COM Express

COM Express, defined by the PCI Industrial Computer Manufactures Group (PICMG), is the most successful Computer-On-Module (COM) standard in the embedded market today. COM Express employs a mezzanine-based approach, whereby an off-the-shelve module with two 220-pin board-to-board connectors, plugs into a custom, application-specific carrier board.

The COM Express form factor defines mini-, compact-, basic-, and extended-size modules. Each size focuses on specific application areas and power envelopes.

COM Express supports all modern interfaces

COM Express’ wide market acceptance

The COM Express standard has found widespread adoption by even tier 1 industrial players and can be found in numerous and highly diverse applications in a wide range of fields.

Medical
Gaming
Test and Measurement
Robotics
Logistics

“Over the years, ADLINK has been a driving force behind the development of the COM Express^® specification at PICMG”

The success of COM Express in the embedded market is a result of the broad respect given to the PICMG consortium. PICMG has been responsible for many other widely accepted standard form factors in the embedded industry. Over the years, ADLINK has played a leading role in the PICMG COM.0 (COM Express) subcommittee. For more than 10 years, the PICMG COM.0 subcommittee was chaired by ADLINK and the development of the specification has benefited greatly from the considerable efforts of ADLINK’s team of technical contributors.

COM Express Form Factors

The PICMG COM.0 COM Express specification defines 4 form factors.

COM Express Mini size module dimensions — **COM Express^® Mini**
55 × 84 mm (2.2 × 3.3 in)

COM Express Compact size module dimensions — **COM Express^® Compact**
95 × 95 mm (3.7 × 3.7 in)

COM Express Basic size module dimensions — **COM Express^® Basic**
95 × 125 mm (3.7 × 4.9 in)

COM Express Extended size module dimensions — **COM Express^® Extended**
110 × 155 mm (4.3 × 6.1 in)

COM Express Types

In the latest COM Express Rev. 3.1, several advanced interfaces suitable for next-gen AIoT applications, such as PCIe Gen4 support, has been added to Type 6, Type 7, and Type 10. Additionally, it adds USB4 support for Type 6, and a second PCIe clock and updating 10G Ethernet to support CEI side-band-signaling for Type 7. Other enhancements include adding options for general purpose SPI, MIPI-CSI connectors, and SoundWire, as well as adding IPMB for Type 7.

Note that earlier module types — COM Express Type 1, Type 2, Type 3, Type 4, and Type 5 — are considered legacy and no longer recommend for new designs. Nevertheless, ADLINK still actively supports Type 2 for customers tied to legacy designs.

Type	Connectors	PCIe lanes	PEG	PCI	SATA	PATA IDE	LAN	Video	Serial	USB	Note
1	AB only	6	No	No	4	Yes	1 GbE	LVDS, VGA			Legacy
2	AB & CD	22	Yes	Yes	4	Yes	1 GbE	PEG/SDVO,LVDS, VGA			Legacy
3	AB & CD	22	Yes	Yes	4	Yes	3 GbE	PEG/SDVO, LVDS, VGA			Legacy
4	AB & CD	32	Yes	No	4	Yes	1 GbE	PEG/SDVO, LVDS, VGA			Legacy
5	AB & CD	32	Yes	No	4	Yes	3 GbE	PEG/SDVO, LVDS, VGA			Legacy
6	AB & CD	24	Yes	No	4	No	1 GbE	3 x DDI, VGA LVDS/eDP / Option for USB 4	2x RX/TX, GP_SPI, CAN	4x USB 3.2/2.0 4x USB 2.0
7	AB & CD	32	Yes	Yes	2	No	4x 10G (CEI side-band) 1 GbE	None	2x RX/TX or CAN	4x USB 3.2/2.0 4x USB 2.0
10	AB only	4	No	No	2	No	1 GbE	1x DDI, LVDS	2x RX/TX, GP_SPI, CAN	4x USB 3.2/2.0

* Bold indicates that these types are being actively supported by ADLINK
* GbE as defined by COM.0 R3.1 has been extended to allow support for up to 2.5/5/10 Gbps (optional).
* Optional MIPI-CSI support has been added by COM.0 R3.1 and is dependent on module vendor.

COM Express Cooling and Thermal Design

ADLINK offers four standard thermal solutions for fast product development and integration, including heatspreader, passive heatsink, and actively cooled solution with integrated fan. Custom, application-specific thermal solutions are also offered.

COM Express Carrier Boards and Starter Kits

ADLINK offers a wide selection of COM Express carrier boards and development kits for faster and hassle-free product development, as well as a custom carrier board & system integration service.

AdvancedTCA Switch Blade

aTCA-3430

3U CompactPCI Serial Blades

cPCI-A3525

6U CompactPCI 2.0 Blades

cPCI-6636(KL) Series

Embedded Flash Storage

2.5 inch SATA SSD Series

Machine Vision AI

Smart Pallet

COM-HPC Server Type

COM-HPC Ampere Altra

AdvancedTCA Switch Blade

aTCA-3430

ADLINK Edge SDK

Edge SDK

Medical Panel PCs

MLC-AL/ MLC-KL

Extreme Outdoor Servers

SETO-1000

COM Express Type 6

Express-RLP

Preliminary

Mini-ITX Motherboards

AmITX-SL-G

Edge Server

MECS-6110

Machine Condition Monitoring

MCM-204

Embedded MXM Modules

EGX-MXM-T1000

Embedded MXM Modules

EGX-MXM-T1000

Expandable Fanless Embedded PCs

MVP-6100

Motion Control

PCIe-8158

COM-HPC Server Type

COM-HPC Ampere Altra

Industrial Monitors

OM Series

Preliminary

Edge Server

MECS-6110

Deep Learning Inference Platforms

DLAP-301-JNX

Preliminary

Autonomous Mobile Robot

SMR250 series

Preliminary

Autonomous Mobile Robot

SMR250 series

Preliminary

Edge Server

PCIe-ACC100

NVIDIA Jetson Edge AI Platform

DLAP-211-JT2

Industrial Monitors

IM-215

Preliminary

COM-HPC Client Type

COM-HPC-cADP

Preliminary

Machine Vision

PCIe-U300 Series

Integrated Fanless Embedded PCs

MVP-5100-MXM

Embedded MXM Modules

EGX-MXM-RTX3000

VPX 3U Processor Blades

VPX3020

Data Acquisition (DAQ)

USB-2401

Network Security Appliance

CSA-7400

ATX Motherboards

IMB-M45

Preliminary

COM Express Type 7

Express-ID7