AI edge computing platform - beaglebone AI 64 introduction

BeagleBone AI 64 brief introduction

        Beagleboard  organization 2022 year 6 Released in BeagleBone AI-64 platform Of B1 edition , from seeedstudio Development , Is a For developing artificial intelligence (AI) And machine learning solutions The platform of , Yes 8 Tops（8b） Of AI Calculate the force , Yes GPU and DSP The blessing , have BeagleBone Compatible interface And the convenience and scalability of onboard peripherals , can To unpack Start learning and building applications now .

         With local hosting 、 Ready to use 、 Focus on open source tool chain and development environment , Just add a simple Web browser 、 Power supply and network connection , Start building performance optimized embedded applications . The platform passes the existing BeagleBone cape Interfaces enable industry-leading expansion possibilities , There are hundreds of open source hardware examples and dozens of embedded extension options available out of the box .

The reverse ： Remove the heat sink

Board block diagram ：

processor ：

TI Jacinto TDA4VM  double 64 position Arm Cortex-A72,2.0GHz Processor functions ：

1. C7x floating-point 、 vector DSP, The highest 1.0GHz,80GFLOPS,256GOPS
2. Deep learning matrix multiplication accelerator (MMA), stay 1GHz Up to 8 TOPS (8b)
3. With image signal processor (ISP) Visual processing accelerator with multiple visual assistant accelerators (VPAC)
4. Depth and motion processing accelerator (DMPAC)
5. double 64 position Arm Cortex-A72 Microprocessor subsystem , The frequency is as high as 2GHz
6. Each dual core Cortex-A72 colony 1MB Shared L2 cache
7. Every Cortex-A72 kernel 32KB L1 D Cache and 48KB L1 I Cache
8. six Arm Cortex-R5F MCU, The frequency is as high as 1GHz
9. Two C66x floating-point DSP, The highest 1.35GHz,40GFLOPS,160GOPS
10. 3D GPU PowerVR Rogue 8XE GE8430, the height is 750MHz,96GFLOPS,6 Gpix/sec
11. The memory subsystem has up to 8MB On the film L3 RAM, have ECC And consistency
12. Twelve multi-channel audio serial ports (MCASP) modular

Circuit board function highlights ：

• Storage
  • 4GB LPDDR4
  • With high-speed interface 16GB eMMC Flash memory
  • MicroSD Card slot
• High speed interface
  • M.2 E-key PCIe The connector , Used to connect to Wi-Fi/BLUETOOTH Adapter
  • USB 3.0 Type-C SuperSpeed Interface , For power input and data
  • 2 USB 3.0 Type-A SuperSpeed Interface
  • Gigabit Ethernet
• Cameras and monitors Interface
  • Mini DisplayPort Interface
  • 2 individual 4 passageway CSI The connector , For popular camera options （ Compatible with raspberry pie CSI）
  • For popular display options 4 passageway DSI The connector （ Compatible with raspberry pie DSI）
• The user interface
  • 1 A power on button 、1 A reset key 、1 Power keys
  • 1 A power indicator LED,5 Users LED
  • 5V DC input power supply
  • 2 UART debugging
  • For debugging JTAG 10pin Tag-Connect
• Extensibility
  • BeagleBone cape header Compatible with existing add-on board extensions
  • ikroBUS Shuttle The connector can access hundreds of existing Click Sensors and actuators

Specifications and characteristics ：

	gauge        grid
processor	TI TDA4VM
Graphics engine	PowerVR Series8XE GE8430
SDRAM Memory	LPDDR4 3.2GHz (4GB) Kingston Q3222PM1WDGTK-U
Onboard flash memory	eMMC (16GB) Kingston EMMC16G-TB29-PZ90
PMIC	TPS65941213 and TPS65941111 PMIC Voltage regulator and an additional LDO.
Debugging support	2x 3 pin 3.3V TTL Joint ： 1. WKUP_UART0： Wake up domain serial port 2. UART0： Primary domain serial port 10 pin JTAG TAG-CONNECT encapsulation
electric    Source	USB C or DC Jack （5V,>3A）
PCB	4” x 3.1”
Indicator light	1 A power supply 、5 Users are controllable LED
USB3.0 Customer	adopt USB-C visit USB0、SuperSpeed、 Dual mode （ No power output ）
USB3.0 host	USB1 Upper TUSB8041 4 port SuperSpeed A hub ,2 individual A Type socket , The total current is up to 2.8A, It depends on the power input
Ethernet	Gigabit 、RJ45、 Link indicator 、 Speed indicator
SD/MMC	microSD,1.8 / 3.3V
User input	1. Reset key 2. The power button 3. Power key
video Output	miniDP
Audio output	adopt miniDP（ stereo ）
heavy    The amount	192g（ With heat sink ）

Compared with the previous two generations BeagleBone contrast :

