PICMG gives a glimpse
into COM HPC
PICMG CEO Jessica Isquith and Christian Eder, chairman of
the PICMG COM-HPC technical sub-committee, explain what
the new specification for high-end computer modules will
mean for the industry
Why a new standard for computer
modules?
A new computer module specification
was needed primarily to address new
applications with particularly high
performance requirements, such as
those we see emerging with Serveron
Modules at the edge layer level,
or those requiring very fast GPGPU
connections for AI and machine
learning.
The current COM Express
standard offers only 32 PCIe lanes
and only supports solutions up
to PCIe Gen 3.0, which means
a maximum of 8 Gb/s per lane,
so there are not sufficient power
reserves to cope with such new highend
requirements.
Another area where HPC-COM will
bring considerable improvements is
module connectivity. COM Express
offers 10 Gb Ethernet per signal pair.
COM-HPC will support 25 Gb Ethernet
and more. Transmission rates of up
to 100 Gbit/s, theoretically even
200 Gbit/s, are now possible. This
huge performance increase cannot
be achieved by extending the existing
COM Express standard, but requires
the introduction of a completely new
high-end Computer-on-Module class.
COM-HPC is by no means
intended to replace the current COM
Express standard. Both specifications
will likely continue to exist in parallel
for many years and possibly decades,
depending on the area of application
and its requirements, because
almost 15 years after the introduction
of COM Express, there are still
modules on the market supporting
the preceding ETX standard.
Which companies are currently
involved in standardisation?
The PICMG COM-HPC technical
committee, founded in October 2018,
currently counts 20 members and
so-called supporting companies,
who meet in weekly calls to discuss
and define the content of the new
standard.
Members of the PICMG COM-HPC
committee include the University
of Bielefeld and Adlink, Advantech,
Amphenol, AMI, congatec, Elma
Electronic, Emerson Machine
Automation Solutions, ept, Fastwel,
GE Automation, HEITEC, Intel,
Kontron, MEN, MSC Technologies,
N.A.T., Samtec, SECO, TE
Connectivity, Trenz Electronic and
VersaLogic. Adlink, congatec and
Kontron are committee sponsors,
while Christian Eder, Marketing
Director of congatec, acts as
Chairman of the COM-HPC technical
committee. He has played an
important role in the development of
the existing COM Express standard
as draft editor. Stefan Milnor from
Kontron and Dylan Lang from Samtec
support Eder in their functions as
editor and secretary of the PICMG
COM-HPC committee.
Which board formats are being
proposed?
COM-HPC modules will come in two
variants with different performance
requirements. COM HPC/Server
modules are designed for use in
edge server environments and focus
on the memory capacity required
for server applications, a powerful
Ethernet connection of the server and
the ability to provide multiple cores
for consolidating high workloads.
The 160x160 mm Server module is
expected to host up to four DIMM
sockets, while the larger 200x160
mm variant will integrate up to eight
DIMM sockets.
The COM-HPC specification
provides up to 25 Gbit Ethernet per
signal pair for ultimate Ethernet
performance, which allows connection
of a COM-HPC/Server module with
up to 2x 100 Gb Ethernet (4 lanes
each), thereby also providing a
broadband uplink, downlink and
crosslink in the direction of central
clouds and adjacent edge fogs. By
comparison, network connectivity
is limited to a maximum of 10 Gbit
Ethernet per signal pair in current
COM Express modules.
The somewhat more compact
Above: Footprints
Jessica Isquith,
PICMG CEO
14 25 February 2020 www.newelectronics.co.uk
/www.newelectronics.co.uk