The SMARC architecture, explained

Smart Mobility Architecture: the SGET Computer-on-Module for low-power, low-cost, high-performance applications — ARM and x86, typically under 6 W. Here you find the standard, the revisions and the catalog.

What SMARC is: the module that comes from mobile

SMARC — Smart Mobility Architecture — is the small form factor Computer-on-Module definition targeting applications that require low power, low cost and high performance.

Modules typically use ARM SoCs similar or identical to those in tablets and smartphones, but the specification also allows low-power x86 and other RISC CPUs; the typical power envelope stays under 6 W. The module hosts CPU, DRAM, boot flash, power sequencing, GbE and a single-channel LVDS display transmitter; everything else — audio, touch, wireless — lives on the application carrier board.

The standard was born as ULP-COM and became SMARC under SGET, the Standardization Group for Embedded Technologies. Two sizes: 82×50 and 82×80 mm, with 314 edge fingers on a 0.5 mm connector. The modular approach delivers scalability, time-to-market and upgradability while keeping cost, power and size low.

The two SMARC sizes compared: full size module 82×80 mm and short 82×50 mm — The two sizes in the specification, on the same connector: full size 82×80 mm and short 82×50 mm. What changes is the board area — SoC, DRAM, power — not the interface to the carrier: the edge connector has 314 contacts at 0.5 mm pitch in both cases.

Comparison table of SMARC, Qseven and COM Express: architectures, contacts, supplies and sizes — SMARC next to the other two COM definitions: 314 MXM3 contacts, a single 3.3~5 V supply and 1.8 V I/O, against Qseven's 230 MXM contacts (5 V, 3.3 V I/O) and COM Express's 220 pins — one or two connectors — (12 V, 3.3 V I/O). The power line is what decides: SMARC and Qseven stay in low power, COM Express goes up to server-class CPUs and grows accordingly, from 84×55 to 125×95 mm.

The service: COM-based SWaP systems How the engineering team works

What the specification says

The revisions, item by item

Each revision widens the interfaces without breaking existing carriers.3 entries

SMARC 1.1

The ULP-COM base

The original definition: the energy-saving interfaces typical of the ARM world — parallel LCD, MIPI for cameras, SPI, I2S, I2C — alongside the classic USB, SATA and PCI Express.

SMARC 2.0

Up to 4 displays · more USB and PCIe

It adds DP++ up to Ultra HD/4K, upgrades LVDS to dual channel, moves to 6× USB 2.0 + 2× USB 3.0, 2× GbE with IEEE 1588 and 4 PCIe lanes. Carriers with single-channel LVDS and HDMI stay compatible.

SMARC 2.1

2020 · SerDes · 4 MIPI-CSI cameras · AIoM

Fully backward compatible with 2.0: it adds SerDes for Ethernet PHYs on the carrier, up to 4 MIPI-CSI camera inputs and up to 4 GbE ports. It is the revision that positions SMARC as the AI-on-Module standard for vision: robotics, autonomous vehicles, GigE Vision cameras.

The interfaces coming out of the SMARC edge connector: USB 2.0 and 3.0, HDMI/DP++, LVDS/eDP, GbE, PCIe — What comes out of the edge connector in revision 2.0, interface by interface: 6× USB 2.0, 1× HDMI/DP++, 1× DP++, 2× LVDS/eDP/DSI, 2× USB 3.0, 2× GbE and 4× PCIe. Audio, touch and wireless are not there because they are not on the module: they live on the carrier, and that is where the design becomes application-specific.

Drawing of the SMARC module TOP side with the preferred area for the camera feature connector — The specification does not stop at the edge connector: on the TOP side it marks the preferred area for the camera feature connector, the one carrying the MIPI-CSI inputs that revision 2.1 raised to four. It is a recommendation, not a requirement, but it is what makes the connector land in the same place across modules from different vendors.

Where SMARC works

Portable and stationary systems where watts, footprint and vision matter.

Transport & railway

Onboard train, signaling and vehicles.

Industrial automation

Line control, robotic cells and machine-side HMIs.

markets served

Aerospace & defense, transport & railway, industrial automation: applications, references and qualifications.

All markets

The Computer-on-Module family, from low power to server class.

QsevenThe 70 mm square: 230 pins, 5 volts, low power's middle road.COM ExpressComputing as a component: pinout types and four PICMG sizes.COM-HPCThe server-class COM: 800 pins, PCIe Gen5, up to a terabyte of RAM.

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