FriendlyELEC SOM-RK3399V2 CPU Module Gets 4GB LPDDR4 RAM Upgrade

Last year, FriendlyELEC launched SOM-RK3399 system-on-module (SoM) powered by Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core processor combined with 2GB DDR3 memory, 16to 64GB flash, and a built-in WiFi 5 module. Contrary to most SoM’s on the market, SOM-RK3399 could work in standalone mode thanks to two USB-C ports, although it could also be integrated into a carrier board to create a complete development board with more ports and interfaces.

The company has now introduced an update with SOM-RK3399V2 CPU module with 4GB LPDDR4 RAM, as well as a small change in the layout for the LED’s and buttons, but the rest of the features remain the same.

The company also appears to have changed the way they handle cooling with SOM-RK3399V2 shipping with a heatsink, while SOM-RK3399 cooling was handled by a heatsink + cooling connected to the carrier board.

SOM-RK3399V2 specifications:

• SoC – Rockchip RK3399 big.LITTLE hexa-core processor with 2x Cortex-A72 cores up to 2.0GHz, 4x Cortex-A53 cores up to 1.5GHz, Mali-T864 GPU with support for OpenGL ES1.1/2.0/3.0/3.1, OpenVG1.1, OpenCL, DX11, and AFBC, and VPU capable of handling 4K VP9 and 4K 10bits H265/H264 60fps decoding, Dual VOP, etc
• System Memory – 4GB LPDDR4
• Storage – 16GB eMMC 5.1 flash
• Networking
  • 802.11a/b/g/n/ac WiFi 5, Bluetooth 4.1 via Ampak AP6356S module with two antenna connectors
  • Realtek RTL8211E Gigabit Ethernet transceiver
• USB – 2x USB-C ports on the module
• 260-pin edge connector with
  • Storage – 1x SDIO/MMC for SD card
  • Networking – Gigabit Ethernet
  • Video Input – 1x or 2x 4-Lane MIPI-CSI dual ISP, up to 13MPix/s, supports simultaneous input of dual-camera data
  • Video output
    • HDMI 2.0a up to 4K @ 60Hz, HDCP 1.4/2.2
    • DisplayPort 1.2 Alt Mode on USB Type-C port
    • LCD interfaces – 1x 4-lane eDP 1.3 connector up to 10.8Gbps. 1x or 2x 4-Lane MIPI-DSI
  • USB – 2x USB 2.0 interfaces, 1x USB 3.0 host interface,
  • PCIe x4, compatible with PCIe 2.1, Dual operation mode;
  • Other I/Os – 14x GPIO (6x 1.8V/8x 3.3V), 1x I2S, 2x I2C (1.8V/3.3V), 2x PWM, 1x UART / SPI, ADC, 1x IR-RX, 1x SPDIF_TX, 3x 1.8V ADC inputs
  • Debugging -Debug UART, 3V level, 1500000bps
• Misc – Power, Reset, and Recovery buttons, power LED, 1x user LED
• Power Supply
  • 5V input via USB Type-C port
  • RK808-D PMIC with independent DC/DC, enabling DVFS, software power-down, RTC wake-up, system sleep mode
• Dimensions – 69.6 x 50 mm; 8-layer PCB
• Temperature Range – -20°C to 70°C

The module is still compatible with the same “SOM-RK3399 Dev Kit” carrier board. You can check the detailed specifications in our previous post.

SOM-RK3399V2 CPU module supports various operating systems include Android 7.1, Android 8.1, Lubuntu 16.04, FriendlyCore 18.04, Ubuntu 18.04 based FriendlyDesktop 18.04, and OpenWrt based FriendlyWrt 19.07. Buildroot is also supported in order to build the toolchain and custom images. The company provides Linux 4.4 LTS and U-boot 2014.10. There’s no Wiki for the new module just yet, but you’ll find information and download link in SOM-RK3399’s Wiki. Switching from DDR3 to LPDDR4 requires software modification, so images for the earlier module may not work out of the box.

FriendELEC sells SOM-RK3399V2 system-on-module with heatsink for $70 plus shipping. This compares to the $60 for SOM-RK3399 module with 2GB RAM and no heatsink. Despite showing photos of the new module fitted to the carrier board, the company has yet to sell a complete development kit with the SOM-RK3399 Dev Kit carrier board and SOM-RK3399V2 CPU module. The previous devkit now sells for $99 so I’d expect the SOM-RK3399V2 devkit to go for $109.

Thanks to Willy for the tip.

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