DragonBoard 845c Android (AOSP) Reference Board Supports Open Source Graphics, Mainline Kernel

Besides the obvious Google Pixel and Nexus devices supported by AOSP (Android Open Source Project), we previously covered some single board computers that were also officially supported by the project with Hikey and Hikey 960 Android reference boards.

Linaro Consumer Group (LCG) has just written about Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 based Dragonboard 845c board. It has been now an official Android reference board for a few months now, and it is the first such board with an open-source graphics stack thanks to Freedreno graphics driver and mesa framework. Since no proprietary blobs are required, the board’s full functionality can also be upstreamed into the mainline kernel, and Linaro currently uses the board as a test target for validating the mainline kernel and stable updates.

Here’s a reminder of the board’s hardware specifications:

SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 with 8x custom 64-bit ARMv8 CPUs up to 2.8 GHz, Adreno 630 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 3.2 + AEP, DX next, Vulkan 2, OpenCL 2.0 full profile, and RenderScript, Hexagon 685 DSP
System Memory – 4GB LPDDR4x SDRAM @ 1866 MHz
Storage – 64GB UFS 2.1 storage and 1x MicroSD card slot
Display
- 2x 4-lane MIPI DSI, D-PHY 1.2 or C-PHY 1.0; VESA DSC 1.1
- 1x HDMI 1.4 (Type A -full) connector
Video
- 4K60 decode for H.264 High Profile, H.265 Main 10 Profile and VP9 Profile 2
- 4K60 encode for H.264 High Profile, H.265 Main 10 Profile
Camera – Qualcomm Spectra 280 ISP, dual 14-bit ISP+one Lite ISP, 32 MP 30 fps ZSL with a dual ISP accessible via the board’s HS connector
Connectivity
- 1x Gigabit Ethernet
- Dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n/ac 2×2 MIMO WiFi & Bluetooth 5.0 with on-board WLAN/BT/GPS antennas
USB – 2x USB 3.0 Type-A host ports, 1x USB 3.0 Type C OTG port, 1x USB 2.0 Micro B (Debug only)
Sensors – Accelerometer + Gyro Sensor/ Proximity sensor
Expansion Interfaces
- High Speed (HS) 1 – 60-pin connector with 4L-MIPI DSI, 2x USB 2.0, 2x I2C , 2L+4L-MIPI CSI
- High Speed (HS) 2 – 60-pin connector with 2x 4L-MIPI CSI, SSC SPI, PCIe 3.0, 1x USB 3.0, 9x GPIO
- Low Speed (LS) 1 – 40-pin header with 2x UART, SPI, I2S, 2x I2C, 12x GPIO, and power signals
- Low Speed (LS) 2 – 40-pin header with headset, stereo speaker, 3x DMIC I/F, CAN, I2S, 7x GPIO, 2x PWM, 2x ADC
- Low Speed (LS) 3 – 20-pin connector with 3x SSC SPI, SSC I2C, 5x sensor interrupts
Misc – 7 LED indicators (4x user, 2x Bt/WiFi, 1x power); Power, Volume, Force USB Boot buttons, and a 6-way DIP switch
Power Supply – 12V @ 2.5A adapter via power barrel jack (4.75mm/1.75mm)
Dimensions – 85 x 54 mm as per 96Boards CE specifications

You’ll find documentation to get started both on Android developer website and 96Boards website. Alternatively, you can go directly to flash.android.com to flash the latest AOSP firmware to the board.

AFAIK, DragonBoard 845c SBC is not sold standalone, as instead is sold as part of Qualcomm Robotics RB3 Development Platform sold for $449 and up on ThunderSoft online store.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.