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Critical Link Launches World’s First AI-Driven SOM Recommendation Engine, Powered by Rapidflare

Critical Link LLC, a leader in system-on-module solutions, has introduced the world’s first AI-driven System on Module Recommendation Engine, powered by Rapidflare’s Rapid Product Selection Agent. The new engine advances Critical Link’s mission to help customers bring embedded products to market faster and more cost-effectively.

In the electronics industry, selecting the right product often requires manually comparing hundreds of pages of datasheets or relying on rigid parametric search tools. Critical Link’s SOM Recommendation Engine is set to change that. With Rapidflare’s conversational AI agent, customers can describe their requirements in natural language and receive tailored recommendations in a fraction of the time.

“For years customers have asked for a better way to find the right SOM for their application. Launching this AI-driven engine with Rapidflare’s technology is a game changer,” said Amber Thousand, Sr. Director of Marketing at Critical Link. “Their accuracy, domain expertise, and speed of integration made them the clear choice to support our mission.”

Unlike generic AI agents, Rapidflare’s technology is purpose-built for complex product selection workflows. It combines knowledge graph-based reasoning, domain-specific intelligence, and industry guardrails to deliver recommendations that are both fast and reliable for electronics teams.

“The best partnerships happen when your mission aligns with your partner’s mission,” said Navanee Sundaramoorthy, CEO and Founder at Rapidflare. “We’re proud to partner with Critical Link to help make SOM product selection more seamless, intuitive, and efficient for their team and customers.”

Beyond accelerating product selection, the AI engine gives engineers a new way to engage with Critical Link. “We’ve always offered thorough documentation and product support to customers via our website, our engineering wiki, and personal contact. Adding the SOM Recommendation Engine creates a more efficient path for self-discovery, which we see as a growing trend,” said Thousand. “Together, Rapidflare and Critical Link are combining their strengths to make the journey from concept to product faster, smarter, and more closely aligned with customer needs.”

To explore Critical Link’s SOM Recommendation Engine, visit https://www.criticallink.com/som-recommendation-ai-agent/. To learn more about Rapidflare and its AI-powered product selection solutions, visit Rapidflare’s website: https://www.rapidflare.ai/

About Critical Link
Critical Link designs and manufactures CPU-, FPGA-, and DSP-based system-on-modules (SOMs) for industrial electronic applications. Its production-ready embedded solutions help customers bring products to market faster and at lower cost by reducing development complexity, risk, and time spent building core processing subsystems from scratch. With a focus on product quality, long-term availability, lifecycle support, and close customer engagement, Critical Link serves OEMs across a wide range of industrial and technically demanding applications. For more information, visit the website: criticallink.com

About Rapidflare
Rapidflare builds AI-powered domain specific agents for electronics, semiconductors, and other technically complex industries. Its product intelligence powered AI platform gives teams natural-language access to product and engineering knowledge, making it easier to find accurate answers, support customers, and move faster across critical workflows. Rapidflare multiplies the impact of GTM teams by making critical technical knowledge instantly accessible, helping sales, solutions engineering, product marketing, support, and customer success teams move faster and operate with confidence. For more information, visit rapidflare.ai

Embedded Computing Design Awards Critical Link SOMs Best in Show at Embedded World NA 2025

Critical Link announces Best in Show awards for two of the company’s latest SOMs. 

Embedded Computing Design presented Best in Show awards for two Critical Link SOMs at Embedded World North America 2025. The MitySOM-QC6490, based on Qualcomm’s Dragonwing QCS6490 processor, and the MitySOM-A5E family of products, with Altera’s Agilex 5 E-Series FPGA.

The MitySOM-QC6490 delivers multi-core CPU, GPU, and VPU processors and a host of memory options. The SOM includes on board power supply, and a range of high-speed interfaces all in a 45mm x 45mm package. Developers can leverage the Qualcomm AI Hub, a toolkit for building speech recognition, image classification, text generation, and many other common AI applications.

Next up is Critical Link’s Agilex 5 FPGA family of products, with three powerful offerings: a full-featured system on module, a smaller SOM to address size or budget constrained applications, and a single board computer for ultimate flexibility and speed. The MitySOM-A5E family offers high performance, lower power, and small form factors at the edge.

In addition to designing world-class products, Critical Link delivers solutions customers can count on for long term availability, quality, and design maintenance. We provide a level of support that is unmatched in the industry. And we have fully US-based engineering and production teams. Learn more about what sets Critical Link apart: https://www.criticallink.com/the-critical-difference/.

Visit www.criticallink.com to explore our available products and engineering services. Reach out to us directly anytime at info@criticallink.com to discuss how we can support your next project.

See all of the 2025 Best in Show winners

New Qualcomm System on Modules at Embedded World: Power and Performance of Qualcomm, Now for Broad Market Applications

Critical Link's MitySOM-QC6490 system on module will be running live AI vision-based demos in booth #3065 at Embedded World. The demos leverage open source and proprietary AI models performing single-camera depth estimation, facial recognition, pose estimation, and more.Add Critical Link booth #3065 to your Embedded World must-see list and check out a live demonstration of AI at the edge using our latest family of Qualcomm-based system on modules!

The MitySOM-QC6490/QC5430 family is based on Qualcomm® Dragonwing™ QCS6490 and QCS5430 processors. These system on modules deliver a combination of multi-core CPU, GPU, and VPU processors, a host of memory options, on board power supply, and a range of high-speed interfaces all in a 45mm x 45mm package. Developers also gain access to the Qualcomm AI Hub, a toolkit offering examples for speech recognition, image classification, text generation, and many other common AI applications.

