Emerson, Freescale and Kontron advance I/O connectivity for COM Express form factors

AdvancedTCA Summit, SAN JOSE, USA: Emerson Network Power, Freescale and Kontron have collaborated to expand I/O connectivity options for the COM Express specification, paving the way for broader and more rapid deployment of advanced processing technologies such as Freescale’s QorIQ AMP products into the popular form factor.

The PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group (PICMG) standard for COM Express is best suited to a limited range of processor architectures. Today, collaboration between Emerson Network Power, Freescale and Kontron has expanded I/O connectivity options by establishing a new pin out definition for modules that are compatible with COM Express mechanical requirements.

The new pin out definition allows a range of implementations to take advantage of Freescale’s QorIQ AMP and P Series products, including the T4240 processor. The T4240 device integrates a host of hardware accelerators, with 12 dual-threaded, 64-bit Power Architecture cores, providing 24 threads to address high-end data plane processing applications.

Dual-threaded efficiency, improved DMIPs per thread and higher frequency deliver 4x performance gain and more than 2x power efficiency gain over Freescale’s previous-generation QorIQ P4080 device. Advanced capabilities allow for intelligent sharing and duplication of resources between threads and a larger amount of on-die cache per core.

“The collaboration of Freescale, Emerson Network Power and Kontron has proven to be extremely beneficial in developing this pin out for the popular COM Express standard,” said Brett Butler, VP and GM, Freescale’s Networking Processor Division. “We recognized that customers wanted alternative architectures on this form factor, and the collaboration was able to bring this to market quickly.”

“While we are pleased with the initial definition and acceptance of a pin out for COM Express that we defined with Freescale, we recognize that the newer generation of processors from Freescale provides an opportunity to create more functionality, flexibility and quicker time to market,” said Shlomo Pri-Tal, CTO of Emerson Network Power’s Embedded Computing business. “Working with Kontron and Freescale made this new definition come together quickly.”

“We have a proven track record in setting standards in the Computer on Modules market and a long-standing relationship with Emerson Network Power in a number of standards bodies,” said Dirk Finstel, CTO of Kontron. “It was a natural fit to work with Emerson Network Power and Freescale to provide the market alternatives on the popular COM Express form factor. Freescale’s presence in Aerospace and Defense, networking and telecom markets provides greater opportunity for the compatible COM Express modules.”