The PICMG 1.3 architecture, explained
SHB Express: in the industrial PC the CPU sits on a removable board and the slots on a passive backplane — PCI Express and PCI together. Here you find the logic, the 1.x family and where the catalog starts.
What PICMG 1.3 is: the CPU is a board, not the motherboard
PICMG 1.3 — SHB Express — flips the motherboard logic: the processor lives on a removable System Host Board, and the expansion slots sit on a passive backplane with PCI Express and PCI.
The advantages are operational: a CPU failure is repaired by swapping a board instead of the whole system, the passive backplane almost never fails, and the same rack mechanics host successive SHB generations. The backplane is chosen for the application — how many PCIe slots, how many legacy PCI — and acquisition or control boards that live for decades still find their place.
The family comes from afar: PICMG 1.0 (1994) did the same with PCI and ISA, and stays in the catalog for installed bases that still speak ISA. On this architecture are built 1U to 4U rack industrial PCs — with SHBs following the Intel Core generations — and test and inspection workstations.
The service: custom servers and workstations How the engineering team works
What the specification says
The 1.x family, item by item
Two generations of passive backplane, one logic.3 entries
PICMG 1.0
1994 · PCI/ISA
The first CPU/backplane separation: PCI and ISA slots on a passive backplane. It remains the road for installed bases with ISA boards no modern motherboard hosts anymore.
PICMG 1.3
2005 · SHB Express, PCIe/PCI
It brings PCI Express to the backplane: the SHB routes PCIe lanes to the slots — typically one x16 plus several x4/x1 — alongside PCI. SHBs track Intel desktop/server platforms, and the system upgrades by swapping one board.
Il backplane passivo
The concept
No active components where all the traffic flows: fewer failures, MTTR in minutes, and the freedom to choose the slot count for the application instead of accepting the motherboard's.
The PICMG 1.3 catalog starts here
PICMG 1.3 SBCs & Backplanes
PICMG 1.3 backplanes
Industrial PCs with PICMG1.3 Backplane [PCIe/PCI]
Where PICMG 1.3 works
Production lines, test and inspection: where downtime costs.
Nearby architectures
The PICMG family and the board-based alternatives.
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