With the AMD Ryzen Embedded V1000 processor, AMD has launched a new flagship for embedded computing that has found its way into many designs these days. It convinces with its outstanding processor and graphics performance and at attractive prices. With the COM Express Compact module, we offer it on a Computer-on-Module that is particularly small for this performance class.
Customers use these small modules to develop systems that are almost as small as a NUC. In any case, these are challenging small form factor designs, because they try to reduce the highest computing power to formats that can be placed on any standard top-hat rail. High performance in the smallest space raises the TDP challenge considerably. But it can be mastered. However, not only the suitable heat sinks have to be considered. The layout of the ground and power plane on the carrier board is also decisive. Thanks to PIMG's COM Express Carrier Guides, there is sufficient information on this, but - paper doesn`t blush. That's why comprehensive training is so important.
The more, the better?
But anyone who did training in carrier board designs with Computer-on-Modules years ago must not think "the more, the better- let's also design the high-speed interfaces with a lot of copper“. Such an approach sabotages the design of the high-speed lanes, creating slower switching flanks. These in turn reduce the energy efficiency of the designs. As a result, power elements such as FETs can become unnecessarily hot. So the use of copper has to be evaluated from different angles! The consequences that can result from such faulty hardware designs are disastrous.
If too much copper is used for the high-speed interfaces, erratic errors will occur in the application. It is anything but easy to track down these errors. Therefore it is important that customers are informed about such problems in time and that a constant exchange is maintained up to the design check of the customer-specific carrier board and compliance tests for the interfaces by the Computer-on-Module supplier.
Service is essential
Learning from the mistakes of others can often be essential to helping customers. I noticed that service requests usually boil down quickly to a certain set of problems. If you have many customers to look after, you get to know all the relevant problems very quickly. If worldwide service teams with hundreds of employees work on comparable questions, the individual questions of the customers can be answered very quickly, because almost every conceivable problem has already been dealt with in the cases of other customers. Therefore, despite the latest interfaces and technologies, solutions become known within a short period of time in technical support. Good support is therefore also a question of how many projects you supervise.
The added value of a large, powerful organization also continues in the area of Custom Design Services, which we offer as part of our Boards & More program. Some things that others sell as services are standard with us. All of our modules are already MS Azure certified and a licensing chip is a selection option that we offer as standard equipment. A custom design can also be implemented faster, more efficient and cheaper if you have already done many. After all, size is crucial.
The software team of the hardware supplier also plays an important role. Through our sister company, RTsoft, we offer an extremely powerful European team, which is also unique in the embedded computer technology market. What more could you ask for?
Picture Size comparison:
Smaller is sometimes better: With the COM Express Compact module, we offer the AMD Ryzen Embedded V1000 processor on a footprint that is around 22% smaller than the competition with COM Express Basic. Customers benefit from the smaller COM Express Compact format through greater design freedom. They can implement a flatter design by placing all interfaces on the carrier board next to the module. The space saved can also be used for a heatpipe. If width x depth are decisive, customers can limit themselves to 95 x 95x mm and save 30 mm on one of these edges, because COM Express Basic is correspondingly larger at 95 x 125 mm.
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