If you need industrial grade ARM Linux boards with lots of Ethernet ports and several mini PCIe slots, you may want to check out Gateworks Ventana boards. The company has now released a smaller member of Ventana family with GW5520 SBC powered by Freescale i.MX6 dual, with two Gigabit Ethernet port, two mini PCIe slots, and support for PoE.
Gateworks Ventana GW5520 SBC specifications:
- SoC- Freescale i.MX6 Dual Cortex A9 processor @ 800MHz with Vivante Vivante GC2000 / GC355 / GC320 GPUs. Option: i.MX6 Quad
- System Memory – 512 MB DDR3-800 SDRAM (Up to 2GB RAM as option)
- Storage – 256 MB Flash (Up to 2GB as option), serial configuration EEPROM
- Video and Audio Output – HDMI 1.4
- Connectivity – 2x Gigabit Ethernet ports.
- USB – 2x USB 2.0 host ports
- Expansion
- 2x Mini-PCIe sockets
- Optional mini-PCIe socket to supports a mSATA disk drive (i.MX6 Quad only)
- I/Os
- Serial – CAN Bus 2.0B up to 1Mbps, 3x TTL serial ports
- 4x GPIOs
- Misc – RTC with battery backup, voltage & temperature monitor, watchdog timer
- Power Supply – 8 to 60V DC input voltage; Power via barrel or passive PoE Ethernet; reverse voltage and transient protection
- Power consumption – 3W @ 25 C (Typical); 16W shared between mini PCIe slots
- Dimensions – 100 x 70 x 21 mm
- Operating Temperature – -40 to +85C
The company claims a 81.9 years MTBF at 55°C, but I’m not quite sure how this is computed… OpenWRT, OpenEmbedded Yocto, and Android BSPs are available for the board.. It’s also supported in mainline kernel since Linux 3.18 release. Documentation is available on Ventana boards Wiki.
Based on the block diagram below, they don’t use the GMAC inside i.MX6, and instead connected an external Gigabit Ethernet via PCIe, so they should not be subject to the 470 Mbps known limitation for Gigabit Ethernet on i.MX6 processor. [Update: The company confirmed that, and they measured 940 Mbps on their Ethernet ports]
Gateworks also offers GW5520 Development Kit which includes GW5520 network computer, U-Boot bootloader, OpenWRT Linux Board Support Package, Ethernet, serial, USB, audio and video cables, as well as a passive PoE power injector and a 24V power supply, and a JTAG Programmer.The network board appears to be available now selling for about $400 on Avnet, while the development kit goes for around $500. You can visit Gateworks GW5520 product page for details, including download links to the datasheet and user’s manual.
[Update: I’ve also been informed about GW5510 based on i.MX6 Solo, but smaller (35x70mm), without Ethernet port (a mini PCIe card can be used to add Wi-Fi), and both HDMI in and out.[
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.
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Misinformation by Gateworks?
All the info on the web suggest 470Mps limitation for the i.MX6, though it might no be affecting PCIe controllers.
http://trac.gateworks.com/wiki/ventana/ethernet
@dhead666
They do link to a pdf that explain this limitation but they should clearly detail this limitation and not hide it in a linked pdf.
@dhead666
The 470 Mbps limitation is with the MAC on I.MX6. The link above is for gw5400, and they use the Mac for eth0, hence the limitation.
But gw5520 does not use the internal Mac at all, only pcie. I don’t know the performance.
The comment about 470 Mbps in the post is not from Gate works, just my conjecture.
or you can found it here:
title: ERR004512 [ ENET: 1 Gb Ethernet MAC (ENET) system limitationon ]
page: 81
document: MX6DQCE.pdf ( Chip Errata for the i.MX6 Dual/Quad – Errata )
$400 for a board with i.MX6 800MHz Dual Core ??
IMHO a bit expensive…
Gateworks is excited about the GW5520 and happy to answer any questions. Jibril : $400 for a board with i.MX6 800MHz Dual Core ?? IMHO a bit expensive… This board is not a basic i.MX6 Dual Core board. It features a PCIe switch which allows for 2 GbE ethernet channels and 2 Mini-PCIe slots for wireless cards. It also features all Industrial rated components standard which cost more than commercial temperature parts. The board also has video components which adds to the cost. The price can be reduced if the board is customized to meet any specific needs. The board… Read more »
Is that use with mikrotik router os with bandwidth manager ????