96Boards
Overview
96Boards is a range of open platform specifications created by Linaro to make the latest ARM-based processors available to developers at a reasonable cost. The specifications are open and define a standard board layout for SoC-agnostic (processor independent) development platforms that can be used by software application, hardware device, kernel and other system software developers. Boards produced to the 96Boards specifications are suitable for rapid prototyping,[1][2] hobbyist projects or incorporation into new systems for a wide range of applications including desktop and laptop computing, the digital home, digital signage, point of sale (POS), high-end audio, robotics and drones, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, IoT and industrial control.
Standardized expansion buses for peripheral I/O have led to a wide range of compatible add-on mezzanine boards that will work across a variety of 96Boards products. Users have access to a wide range of boards with different features at various price points. In addition, some SoC vendors have announced long term availability of the SoC to encourage their use in products with long life cycles.
At launch in 2015, there was one board available and several under development. This first board, the HiKey made by CircuitCo, had “spotty availability” and was soon replaced by a LeMaker version that has become a reference platform for Android Open Source Project (AOSP) development. In early 2016, the 96Boards community began to grow[3] as more boards were added to the lineup, though still faced much pressure from the much desired Raspberry Pi 3. Currently, the 96Boards website has listed three specifications, five Consumer Edition (CE) boards, one Enterprise Edition (EE) board, two IoT Edition board and ranges of mezzanine products and accessories.
History
On February 9, 2015 Linaro announced the 96Boards initiative to offer a single software and hardware community across multiple vendor boards supporting a range of different features1. A fixed set of minimum interfaces are required by the specifications, for example the Consumer Edition (CE) specification requires standard USB, micro-SD, HDMI, power, and low- and high-speed peripheral connectors. Vendors may add customized hardware and feature sets provided the form factor and minimum set of interfaces are supported.
On May 3, 2017 Tech editor William Wong writes about cracking the case of the Curious Curie 96Boards.[4]
On April 27, 2017 a board adhering to the 96Board Consumer Edition Open Standard becomes a development platform for the Android Open Source Project (AOSP)[5][6]
Specifications and implementations
There are currently three published 96Boards specifications for low-cost ARMv7-A and ARMv8-A development boards:
- The Consumer Edition (CE) targets the mobile, embedded and digital home segments.
- The Enterprise Edition (EE) targets the networking and server segments.
- The Internet of Things Edition (IE) is designed to support development in the IoT space.
Consumer Edition
The 96Boards Consumer Edition (CE) specification targets the mobile, embedded and digital home segments. The boards below are all certified conforming to this specification, which defines a fixed set and location for minimum functions including USB, SD and HDMI connectors.
| Board name | Owner | SoC |
|---|---|---|
| HiKey | LeMaker | HiSilicon Kirin 6220 Processor |
| DragonBoard™
410c |
Arrow | Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 410E Processor |
| Bubblegum-96 | uCRobotics | Actions Semi S900 Processor |
| MediaTek X20 | Archermind | Deca-core Helio X20 Processor |
| MediaTek X20 Pro | Archermind | Deca-core Helio X20 Processor |
| HiKey960 | LeMaker | Octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 960 Processor |
40 Pin Low Speed Expansion Connector
96Boards Consumer Edition Low Cost Hardware Platform Specification Version 1.0, January 2015 [7]
| func. | Pin# | Pin# | func. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GND | 1 | 2 | GND | |
| UART0_CTS | 3 | 4 | PWR_BTN_N | |
| UART0_TxD | 5 | 6 | RST_BTN_N | |
| UART0_RxD | 7 | 8 | SPI0_SCLK | |
| UART0_RTS | 9 | 10 | SPI0_DIN | |
| UART1_TxD | 11 | 12 | SPI0_CS | |
| UART1_RxD | 13 | 14 | SPI0_DOUT | |
| I2C0_SCL | 15 | 16 | PCM_FS | |
| I2C0_SDA | 17 | 18 | PCM_CLK | |
| I2C1_SCL | 19 | 20 | PCM_DO | |
| I2C1_SDA | 21 | 22 | PCM_DI | |
| GPIO-A | 23 | 24 | GPIO-B | |
| GPIO-C | 25 | 26 | GPIO-D | |
| GPIO-E | 27 | 28 | GPIO-F | |
| GPIO-G | 29 | 30 | GPIO-H | |
| GPIO-I | 31 | 32 | GPIO-J | |
| GPIO-K | 33 | 34 | GPIO-L | |
| +1V8 | 35 | 36 | SYS_DCIN | |
| +5V | 37 | 38 | SYS_DCIN | |
| GND | 39 | 40 | GND |
Enterprise Edition
The 96Boards Enterprise Edition (EE) specification targets the networking and server segments.
