System on module

File:ARMSoCBlockDiagram.png

Typical SOC use in a System on a Module circuit Board

File:SOMblk.png

SOM Block diagram

A system on a module (SOM) is a Board level circuit that integrates a system function in a single module. This is analogous to a system as referred to in the life sciences as in the human body - digestive-system, and nervous system that go to form functional humans or organisms. The organism being an equivalent of a computer, robot, automotive etc. It may integrate digital and analog functions on a single board. A typical application is in the area of embedded systems. Unlike a Single Board computer, SOM serves a special function like a SoC. The device integrated on the SOM typically requires a high level of interconnection for reasons such as speed, timing, bus-width etc., in a highly integrated module. There are benefits in building an SOM, as for SoC, one notable result is to reduce the cost of the base board or the main PCB. A major advantage of SOM is design-reuse and that it can be integrated into many embedded computer applications.

History

This acronym SOM has its roots in the Blade based modules. In the mid 80's, when VME blades used daughter/Mezzanine modules, these were commonly referred to as System On a Module (SOM). These SOM's performed specific functions such as Compute functions and Data acquisition functions. SOM's were and still are extensively used by SUN Microsystems, Motorola, Xerox, DEC, and IBM in their Blade computers.

Design

SOM's are not complete embedded computers built on a single circuit board. Like an SOC, the SOM requires a baseboard to complete its design as a functional computer system.

A typical SOM consists of:

• a microcontroller, microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP) core – multiprocessor SoCs (MPSoC) have more than one processor core
• memory blocks including a selection of ROM, RAM, EEPROM and/or flash memory
• timing sources
• industry standards interface such as USB, FireWire, Ethernet, USART, SPI
• peripherals including counter-timers, real-time timers and power-on reset generators
• analog interfaces including ADCs and DACs
• voltage regulators and power management circuits

Application using SOM

• Blade servers
• Storage blades
• Medical devices
• Data acquisition
• Network Appliances
• Internet of Things

See also

• VPX
• VXS
• CompactPCI
• Futurebus
• PCI Mezzanine Card

References

• ANSI/IEEE Std 1014-1987 and ANSI/VITA 1-1994
• 1386-2001 - IEEE Standard for a Common Mezzanine Card Family: CMC
• Standard ANSI/VITA 46.0-2007
• http://opensystemsmedia.com/hall-of-fame/vita-technologies/pci-mezzanine-cards