PICMG released the COM-HPC Platform Management Interface (PMI) specification, which provides a framework of remote and out-of-band platform management features for COM-HPC Computer-on-Module based edge computing designs. Available for free download on the PICMG website, the solution is an open Computer-On-Module (COM) form factor standard offering high-end I/O bandwidth for demanding edge computing applications. Standard COM-HPC modules plug into an application-specific carrier board to accelerate design cycles, reduce costs, and increase ROI.
“The dedicated modular system management interface, which gives remote management access to embedded systems – even out-of-band – is another industry first introduced by COM-HPC,” explains Christian Eder of congatec, the chairman of the COM-HPC committee. “Thanks to this feature, OEMs and users will be able to ensure highest levels of reliability, availability, maintainability, and safety (RAMS) for their worldwide deployments of distributed network infrastructure equipment and edge/fog computing servers as well as IIoT gateways and clients. For individual needs, these COM functions can be expanded via an optional board management controller on the carrier board. This provides OEMs with a modular framework of uniform remote management functions that can be flexibly scaled to specific requirements.”
The COM-HPC PMI specification is a supplement to the COM-HPC open standard, adapting the Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) specifications to COM-HPC designs and also touches the implementation of Redfish features. IPMI is a collection of side-band/out-of-band management commands for system interaction, usually running on a management controller IC accessed via a network connection, serial interface, and/or LPC/eSPI. Still under active development, the Redfish standard provides a Representational State Transfer (RESTful) interface for the management of systems. Managed by DMTF, Redfish evolves as more use cases are discovered.
The COM-HPC Platform Management Interface specification is available on the PICMG website at:
