The new congatec COM Express basic modules are designed for the development of embedded computing systems with impressive graphics performance for applications such as medical imaging; professional broadcasting, infotainment and gambling; digital signage; control rooms and video surveillance; optical quality control; and 3D simulators. Other applications include smart robotics and autonomous vehicles that use deep learning to optimize their situational awareness.

“High performance 4k UHD system designs, which previously ran at 54W, now require less than half the TDP without loss of graphics performance. As a result, active cooling solutions can be replaced by passive ones, with all the corresponding SWaP-C benefits,” explains Martin Danzer, Director of Product Management at congatec. “The new 15W mobile system designs can deliver truly impressive user experiences with brilliant 4k displays and outstanding 3D graphics quality.”

“We are very pleased to partner with congatec in rolling out our most powerful x86 architecture for the embedded market to date,” said Stephen Turnbull, director of product marketing, Datacenter and Embedded Business Group, AMD. “Computer-on-Module form factors are a key foundation for embedded products, and congatec is helping to expand our reach by delivering OEMs with flexible COM Express Type 6 designs that offer cutting-edge graphics and outstanding CPU performance based on our new AMD Ryzen Embedded V1000 processors.”

The feature set in detail
The new conga-TR4 high-performance modules with COM Express Type 6 pinout are based on the latest AMD Ryzen™ Embedded V1000 multi-core processors. These modules offer up to 52 per cent more processor performance, reaching up to 3.75 GHz. Thanks to symmetrical multiprocessing, they also provide particularly high parallel processing performance. They support up to 32GB energy-efficient and fast dual-channel DDR4 memory with up to 3200 MT/s and optional ECC for maximum data security.

The new integrated AMD Radeon™ Vega graphics with up to 11 compute units marks the cutting edge of embedded graphics. It supports up to four independent displays with up to 4k UHD resolution and 10-bit HDR, as well as DirectX 12 and OpenGL 4.4 for 3D graphics. The integrated video engine enables hardware-accelerated streaming of HEVC (H.265) video in both directions. Thanks to HSA and OpenCL 2.0 support, deep learning workloads can be assigned to the GPU. In safety-critical applications, the integrated AMD Secure Processor helps with hardware-accelerated encryption and decryption of RSA, SHA and AES.

The new conga-TR4 is also the first congatec COM Express Type 6 module to allow a complete USB-C implementation on the carrier board including USB 3.1 Gen 2 with 10 Gbit/s, Power Delivery and DisplayPort 1.4, for example to connect external touchscreens with a single cable. Further performance-oriented interfaces offered, includes 1x PEG 3.0 x8, 4x PCIe Gen 3 and 4x PCIe Gen 2, 3x USB 3.1 Gen 2, 1x USB 3.1 Gen 1, 8x USB 2.0, 2x SATA Gen 3, 1x Gbit Ethernet. I/Os for SD, SPI, LPC, I²C as well as 2x legacy UART from the CPU and High Definition Audio round off the range of interfaces.

The supported operating systems include Linux, Yocto 2.0 and Microsoft Windows 10, or optionally Windows 7. congatec provides an extensive range of passive and active cooling solutions for workstation designs up to 54W performance, application-ready carrier boards as well as best practice carrier board layouts and circuit diagrams, e.g. for USB-C implementations, to help simplify the design-in of the modules. To bring new designs to market even faster, congatec also offers the development of custom carrier boards and module variants.

The new conga-TR4 COM Express Type 6 Computer-on-Modules can be ordered in the following standard configurations:

Processor
AMD Ryzen Embedded V1807B
AMD Ryzen Embedded V1756B
AMD Ryzen Embedded V1605B
AMD Ryzen Embedded V1202B
AMD Ryzen Embedded V1404i

More information about the new conga-TR4 high-performance COM Express Type 6 module is available at: http://www.congatec.com/en/products/com-express-type6/conga-tr4.html