Expertise in developing rugged solutions at heart of new high performance COM Express module from GE

CHARLOTTESVILLE, USA: GE Intelligent Platforms announced the bCOM6-L1200 Rugged Type 6 COM Express Module. Taking advantage of GE’s extensive experience in developing rugged solutions for military applications, the bCOM6-L1200 is ideal for OEMs designing computing platforms into equipment for industrial or harsh environments to whom reducing the overall design cycle and lowering validation costs are of key importance.

By separating the carrier card from the processor, the bCOM6-L1200’s COM Express architecture extends the useful life of the subsystem by allowing simple, cost-effective upgrade of the processor alone. This reduces long term cost of ownership while ensuring that performance keeps pace with changing needs.

On-board components are specifically selected for their reliability in demanding conditions, and, unlike solutions designed for benign environments, processor and memory are soldered to the board for maximum resistance to shock and vibration. Extended mechanical construction protects the module, which is designed for optional conformal coating for even greater resistance to moisture, dust, chemicals, and temperature extremes.

The bCOM6-L1200 also takes advantage of GE’s expertise in the optimization of thermal performance.

For systems integrators looking for solutions that deliver high performance coupled with low power consumption, the bCOM6-L1200 offers a range of five VIA Nano and VIA Eden processor options, with performance between 800MHz and 1.2GHz (x2) and power consumption between 3.5W and 13.0W. Up to 8GB of DDR3 SDRAM can be configured, allowing the most demanding applications to be deployed.

GE is able to provide customers with the support necessary to enable them to develop their own carrier card configurations, or to provide custom carrier card variants on request. This ability provides significant flexibility to systems integrators looking to create unique, high value-added solutions.

“The COM Express architecture is uniquely attractive for many applications because of its performance, modularity, flexibility, longevity and investment protection, and the bCOM6-L1200 implementation brings those benefits to customers who also need a solution that can withstand deployment in hostile environments,” said Tommy Swigart, product manager, GE Intelligent Platforms. “For organizations looking to take advantage of the benefits of COM Express technology in locations beyond the data center or office environment, the bCOM6-L1200 offers the optimum solution.”

“We are delighted that GE Intelligent Platforms has adopted the VIA Nano processor for its new bCOM6-L1200 COM Express Module,” commented Epan Wu, head of the VIA Embedded Platform Division, VIA Technologies. “With its innovative low power design, it sets the new embedded industry benchmark for ruggedized solutions capable of operating in even the most extreme environments.”

The bCOM6-L1200 provides a Gigabit Ethernet port supporting transmissions of 10 and 100/1000 Mbits/second. Also provided are eight USB 2.0 ports, two serial ATA Interfaces with RAID 0 and 1 or port multiplier support. The SATA interfaces are ready for SATA II drives. For superior graphic performance, the bCOM6-L1200 features integrated analog CRT and LVDS and two or three DDI ports.

I/O functionality is provided through either three PCI Express x1 lanes or 1x 2+ 1x 1 lane, or a wide PCI Express x8/x4 port. The x8/x4 port can be used in applications where high-end graphic and video capabilities are required. Together with the audio port and GPIO or SD-Card interface, a wide range of multimedia implementations can be achieved.