Boston, MA, September 22, 2009 - The Small Form Factor Special Interest Group (SFFSIG), a collaboration of leading suppliers of embedded component, board and system technologies, today announced the availability of revision 1.0 of both the Pico-ITXe and Pico-I/O Specifications for small, rugged, stackable embedded systems.
The Pico-ITXe Specification builds on the momentum of the popular, but defacto and unexpandable Pico-ITX standard to enable stackable I/O expansion using SFF-SIG’s flexible SUMIT (Stackable Unified Module Interface Technology™) interface. Pico-ITXe boards are the same size (72 x 100mm) and have the same mounting hole placement as Pico-ITX boards allowing easy migration to support SUMIT-based, stackable I/O modules. To speed and simplify the design of tiny Pico-ITXe SBCs, the Pico ITXe Specification offers an extraordinary level of flexibility unprecedented in other stackable SBC specifications by allowing the Pico I/O module stack to be placed anywhere within the outline of the Pico-ITXe SBC. Two example placements are shown in the Specification.
The Pico-I/O Specification defines small 60x72mm stackable I/O expansion modules for use with Pico-ITXe or, in fact, any other SBC form factor that incorporates SUMIT expansion with Pico-I/O mounting holes. Stackable I/O expansion is implemented using the SUMIT standard introduced by SFFSIG in early 2008. Through the inclusion of one or two 52-pin SUMIT Connectors, a Pico-
ITXe SBC can provide PCI Express™ (up to five x1 lanes or two x1 and 1 x4 lanes), four USB 2.0, LPC, I2C and/or SPI interfaces to the Pico-I/O modules. The Pico-ITXe designer has the flexibility to provide all or any subset of these interfaces. A Pico-I/O module may be implemented using any one or more of these interfaces.
In anticipation of the release of these Specifications, a Pico-ITXe SBC is already available from member company VIA Technologies, and Pico-I/O modules are available from
member companies ACCES-I/O and WinSystems as well as VIA.
Both Specifications are free and available online at the SFF-SIG’s website. Companies
Pico-ITXe, Pico-I/O and SUMIT Specifications should contact the SFF-SIG at info@sffsig.
org. The Pico-ITXe and Pico-I/O Specifications may be downloaded from www.sffsig.
org/picoitx.html.
About the Small Form Factor SIG
The Small Form Factor Special Interest Group is an international organization devoted to
identifying, creating, and promoting standards that help electronics system and device
blocks in their products, and protect their investments. Benefits of small form factor
products include smaller size, reduced power consumption (eco-friendly, “green”
products), and greater reliability compared to larger legacy products.
The SIG’s philosophy is to embrace the latest technologies, as well as maintain legacy
compatibility and enable smooth transition solutions to next-generation interfaces. For
more information about the SFF SIG, visit www.sff-sig.org
