A new i.MX 8M SBC product idea…
The i.MX 8M is an industry-leading application processor that based on Arm® Cortex®-A53 and Cortex-M4 cores provide industry-leading audio, voice, and video processing for applications that scale from consumer home audio to industrial building automation and mobile computers.
During the past several years, we have released some SBC products such as the SeeedStudio Beaglebone Green, the ODYSSEY – STM32MP157C, the ODYSSEY – X86J4105, the NPi-i.MX6ULL. But none of them could have similar performance as the i.MX 8M.
Recently, we’ve seen many customer needs for this processor for high-end applications regarding edge computing, so we are considering to make an SBC based on this i.MX 8M processor.
Here is a simple idea of the form factor, peripherals, and the layout.
And the specification is planned as blow.
Basic:
- Processor: NXP i.MX 8M Quad Core Cortex-A53 + Cortex-M4
- GPU: GC7000Lite (4-shader) OpenGL ES 3.1, Vulkan, OpenCL 1.2
- RAM: 2GB LPDDR4/4GB LPDDR4
- Storage: 8GB EMMC
Peripherals:
- 2 x Gigabyte Ethernet
- 2 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB-C(Device)
- 2 x MIPI CSI
- 1 x MIPI DSI
- 1 x Touch Connector
- 1 x HDMI
- 1 x 3.5mm Audio in/out
- 2 x PCIe M.2
- 1 x Raspberry Pi 40-Pin Expansion
Ext Storage:
- SD Card Slot / SIM Card Slot 2 in 1
Power Supply:
- DC 12V-19V
- USB-C 5V
Buttons:
- 1 x Reset, 2 x User, 1 x Boot Switch
LEDs:
- 1 x Reset, 1 x User, 1 x Power
Others:
- 1 x RTC Battery Holder with RTC battery
- Size: 850mm x 850mm
Some open questions:
- We’ve seen that there are many i.MX 8M boards were made in SoM and carrier board, style. Why would you prefer SoM+Carrier board, or not?
- The original i.MX 8M only has one 1000M ethernet, we plan to add 1 more 1000M ethernet port. This will add $5 to the cost. Do you think dual 1000M ethernet is useful for you?
Do you have any other ideas regarding how to make the board? Welcome to discuss this with us either in the comments below or in the forum.
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