Qseven, a

computer-on-module A computer-on-module (COM) is a type of single-board computer (SBC), a subtype of an embedded computer system. An extension of the concept of System on a chip, system on chip (SoC) and system in package (SiP), COM lies between a full-up computer ...

(COM) form factor, is a small, highly integrated computer module that can be used in a design application much like an integrated circuit component. It is smaller than other computer-on-module standards such as

COM Express COM Express is a form factor for computer-on-modules (COMs), which are highly integrated and compact computers that can be used in design applications much like integrated circuit components. Each module integrates core CPU and memory functionali ...

, ETX or XTX and is limited to very low power consuming CPUs. The maximum power consumption should be no more than 12 watts.

Specification

The name comes from the word "quadratic" due to the square shape of the original module, 70 mm on a side. Qseven was specified by Congatec, MSC and SECO in July 2008 as an independent standard for industry-level applications. Other companies based in Europe such as Kontron adopted the standard, but after a few years it had not yet been popular in the USA. The Qseven specification is hosted by the Standardization Group for Embedded Technologies (SGeT), which took over from the original Qseven consortium in 2013. The revision 2.0 was released 9 September 2012, and 2.1 on 25 February 2016. The Qseven design guide provides information for designing a custom system carrier board for Qseven modules. It includes reference schematics for the external circuitry required to implement various peripheral functions. It also explains how to extend the supported buses and how to add additional peripherals and expansion slots to a Qseven-based system. It's available from the Qseven consortium webpage. Since the release of Specification 1.20 (10 September 2010) Qseven modules can be based on

x86 x86 (also known as 80x86 or the 8086 family) is a family of complex instruction set computer (CISC) instruction set architectures initially developed by Intel, based on the 8086 microprocessor and its 8-bit-external-bus variant, the 8088. Th ...

ARM In human anatomy, the arm refers to the upper limb in common usage, although academically the term specifically means the upper arm between the glenohumeral joint (shoulder joint) and the elbow joint. The distal part of the upper limb between ...

architectures.

Interfaces

The Qseven specification defines a rich set of legacy-free interfaces. Older interfaces like PCI, ISA,

RS-232 In telecommunications, RS-232 or Recommended Standard 232 is a standard introduced in 1960 for serial communication transmission of data. It formally defines signals connecting between a ''DTE'' (''data terminal equipment'') such as a compu ...

or EIDE are not supported. * 4×

PCI Express PCI Express (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express), officially abbreviated as PCIe, is a high-speed standard used to connect hardware components inside computers. It is designed to replace older expansion bus standards such as Peripher ...

×1 lanes * 2×

SATA SATA (Serial AT Attachment) is a computer bus interface that connects host bus adapters to mass storage devices such as hard disk drives, optical drives, and solid-state drives. Serial ATA succeeded the earlier Parallel ATA (PATA) standard ...

* 8×

USB Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard, developed by USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), for digital data transmission and power delivery between many types of electronics. It specifies the architecture, in particular the physical ...

2.0 * 1× 1000BaseT

Ethernet Ethernet ( ) is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 198 ...

* 1× SDIO 4-bit * Low-voltage differential signaling (LVDS) 2× 24-bit * SDVO /

HDMI High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is a proprietary digital interface used to transmit high-quality video and audio signals between devices. It is commonly used to connect devices such as televisions, computer monitors, projectors, gam ...

DisplayPort DisplayPort (DP) is a digital interface used to connect a video source, such as a Personal computer, computer, to a display device like a Computer monitor, monitor. Developed by the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA), it can also car ...

(shared) * HDA (High Definition Audio) *

I²C I2C (Inter-Integrated Circuit; pronounced as "" or ""), alternatively known as I2C and IIC, is a synchronous, multi-master/multi-slave, single-ended, serial communication bus invented in 1980 by Philips Semiconductors (now NXP Semiconduct ...

Bus * Low Pin Count bus *

CAN bus A controller area network bus (CAN bus) is a vehicle bus standard designed to enable efficient communication primarily between electronic control units (ECUs). Originally developed to reduce the complexity and cost of electrical wiring in auto ...

(Controller–area network) *

Serial Peripheral Interface Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) is a de facto standard (with many variants) for synchronous serial communication, used primarily in embedded systems for short-distance wired communication between integrated circuits. SPI follows a master� ...

(SPI) bus

Sizes

* 70 mm × 70 mm; * 70 mm × 40 mm.

Connector

Qseven uses one 230 pin MXM2 SMT edge connector to connect all power and signal lanes to the carrier board. This connector is available from multiple vendors at different heights (5.5 mm and 7.8 mm).

References

External links