Date: 19/09/2011
TI's ARM Cortex-A8 processors with 1.0 GHz performance, dissipation less than 2W
Texas Instruments (TI) has introduced its newest AM387x ARM Cortex-A8 microprocessors (MPUs), provides a total system solution with up to 1.0 GHz processing performance and a peripheral set at less than 2 watts power dissipation and are suitable 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.
TI says these 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. TI quotes that , 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 in an industrial automation application controlling a production line and a high-speed, shared data bus allows for reduced communication overhead and quick access to shared data, which results in reduced chip count, discrete memory costs and printed circuit board (PCB) space compared to separate solutions.
AM387x ARM Cortex-A8 MPUs offer below features as per TI:
Feature
Customer benefit
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)
(AM3874/AM3872 only)
· 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 with TI's EVM (TMDXEVM8148), for $2,249. TI's EZ SDK is available for FREE to download. Linux support is available, 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.