Qualcomm Technologies Inc (QTI) has launched a new board to allow engineers to develop systems around the latest Snapdragon 410 processor.
The DragonBoard 410c, a low-cost development board design based on the 64-bit capable 410 processor and brings the technology to a broader group of developers, makers and OEMs. The credit card-sized development kit is designed to support rapid software development and prototyping for commercialising new inventions and products.
The Snapdragon 410 processor is a powerful enablement technology for embedded solutions providers to support off-the-shelf or custom system-on-modules, support and design services for commercial deployments.
Products in these embedded computing and Internet of Everything (IoE) product categories include the next generation of robotics, cameras, set-top-boxes, wearables, medical devices, vending machines, building automation, industrial control, digital signage, and casino gaming consoles to name a few. The DragonBoard 410c is anticipated to be made commercially available by third party distributors this summer.
“The DragonBoard 410c is a powerful, low cost platform engineered to allow the rapid development of commercial solutions to address the expanding embedded compute and IoE industries across multiple operating systems,” said Jason Bremner, senior vice president of product management for Qualcomm Technologies. “The DragonBoard 410c will play a critical role in helping drive the innovation of embedded computing products on a global basis.”
The DragonBoard 410c platform includes four ARM Cortex-A53 CPUs at up to 1.2 GHz per core with 64-bit capability, the Qualcomm Adreno 306 GPU with 400MHz high quality graphics and 1080p HD video playback and capture with H.264 (AVC). It supports 13 megapixel camera with Wavelet Noise Reduction, JPEG decoder, and other post-processing techniques done in hardware as well as LPDDR2/3 533MHz Single-channel 32-bit (4.2GBps) non-POP/ eMMC 4.51 SD 3.0 (UHS-I) memory.
Qualcomm’s VIVE 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and FM wireless connectivity chip and the IZat Gen8C location chip are also included on the board, which supports Android and Linux. The connectivity is 1x 40 pin Low-Speed connector (UART, SPI, I2S, I2C x2, GPIO x12, DC power), 1x 60 pin High-Speed connector (4L-MIPI DSI, USB, I2C x2, 2L+4LMIPI CSI) and analogue expansion connector (Headset, Speaker, FM antenna), as well as an HDMI Full-size Type A connector (1080p HD @ 30fps), 1x USB 2.0 micro B (device mode only), 2x USB 2.0 type A (host mode only) and micro SD card slot.
“Qualcomm Technologies’ high-performance, 64-bit ARM developer platform will offer new possibilities for the industry,” said Noel Hurley, general manager, CPU group, ARM. “The feature-rich functionality of the DragonBoard 410c will enable developers, makers and OEMs to utilise ARM technology to accelerate the rate of inventions and products reaching the embedded industry. Qualcomm Technologies’ latest board is a dynamic addition to the vast choice designers can enjoy.”
DragonBoard 410c is also designed to be compatible with the 96Boards Consumer Edition which supports the hardware ecosystem to develop a range of compatible add-on products, shields and accessories. 96Boards is the open platform specification for high-performance development boards supported by Linaro, the non-profit engineering organisation developing open source software for ARM architecture.
“Linaro is working with Qualcomm Technologies to accelerate open source software development for Snapdragon processor-based platforms,” said George Grey, CEO, Linaro Ltd. “We are excited to have the DragonBoard 410c support the 96Boards Consumer Edition specification. We look forward to assisting the DragonBoard 410c development community, makers, universities and embedded product developers through the 96Boards.org community site.”