As described in the previous blog of this series, the COM-HPC specification now defines a smaller COM-HPC Mini size. The trade off for this shrink is the use of a single 400-pin connector, half the pin count of COM-HPC Client. The pinout was adjusted for the Mini to maintain a maximum of interfaces for low power implementations. 

Mini Pinout

Despite having a lower pin count compared to COM Express Type 6, the COM-HPC Mini boasts a rich feature set that includes the latest I/Os like USB4 and SoundWire. It also offers more Ethernet ports, with 2x NBaseT and 2x RGMII shared with PCIe lanes. For connecting mass storage devices, the almost legacy SATA interface is still supported, also sharing PCIe lanes. However, most applications will likely utilize the much faster NVME interface via dedicated PCIe lanes. 

To enable the greatest flexibility while conserving pins, 8 high-speed data lanes are shared among DDI (Digital Display Interface), USB 3.x, and USB4. The specification document defines the following standard sharing combinations to reach maximum interoperability: 

In my next post I will go to the next level and talk about the optimized cooling solutions for COM-HPC Mini. So stay cool and stay tuned... 

What’s new in COM-HPC revision 1.20?

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