A proposal for a COM express adapter for energy profiling and long-time failure analysis

Since it is possible to use x86 based modules in embedded projects, the complexity of the Embedded World has increased dramatically. This paper describes the results of our current research work, which is aimed at helping the OEM customer of embedded modules, as well as the developers, to track down errors. The paper shows it is possible to monitor the electric power consumption of an embedded module in order to perform instant online energy profiling. The proposed concept consists of an adapter which includes a FPGA and an ARM 7 microcontroller to perform the measurements as well as the data collection. This adapter is put between the x86 “Computer on Module” (which is the Device Under Test (DUT)) and the backplane where it has access to all important buses and signals. The collected data can be accessed remotely via Ethernet and is provided to the DUT using the standardized EC Application Programming Interface (API) or standard bus systems, such as the I2C. The presented work focuses on the widely-used PICMG COM Express Standard but the work can be adapted to other module standards, too.