WAKEFIELD, MA. PICMG’s new COM Express 3.1 specification has been approved to strengthen PCIe Gen 4 and USB4. Updates include a specified 16Gps connector throughout family Type 6, 7, and 10 pinouts, SATA Gen 3, and a CEI signaling-enabled 10 GbE interface and IPMB management interface for the Type 7 pinout, a component of COM.0 R3.1. Improvement with the specification includes optional USB4 (Type 6), MIPI-CSI connectors (Types 6, 10), SoundWire (Types 6, 10), and SPI interface (Types 6, 10).

PICMG’s ModBlox7 is modular hardware standard designed to help regulate Box PCs. In this Q & A, we’re featuring Chief Product Officer at Ci4Rail, Mathias Beer, to discuss the standard, it’s impact on electronics engineering industry, and the how it provides the flexibility, modularization, and miniaturization needed by the market.

Industrial box PCs are some of the most common electronic systems in the world. In virtually every harsh environment or heavy industry use case that leverages electronics, chances are you’ll find an industrial box PC nearby. And their popularity is growing, as DIN rail mount box IPCs are becoming the solution of choice for companies looking to extend enterprise networks into connected factory and manufacturing environments.

Every industry influenced by technology is now demanding intelligence at the edge, often without understanding its implications. For most organizations, acquiring meaningful edge intelligence means drastically changing their IT and/or operational technology infrastructure to support the deployment, integration, and then management of vastly more electronic systems.

The previous four parts of Make Any Sensor a Smart Sensor with PICMG IoT.1 discussed the importance of industrial sensors to intelligent automation environments and a path forward that empowers anyone, regardless of technical ability, to build smart sensors of their own. Over the next several installments, the series pivots to the beneficiaries of smart sensor data – smart effecters that translate data intelligence into real-world action. 

PICMG announced that the COM-HPC Carrier Board Design Guide is released and freely available on the PICMG website.