CHOOSING THE RIGHT SOM or SOC

[Kevin Amadiva]

Hi All,
so someone needs me to design for them a simple board to do image capture then some processing and do transmission. It has to run Linux with anything around 500 - 1GHz processor and >512RAM Now i need to find a relatively cheap solution that meets those requirements may be an SOM or SOC. SO has to have a camera interface then more than 2 UART ports. may be some USB and some display would be a plus.

More crucial is it should have good community support. to reduce development time on the firmware side.

Any recommendations would be highly appreciated!!

[robertferanec]

someone needs me to design for them a simple board to do image capture then some processing and do transmission

This is actually quite a complex board.

Maybe, this can give you an idea how to do it - we have an open source baseboard which can process HDMI input, then these RGB "camera" signals are sent to a CPU module (running Linux) where they are processed and then the picture than can be transferred over WiFi or Ethernet: http://www.imx6rex.com/imx6-tiny-rex/baseboard-lite/

The CPU module used for Tiny Rex Baseboard is not open source, but iMX6 Rex module (same CPU, different pinout) has full Altium project available for download. Here you can find the complete project: http://www.imx6rex.com

Here is example how HDMI input is streamed:

http://www.imx6rex.com/2015/12/imx6-tinyrex-hdmi-input/

and this is what you need to set in software:
http://www.imx6rex.com/imx6-tiny-rex...put-over-wifi/

If you do not need HDMI, you may be able to start from our open source OpenRex project - with right software it could do what you need and you can download the complete Altium project files: http://www.imx6rex.com/open-rex/

I hope that helps a little bit.

[Paul van Avesaath]

why not a raspberry pi 3? # 35 euro?

Processor: Broadcom BCM2837 Processor Quad core A53 (ARM v8) 64-bit SoC
Memory: 1GB LPDDR2 SDRAM
Bluetooth: Cypress BLE chip 2.4Ghz/5.0GHz IEEE 802.11ac
Ethernet: Gigabit Ethernet over USB 2.0 (300Mbps max)
USB: Four USB 2.0 ports
Connection: GPIO Header 40-pin
HDMI: 1 x full size
Video: MIPI DSI display port, MIPI CSI camera port & 4 Pole stereo output and composite video port
Multimedia: H.264, MPEG-4 decode (1080p30). H.264 encode (1080p30). OpenGL ES 1.1, 2.0 graphics.
Storage: microSD card slot for loading operating system and data storage
Power: USB connector for 5.1V / 2.5A dc
POE enabled

[Kevin Amadiva]

The client needs a custom design

[Paul van Avesaath]

Why invent the wheel all over again?

it would be much cheaper to buy in this tech than design / produce it yourself.. you do not have any of the component struggles and development issues .. you can profit from tthe massive buy in prices you will never get on your own..

[robertferanec]

Paul van Avesaath I deal with this very often. I always say to people, it is much easier, faster and cheaper to use an existing board, than developing their own - some people do understand that, some have to use custom designs and some, they just do not listen. Kevin Amadiva, definitely try to find an existing board, test it and only then start customizing (and if required completely design your custom board). This will help you be sure, that your product will work perfectly fine at the first time.

PS: I am not sure how Raspberry Pi is now, but I know, that many people and companies didn't want to use it in real products. It is not fully open source, I am not sure if it has industrial version and you do not have control over it's future (e.g. some companies have to declare years of support and availability)

[Kevin Amadiva]

Hi guys, highly appreciate your feedback. As you have recommended we get a finished board then test the functionalities we want then if customization is needed then we go ahead. But as robertferanec has pointed out, sometimes you don't have control of what the company does with its boards and they may decommission a board/change or upgrade it, and if you are targeting mass production you can definitely see the risk. You guys have enough experience in this field, probably be you can advice further.

[Paul van Avesaath]

I can see the point you are making, but don't expect to build it as cheaply. also the hassle of component problems are world wide at the moment.
I have some experience with the Xilinx Soc, I believe that that would fit nicely with the design requirements. so the X7045 / FFG900 package

https://www.digikey.nl/product-detail/nl/xilinx-inc/XC7Z045-2FFG900I/122-1897-ND/3925782

you might be able to go to the 7010/30 or smaller package, dont know what you fully need otherwise.. but these things are pricy and you need to be able to have direct contact to negociate the price.
also you need to pay for the vivado license / support.

the rest of the design should be straight forward if you will go that route. just make sure to follow the xilinx guidlines

[Paul van Avesaath]

you could also have a look at Qseven modules or SMARC modules, these are industry standards. but i think smarc is the way to go for the future.

[Kevin Amadiva]

Thanks for shinning some light on that. Will have a look.