Olimex Introduces Low Cost AllWinner A13, AllWinner A20 and TI Sitara AM3352 Systems-on-Module

About a year ago, Olimex reported working on an AllWinner A20 System-on-Module. But after some unexpected delays, Olimex A20-SOM is finally available, and they’ve even announced A13-SOM and AM3352-SOM, respectively based on AllWinner A13 and Texas Instruments Sitara AM3352 ARM Cortex A8 SoCs, with price starting at 12 Euros for 1K orders.

Olimex A20-SOM and A20-SOM-4G

There are actuall two versions of the SoM, A20-SOM-4G including 4GB NAND flash, and A20-SOM without. Here are the specifications:

SoC – AllWinner A20 dual core ARM Cortex A7 processor with Mali-400MP2 GPU
System Memory – 1GB DDR3 memory
Storage – 4GB NAND Flash (A20-SOM-4G only) + microSD slot
Debugging – UART console connector (at the back)
PMIC – AllWinner AXP209 PMU IC
Misc – Status LEDs, RESET, RECOVERY buttons
Connectors – 6x 2×20 pin 0.05″ female headers
Dimensions – N/A

The SoM is said to support Android and Debian, but you could also run other Linux distribution if you wish, and documentation will be available through a Wiki. The SoM itself is not open source hardware, but the schematics (PDF) are available. There’s also a development kit called A20-SOM-EVB, featuring an open source hardware baseboard, with the following specifications:

SoC/Memory/PMIC – A20-SOM-4GB module (included in the kit)
External Storage – SATA and power, SD-MMC connector on the back of the baseboard
Video Output – VGA, HDMI and LCD connectors
Audio – Audio In and Out, HDMI.
Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet
Camera – 2 MP @30 fps
Connectors / Expansions
- 6x connectors for A20-SOM
- 2x UEXT connectors for add-ons
- 5x GPIO connectors x40 pin 0.1″
Misc – 7 “Android” buttons, status LEDs
Dimensions – N/A

You can get the hardware design files for the baseboard here.

A20-SOM, A20-SOM-4G, and A20-SOM-EVB are available now for respectively , 43, 50 and 70 Euros (30.10 / 60 / 35 Euros for 1k+ orders) on Olimex’s store. If you are a developer part of the linux-sunxi community, you should be able to get one for free.

Olimex A13-SOM-256MB, A13-SOM-512MB and A13-SOM-WIFI

A13-SOM is in a different, and smaller, form factor compared to A20-SOM, and there are two versions: A13-SOM-256MB and A13-SOM-512MB with respectively 256 and 512 MB RAM.

Let’s go through A13-SOM specifications:

SoC – AllWinner A13 Cortex-A8 processor @ 1Ghz with Mali-400 GPU
System Memory – 256 or 512MB of DDR3 memory depending on version
Storage – micro SD-card
Debugging – UART console at the back of the module.
Connectors – 2x 2×5 pin + 2x 2×20 female 0.05″ connectors with access to GPIO, power…
Power – 3.3V
Power consumption – 150mA to run Debian (idle?).
Dimensions – 61 x 33mm

The company did not mention software support, but any OS (Android/Linux) supported by A13-OlinuXino should work with the module. There’s also A13-SOM-WIFI add-on board that can be connected to A13-SOM to add a Realtek RTL8188CU Wifi module, a USB OTG port, an 4GB NAND (optional), an 8MB SPI Flash (optional), and an LCD connector that support 4.3″, 7″ and 10″ LCD modules provided by the company.

A13-SOM and A13-SOM-WIFI will be available around the 15th of May. A13-SOM-256MB and A13-SOM-512MB will respectively cost 18 and 21 Euros (12 / 14 Euros in 1K order). A13-SOM-WIFI will go for 10 Euros, A13-SOM-WIFI-4GB 17 Euros, and A13-SOM-WIFI-8MB 12 Euros in single quantity. A 4G LTE 100Mbps add-ons “A13-SOM-LTE” is also in development.

Olimex AM3352-SOM

Olimex AM3352-SOM is yet in another form factor and comes with the following specifications:

SoC – Texas Instruments AM3352BZCZ100 Cortex A8 processor @ 1GHz
System Memory – 512MB DDR3 memory
Storage – Micro SD card, optional 4GB NAND flash
Debugging – UART console pins
Misc – Status LEDs, RESET button
Connectors – 4x 2x 40 pin 0.05″ connectors.
Power supply – DC/DC
Dimensions – N/A

There’s no details about the support OS, we can safely assume the SoM will support Linux distributions (Angstrom, Debian…). Documentation is currently limited, but you can have a look at the schematics (PDF). As with A20-SOM, an evaluation kit “AM3352-SOM-EVB” will be available with the following specs:

SoC/Memory – Olimex AM3352-SOM
Video Output – VGA and LCD connectors
Connectivity – 2x 100MB Ethernet interface
USB – 4x USB host, USB-OTG
CAN driver
Expansion / Connectors
- 4x 2x 40 pin 0.05″ connectors for AM3352-SOM
- 2x UEXT connectors
- 4x GPIO connectors x40 pin 0.1″
Misc – Status LEDs
Dimensions – N/A

The hardware design files (Eagle) are available for the baseboard.

AM3352 system on module and evaluation kit should be available by the end of the month for 37 (no NAND flash) and 60 Euros (25.9 / 48 Euros for 1k orders). Developers involved in Texas Instruments Sitara Linux kernel support may get a free sample by contacting Olimex.

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.