System On Module

OLIMEX System-on-Module (SOM) boards are powerful Linux-capable boards. They follow a low cost modular design which allows rapid product development. Each of these boards has two parts - the main part which nests the processor, the memory and the power control unit and the peripheral part which contains the USB ports, the video output and most of the connectors. SOM designs are targeted at customers who want to apply custom modifications and own solutions based on a specific processor without having to deal with multi layer PCBs with controlled impedance and BGA assembly. This makes it possible to create simple boards (that might be manufactured by your local board manufacturer) containing only the peripherals you need with the dimensions and shape suitable for your specific solution.

Both the main part and the peripheral part of the SOM system have support in the official Android and Debian images distributed by Olimex and maintained by Olimex and the Linux community.

The peripheral part of the SOM design is considered Open Source HardWare (OSHW) and the customer has access to the board source files that we used to manufacture it. The part of the design that has the main microcontroller is considered proprietary design and design files would not be shared. If you are looking for open source design of the processors used please check the OLinuXino boards. OLinuXino board designs are fully open source but harder to implement in own solutions and require more of a hardware experience to do so. Nevertheless OLinuXino boards are pretty good choice for evaluating the capabilities of the embedded processors. At the moment Olimex deals with the following categories of SOM boards:

• Allwinner A13 SOM based on A13 SOC (ARM Cortex-A8 @ 1GHz; ~2000 DMIPS)
• Allwinner A20 SOM based on A20 SOC (ARM Cortex-A7 Dual-Core @ 1GHz; ~4000 DMIPS)
• Rockchip RK3188-SOM  based on RK3188 SOC (ARM Cortex-A9 Quad-Core @ 1.6GHz; ~16000 DMIPS)
• Rockchip RK3328-SOM based on RK3288 SOC (ARM Cortex-A53 Quad-core @ 1.5Ghz ~13800 DMIPS)
• ST Microelectronics STMP15X-SOM based on STM32MP15X (ARM Cortex-A7 Dual Core @ 800Mhz ~3040 DMIPS)
• Texas Instruments AM3352 SOM based on AM335X SOC (ARM Cortex-A8 @ 1GHz; ~2000 DMIPS)

FEATURES

• ARM Cortex Application SOC
• DDR3L memory
• PMIC
• ready assembled and tested
• hides the complexity of high speed PCB design
• only the necessary features of the SOC can be wired on low cost 2-4 layer mother board for the SOM