VITA 59 RCE Rugged COM Express Ensures Robust COMs in Harsh Environments

BLUE BELL, Pa. January 2014 – The new VITA 59 standard enables the proven COM Express technology to be used in mission-critical and harsh environments. New mechanical parameters guarantee operation across an extended temperature range, while providing high shock and vibration resistance as well as EMC protection.

As a new VITA standard, Rugged COM Express is based on the well-known and wide-spread PICMG standard COM.0, or COM Express. Rugged COM Express, or VITA 59 RCE, has been developed for mission-critical applications that demand higher requirements for thermal design, shock/vibration, environmental influences and EMC protection than are available with PICMG COM.0.

Rugged COM Express adds PCB wings for mounting the electronics inside a conduction cooled aluminum (CCA) frame. When combined with passive cooling, the CCA technology enables electronics to work in high temperature ranges without the need for high-maintenance fans.

One railway application which benefits from the easy extension of the temperature range is a locomotive drive control that requires full EN 50155 compliance and an extended temperature range from -40°C to +125°C with passive cooling.

The sturdy metal frame and firmly secured electronics inside the unit deliver high resistance against shock and vibration. This is an essential advantage in the harsh mining environment. The electronics within a mining machine’s IP67 compliant control platform have to withstand extremely high vibrations of up to 5G and must be shock proof for up to 50G. VITA 59 RCE is the perfect choice.

Medical systems often need very low EMC values. Thanks to the metal cover on top and on all four sides as well as the bottom cover from the carrier board, the Rugged COM Express standard provides 100% EMC protection. Systems with dual-redundant CPUs – e.g., one for processing and one for HMI control – can communicate undisturbed using Rugged COM Express.

Another advantage of the cover frame is that, in combination with conformal coating, a sealed enclosure is formed, preventing the intrusion of environmental elements such as dust, chemicals and humidity.

Finally many applications – especially in the railway and avionics market – require long-term-availability of up to 30 years. This is ensured by the EOL management at MEN Micro and gives users reliable planning options and saves costs because of longer life-times of the systems.

Rugged COM Express provides the required computing functions for harsh environments while keeping an eye on complete system requirements and thus saving significant cost for the overall solution. As typical quantities in these kinds of applications are significantly lower and often do not allow customized designs, Rugged COM Express provides a cost-effective alternative for flexible, yet rugged, systems.

Highlights of new VITA Rugged COM Express standard:

Extended temperature range
Shock/vibration resistant
EMC protection
Withstands dust, humidity, chemical influences
Cost-effective system solutions for small quantities

For additional information, visit http://www.menmicro.com/products/computer-on-modules,rugged-com-express,rce.html or contact Stephen Cunha, Phone: 215-542-9575; E-mail: Stephen.Cunha@menmicro.com.

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About MEN Micro Inc.

Since its founding, MEN Micro has focused on innovation, reliability and flexibility to develop standard and custom computing solutions that employ the highest technology levels. The company’s computing solutions are used in harsh mission- and safety-critical environments found in the transportation (rail, road, air, sea) and industrial (automation, power & energy, medical, mining) markets.

With more than 250 employees worldwide, MEN Micro provides a robust offering of highly reliable embedded COTS boards, rugged COMs, scalable box PCs, safe computers and supporting devices widely used in extreme environmental conditions.

In addition to its full customization support, the company’s core competencies include x86 and RISC processor architectures, development rules for safe applications, analog I/O design, FPGA technology and Windows, Linux and real-time operating systems as well as RAMS and obsolescence management.

The company is certified to ISO 9001, ISO 14001 (environment), EN 9100 (aerospace) and IRIS (railway) quality management systems, provides systems according to E1 (road traffic) requirements and is a member of several industry associations, including VITA and PICMG.