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November 2015
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ndustrial
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o
T
1.2 of the Trusted Computing Group (TCG),
an international standards body. The TPM
ensures that the system is securely integrated
into the network from boot-up to start-up of
the operating system through to loading of
the relevant application software. The stan-
dardized embedded modules are character-
ized by the high scalability of their processor,
graphics and video performance. To imple-
ment IoT systems, MSC Technologies offers a
wide range of COM Express Type 6 module
families.
For IoT gateways that initialize, convert, for-
ward and buffer data, as well as for operator
consoles, MSC Technologies offers as build-
ing block the MSC C6C-BW COM Express
Type 6 module family (figure 1 right). The
module is based on the latest Intel 14nm tech-
nology and integrates quad-core or dual-core
Intel Pentium or Celeron processors (code-
name Braswell). Thanks to the on-chip Gen. 8
Intel HD Graphics, the COMs offer twice the
graphics performance of the previous model
with Intel Atom CPU (codename Bay Trail),
and yet less power consumption. The module
in the compact form factor of 95 mm x 95 mm
is therefore particularly suitable for graph-
ics-intensive embedded applications for the
presentation or processing of high-resolution
graphics and videos.
The low power consumption of the embed-
ded platform is between 6W and 9W, and the
integrated processors have a thermal design
power (TDP) of 4W to 6W. Three indepen-
dent displays with up to 3840 x 2160 pixels
can be connected via the HDMI, DisplayPort
and Embedded DisplayPort/LVDS graphics
interfaces. The module can be equipped with
up to 8GB dual-channel DDR3L SDRAM
with high memory bandwidth via two 204-
pin sockets. The wide range of modern inter-
faces includes two SATA 3, four USB 3.0, four
USB 2.0 and up to five PCI Express x1 chan-
nels. A microSD card can be plugged in as an
on-board mass storage device.
For demanding applications, e.g. extensive
data processing and control of high reso-
lution displays, the MSC C6C-SLU Type 6
COM Express module family (figure 2) was
developed. The platform is based on the lat-
est sixth generation Intel Core processors
(codename Skylake-U) that integrate the
low-power processor with graphics control-
ler and the complete chipset in one multi-
chip package. Three processor variants with
dual-core Intel Core i7-6600U, i5-6300U and
i3-6100U are offered. The thermal design
power (TDP) of the integrated processors is
15W. The on-chip Intel HD Graphics Gen. 9
supports DirectX 12 and OpenGL 4.4. Three
independent displays with up to 4k x 2k
resolution can be controlled.
The energy-efficient COM Express modules
in the compact form factor of 95mm x 95mm
have typical power consumption between 17W
and 19W. Due to their low power consumption
they enable the implementation of high-per-
formance embedded systems, without the need
for extensive cooling requirements.
The MSC C6B-8SB high-end module which
is equipped with quad-core fifth generation
Intel Core processors (codename Broadwell)
features a significant leap forward in comput-
ing and graphics performance (figure 1 left).
The module is offered with two different Intel
Core processors (i7-5700EQ or i7-5850EQ),
each with four processor cores. In addition to
a comprehensive range of interfaces, the COM
‒ in the basic form factor of 125mm x 95mm ‒
offers an Intel HD graphics controller GT2 or
GT3e with additional graphics memory, turbo
boost capabilities for the CPU and graphics
controller, hardware-accelerated video encod-
ing and decoding as well as enhanced security
features. Typical applications are digital image
and video processing systems and optical
inspection systems.
For rapid evaluation and rapid prototyping of
the Type 6 COM Express module family, the
MSC C6-MB-EV Mini-ITX evaluation board
is delivered. The universal baseboard provides
connectors for USB, GbE LAN, audio, Dis-
playPort, eDP, and LVDS. The board comes
with a PCI Express x16 slot, a PCI Express
Mini Card socket for I/O extension, and an SD
card slot. Standardized Computer-On-Mod-
ules of various performance classes permit the
rapid and cost-optimized development of cus-
tomized systems. Flexible configurations and
a high degree of individuality of the embed-
ded products can be implemented even for
medium-volume quantities.
n
Figure 2. MSC C6C-SLU COM Express
module with innovative sixth generation Intel
Core processors
