A System-on-Module (SOM) is a compact electronic board that integrates all essential components of a computer system – CPU, RAM, storage, communication chips and interfaces. Mounted onto a carrier board (baseboard) that provides connectors, power and application-specific components, it forms a complete, ready-to-use hardware platform. The term Computer-on-Module (COM) describes the same concept and is often used for modules built to industry standards such as COM Express, Qseven and SMARC.
Using a SOM or COM greatly reduces development time and cost, lets product developers focus on application-specific design instead of building electronics from scratch, and simplifies future upgrades of the platform. Such modules often support extended temperature ranges and robust environments.
They are widely used in industrial automation, HMI systems, medical and defense applications, POS systems, kiosks, IoT, robotics and consumer electronics. Compared with single-board computers (SBCs), SOMs require a carrier board, which gives designers more freedom to tailor the device to the application’s requirements.
