20 Tiger Lake HPC processor modules for AIoT and edge computing

New Products | August 4, 2021

By Nick Flaherty

The COM-HPC and COM-Express modules use Intel’s latest 11th Generation Tiger Lake H Core vPro, Xeon W-11000E and Celeron processors and are aimed at IoT gateway and edge computing applications with up to 20 lanes of the latest PCI Express connectivity.

The processors are built on Intel’s 10nm SuperFin technology in a two-package design with edicated CPU and platform controller hub (PCH). These are used in COM-HPC Client and COM Express Type 6 modules and provide higher bandwidth benchmark of up to 20 PCIe Gen 4.0 lanes for connected real-time IIoT gateway and intelligent edge computing workloads.

The modules have up to 128 GB DDR4 SO‑DIMM RAM, integrated AI accelerators and up to 8 high-performance CPU cores that achieve up to 65 percent gain in multi-thread performance and up to 32 percent gain in single-thread performance.

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Flagship applications that directly benefit from these GPU enhancements can be found in surgery, medical imaging and e-health edge applications as the platform supports 8K HDR videos for optimum diagnostics. Combined with the platform’s AI capabilities and the OpenVINO toolkit, doctors can gain easy access and insights into deep learning based diagnostic data.

The integrated Intel UHD graphics also supports up to four 4K displays in parallel. In addition, it can process and analyse up to 40 HD 1080p/30fps video streams in parallel for 360 degree views in all directions. These AI vision capabilities are also important for many other markets, including factory automation, machine vision for quality inspection in manufacturing, safe spaces & cities, as well as collaborative robotics and autonomous vehicles in logistics, agriculture, construction, and public transport.

AI and deep learning inference algorithms can either run on the integrated GPU or on the CPU with built-in Intel Deep Learning Boost that combines three instructions into one, accelerating inference processing and situational awareness.

The COM-HPC Client and COM Express Type 6 platforms have integrated safety functions that are important for the fail-safe operation of many mobile vehicles and robots, as well as stationary machinery. As real-time support is mandatory for such applications, the congatec modules can run RTOSes such as Real Time Linux and Wind River VxWorks, and provide native support from Real-Time Systems’ hypervisor technology, which is also officially supported by Intel.

Further real-time capabilities include Intel Time Coordinated Computing (Intel TCC) and Time Sensitive Networking (TSN) for real-time connected IIoT/industry 4.0 gateways and edge computing devices. Enhanced security features that help to protect systems against attacks make these platforms ideal candidates for all types of critical customer applications in factories and utilities.

The conga-HPC/cTLH COM-HPC Client Size B modules (120mm x 120mm), as well as the conga-TS570 COM Express Basic Type 6 modules (125mm x 95mm) will be available with new scalable 11th Gen Intel Core, Xeon and Celeron processors, with selected variants even for extreme temperatures ranging from -40 to +85°C. Both form factors support up to 128 GB DDR4 SO-DIMM memory with 3200 MT/s and optional ECC. To connect peripherals with massive bandwidth the COM-HPC modules support 20 PCIe Gen 4 lanes (x16 and x4), and the COM Express versions support 16 PCIe lanes. In addition, designers can leverage 20 PCIe Gen 3 lanes with COM-HPC, and 8 PCIe Gen 3 lanes on COM Express.

To support ultra-fast NVMe SSD, the COM-HPC module provides 1x PCIe x4 interface to the carrier board. The COM Express board has NVMe SSD even onboard for optimum utilization of all native Gen 4 lanes supported by the new processor. Further storage media can be connected via 2x SATA Gen 3 on COM-HPC, and 4x SATA on COM Express.

The COM-HPC module has two USB 4.0, two USB 3.2 Gen 2, and eight USB 2.0 interfaces, while the COM Express module has four USB 3.2 Gen 2 and eight USB 2.0 interfaces in compliance to the PICMG specification. For networking, the COM-HPC module has two 2.5 GbE, compared to ne GbE on the COM Express module, and both support TSN.

Board support packages are provided for all leading RTOSes, including hypervisor support from Real-Time Systems as well as Linux, Windows and Android.

www.congatec.com/en/products/com-hpc/conga-hpcctlh/; www.congatec.com/en/products/com-express-type-6/conga-ts570/

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