COM Express【Express-CF/CFE】

PICMG (PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group) is in the final stages of developing the latest COM-HPC computer-on-module specification to meet the needs of the highly advanced industrial edge computing market. The COM-HPC specification is intended not to replace COM Express but to expand upon its success, with a release planned by the second quarter of 2020. Edge computing is a rapidly growing field that demands unprecedented levels of performance. The system memory requirements for current and future high-end embedded multicore processors are increasing very sharply. As memory requirements approach 128 GB or 256 GB, current common form factors like COM Express can no longer provide a cost-effective solution. This is why COM HPC is needed. Five sizes have been defined that can be used as server modules capable of accommodating up to eight DIMM sockets onboard.

It was announced that the latest Express-CF, featuring the 8th generation Intel Core i5/i7 and Xeon processors (formerly code-named: Coffee Lake), has added the quad-core Intel Core i3-8100H processor to the COM Express-CF Basic Size Type 6 module. Previous generations of Intel Core i3 processors only supported dual-core with 3MB cache, but the Intel Core i3-8100H supports four CPU cores with 6MB cache in the same class. This major upgrade results in over 80% performance improvement in MIPS (million instructions per second), nearly doubling memory/caching bandwidth, and enabling cost reductions compared to previous generations.

A new COM Express Type 6 module has been announced, further enhancing ADLINK's product line to meet the requirements of applications that demand the highest performance. ADLINK's Express-CF module features Intel Xeon and 8th generation Intel Core processors (formerly codenamed Coffee Lake H) with support for up to 6 cores (hexa) and 48GB of memory capacity, providing uncompromising system performance and responsiveness, making it ideal for demanding applications such as image processing and analysis, high-speed encoding and streaming of 4K video, medical ultrasound, and traffic situation prediction.