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Tiny ARM9 SBC shrinks by half

Feb 9, 2009 — by Eric Brown — from the LinuxDevices Archive — 16 views

Calao Systems is shipping its tiniest embedded computers yet. The Linux-ready “TinyCore” single-board computer (SBC) modules are offered with Atmel's ARM9-based processors, including the 400MHz AT91SAM9G20, 200MHz AT91SAM9263, and 180MHz AT91SAM9260, and measure a scant 1.4 x 1.6 inches, says the French embedded… systems vendor.

Calao pre-announced the TinyCore format in November when it announced the availability of a AT91SAM9G20 option across its line of compact USB and QIL (quad in-line) processor modules. Atmel's AT91SAM9G20 clocks up to 400MHz, while offering four times the cache, with 32KB each of instruction and data cache.

Measuring 1.4 x 1.6 inches (36 x 41mm), the new TNY-A9G20-C0x, TNY-A9260-C0x, and TNY-A9263-C0x modules are all about half the size of the previous generation QIL-A9G20. All the TinyCore modules ship with 64MB of SDRAM and 256MB of flash, and offer micro-USB connections, and a serial debug interface, as well as a variety of other interfaces, says Calao. Unlike the earlier generation, the TinyCore modules lack physical Ethernet interfaces, instead exposing RMII signals via board-to-board connectors.


Calao's TinyCore TNY-A9G20-C0x
(Click to enlarge)

As with the previous Calao SBCs, the TinyCore modules offer a top-mounted 50-pin expansion connector that is compatible with Calao's existing daughterboards. The connector provides interfaces for i2C, SPI, USART, and other I/O, says the company. New daughtercards are said to be available for camera, GPS, GPRS, and AVI. Other daughtercards offer storage, digital I/O, 3-axis accelerometers, WiFi, and Bluetooth capabilities.

A bottom-facing, 60-pin expansion connector, meanwhile, is said to support I2C, USART, USB host, and RMII. Additionally, the TNY-A9263 adds a larger 2Mbit EEPROM, and some additional bottom-side pin-outs for CAN bus, AC97 audio, and LCD I/O.

All the boards are offered with U-Boot and Linux 2.6.25 pre-installed, says the company, and GNU toolchains also appear to be available.


TinyCore is
about half the size
of the QIL-A9G20

Specifications listed for the TinyCore modules include:

  • Processor —
    • Atmel AT91SAM9G20 @ 400MHz (TNY-A9G20-C0x)
    • Atmel AT91SAM9260 @ 180MHz (TNY-A9260-C0x)
    • AT91SAM9263 @ 200MHz (TNY-A9263-C0x)
  • Memory — 64MB SDRAM @ 133MHz, 32-bit; 64Kbits serial SPI EEPROM (2Mbits EEPROM on TNY-A9263-C0X)
  • Flash — 256MB NAND flash, 8-bit
  • USB — 1 x micro-USB device port
  • Serial — 1 x serial DBGU
  • Top-side expansion connector:
    • I2C
    • SPI
    • USART
    • SSC
    • MCI
    • ISI
    • TC
  • Bottom-side expansion connector:
    • USB Host
    • RMII
    • I2C
    • USART
    • CAN bus (TNY-A9263-C0x only)
    • AC97 (TNY-A9263-C0x only)
    • LCD 24-bit (TNY-A9263-C0x only)
  • Other features -WR-MPC3 (2 pins)
  • Power — +5V +/-5 percent voltage; 250mA max requirement; power connector; LED; reset button
  • Dimensions — 1.4 x 1.6 inches (36 x 41mm)
  • Weight — 0.3 oz (8 gr)
  • Operating temperature - 32 to 158 deg. F (0 to 70 deg. C)
  • Operating system — Linux 2.6.25 pre-installed with U-Boot

Availability

Calao sells its TNY modules irect from its online store, priced as follows:

  • TNY-A9G20-C01 — 152 Euros (~$198)
  • TNY-A9260-C01 — 115 Euros (~$150)
  • TNY-A9263-C0x — not available

More information may be found here.


 
This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.



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