Oftentimes, developing an end application is like a scary game of maze. One can easily get lost in its winding paths lined with unseen twists and obstacles. A wrong choice can lead you to start all over again, making the journey grim, and the goal out of reach.
For developers, the challenges are real and huge, turning the development process into a difficult chase to fulfill performance and time to market objectives while achieving customer expectations as well.
From prototype, integration to development, there are a multitude of bottlenecks lurking in every path. With so many design challenges to overcome, developers often find it hard to integrate cutting edge technologies in their end applications and optimize their designs with the best performance and features.
At iWave, we are poised to ease these challenges and turn them into opportunities for innovation. A win-win situation for all.
And that’s the reason we have launched a new SBC, powerful enough to address even the most pressing development challenges and help transform your ideas into a stunning reality. The SBC is the fourth addition to our growing portfolio of NXP® i.MX based single board computers – high-efficiency industrial platforms superior in performance.
Powered by NXP i.MX8 Processor, the iWave SBC is equipped with up to eight Armv8 64-Bit heterogeneous CPU cores (2 x Arm® Cortex®- A72, 4 x Arm® Cortex®-A53 & 2 x Arm® Cortex®-M4F).It highlights the extremely powerful computational capability of the SBC, making it an awaited platform for unleashing complex to implement applications with utmost efficiency and ease. Advanced use cases include High-Speed Networking, Edge Computing, Industrial Automation,4K imaging, e-Cockpit, Intelligent Data Centre, etc.,
Adding new dimensions to innovate:
Intelligent Edge:
The future is at the edge. With immense inbound advantages, edge computing is paving the way to a new era of connected, intelligent devices.iWave SBC has been designed, keeping in mind the revolutionary transition that edge computing can realize in new-age applications. Be it medical, industrial or automotive, the i.MX8 SBC with its intuitive real-time processing, flexible high-speed memory, and robust connectivity can smartify your end application in just a matter of seconds.
The key to unlocking edge intelligence in the i.MX8 SBC lies within the powerful Cortex-M4F cores. This high-performance MCU is run RTOS to accelerate real-time intelligence in edge applications. The MCU is proficient at handling critical real-time tasks associated with an application e.g. monitor of sensor circuitry.The signal is subsequently decoded and processed by the A cores running Linux / Android OS, with non-critical tasks shared to the Cloud servers for advanced analytics.
To know more about Cortex-M4F and its amazing features in i.MX8 SoC click the following link: https://www.iwavesystems.com/cortexm4f-real-time-processing-imx8qm
Rich Interactive GUI:
Native to the SBC is an integrated high-performance dual GC7000 3D GPU and 4K H.265 capable VPU that combines to offer rich interactive graphical experience on up to 4 x HD or one 4K display. Dual failover-ready SafeAssure® display controller ensures critical displays are always on with reliable high-quality content. An additional HIFI4 DSP module further offloads the main cores and adds flexibility for a variety of end applications. These capabilities, coupled with the highly integrated form factor, makes the iWave SBC a leader for building cutting-edge machine vision systems, IIoT solutions, and advanced robotics.
Hardware Virtualization:
When there is a powerful heterogeneous processing platform to take care of the computing performance, it is very important to ensure that all the hardware resources are utilized efficiently and to its full potential. This is achieved by hardware virtualization.iWave has successfully integrated open-source type 1 Xen hypervisor to enable a versatile multi-OS implementation on the i.MX8 SoC.The generated domains are fully secure and independent from others, ensuring a multi-application platform running on independent displays offering failover safe performance.
For more details about XEN virtualization check the following link https://www.iwavesystems.com/xen-on-imx8qm-som
Ample Connectivity
When it comes to I/O connectivity, the iWave SBC excels with its wide range of on-board and external connector interfaces. Included on the SBC is a Gigabit Ethernet PHY, USB 3.0 hub and IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi & Bluetooth 5.0 module for high-speed network connectivity. In addition, on-board CAN and RS232 interfaces accelerate applications in automotive and industrial automation systems. Multiple audio and video interfaces combine to enhance the multimedia performance of the SBC. Key multimedia interfaces onboard include HDMI/eDP Display and I2S Audio Codec with Audio In/Out jack while interfaces over Expansion Connector include MIPI CSI, MIPI DSI, SPI, UART, LVDS, I2C, etc.
Optimized Power Consumption:
Thanks to the use of multiple low-power technologies, the iWave SBC intelligently manages the power efficiency of the entire system. Firstly, the Cortex-M4F cores are configured to monitor the system in low power mode, while the main processors are deactivated. The main cores can be activated either using predefined wake-up time or when there is a user-defined interrupt. Power is also kept to a minimum with the use of high-speed LPDDR, and the incorporation of NXP’s dual PF8100 Power Management Integrated Circuit.
Secure and Safe platform
Ensuring all-around security of the software stack is a high –priority requirement of new-age applications. With the explosion of connected devices and the IoT revolution, the amount of possible attack vectors are also growing exponentially. This further emphasizes the need to secure embedded platforms with reliable and fool-proof security mechanisms.
iWave’s SBC includes a dedicated Security Microcontroller (SECO) to perform the security functions. The SECO controller verifies the authenticity of the Uboot, Linux, and RTOS binaries. The binaries are signed with a certificate that is stored in the module's immutable storage. The security controller also contains a Cryptographic Acceleration and Assurance Module (CAAM) to implement secure and validated cryptography mechanisms and further enhance data security in the SBC platform.
Key Security features in iWave’s SBC include:
- High Assurance Boot – HAB
- Encryption and Decryption using HW cryptography Engine
- Encryption of keys for protecting sensitive data
- Secure FOTA (Firmware Over the Air Update)
For more details refer our article on Security-Optimized Embedded Solutions
Conclusion:
Armed with high speed multimedia processing and intelligent real time capabilities , the iWave i.MX8 SBC is all geared up to unleash innovative use cases that intuitively perform and keep security and energy concerns at bay.
To learn more, check out the full specification of the product in the following link: https://www.iwavesystems.com/product/single-board-computer/i-mx8qm-qp-picoitxsbc/i-mx8-quadmax-quadp...
For further information or inquiries, please write to mktg@iwavesystems.com or contact our Regional Partners.