Press Release

ESMexpress , System-On-Module Standard for Harsh Environments

• Fanless cooling (conduction or convection)
• Shock and vibration resistant connectors
• Encapsulated, EMC-protected electronics
• Modern serial buses
• ANSI-VITA 59 (in preparation)
• Compatible with COM Express

Nuremberg/Munich, Germany April 24, 2008 – With the ESMexpress standard MEN Mikro Elektronik bridges a gap in the market for System-On-Modules for harsh environmental conditions and safety-critical requirements in industrial embedded applications. Unlike the COM Express standard which is administered by the PICMG, ESMexpress is currently prepared to be standardized according to ANSI by the VITA. The official designation is ANSI-VITA 59, RSE Rugged System-On-Module Express.

Fields of Application

System-On-Modules (SOM) or Computer-On-Modules (COM) are complete computers on a plug-on module. By configuring the I/O on an individual carrier board the functionality can be tailored to the application, thus saving costs and time-to-market.

The ESMexpress standard has been developed for applications requiring highly robust electronics which ensure safe and reliable operation even in harsh environmental conditions. This applies in particular to railway and avionics applications, partially to industrial automation and medical engineering as well as mobile applications in general.

Technical Aspects

Therefore, during the development of ESMexpress, the main focus was on the fanless cooling concept that is prepared for a power dissipation of up to 35 Watts and support of both conduction and convection cooling. To achieve this, the populated PCB is mounted into a frame and completely enclosed in an aluminum housing. The high pressure caused by the screw joints between the housing and the PCB supports the thermal connection of the components. If the power dissipation of the respective ESMexpress module necessitates additional cooling measures, the housing is either connected to an external heat dissipation system (conduction) or combined with a heat sink for heat dissipation (convection). At the same time the housing ensures optimum EMC protection for the electronic parts.

Another important point is the resistance against shock and vibration. For this, the module is fixed onto the carrier board using eight screws, a connector is used which is specified for MIL and railway applications and supports differential signals with up to 8 GHz. The mechanically robust connector has a stacking height of 5 mm with a minimum tolerance of +/-0,3 mm, is equipped with fixedly assigned contacts for power supply and is specified for an operating temperature of -55 °C to +125 °C.

The electrical signals are distributed on two 120-pin connectors and are only defined for the modern serial buses. For PCI Express there are four single lane ports (4 x1) and one port which can be configured as 1 x16, 1 x8, 2 x4 oder 2 x1. In addition there are three 1-Gigabit Ethernet (also as 10-Gigabit), eight USB, three SATA, SDVO, LVDS, HD Audio, several utility signals and the single 12V power supply. The pin assignment is fixed without allowing options in order to guarantee the interchangability of the ESMexpress modules.

Regarding the processor architecture ESMexpress is completely open, as long as the maximum power dissipation of 35W is not exceeded. Of course, all Intel platforms can be used, like the new UMPC family starting with the Intel Atom or the Intel Core architecture with the mobile chipsets, e.g. Core 2 Duo with 965GME. Just as well suited are PowerPC-CPUs, e.g. the MPC8548 from the PowerQUICC-III family by Freescale.

Commercial Aspects

In order to achieve an attractive price for the ESMexpress modules, mechanical components like the frame or the heat sink have been standardized as much as possible and will be available on the market as standard products. Independent of the functionality of the module and the field of application, the module can also be used without a housing. Cost savings regarding the electronic parts can be achieved via the fully-automated production of the 100% SMD modules. Depending on the module function one of the two 120-pin connectors can be omitted. In addition, the occasionally required connection of additional individual I/O via IP cores in an FPGA has also been moved to the carrier board to save costs.

Being an ANSI standard, ESMexpress offers even more advantages, e.g. cost reduction because of shorter development times or easy exchangeability of discontinued components in critical applications with a required long-time availability of 15 years and more.

Finally, ESMexpress is compatible with COM Express, regardless of the different concept. Via an adapter board which complies with the COM.0 Basic Form Factor Type 2 and adapts the mechanics and the pinout, ESMexpress modules can be used on COM Express carrier boards. Vice versa it is possible to prepare carrier boards for both COM Express and ESMexpress modules.

MEN Mikro Elektronik – Mission and Profile

Since its foundation in 1982 our company designs and manufactures failure-safe computer boards and systems for extreme environmental conditions in industrial and safety-critical embedded applications. Our mission is to provide innovative solutions while maximizing reliability and flexibility.

With nearly 200 employees and subsidiaries in France and the USA we have an annual revenue of 28 million Euros with an export share of about 50%. Customized solutions make for more than half of our revenue. In addition the standard product range includes far more than 100 different computer boards with Intel Pentium and multi-core processors and PowerPC with the corresponding BIOS, BSP and driver software, manifold I/O boards and completely configured systems based on:

• ESMexpress and ESM Embedded System Modules
• 3U and 6U CompactPCI, CompactPCI Express and VMEbus
• PMC, XMC and M-Modules as system-independent mezzanine I/O standards

The consistent use of FPGA technology gives us high flexibility when configuring customized and standard products.

Our products are used worldwide as control, measuring, test or simulation computers in all kinds of embedded applications. These comprise extremely safety-critical markets such as railways, including buses and commercial vehicles, aerospace technology or the medical industry, but also mechanical engineering, shipbuilding, telecommunications and the automotive industry. Computer systems in such applications are in operation up to 24 hours every day and often need to be available for 10 years and longer. Ideally no failures must occur to avoid costly downtimes of machines or danger to human life.

We are certified to ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001 in order to offer our customers the highest quality in products and services while considering environmental protection and occupational safety on the basis of a recognized quality management system. To meet the severe quality requirements in critical applications we are working on certification to AS 9100 (aerospace) and IRIS (railways).

Our aim is to constantly improve and to provide the highest technology and innovation level. Our business ethics is determined by the principles of the United Nations' Global Compact Initiative (human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption).

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In addition, press documents may contain statements that are forward-looking. These statements are based on current expectations as of the date of a particular release. Actual results may differ materially from those projected because of a number of risks and uncertainties.