COMe-cWL6 – User Guide Rev. 1.4
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1.5.
COM Express® Benefits
COM Express® defines a Computer-On-Module, or COM, with all the components necessary for a bootable host
computer, packaged as a highly integrated computer. All Kontron COM Express® modules are very compact and
feature a standardized form factor and a standardized connector layout that carry a specified set of signals. Each
COM is based on the COM Express® specification. This standardization allows designers to create a single-system
baseboard that can accept present and future COM Express® modules.
The baseboard designer can optimize exactly how each of these functions implements physically. Designers can
place connectors precisely where needed for the application, on a baseboard optimally designed to fit a system’s
packaging.
A single baseboard design can use a range of COM Express® modules with different sizes and pinouts. This flexibility
differentiates products at various price and performance points and provides a built-in upgrade path when designing
future-proof systems. The modularity of a COM Express® solution also ensures against obsolescence when computer
technology evolves. A properly designed COM Express® baseboard can work with several successive generations of
COM Express® modules.
A COM Express® baseboard design has many advantages of a customized computer-board design and, additionally,
delivers better obsolescence protection, heavily reduced engineering effort, and faster time to market.