More than 45 PICMG members will be exhibiting at Embedded World 2024. For the first time at the world’s largest trade fair dedicated to embedded technology, PICMG is the subject of two technical conference tracks. We’ll be hosting a 30th Anniversary Reception on Wednesday, April 10th, that’s open to all PICMG members as well as the press; we expect more than 150 attendees.

There is a lot of excitement around PICMG at Embedded World 2024, but those activities don’t even mention all the PICMG-related news released ahead of and during the show. From exciting industry partnerships to new branding, here are some of highlights from the PICMG news releases you’ll see around Embedded World 2024.

• PICMG Celebrates Its 30th Anniversary—To celebrate this milestone, PICMG is rolling out all new branding, with new logos for all related specifications, in Hall 5, booth 5-342 at this year’s Embedded World in Nuremberg.
• PICMG, OPAF Partnership to Advance Open Process Control Technology—The partnership fills a gap in edge controller hardware that exists in the O-PAS™ Standard—an open architectural framework for developing industrial process automation systems, currently being defined by OPAF initiatives.
• PICMG ModBlox7 Specification To Be Showcased at 2024 Embedded World—In support of the ModBlox7 ratification, one of PICMG’s newest specifications, multiple members are collectively showcasing their newest products based on the spec at the 2024 Embedded World exhibition.
• PICMG Announces Release of InterEdge Standard for Open, Modular Process Control Systems—The IEC 61499 and IEC 61131-compatible InterEdge specification promises to revolutionize the industry with an interoperable, multi-vendor alternative to proprietary Industrial PCs (IPCs), Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), and Distributed Control Systems (DCSs).
• PICMG Bolsters New COM-HPC “Mini” Form Factor with Release of Carrier Design Guide Revision 2.2—This comprehensive document contains interface schematics, diagrams, design rules and requirements, and more for PCB layout engineers and hardware developers looking to create application-specific carrier boards that pair with COM-HPC modules.
• TO COME! An Announcement from PICMG and the DMTF!

The Show(s) Must Go On

We’re only through the first quarter of 2024 and we’ve seen two new specification families introduced, multiple new specifications released, a call for participation on a new version of a familiar technology (AdvancedTCA), strengthened partnerships with multiple standards organizations, and more.

Later this month PICMG will be sponsoring the IEEE Real-Time Conference (RTC) in Vietnam, which serves as rallying point for a critical emerging deep tech economy (https://indico.cern.ch/event/940112/program). We will act as an umbrella for multiple members who develop and deliver products into this sector, and also participate in a Women in Engineering (WiE) event (https://indico.cern.ch/event/940112/page/33210-women-in-engineering-wie-event).

Later this year we will visit Embedded World North America in Austin, the MicroTCA Summit in Hamburg, and many more in-person and virtual events in between. Right now is one of the more exciting times in PICMG’s 30-year history, and I feel fortunate to be part of it.

(Editor’s note: If you’d like to attend the 30th Anniversary Reception and have yet to receive an invite or RSVP, contact [email protected], [email protected], or [email protected] to get on the list or schedule a meeting).

Highlights:

• Carrier Design Guide helps hardware engineers design application-specific carrier boards for COM-HPC-based systems.
• Revision 2.2 of the Carrier Design Guide introduces new diagrams, figures, and design notes for COM-HPC Mini.
• Document contains technical materials such as interface schematics and practical guidance on design rules.

WAKEFIELD, MA. PICMG, a consortium for open hardware specifications, has released revision 2.2 of the COM-HPC Carrier Design Guide. This comprehensive document contains interface schematics, diagrams, design rules and requirements, and more for PCB layout engineers and hardware developers looking to create application-specific carrier boards that pair with COM-HPC modules.

Revision 2.2 of the Design Guide includes updates to address the new COM-HPC 2.1 specification, nicknamed COM-HPC Mini, which is the 95 mm x 60 mm platform that uses one less connector compared to its fellow COM-HPC form factors, but still delivers 400 pins for carrying high-speed signals from the processor module to carrier boards.

