Press Releases

About ESMexpress

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German version of this release

2012-03-30

ESMexpress® COMs to Become ANSI Standard, Compatible with COM Express™

Nuremberg, Germany – March 30, 2012. MEN Mikro Elektronik has applied for resumption of the standardization activities for VITA 59, Rugged System-On-Module Express RSE in a statement of work (SOW) with the VITA Standards Organization (VSO). The computer-on-modules (COMs) from MEN known as ESMexpress® have been successful for several years now and are planned to become an official ANSI standard after the termination of the specification work within the next 12 months.

ESMexpress® COMs to Become an ANSI Standard

ANSI/VITA 59 defines a COM technology that is especially designed for application in harsh and (safety) critical environments. By contrast to other COM specifications, conduction cooling and complete encapsulation of the electronic components inside a metal housing are an integral part of the new standard. Additionally, it will comply with standards like RTCA/DO-254 to allow requirement tracing, and it will be based on common aeronautical language.

ESMexpress® COMs to Become Compatible with COM Express™

The statement of work for the resumption of standardization also includes a significant extension of the existing specification. In the future it will be possible to develop COMs based on ANSI/VITA 59 which will also be compatible with PICMG COM.0. However, to avoid an overflowing diversity of form factors and pin assignments, only one COM Express™ variation will be supported, which – based on ANSI/VITA 59 – supports only serial interconnects such as PCI Express®, Ethernet, SATA etc. The specification expressly defines that legacy interfaces like PCI or non-standardized interfaces like LPC shall not be used. This will guarantee that every COM that complies with ANSI/VITA 59 can also be used on any carrier complying with this standard.

The Fine Line between Specification and Standard

Contrary to technology specifications or de-facto standards, ANSI standards are genuine standards issued by authorized agencies. ANSI (American National Standards Institute) is the American agency for the standardization of industrial procedures and is a member of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The German DIN standard or European EN standard are equivalents of ANSI.

MEN Mikro Elektronik – Profile and Mission

Embedded Solutions - Rugged Computer Boards and Systems for Harsh, Mobile and Mission-Critical Environments

Since its foundation in 1982 our company has designed and manufactured failure-safe computer boards and systems for extreme environmental conditions in industrial and safety-critical embedded applications.

With over 250 employees and subsidiaries in France and the USA we have an annual revenue of nearly 50 million Euros with an export share of more than 40%. Customized solutions make for more than half of our revenue. Starting with the development phase, through the design-in and beyond we are at our customer's disposal with advice and support. In addition the standard product range includes far more than 100 different computer boards with x86 and PowerPC® technology with the corresponding BIOS, BSP and driver software, manifold I/O boards and completely configured systems based on:

• CompactPCI®, CompactPCI® PlusIO, CompactPCI® Serial and VMEbus SBCs
• Safe computer assemblies, certifiable according to DAL and SIL
• Box PCs and panel PCs
• ESMexpress®, ESMini™ and ESM™ Computer-On-Modules
• PMC, XMC and M-Modules™ as system-independent mezzanine I/O standards
• Network components, gateways and Ethernet switches

The consistent use of FPGA technology gives us high flexibility when configuring customized and standard products.

Our products are used worldwide as control, measuring, test or simulation computers in all kinds of embedded applications. These are extremely safety-critical mobile markets like railway, buses, agricultural machines, commercial vehicles, avionics and shipbuilding as well as other mission-critical applications in industrial automation, power generation, mining and medical engineering. Computer systems in such applications are in operation up to 24 hours every day and often need to be available for 10 years and longer. Ideally no failures must occur to avoid costly downtimes of machines or danger to human life.

We are certified to EN 9100:2009 (aerospace), IRIS (railway), e1 (road traffic), ISO 9001:2008 (quality management) and ISO 14001:2005 (environmental management) in order to meet the severe quality requirements in critical applications and to offer our customers the highest quality in products and services while considering environmental protection and occupational safety on the basis of a recognized quality management system.

Our aim is to constantly improve and to provide the highest technology and innovation level. Our business ethics are determined by the principles of the United Nations' Global Compact Initiative (human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption).

MEN press documents are archived on this web site for historical purposes. Information in the documents is accurate at the time of release. However, product specifications and other specific information may change over time. Some information about product pricing and availability may be limited to specific geographic areas and may differ in other areas. Information as stated in the document may or may not be in effect after the date of the release.
In addition, press documents may contain statements that are forward-looking. These statements are based on current expectations as of the date of a particular release. Actual results may differ materially from those projected because of a number of risks and uncertainties.