Sysgo says its “industrial grade” Linux distribution now supports a family of x86-based XTX “computer-on-module” (COM) boards from Congatec. Congatec's XTX processor module family comprises five modules based on Intel and AMD embedded processors, and compatible with ETX and XTX standards.

XTX is an open standard COM format maintained by the XTX Consortium, which was driven early on by Congatec, Advantech, and Ampro. XTX has the same mechanicals and pinouts as the older ETX module standard, but replaces the ISA bus found on ETX's X2 connector with four PCI Express lanes, four SATA channels, two additional USB ports, and other functions.

XTX connector allocaton
(Source: Congatec)
XTX competes with another, more widely-adopted PCI Express-enhanced ETX implementation: COM Express. Differences among ETX, XTX, and COM Express are tabulated here.

Congatec says its XTX boards can be dropped into existing ETX designs that do not use the ISA bus, with only the added X2 signals to consider. Specific Congatec XTX products include:

• Conga-X945:
  • Intel Celeron, Celeron ULV, Core Duo, and Core 2 Duo processors up to 2 x 1.5GHz
  • Up to 2GB DDR2 667 SODIMM
  • Intel 945 chipset with integrated graphics
  • 4 x PCI Express lanes and SATA

• Conga-X915:
  • Celeron M 600 to Pentium M processor up to 2.0GHz
  • Up to 1GB DDR2533 SODIMM
  • Intel 915 chipset with integrated graphics
  • 4 x PCI Express lanes and SATA

• Conga-X855:
  • Celeron M 600MHz to Pentium M up to 1.8GHz
  • Up to 2GB DDR200/266 SODIMM
  • Intel 855GME chipset with integrated graphics
  • SATA

• Conga-X852:
  • Intel Celeron M 600 to Pentium M up to 1.4GHz
  • Up to 1GB DDR200/266 SODIMM
  • Intel 852GM chipset
  • SATA

• Conga-XLX:
  • AMD Geode LX800 processor
  • Up to 1GB PC2700 SODIMM
  • AMD CS5538 companion chip
  • 2 x SATA, LPC, digital audio interface, fan control

Sysgo says its ELinOS support package for the Congatec XTX products spares users the effort of porting Linux to the boards. The company also plans to add support for the Congatec boards to its Linux-friendly PikeOS RTOS in the future, it says.

Walter Grossgarten, partner manager at Sysgo, stated, “We are poised to support Congatec in all its embedded applications, from the least demanding to the most demanding, hard real-time, safety-critical systems.”

Christian Schubert, CEO of Congatec, added, “The increasing demand for Embedded Linux took us to the point where we need a strong partner in the Embedded Linux and real-time operating system business.”

Availability

Support for Congatec's XTX boards is available now in Sysgo's ELinOS distribution. Support will be added to Sysgo's PikeOS RTOS later.

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