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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.
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.
The baseboard may consist of an off-the-shelf board already in our catalog or a custom one, designed to any shape and utilizing technology from our extensive library of power and I/O circuits. Customer circuitry can also be included on the baseboard.
A COM baseboard design can reduce a stack of PC/104 I/O modules into a single board computer!
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.
Benefits of COM Baseboards include:
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
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