In its Embedded World 2020 showcase, congatec will be covering the entire spectrum of embedded edge computing, ranging from high-end edge servers to headless systems for ultra-low-power edge logic. Highlights include the upcoming PICMG COM-HPC standard, which congatec is driving with Christian Eder as chairman of the COM-HPC subcommittee, as well as congatec’s extended SMARC ecosystem for the NXP i.MX8 family, which is designed for the seamless use of MIPI camera technology and artificial intelligence, among other things. The breadth of the spectrum will be underscored by a new starter kit for real time workload consolidation as well as presentations from Basler and Hacarus. Innovative fanless cooling solutions for particularly robust embedded servers and systems that can dissipate up to 100 watts of TDP will complete the congatec Embedded World showcase.
 
“The innovations around COM-HPC are extremely significant as they establish a new standard for edge servers and extend the success of COM Express into new application areas. This is why they take center stage in our presentation,” explains Martin Danzer, Director Product Management at congatec. “What is also crucial is the fact that congatec covers the entire range of embedded edge logic, from high-end edge servers to deeply embedded ultra-low-power edge logic based on ARM processors. We provide comprehensive OEM Hardware and Firmware support across all these platforms, ensuring optimum connectivity, highest security and most convenient remote maintenance together with vision and AI integration, which is becoming increasingly important in many edge devices. With these hardware-centric additional services we offer our customers much more than simple interface support. We provide them with highly customized solution platforms for the easiest possible integration of their embedded edge computers.”
 
The COM-HPC presentations will focus on the already pre-released pinout of the upcoming specification, highlighting the choice of form factors and the different versions for embedded edge servers and embedded clients. The edge server variants come in two footprints, offering up to 64 PCIe lanes, 8x 25 GbE, and up to 8 DIMM sockets for 1 TB of RAM. The smaller COM-HPC client modules are available in three different footprints. They have four video interfaces and two camera inputs, and offer up to 4 SODIMM sockets.
 
In the presentations centering on the SMARC and Qseven ecosystems for the extremely energy-efficient and versatile NXP i.MX8 processor family, congatec will be highlighting innovative solutions with regards to vision and AI and easiest WiFi implementation. All are designed to make it easier for customers to integrate the new processors – from the i.MX 8X, to the i.MX 8M Mini, and the i.MX8. For an immediate design start off-the-shelf, congatec provides individually compiled binaries via Git-Hub that allow developers to boot their platforms directly.