Freescale first unveiled i.MX6 processor family at CES 2011. Since then NXP has acquired Freescale, and kept working on the processors and even recently unveiled NXP i.MX 6ULL Cortex A7 processor promising 30 percent more power efficiency than its nearest competitors, and designed for “cost-effective solutions for the growing IoT consumer and industrial, mass markets”.
NXP i.MX 6ULL key features and specifications:
- CPU – ARM Cortex A7 core @ up to 528 MHz with 128KB L2 cache
- Memory I/F – 16-bit DDR3/DDR3L, LPDDR2 memory support
- Storage I/F – 8/16-bit parallel NOR flash / PSRAM, dual-channel Quad-SPI NOR flash, 8-bit raw NAND flash with 40-bit ECC, 2x MMC 4.5/SD 3.0/SDIO Port
- Display & Camera I/F
- Parallel LCD Display up to WXGA (1366×768)
- Electrophoretic display controller support direct-driver for E-Ink EPD panel, with up to 2048×1536 resolution at 106 Hz
- 8/10/16/24-bit Parallel Camera Sensor Interface
- Peripherals
- 2x USB 2.0 OTG, HS/FS, Device or Host with PHY
- Audio Interfaces – 3x I2S/SAI, S/PDIF Tx/Rx
- 2x 10/100 Ethernet with IEEE 1588
- 2x 12-bit ADC, up to 10 input channel total, with resistive touch controller (4-wire/5-wire)
- Security – TRNG, Crypto Engine (AES with DPA, TDES/SHA/RSA), Secure Boot
- Power Management – Partial PMU integration
- Package – MAPBGA 0.8mm pitch 14 x 14mm, MAPBGA 0.5mm pitch 9 x 9mm
The company explain the new processor offer a “natural upgrade” for customer’s designs based on ARM7 & ARM9 processor, for example for smart grid applications. The new i.MX 6ULL (Ultra Lighter than Light? 🙂 ) processor appears to be a cost down version of i.MX 6UL (Ultralight) with fewer security features (e.g. no SIMV2/EVMSIM), and lower maximum CPU frequency, but adding ePD support (according to specs, but not shown on block diagram)
NXP i.MX 6ULL processor is sampling now, with mass production expected in October 2016, and pricing to start at $3.50 in 10,000 unit quantities. The Linux BSP and i.MX 6ULL evaluation kit with 512MB RAM, 256MB SPI flash, and various ports will also be available in October. More details can be found on NXP i.MX6 ULL product page.
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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What about the future of NXP/Freescale SoCs now? http://www.reuters.com/article/us-nxp-m-a-qualcomm-idUSKCN11Z2IE
@tkaiser
I’m guessing it will just change owner, but I don’t see Qualcomm discontinuing NXP/Freescale SoCs as they don’t really overlap with Qualcomm SoCs. That is unless it’s a segment that losses money.