NVIDIA Jetson AGX Xavier Industrial module adds lockstep Cortex-R5 cluster, ECC RAM, and more

NVIDIA Jetson AGX Xavier is the most powerful module from the Jetson family packing 32 TOPS of AI inference performance. But with some customers wanting to use the embedded AI computer in harsher conditions, the company has now introduced a rugged version of the module with NVIDIA Jetson AGX Xavier Industrial.

Some changes included a slightly lower performance (30 TOPS) to cater for an expanded temperature range, a dual-core Cortex-R5 cluster in lockstep, ECC memory, and compliance with shock and vibration standards.

NVIDIA Jetson AGX Xavier Industrial specifications with bold highlights showing differences / new features:

CPU – 8-core NVIDIA Carmel Arm v8.2 64-bit CPU with 8MB L2 + 4MB L3
GPU – NVIDIA Volta architecture with 512 NVIDIA CUDA cores and 64 Tensor cores for up to 20 TOPS (INT8) (Note: the standard version support 22 TOPS)
DL Accelerator – 2x NVDLA accelerators for up to 10 TOPS (INT8)
Vision Accelerator – 2x 7-Way VLIW Vision Processor
Safety Cluster Engine – Dual Arm Cortex-R5 in lockstep
System Memory – 32GB 256-bit LPDDR4x (ECC support) @ 136.5GB/s
Storage – 64GB eMMC 5.1 flash (Note: the standard version comes with 32GB flash)
Video Encode – 2x 4K60 (H.265/H.264), 6x 4K30 (H.265/H.264), 12x 1080p60 (H.265/H.264), 24x 1080p30 (H.265/H.264)
Video Decode – 2x 8K30 (H.265), 4x 4K60 (H.265), 8x 4K30 (H.265), 18x 1080p60 (H.265), 36x 1080p30 (H.265), 24x 1080p30(H.264)
699 pin Molex Mirror Mezz Connector with
- Storage – Single Lane UFS
- Display – 3x multi-mode DP 1.2a, e DP 1.4, HDMI 2.0 a/b
- CSI Camera
  - Up to 6 cameras (36 via virtual channels)
  - 16 lanes MIPI CSI-2
  - D-PHY 1.2 (up to 40Gbps)
  - C-PHY 1.1 (up to 62Gbps)
- Networking – Gigabit Ethernet
- USB – 3x USB 3.1, USB 2.0
- 8x PCIe Gen4
- Other I/Os – UART, SPI, CAN, I2C, I2S, DMIC & DSPK, GPIOs
Power modes – 20W | 40W (Note: the standard modules support 10W | 15W | 30W modes)
Mechanical – 100mm x 87mm
Temperature Range – -40 to +85°C at TTP (thermal transfer plate)
Humidity – Non-operational: 95% RH, -10°C to 65°C
Shock
- Operational: 50G, 11 ms, Half sine
- Non-operational: 140G, 2 ms, Half sine, 3-axis, FCT/DPA, extend to 340G
Vibration
- Operational: 10-500 Hz, 5G RMS (random/sinusoidal)
- Non-operational: 10-1000 Hz, 3G RMS, 3-axis, FCT
Operating Lifetime (MTBF) – 10 Years

The new module is pin-, software- and form-factor compatible with the existing Jetson AGX Xavier module, so it should just be a drop-in replacement for most applications. That also means the industrial module supports NVIDIA CUDA-X accelerated computing stack, JetPack SDK support, and cloud-native capabilities.

The Cortex-R5 based Safety Cluster Engine (SCE) can be used for safety and error correction functions using fault-detection mechanisms, and lock-step subsystems. The company also mentions support for hardware-verified secure boot, hardware-accelerated cryptography, support for encrypted storage, memory, and other security features.

NVIDIA Jetson AGX Xavier Industrial module will soon be available for pre-order for $1,449 (against $999 for the standard version) and will start shipping in late July. More details can be found on the developer website.

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.