“Designing a carrier board can be a complex and time-consuming process, but the COM-HPC Design Guide helps streamline that process” says Peter Hunold, head of hardware engineering at Kontron Europe GmbH and editor of the COM-HPC working group. “It serves as an excellent complement to the COM-HPC base specification, as well as, for revisions like COM-HPC 2.1 that introduced the new “Mini” form factor and vendor documentation.”

What’s New in COM-HPC Carrier Design Guide Revision 2.2

Revision 2.2 of the Carrier Board Design Guide primarily focuses on the COM-HPC Mini, a small form factor expansion of the COM-HPC standard first announced in 2022. This new guide clarifies the differences between COM-HPC Client and COM-HPC Mini carrier board requirements, with examples that illustrate modifications necessary to move from Client- to Mini-compatible designs.

The Design Guide 2.2 release also introduces information on the Intel JHL9040R USB4 Retimer, which replaces the JHL8040R in Rev 2.1. In addition to updated references, the document includes Intel JHL9040R block diagrams for both COM-HPC Client and COM-HPC Mini designs.

“Designing hardware to support new and emerging workloads is becoming progressively more challenging. Open standards such as COM-HPC help businesses overcome those challenges,” says Christian Eder, director of market intelligence at congatec. “They considerably reduce time-to-market for even the most sophisticated applications, especially with documentation to streamline the design process.”

Learn More

The COM-HPC Carrier Design Guide revision 2.2 can be downloaded free of charge from PICMG’s website. For more information on the Design Guide, the COM-HPC standard, and other related specifications, visit:

• COM-HPC Design Guide Revision 2.2: https://www.picmg.org/wp-content/uploads/PICMG_COMHPC_CDG_R2_2.pdf
• COM-HPC Specification Documents: https://www.picmg.org/shop/
• COM-HPC Overview: https://www.picmg.org/openstandards/com-hpc/
• PICMG Design Guides: https://www.picmg.org/resources/design-guides/

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, process control and automation, 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, CompactPCI Serial, MicroTCA, AdvancedMC, AdvancedTCA, InterEdge, ModBlox7, HPM (Hardware Platform Management), MicroSAM, and SHB Express. For more information, visit https://www.picmg.org.

• 30th anniversary highlighted by two new specification families and industry partnerships
• New PICMG branding on display at embedded world Hall 5, Booth 342
• Reception for PICMG members to be held on Wednesday, April 10th at Nuremberg Messe

April 8th, Nuremberg, Germany. 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 the ratification of two completely new standards just this year, the consortium and its members are looking forward to the next 30 years. To celebrate this milestone, PICMG is rolling out all new branding, with new logos for all related specifications, in Hall 5, booth 5-342 at this year’s embedded world in Nuremberg.

Founded in 1994, PICMG is a nonprofit consortium of companies and organizations that collaboratively develop open standards for high performance embedded computing applications used by the telecommunications, military, and industrial market sectors.

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. Over 40 members will be showcasing their products based on PICMG specifications at the 2024 Embedded World.

Some of the standards families developed under PICMG include COM-HPC, COM Express®, MicroTCA®, CompactPCI® Serial, AdvancedMC®, CompactPCI®, AdvancedTCA®, as well as the newly ratified ModBlox7 and InterEdge.

In its 30 years of operation, PICMG has published over 60 specifications developed by participants from hundreds of companies. Work across a wide range of markets, applications, and technologies continues as the boundaries of datacom, telecom, mil/aero, industrial, man machine interface applications, and deeply embedded computing blur.

Thousands of products ranging from components, subsystems, and complete application ready systems are commercially available and represent over $5B USD in yearly global revenue.

To Learn More:
Visit the “Value of Open Standards Page” here. Discover more about the open standards environment and learn how your company can participate and profit from belonging to PICMG here. Or, attend the 2024 Embedded World Exhibition & Conference to meet with PICMG representatives in person.

• PICMG website: www.picmg.org
• Embedded World 2024 website: www.embedded-world.de

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, MicroSAM, and HPM (Hardware Platform Management). For more information, visit https://www.picmg.org.