| Board name | Owner | SoC |
|---|---|---|
| Poplar | HiSilicon | Hi3798CV200 Processor |
IoT Edition
The 96Boards IoT specification targets the development in the Internet of Things (IoT) space.
| Board name | Owner | SoC |
|---|---|---|
| BLE Carbon | Seeed Studio | STM32F401RE Processor and
nRF51822 Bluetooth Controller |
| BLE Nitrogen | Seeed Studio | nRF52832 Microcontroller |
| Orange Pi i96 | Orange Pi | RDA8810PL Processor |
96Boards Mezzanines
96Boards mezzanine products enables expansions for Consumer Edition or Enterprise Edition 96Boards in the form of new interfaces and hardware IoT, industrial control, and other embedded applications.
The following mezzanine expansion boards are currently available.
| Mezzanine Name | Manufacturer | Functionality |
|---|---|---|
| NeonKey Mezzanine[8] | Tocoding | Sensor Hub Platform |
| STM32 Sensor Mezzanine Board[9][10] | STMicro | STM32 Development Platform |
| UART Serial Mezzanine[11] | Seeed Studio | UART to USB Hub |
| Grove Seeed Sensor Mezzanine[12] | Seeed Studio | ATMega328 Development Platform with Groove Connectors |
| AeroCore2[13] | Gumstix | LTE Connectivity |
| MIPI Adapter Mezzanine | AiStarVision | Camera interface for OV5645/OV5640 auto focus module and OV7251 module |
| D3 Camera Mezzanine | D3 Engineering | DesignCore™ Camera Mezzanine Board OV5640 |
| Audio Mezzanine | Arrow | 3.5mm Audio Inteface for DragonBoard 410c |
| PoE + Ethernet Mezzanine | Arrow | 96Boards power over Ethernet and provide Gigabit Ethernet Interface |
| IoT Gateway Mezzanine[14] | OneRF | Interface board for a IEEE 802.15.4 sub-1 GHz radio and a 3G modem aiming Smart City applications |
References
- ↑ "Enablement trends hold the key to faster IoT development". wireless.electronicspecifier.com. Retrieved 2017-08-04.
- ↑ "From Makers to Market using 96Boards | Arrow.com". www.arrow.com. Retrieved 2017-08-04.
- ↑ "96Boards Gains New SBCs, But Is Pressured by Rasp Pi 3". Linux.com | The source for Linux information. Retrieved 2017-08-04.
- ↑ "The Case of the Curious Curie 96Board". Electronic Design. 2017-05-03. Retrieved 2017-08-04.
- ↑ https://source.android.com/source/devices
- ↑ https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/huawei-develops-arm-android-open-source-platform-linaro-2017-04/
- ↑ https://github.com/96boards/documentation/blob/master/Specifications/96Boards-CE-Specification.pdf
- ↑ "96Boards Neonkey". en.tocoding.com. Retrieved 2017-08-03.
- ↑ "STMicroelectronics Quick to Support 96Boards Consumer Edition | Sensors Magazine". www.sensorsmag.com. Retrieved 2017-08-04.
- ↑ "B-F446E-96B01A - Sensor board with STM32F446VET6 MCU, supports 96Boards CE connectivity - STMicroelectronics". www.st.com. Retrieved 2017-08-03.
- ↑ "96Boards UART - 96Boards - Seeed Studio". www.seeedstudio.com. Retrieved 2017-08-03.
- ↑ "96Boards Sensors - 96Boards - Seeed Studio". www.seeedstudio.com. Retrieved 2017-08-03.
- ↑ "aerocore 2 for dragonboard 410c". store.gumstix.com. Retrieved 2017-08-03.
- ↑ rafaelchrist (2017-08-06), Contribute to ReSeNI development by creating an account on GitHub, retrieved 2017-08-06