Congatec – New COM Express Type 2 module with 3rd generation Intel Core processor

Latest from Congatec is the conga-BP77, which expands its portfolio of 3rd generation Intel Core modules. This version is based on the COM Express Type 2 connector pin-out and supports the PCI Express graphics port for high-performance external graphics.

The conga-BP77 module version is therefore well suited to medical, gaming and multimedia applications needing high end graphics performance, for which the internal graphics support from the chip set no longer suffices. The PEG connection is implemented via a customized carrier board. The freely available schematics for the evaluation carrier board conga-CEVAL provide the perfect baseline for developing proprietary solutions.

The crucial innovations of the 3rd generation Intel Core processors relate to the use of 3D trigate transistor technology, 22 nanometer production, more tightly integrated graphics and the improved PEG 3.0 graphics. The change from PEG 2.0 to PEG 3.0 is the performance increase from 5GT/s to 8GT/s.

The conga-BP77 is available off the shelf now in the processor versions Intel Core i7-3612QE (4 x 2.1GHz, 6MB Intel Smart Cache, TDP 35W), IntelR Core i7-3555LE (2.50 GHz, 4 MB IntelR Smart Cache, 25W) and Intel Core i5-3610ME (2.7GHz, 3MB Intel Smart Cache, 35W). The module features the new mobile Intel Express chip set QM77 and offers up to 16GByte dual channel DDR3 memory (1600MT/s).

Six PCI Express 2.0 lanes, four SATA interfaces with up to 6GB/s and RAID support, eight USB 2.0 ports, one EIDE and one Gigabit Ethernet interface facilitate fast and flexible system extensions. Besides PEG 3.0, VGA and LVDS are supported, as well as DirectX 11, OpenGL 3.1 and OpenCL 1.1. Fan control, LPC bus for easy connection of legacy I/O interfaces and the Intel high definition audio round off the set of functions.

All conga-BP77 modules are fitted with the new embedded firmware solution, UEFI. Under UEFI, Congatec’s embedded BIOS features are also supported and extended. Even larger applications can now be integrated with the new pre-boot application. This way, for example, embedded diagnostic tools, network-based service programs or system recovery applications can be used regardless of the operating systems.

A matching evaluation carrier board for COM Express Type 2 enabling fast implementation of a PCI Express graphics x16-lane plug is also available, says the company.