COM Baseboards

Benefits of COM Baseboards

Reduced development time, cost, and effort through the use of off-the-shelf processor "macrocomponents" (COMs)

Simplified redesign / technology refresh / product upgrade efforts

Vastly increased product lifetimes

Easily scalable based on product and market requirements

Retain physical form factor and cabling across multiple generations of product

Since virtually all of today's embedded processors offer limited lifecycles of 5-7 years, any long-life product dependent on a single-board computer (SBC) is guaranteed to require redesign sometime during its lifecycle. Typical industrial product lifecycles of 10-20 years (as is common in military, transportation, and medical products) may call for 2, 3, or even 4 such redesign efforts. Such efforts can be extremely costly, not only in terms of the actual design activity but in terms of inventory management, documentation management, manufacturing changeover, and after-market service as well.

When (not if) the COM reaches the end of its life, it can be replaced with a newer COM with relative ease, while the rest of the system, including the I/O, power supply, connectors, cabling, and physical dimensions remain exactly the same. In this way long lifecycles are much more easily supported. In addition, customers can create multiple configurations of their systems, selecting a different COM for each one based on price, performance, and power considerations.

Off-the-Shelf COM Baseboards

Diamond's solution is to utilize a two-board combination of a computer-on-module (COM) plus a baseboard. The COM provides the short-lifecycle and high-development-risk processor circuit, while the baseboard provides the long-lifecycle I/O unique to your application. The COM may be selected from a range of popular industry-standard form factors, including COM Express, ETX, and Qseven. The solution may utilize a COM from Diamond's product line as well as one of your choosing from another manufacturer.

Diamond's rugged off-the-shelf COM baseboards are packed with a wealth of I/O features and are available in a variety of small form factors including COM Express, ETX and EPIC.

For customers looking for a complete COM solution, Diamond offers off-the-shelf COM-based SBCs that combine the high-performance processing and leading-edge system I/O capabilities of COMs with the modular expansion flexibility of stackable single board computers. Additionally, the modules' thermally-conductive baseplate provides an efficient cooling solution.

Custom COM Baseboards

Should you desire a custom baseboard, whether your application requires a simple product variant or demands a full custom design, Diamond Systems will work with you to quickly and efficiently produce a solution to fit your embedded computing application. A custom baseboard can be designed to any shape, utilizing technology from our extensive library of power and I/O circuits. Your own circuitry, or that of a third party, can also be designed into the baseboard.

A COM baseboard design can reduce a stack of PC/104 I/O modules into a single board computer!

We will work together in a phased project approach, beginning with a Definition Phase, followed by a Design Phase, Prototype Phase and then full production.

From Specification to Verified Prototype: 10 - 14 weeks!