Exor GigaSOM GS01 SoM and Devkit Combine Intel Atom E39xx CPU and Cyclone 10 GX FPGA

EXOR International has worked in collaboration with Arrow Electronics to design and manufacture GigaSOM GS01 system-on-module combining an Intel Atom E39xx Apollo Lake processor and Cyclone 10 GX FPGA.

The module and corresponding development kit are specifically designed for smart factory & “Industrie 4.0” applications with the processor running Intel’s time-coordinated computing plus a real-time “IoT stack”, and the FPGA supporting IEEE 802.1 time-sensitive networking (TSN) and 10Gbps connectivity.

GigaSOM GS01 module specifications:

• Apollo Lake SoC (one or the other)
  • Intel Atom x5-E3930 dual-core processor @ 1.3 GHz / 1.8 GHz (Turbo) with 12EU Intel HD Graphics 500; 6.5W TDP
  • Intel Atom x5-E3940 quad-core processor @ 1.6 GHz / 1.8 GHz with 12EU Intel HD Graphics 500; 9.5W TDP
  • Intel Atom x7-E3950 quad-core processor @ 1.6 GHz / 2.0 GHz with 18EU Intel HD Graphics 505; 12W TDP
• FPGA – Intel Cyclone 10 GX up to 220 KLE
• System Memory
  • CPU – Up to 8GB LPDDR4
  • FPGA – Up to 2GB DDR3
• Storage
  • CPU – Up to 64 GB eMMC Flash, 64KB FRAM
  • FPGA – 1 GB QSPI flash
• I/Os
  • Video output – CPU: eDP, DP0, and DP1
  • Video input -CPU: 4-lane MIPI CSI
  • Audio – HDA and I2S
  • High-speed interfaces
    • CPU – 6x USB 2.0, 2x USB 3.0, 2x SATA3, 1x Gigabit Ethernet, 1-lane PCIe, 2-lane PCIe
    • FPGA – 34x LVDS pairs plus six 10Gb transceivers (support for FMC LPC and LPC+)
  • Low-speed interfaces
    • CPU – SMB bus, 5x I2C, 3x UART, SPI, LPC, SDIO, SD card, GPIO
    • FPGA – 2x CAN, 3x SPI, 2x I2C, 1x UART, 1x GPIO
• CPU <-> FPGA Interface – Dual Lane Gen 2 PCIe
• Power Supply – 5V+- 5%
• Dimensions – 81.6 x 54 x 4.9 mm
• Temperature Range – -40°C to +85°C

Exor provides a Linux BSP RT (OSADL) or an Android BSP for the module,  and the FPGA image is configurable via the CPU. The platform can also connect to the company’s Corvina Cloud over MQTT and OPC UA (Open Platform Communications Unified Architecture) lightweight protocols to collect “machine IoT data and orchestrating industrial assets”. Alternatively, AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and other public cloud services are also supported.

GigaSOM gS01 development kit is also offered with the SoM soldered to a baseboard with the following interfaces:

• SoM – GigaSOM gS01 module with Intel Atom x5-E3940 and Cyclone 10 FPGA (industrial grade)
• On-carrier Storage – MicroSD card socket, M.2 SATA/NVMe SSD sockets, 2Kbit I2C EEPROM
• Video Output – 1x DisplayPort, 1x HDMI, 1x Dual LVDS port
• Camera I/F – 1x CSI Camera connector
• Audio – 1x I2S audio interface, 1x HDA audio interface
• Connectivity
  • 1x Ethernet port 10/100Mbit (RJ45)
  • 2x Ethernet port 1/10Gbit (SFP+)
  • Optional Wireless M.2 module for WiFi, Bluetooth, 4G LTE (SIM card slot included on -carrier), etc…
• Serial – 2x CAN port (isolated),1x  RS232/RS422/RS485 DB9 connector
• USB – 1x USB 3.0 Type-A, 1x USB 3.0 Type B, 1x USB 2.0 Type-A, 1x USB 2.0 header
• Expansion
  • FPGA Mezzanine Card (FMC) connector
  • 1x SPI header, 1x Fast SPI header
  • 1x I2C header, 1x LPC Bus interface
  • 2x GPIO header
  • 1x SMB header
  • SSW connector with SPI, UART, I2C, two groups of GPIO signal
  • 1x M.2 key B SATA
  • 1x M.2 key B USB/PCIe/SATA/I2C/UIM
  • 1x M.2 key E USB/PCIe/UART/I2S/I2C/SDIO
• Debugging – MicroUSB debug port, JTAG header
• Misc – I2C temperature sensor, FAN connector,  RTC battery, 3x Button
• Power Supply – TBD power input connector
• Dimensions – TBD

The development kit ships with a power supply, and a quick start guide. The FPGA is preloaded with a bitstream supporting 2 Ethernet ports over PCIe, and the Linux BSP/SDK is provided together with OpenHMI Software Platform (evaluation version) with support Brownfield protocols communication (Modbus, OPC UA, etc), industrial Corvina and public cloud connectivity, and web and local display visualization.

Neither GigaSOM GS01 system-on-module nor GS01 development kit are shipping at this time, but LinuxGizmos notes that Arrow has already posted prices. GigaSOM GS01 module price ranges from $443.12 to $828.51 in single quantities depending on configuration, while volume pricing (1K) starts at $273.91 per piece. The GS01 development kit described above goes for $2,101.23.

The price looks steep, but it may be cost-effective for the type of “synchronized and real-time smart-factory applications” targeted by the module as the company explains the board can ” consolidate multiple devices such as industrial PCs, HMI controllers, and PLCs into a single module”.

Check out the module and devkit pages on Exor website for further details.

Via Robotics and Automation News

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.

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