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from the what-will-they-think-of-next? dept.
Ras Pi foundation announces a new product: the compute module.
The compute module contains the guts of a Raspberry Pi (the BCM2835 processor and 512Mbyte of RAM) as well as a 4Gbyte eMMC Flash device (which is the equivalent of the SD card in the Pi). This is all integrated on to a small 67.6x30mm board which fits into a standard DDR2 SODIMM connector (the same type of connector as used for laptop memory). The Flash memory is connected directly to the processor on the board, but the remaining processor interfaces are available to the user via the connector pins.
While not yet what I imagined by only the name i.e a unit to build a shoebox-sized Beowolf cluster of 1K-RasPi-cores the new form factor and pin-out should make this endeavour easier (ahem... for someone skilled in PCB design, EE practician, and a soldering-fu master that has achieved enlightenment... not quite my profile).
(Score: 3, Insightful) by egcagrac0 on Thursday April 10 2014, @01:28AM
The new form factor is smaller. The connector on the compute module is (almost) cheap-as-free (card edge connectors are), the mating connector is ubiquitous and similarly cheap.
Since almost everything is stripped off, there are more I/O lines available.
This isn't so much targeted at hobbyist users as people in industry who might embed it into something else, and only have to design a much simpler interface board, instead of a whole system.