Rockchip RK3288 Specifications Released

Somebody working for a Chinese manufacturer informed me Rockchip RK3288 specifications have been released on rk3288.com. We’ve already known the application processor was based on a quad core Cortex A17 processor with a Mali-T76X GPU, but this website provides some more details which appears to have been taken from RK3288 technical reference manual. I can’t confirm the source nor the accuracy of the data, but I doubt somebody would have just put up something with detailed fake information.

RK3288 Block Diagram and Typical System Overview (Click to Enlarge) — RK3288 Block Diagram and Typical System Architecture (Click to Enlarge)

They mention RK3288 is an application processor destined to be used in high-end tablets, notebooks, all-in-one devices, smart monitors and TV Boxes, and that it features 4Kx2K support.. Let’s have a look at the details.

CPU
- Quad-Core Cortex-A17
- Separately Integrated Neon and FPU per CPU
- 32KB/32KB L1 ICache/DCache per CPU
- Unified 1MB L2 Cache
- LPAE (Large Physical Address Extensions), support up to 8GB address space Virtualization Extensions Support
- DVFS support
3D GPU
- Quad-Core Mali-T7 series
- Support OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0/3.0, OpenVG 1.1, OpenCL 1.1 and Renderscript, Directx11
- DVFS support
2D GPU
- Multi-Core architecture
- Up to 8Kx8K input and 4Kx4K
- Output High-quality image scale
- Up/down Dither operation
- Image rotation with 90/180/270 degree or x/y-mirror BitBLT, Alpha Blending,Raster Operation
VPU
- Video Decoder
  - Support MPEG-2, MPEG-4, AVS, VC-1, VP8, MVC with up to 1080p@60fps (cnxsoft: It does not look correct or complete, as Rockchip showed slides with 4K2K H.265 decoder at CES 2014).
  - Support multi-format video decoder with up to 4Kx2K
  - High-quality deinterleave
- Video Encoder – Support muti-format video encoder with up to 1080p@30fps
Video Input
- Dual-channel input for front and rear camera
- Dual-channel MIPI-CSI2 interface with 4-lane per channel
- 8/10/12 bits standard DVP interface
- Maximum 5MP for front camera
- Maximum 13MP for rear camera with high-performance ISP
Video Display
- Dual-panel display with 2 separately interface
- Maximum resolution is 4Kx2K
- CABC support to decrease interface power
- Dual channel 8/10bits LVDS
- Dual channel MIPI-DSI
- HDMI 2.0 to support maximum 4Kx2K display
- Optional eDP1.1 interface
Memory Interface
- Nand Flash Interface
  - Dual-channel , 8bits per channel
  - Compatible with all of SLC/MLC/TLC Nand Flash, including DDR Nand
  - Embedded 60-bit hardware ECC
  - 8 chip selects to support more device
- eMMC Interface
  - compatible with eMMC4.5 standard 8-bit data width
  - Support DDR-50, SDR-100
- DDR interface
  - Dual channel 64bits interface
  - Support DDR3/DDR3L/LPDDR2/LPDDR3
Peripherals and I/Os
- 3 SD/MMC/SDIO interfaces, compatible with SD3.0, SDIO3.0 and MMC4.5
- One 8-channels I2S/PCM interface, One 8-channels SPDIF interface
- One USB 2.0 OTG , Two USB 2.0 Host
- 100M/1000M RMII/RGMII Ethernet interface
- Dual channel TS stream interface, descramble and demux support
- Smart Card interface
- GPS baseband interface
- PS/2 master interface
- 5 UART, 3 SPI (master or slave), 6 I2C(up to 4Mbps), 5 PWM
Misc
- Standalone crypto and decrypto, compatible with AES 128bits/DES/3DES/SHA-1/SHA-256/MD5/160bits PRNG
- Full security solution to support HDCP2.x,secure boot, secure debug and DRM
- Temperature Sensor to support better temperature controll inside chip

The CPU frequency has not been mentioned, but earlier reports indicate the four Cortex A17 core should be clocked at up to 1.8 GHz. The GPU is allegedly Mali-T760 or T-764, the latter does not exist yet, or has not announced yet. However, numbers previously leaked showing 300 MTri/s triangle rate and 2.4Gpix/s fill rate conflict with the 1390Mtri/s, and 11.2Gpix/s listed on ARM Mali-T760 page. My guess is that Mali-T764 does exist, but it has not been announced, and provides a lower cost and performance alternative to Mali-T760. There’s new “article” about Mali-T764 by Enybox, one manufacturer of TV box and HDMI TV sticks.

There are some nice features from the specifications like LPAE support for up to 8 GB RAM, Gigabit Ethernet support, HDMI 2.0 for True 4K2K up to 60 Hz, 4K2K decoding, but the lack of support for SATA and USB 3.0 is a little disappointing.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.