The new MitySOM-QC6490 system on module will be running a series of live AI vision-based demos in Critical Link’s booth at Embedded World. The demos leverage open source and proprietary models performing single-camera depth estimation, facial recognition, pose estimation, and more. Critical Link will be meeting with interested companies about real-world applications of these capabilities and accelerating development to achieve first-to-market status using the MitySOM-QC6490.

All of Critical Link’s MitySOM solutions are designed for high performance industrial applications. Customers can count on long term availability, quality, and design maintenance. Our engineering and production teams are based in the US, and we provide a level of support that is unmatched in the industry. Learn more about what sets Critical Link apart: https://www.criticallink.com/the-critical-difference/.

Embedded World North America is November 4th to 6th in Anaheim, CA. Register today using Critical Link’s promo code CRITIC25, and be sure to visit us at booth #3065. While there, scan your badge for a chance to win a MitySOM Development Kit of your choice.

Not going to Embedded World? Visit www.criticallink.com to explore our available products and engineering services, or reach out to us directly anytime at info@criticallink.com to discuss how we can support your next project.

New Altera Agilex 5 FPGA Solutions at Embedded World: Power/Performance Optimized Solutions for Industrial AI

Visit Critical Link booth #3065 at Embedded World North America this November to learn about our latest family of FPGA system on modules featuring Altera AgilexTM 5!

The MitySOM-A5E family of products includes three different options, each with an array of features to best-fit new customer designs. The MitySOM-A5E offers up to 656KLE FPGA fabric, dual core ARM Cortex-A55 and Cortex-A76, 24 transceivers, dual banks of RAM, and a wide range of user-friendly interfaces. Designs with size or budget constraints can take advantage of the MitySOM-A5E Mini, which features a smaller footprint and lower density devices for a cost optimized solution. Critical Link also offers an Agilex 5 single board computer that provides ultimate flexibility and speed.

Critical Link’s Agilex 5 FPGA family of products are targeted for broad market adoption, particularly for applications needing high performance, lower power, and small form factors at the edge. This includes industrial equipment, test and measurement, communications, video and broadcast, medical devices, and other embedded instrumentation.

Critical Link’s long history of designing industrial-class embedded solutions means customers can count on long term availability, quality, and design maintenance. Our engineering and production teams are based in the US, and we provide a level of support that is unmatched in the industry. Learn more about what sets Critical Link apart: https://www.criticallink.com/the-critical-difference/.

Embedded World North America is November 4th to 6th in Anaheim, CA. Register today using Critical Link’s promo code CRITIC25, and be sure to visit us at booth #3065. While there, scan your badge for a chance to win a MitySOM Development Kit of your choice.

Not going to Embedded World? Visit www.criticallink.com to explore our available products and engineering services, or reach out to us directly anytime at info@criticallink.com to discuss how we can support your next project.

AI at the Edge: Visual Inspection Demo at Embedded World

Defect detection demonstration powered by Critical Link's latest family of Texas Instruments-based system on modules

Visit Critical Link booth #3065 at Embedded World North America this November and see a live defect detection demonstration powered by our latest family of Texas Instruments-based system on modules.

The MitySOM-AM62x/A/P family of modules is based on Texas Instruments Sitara AM62xx, AM62Ax, and AM62Px processors. Each SOM packs a powerful combination of quad core ARM Cortex A53s, Cortex M4F or R5F co-processors, hardware accelerators, a host of memory options, on board power supply, and a range of interfaces. Combined with Texas Instruments Edge AI Studio, which gives access to readily available AI models, developers now have a head start in hardware and AI application development.

Critical Link MitySOM solutions are designed for industrial applications, meaning customers can count on quality and performance, long term availability, and design maintenance. Our engineering and production teams are based in the US, and we provide a level of support that is unmatched in the industry. Learn more about what sets Critical Link apart: https://www.criticallink.com/the-critical-difference/.

Embedded World North America is November 4th to 6th in Anaheim, CA. Register today using Critical Link’s promo code CRITIC25, and be sure to visit us at booth #3065. While there, scan your badge for a chance to win a MitySOM Development Kit of your choice.

Not going to Embedded World? Visit www.criticallink.com to explore our available products and engineering services, or reach out to us directly anytime at info@criticallink.com to discuss how we can support your next project.

Join Critical Link at Arrow University St Louis

We’re excited to get to St Louis this week for another Arrow Electronics event! We’ll be talking about Asymmetric Multiprocessing and AI at the Edge, plus showing our latest MitySOM system on modules. It’s not too late to register – sign up today at https://forms.office.com/r/FpgyLsh0Lb

Can’t make the event? We’re always available to talk with you or your team, and can share our AMP and AI presentation virtually or in person. Just contact us at info@criticallink.com.

Talking AMP and AI at Arrow University in Pittsburgh & Cleveland

Thank you to the Arrow Electronics team in Pittsburgh and Cleveland for having Critical Link at their annual Arrow University events this week! The turnout in these regions is always top notch, and we love talking with local engineers about Leveraging Asymmetric Multiprocessing and AI at the Edge for Scalable Embedded Systems, featuring our latest Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, and Altera-based modules.

Missed the event? We’re always available to talk with you or your team, and can share our AMP and AI presentation virtually or in person. Just contact us at info@criticallink.com.