MEN Mikro Elektronik Rugged COM Express (RCE) module CB30C

The Rugged COM Express (RCE) module CB30C has been developed according to railway standards EN 50128 (software) and EN 50129 (hardware) and has received SIL 2 certification from TÜV SÜD. Its robust design makes it particularly suitable for safety-critical applications, eg, rail or bus transport, as well as demanding industrial applications.

To achieve the SIL 2 level, the board is monitored by a specially developed CPLD (complex programmable logic device) supervisor. In case the defined operating conditions like the supply voltage or temperature reach the critical limits, the safe supervisor interrupts the power to the subsystem, ensuring all external communications are stopped. With the onboard event logger, error states can be read out and analysed.

According to the Rugged COM Express standard, the module is embedded in a solid aluminium frame protecting the electronics against environmental impacts like humidity, dust or electromagnetic radiation and supporting operation in the temperature range of -40 to +85°C via conduction cooling. A COM Express version without the aluminium frame is also on offer. The complete design is compliant to the EN 50155 railway standard.

Based on the QorIQ single-core P1013 or dual-core P1022 processor from NXP, the product runs at up to 1 GHz and has good performance per watt. It offers ample I/O functionality, including up to three Gigabit Ethernet and PCI Express interfaces, two SATA channels, up to four USB ports and UARTs.