) with 10 Gb/s in R3, doubling the bandwidth.
• Ethernet: R3 introduces support for 10GBASE-T and 10GBASE-KR Ethernet, enabling higher bandwidth network speeds.
• Connectors: In order to realize these higher data rates, new AirMax VSe^® high-speed connectors for CPU boards are used in R3 instead of AirMax VS^® in Release 2. These connectors are fully upwards and downwards compatible.

“I am very proud that with Revision 3 of the specification, we have managed to provide all embedded integrators with better CompactPCI Serial performance. Developers can look forward to better connectivity, higher performance and much better scalability,” said Jess Isquith, President of PICMG.

The CompactPCI specification defines a modular computer system, consisting of a backplane, a system slot, and up to 24 peripheral boards. The mechanical design is fully backward compatible to CompactPCI^® and will interoperate with existing systems. A system slot board can be used in a peripheral slot as well to do multiprocessing. The easiest way to communicate in this case is via Ethernet. Ethernet uses cable standards ‘xxBase-T’ instead of dedicated backplane standards. This lowers the cost, guarantees better interoperability and offers currently up to 10 Gb/s data throughput. Plus, implementation of the Ethernet connection of a system board can be done with a mezzanine board (3U or 6U). Due to this concept, more flexibility will be achieved, because the usage of Ethernet does not depend on the system board itself.

CompactPCI Serial can be combined with existing CompactPCI boards by using a CompactPCI PlusIO system slot card. These hybrid systems offer an ideal migration path from parallel to serial connections. CompactPCI Serial for Space specifically addresses the extreme environment requirements for outer space. Developers who want to build applications for harsh environments in industry, aviation or more can now download the new specification from the PICMG website and start designing immediately. PICMG member companies are also already working on their first products based on the new specification. The release of revision 4 is even in preparation.

PICMG at embedded world:

Hall 5, booth 320A

Additional material can be found here: https://www.picmg.org/openstandards/compactpci-serial/

Revision 3 of CompactPCI Serial can be downloaded here:

https://www.picmg.org/product/compactpciserial-specification-r3/

About PICMG

Founded in 1994, PICMG (PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group) is a nonprofit consortium of companies and organizations that collaboratively develop open standards for high performance telecommunications, military, industrial, and general purpose embedded computing applications. Its original mission was to extend the PCI standard to non-desktop applications. There are over 140 member companies that specialize in a wide range of technical disciplines, including mechanical and thermal design, single board computer design, very high speed signaling design and analysis, networking expertise, backplane and packaging design, power management, High Availability software, and comprehensive system management. Equipment built to PICMG standards is used worldwide and anyone can build or use equipment without restriction (although certain technologies used for some military applications may be subject to U.S. export restrictions governed by ITAR rules). Key standards families developed by PICMG include CompactPCI®, AdvancedTCA®, MicroTCA®, AdvancedMC®, CompactPCI® Serial, COM Express®, SHB Express®, MicroSAM, COM-HPC. and HPM (Hardware Platform Management).

Tria Technologies, an Avnet company specializing in embedded compute boards, is launching five new product families powered by Qualcomm Dragonwing and Snapdragon platforms at its Embedded World debut. Tria is a leading module vendor with the largest SMARC portfolio in the market, and this announcement strengthens their technology portfolio with new embedded modules.

“We are very excited about our relationship with Qualcomm Technologies and showcasing our new modules, which are applicable to a wide range of low- to high-end applications,” said Daniel Denzler, Senior Director, Business Line Management for Boards and Systems, Tria Technologies. “This new module family based on Dragonwing platforms enables us to address virtually any requirement, conserving power, upgrading performance and delivering AI capabilities for use in challenging environments, across a range of module standards.”

“Dragonwing processors are designed to provide high-performance, low-power edge computing and on-device AI, enabling industries to achieve new heights of innovation and efficiency,” said Douglas Benitez, Senior Director, Business Development for Qualcomm Europe, Inc. “We are excited to see how Tria’s new embedded modules will empower industrial customers to push the boundaries of what is possible with AI.”

The technologies offer powerful computing, power efficiency, making them ideal for the new generation of IoT devices. The enhanced AI performance opens new markets for AI deployment at the edge.

The Tria products demonstrated in the Qualcomm Technologies area of Tria’s stand at Embedded World 2025 will include:

· Tria IQ-9075 Vision AI-KIT powered by the Dragonwing IQ-9075 Processor

· Tria SMARC QCS6490 powered by the Dragonwing QCS6490 Processor

· Tria SMARC QCS5430 powered by the Dragonwing QCS5430 Processor

· Tria IQ-615 (OSM and SMARC) powered by the Dragonwing IQ-615 Processor

· Snapdragon X Elite (Com Express and Com HPC) powered by the Snapdragon X Elite Platform

One of several advantages of Tria’s new modules is that they are designed and manufactured in Germany.

Ongoing demonstrations of the new modules and more can be found on an area of Tria’s booth (Hall 3A Booth 225) dedicated to Qualcomm Technologies during Embedded World from 11–13 March 2025 in Nuremberg, Germany.

• Meet ExxonMobil, Schneider Electric, Phoenix Contact, Intel, Samtec and others at embedded world North America on October 8^th to learn how to participate.
• InterEdge Technical Working Group (TWG) to define the specification’s compute module bus, multi-channel I/O modules, and other system architecture elements.
• InterEdge reference architecture will accelerate the development of open and interoperable ecosystem and creation of conformant hardware in 2024.

October 8, 2024 — WAKEFIELD, MA. PICMG, a leading consortium for developing open embedded computing specifications, has announced formation of the InterEdge 1.1 Technical Working Group (TWG). Industry professionals looking to shape future technologies throughout the process industries, including refining, chemical, oil gas, pharmaceuticals, metals and mining, pulp and paper, as well as food and beverage, are encouraged to join the standardization effort by contacting [email protected] or visiting members of the TWG at embedded world North America, October 8-10^th in Austin, TX.

InterEdge is intended for broad process industry use as an alternative to industrial PCs (IPC), programmable logic controllers (PLC), distributed control systems (DCS) and their associated I/O modules. With its modular architecture, InterEdge can consolidate the functions of all of these systems into a single platform.

InterEdge is an open electromechanical and software interface specification designed to support the interchangeability of industrial-grade compute modules, input/output (I/O) modules, and network switches for industrial automation and process control industries. Version 1.1 of the InterEdge standardization effort seeks to build on the mechanical and interface definitions completed previously by defining standard compute modules, multi-channel I/O modules, an InterEdge reference architecture, and more.

”The InterEdge 1.1 TWG is running full speed ahead bringing the benefits of interchangeability to the automation industry,” said Matthew Burns, InterEdge 1.1 Technical Working Group chair. “The collaboration and innovation of industry leaders within the InterEdge community will drive adoption in future system builds for generations to come.”

The primary work performed by the InterEdge 1.1 TWG will include completing definitions of a compute module expansion bus, multi-channel I/O, additional I/O, thermal design, anti-tamper, out-of-band management, additional diagnostics and termination assemblies.

The working group will also define an InterEdge reference architecture that connects multiple compute and I/O modules over an internal Ethernet I/O bus. In compliance with the Open Process Automation Forum’s (OPAF’s) Open Process Automation Standard (OPAS), the reference architecture will support an IEC 61499 runtime on top of a Linux OS. IEEE 802.3 and 10Base-T1S MAC/PHYs are included to support external networking over industrial Ethernet, MQTT, DDS and other protocols.

Reference compute modules are being supplied by ASRock Industrial while the PCB and connectors are being developed by Samtec. I/O module vendors are currently being identified.

“The InterEdge specification enables interoperability and interchangeability to the process automation markets, which previously required companies to choose between proprietary solutions. The work of OPAF to address the broader needs of truly rugged edge applications will allow these markets to deploy greater IoT capabilities, including preventative maintenance, greater reporting and better process efficiencies. PICMG strives to accelerate the adoption of open standards and develop specifications as a consortium or in conjunction with like organizations,” said Jessica Isquith, president, PICMG.

Members of the InterEdge 1.1 TWG will attend the Embedded World North America conference and exhibition in Austin, TX from October 8-10. Companies and organizations interested in learning more about the new PICMG specification, the OPAS standard of which it is a part, or the ways open automation technology is enabling next-generation initiatives like software-defined manufacturing (SDM) can visit the following landing pages:

• picmg.org/openstandards/interedge
• picmg.org/product/interedge

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 over 130 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 InterEdge, COM-HPC, COM Express, CompactPCI, AdvancedTCA, MicroTCA, AdvancedMC, CompactPCI Serial, SHB Express, MicroSAM, HPM (Hardware Platform Management), and ModBlox7.

For more information, visit www.picmg.org.