AM387x ARM Cortex-A8 MPUs deliver high-bandwidth connectivity at 2 watts with on-board multiport Gigabit Ethernet switch, PCIe2.0 and HDMI
Texas Instruments introduced today its newest ARM Cortex-A8 microprocessors (MPUs), offering a total system solution with up to 1.0 GHz processing performance and a robust peripheral set at less than 2 watts power dissipation. These AM387x ARM Cortex-A8 MPUs are ideal for a variety of fan-less industrial automation, networking and communications applications, such as industrial human machine interface systems, multi-protocol industrial control, wireless access points and network attached storage.
Highly integrated devices reduce design footprint and cost
These newest MPUs offer integration of the ARM Cortex-A8 core, peripherals for high-bandwidth connectivity (SATA, D-CAN, PCI Express (PCIe), Gigabit Ethernet switch and more), 3D graphics for enhanced GUIs and display subsystems for camera connectivity and viewing. In an industrial automation application controlling a production line, the AM387x ARM Cortex-A8 MPU can connect to and control IP and CAN networks, HD displays, keyboard, mouse, PC, SD card and various general purpose peripherals, all via one highly integrated processor. A high-speed, shared data bus allows for reduced communication overhead and quick access to shared data. The result is reduced chip count, discrete memory costs and printed circuit board (PCB) space compared to separate solutions.
Easy software development and compatibility protects hardware and software investments
TI’s free EZ Software Development Kit (EZ SDK) allows customers to evaluate these new MPUs in minutes and begin development in less than an hour. To differentiate products quickly and protect hardware and software investments, developers can use the EZ SDK, as well as a single evaluation module (EVM) to easily migrate between the pin-for-pin and software compatible DM814x DaVinci digital media processors (announced in March). Migrating from the AM387x ARM Cortex-A8 MPU to the DM814x digital media processors allows developers to add HD video to a variety of industrial applications. In an industrial automation application, developers can add video compression for storage, enabling data collection and analysis from this stored footage at a later date – in addition to the advanced system control, networking and display capabilities already provided by the ARM.
AM387x ARM Cortex-A8 MPUs offer many features to benefit customers:
- ARM Cortex-A8 at up to 1.0 GHz: System control, network connectivity and OS support for application processing
- Low total power at less than 2.0 watts: Usable in an enclosed space to enable portable and fan-less products
- Integrated 3D graphics accelerator delivering more than 25 million polygons/second (AM3874 only) and display subsystem with support for multiple HD and/or SD outputs of analog or digital content (including HDMI)
- Enables rich 3D GUIs
- Supports multi-display systems for displaying more content
- Highly integrated peripherals, including:
- PCIe 2.0: High-speed connection to computer backplanes and FPGAs
- IEEE1588-compliant dual Gigabit Ethernet MAC ports with internal switch: Fast network connectivity
- Dual D-CAN interfaces: Connection to sensors, actuators and control devices
- Dual USB 2.0 ports w/PHYs; SATA2 3.0 Gbps with PHY; 3x MMC/SD/SDIO ports: High-speed interfaces for network connectivity and storage
- Multiple camera connections: Flexibility when evaluating available input sensors
- Dual LPDDR1/DDR2/DDR3 external memory interfaces at up to 800 MHz data rate: Larger memory bandwidth, improving multi-programming, system responsiveness and performance
Pricing and availability
Developers can begin evaluation of the AM387x ARM MPUs and DM814x DaVinci digital media processors (announced 3/1/11) today with TI’s EVM (TMDXEVM8148), for $2,249. TI’s EZ SDK is available for FREE download. Linux support is available today, and Android™ and Windows Embedded CE 7 from TI, QNX and VxWorks third-party real-time operating systems will be available in 4Q2011. These devices are sampling today at prices (in 1,000 unit quantities) starting at $23.85 for the AM387x ARM microprocessors and $38.43 for the DM814x DaVinci digital media processors.
