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half year.
The cost per unit after this time is
around $40; compare this with using
a SoM, where there is no development
cost, prototyping and debugging and
software maintenance costs nothing
and the price for the unit is the same.
Any concern that the hardware
engineers think that they are not
needed is unfounded because their
focus should be on the application
board, which is their IP (intellectual
Property). They don’t need to “invent
the wheel” again with the processor
board when they can get a working
platformbased on the latest processors
in the market from Texas Instruments,
Altera, Freescale, Qualcomm and
Atmel. All these processors are based
on the latest ARM cores from Cortex
A5 to Cortex A8 and A9 as well as
Cortex A7 and Cortex A57.
Status Quo of technology
so far and existing
approach
The SoM market can be divided in
several ways:
1. Architecture : ARM and x86
2. Form Factor: ARM Based Solution
for SMARC , Q7 or Proprietary (Others,
like COM Express, are supported by
x86 and not ARM based)
e.V. (SGET) for computer-on-modules
(COMs). Generally, SMARC modules
are based on ARM processors, they
can, however, also be fitted with other
low-power SoC architectures, like, for
example, those based on x86 SoCs.
Typically, SMARC modules’ power
requirement is in the range of a few
watts, which opens up avenues to
markets which to date could not be
addressed due to processor designs
with much higher power consumption.
Two module sizes are defined:
82mmx50mm and 82mmx80mm
• Q7 - Qseven is a well-established,
legacy-free standard for technology-
independent small form factor
computer modules, which includes
standardized thermal and mechanical
interfaces. Qseven was the first
standard that supported x86
and ARM technologies in COM-
compatible environments. The size
is 70mm×70mm and the Qseven
standard has been adopted by SGeT.
• Proprietary - The proprietary form
factor is the most popular in the SoM
market because most customers want
a unique platform for their use. It can
be very small or in any shape needed
to the applicatio.
Picture Nu1 - Example of System On Module
3. Type of ARM core (Cortex A5, A7,
A8, A9) and Example of SoM
4. Operating System Support: Linux,
Android , Windows Embedded
1. Architecture: ARM and x86
• ARM - Most popular cores used in
90% of worldwide mobile phones and
powerful embedded community
• X86 - Supported mainly by Intel with
popular solutions based on Intel Atom
and Core ix families
2. Form Factor
•
SMARC
(‘Smart
Mobility
ARChitecture’) is a specification
published by the Standardization
Group for Embedded Technologies
Table 1
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