COM Express
COM Express, defined by PICMG (PCI Industrial Computer Manufactures Group), is the most successful COM (Computer On Module) standards in the embedded market today. COM Express employs a mezzanine-based approach, whereby an off-the-shelve module with two 220-pin board-to-board connectors, plugs into a custom, application specific carrier board.
The COM Express formfactor defines mini-, compact- and basic-size. Each size focusses on specific application areas and power envelopes.
COM Express supports all modern interfaces
COM Express’ wide market acceptance
The COM Express standard has found widespread adaption by even tier 1 industrial players and can be found in a great many, very diverse, application fields.
Medical
Gaming
Test and Measurement
Robotics
Logistics
“Over the years ADLINK has been a driving force behind the COM Express® definition in PICMG”
Part of COM Express success is due to that the specifications itself originates from the PICMG consortium that has been responsible for many other widely adapted standard formfactors in the embedded industry. Over the years ADLINK has played a leading role in the PICMG COM Express subcommittee. For more than 10 years the PICMG COM.0 committee was chaired by ADLINK and has benefited greatly from the considerable efforts of ADLINK’s team of technical contributors.
COM Express Formfactors
The PICMG COM.0 COM Express specification defines 4 form factors.
55 × 84 mm (2.2 × 3.3 in)
95 × 95 mm (3.7 × 3.7 in)
95 × 125 mm (3.7 × 4.9 in)
110 × 155 mm (4.3 × 6.1 in)
COM Express Types
The most used pin outs today are Type 6, Type 7 and Type 10.
Type 7 was the latest pin-out added in the latest revision COM Express rev. 3.0. COM Express Type 7 pinout is optimized for high performance, high bandwidth, headless applications. It supports up to four 10 GbE interfaces and up to 32 PCIe lanes, making it a perfect match for edge, server or data centric applications.
Earlier types such as COM Express Type 1, Type 2, Type 3, Type 4, and Type 5, are considered legacy and are no longer recommend for new designs. ADLINK however still actively supports type 2 for customer tied into legacy designs.
| Type | Connectors | PCIe lanes | PEG | PCI | SATA | PATA IDE | LAN | Video | Serial | USB | Note | |
| 1 | AB only | 6 | No | No | 4 | Yes | 1 GbE | LVDS, VGA | Legacy | |||
| 2 | AB & CD | 22 | Yes | Yes | 4 | Yes | 1 GbE | PEG/SDVO,LVDS, VGA | Legacy | |||
| 3 | AB & CD | 22 | Yes | Yes | 4 | Yes | 3 GbE | PEG/SDVO, LVDS, VGA | Legacy | |||
| 4 | AB & CD | 32 | Yes | No | 4 | Yes | 1 GbE | PEG/SDVO, LVDS, VGA | Legacy | |||
| 5 | AB & CD | 32 | Yes | No | 4 | Yes | 3 GbE | PEG/SDVO, LVDS, VGA | Legacy | |||
| 6 | AB & CD | 24 | Yes | No | 4 | No | 1 GbE | 3 x DDI, VGA LVDS/eDP | 2x RX/TX or CAN | 4x USB 3.2/2.0 4x USB 2.0 | ||
| 7 | AB & CD | 32 | Yes | Yes | 2 | No | 4x 10G 1 GbE | None | 2x RX/TX or CAN | 4x USB 3.2/2.0 4x USB 2.0 | ||
| 10 | AB only | 4 | No | No | 2 | No | 1 GbE | 1x DDI, LVDS | 2x RX/TX or CAN | 4x USB 3.2/2.0 |
COM Express Cooling and Thermal Design
ADLINK offers four typical thermal solutions for fast product development and integration. Range from heatspreader, passive heatsink to active cooling solution with FAN integrated. Custom, application-specific thermal solution is also offered.
COM Express Carrier Boards and Starter Kits
ADLINK offers a wide selection of COM Express carrier boards and development kits for faster and hassle-free product development. Carrier & SI service.