	BeagleBone AI-64	BeagleBone AI	BeagleBone Black (or BeagleBone Black Wireless)
System on Chip Main Processor	Texas Instruments Jacinto TDA4VM	Texas Instruments Sitara AM5729	Texas Instruments Sitara AM3358
	2x ARM Cortex-A72	2x ARM Cortex-A15	ARM Cortex-A8
Maximum Main Processor Speed	2GHz	1.5GHz	1GHz
Co-processors	C7x+MMA, 2xC66x, 12xPRU, 6xARM Cortex-R5, PowerVR Rogue 8XE GE8430, H.264 encode, H.264/H.265 decode	2xC66x, 4xPRU, 4xARM Cortex-M4, 4xEVE, 2xPowerVR SGX544, IVA-HD	2xPRU, ARM Cortex-M3, PowerVR SGX530
Analog Pins	7 (3.3V)	7 (4-wire touchscreen capable) (3.3V)	7 (4-wire touchscreen capable) (1.8V)
Digital Pins	72 (including 7 analog pins which are digital capable)	72 (including 7 analog pins which are digital capable)	65
Memory	4GB LPDDR4 16GB eMMC flash on-board microSD card slot	1GB DDR3L 16GB eMMC flash on-board microSD card slot	512MB DDR3 4GB eMMC flash on-board microSD card slot
USB	USB 3.0 Type-C 5Gbps Host/Client Port 2x USB 3.0 Type-A Host Ports	USB 3.0 Type-C 5Gbps Host/Client Port USB 2.0 Type-A Host Port	USB 2.0 miniUSB 480Mbps Host/Client Port (Black) USB 2.0 microUSB 480Mbps Host/Client Port (Wireless) USB 2.0 Type-A Host Port
Network	1 Gigabit Ethernet M.2 E-key w/ PCIe/USB/SDIO	1 Gigabit Ethernet 2.4/5GHz WiFi Bluetooth 4.2/BLE	10/100 Ethernet (Black-only) 2.4GHz WiFi (Wireless-only) Bluetooth 4.2/BLE (Wireless-only)
Video	miniDP MIPI DSI (w/ I2C) Cape add-on boards	microHDMI Cape add-on boards	microHDMI Cape add-on boards
Audio	miniDP cape/USB add-ons mikroBUS Shuttle connector	microHDMI cape/USB add-ons Bluetooth	microHDMI cape/USB add-ons Bluetooth (Wireless-only)
Camera	2x MIPI CSI (4 lane)	N/A	N/A
Supported Expansion Interfaces	4x UART 16-bit LCD interface 2x I2C 2x SPI 8x PWM 4x Timer A/D (3.3V) CAN Pulse Capture Quadrature Encoder PRU GPIO PRU UART PRU Pulse Capture ...	4x UART 16-bit LCD interface 2x I2C 2x SPI 8x PWM 4x Timer A/D (3.3V) CAN Pulse Capture Quadrature Encoder PRU GPIO PRU UART PRU Pulse Capture ...	4x UART 16-bit LCD interface 2x I2C 2x SPI 8x PWM 4x Timer A/D (1.8V) CAN Pulse Capture Quadrature Encoder PRU GPIO PRU UART PRU Pulse Capture ...
On-board Sensors	On-die processor temperature sensors	On-die processor temperature sensors	N/A
Size	4" x 3.1"	3.4" x 2.1"	3.4" x 2.1"

Technical documentation ：

1. TDA4VM Jacinto Processors for ADAS and Autonomous Vehicles Silicon Revisions 1.0 and 1.1 datasheet (Rev. J)
2. DRA829/TDA4VM Technical Reference Manual (Rev. C)

The firmware ： 

The recommended Debian Mirror image

1. microSD card Loaded Bullseye XFCE（ Desktop with graphics ）:

TDA4VM Debian 11.3 2022-06-14

2. On board eMMC Of Bullseye XFCE（ Desktop with graphics ）, adopt microSD Flash card burning ：

TDA4VM Debian 11.3 2022-06-14 16GB eMMC XFCE Flasher

Summary ：          

     As TI Pushed by force , Based on deep learning technology L2/L3 The next generation of near-field analysis system SoC series ,TDA4VM The quotation for the chip is ：65 dollar （425RMB,1ku Volume quotation ）,BeagleBone AI 64 Board quotation ： about 190 dollar , Than BeagleBone AI Quote for 127 dollar （983 RMB） It's about 60 dollar , Relative to performance improvement , This price is still barely acceptable .

    Compare the raspberry pie in the same period 4B（4 nucleus A72,0.2T FP16） Of 900 ~ 1100 RMB and Jetson Nano （4 nucleus A57,0.5T FP16） Of 1400 ~ 2500 RMB Quote for ,BeagleBone AI 64（8 Tops @ 8b,4GB RAM,16 GB EMMC） This price is fragrant .

     And horizon 6 month 14 The rising sun on the th X3 send （4 nucleus A53 ARM, have 5 Tops Of AI Calculate the force ,4GB Memory , Support [email protected] codec , Maximum power consumption 10W）, The initial price has arrived   549 RMB.

                                                                                        Lao Xu ,2022/6/21