TQ SMARC mainboard, TQ x86 mainboard, TQ Arm® mainboard, TQ electronica product
At electronica 2018, the technology company TQ presented its first SMARC 2.0 mainboard, the MB-SMARC-2 on which Arm®- and x86-based SMARC modules can be operated without modification. The TQ booth 201 is located in hall B5.
At electronica 2018, the technology company TQ presented its first SMARC 2.0 mainboard, the MB-SMARC-2 on which Arm®- and x86-based SMARC modules can be operated without modification. The TQ booth 201 is located in hall B5.
Especially when it comes to the assignment of graphic interfaces the SMARC 2.0 standard allows for variability depending on availability. Particularly with the mainboard design, the challenge then arises to remain compatible within the standard. In contrast to x86-based processors, Arm®-based processors have complex PIN multiplexing, which allows physical CPU pins to be assigned different functions.
The MB-SMARC-2 considers among other things the different boot and reset configurations, which require a separate solution for each architecture. The board also takes into account the different available interfaces of both architectures, especially in the areas of graphics, audio and SPI.
For the graphics as well as for the audio conversion, TQ implemented a multiplexer switch, which was achieved via a dip switch. For x86, a socket for an external BIOS flash was realized at the SPI interface. The signals of the Camera Serial Interface (CSI) of the MB-SMARC-2 are on a high-speed connector. Many manufacturers have different requirements for the design of the camera interface. Depending on the requirements, the cameras can be connected via an easy-to-use adapter board. All Arm-specific interfaces such as I²C, other SPIs and GPIo can be used via pin headers.
The following interfaces are supported by the respective TQ module on the MB-SMARC-2:
TQMa8XxS & TQMxE39S: LVDS, RJ45 (GBE0), USB 3.0 Type A, USB 2.0 Type A, USB 2.0 (mPCIe Socket, M.2 Key E), PWR- und RST-Button, mPCIe Socket inklusive Micro SIM, Micro SD-Card, Serial Port 0/1, Micro USB (Debug), FAN, CSI, Audio
TQMa8Xxs: DSI, RJ45 (GBE1), CAN, USB 2.0 OTG
TQMxE39S: HDMI, eDP, RJ45 (PCIe), USB 3.0 OTG, M.2 Key M, M.2 Key E (PCIe), Audio (HDA), Serial Port 2/3
The first samples of the motherboard will be available for customers from the end of November 2018.
Unless otherwise stated, TQ-Systems GmbH is the copyright holder of the images used in this press release. These pictures can be used free of charge if the author is named.