MYIR Tech has released MYS-6ULX single board computer based on NXP i.MX 6ULL/6UL Cortex-A7 processor designed for either Industry 4.0 with MYS-6ULX-IND model, or the Internet of Things for MYS-6ULX-IOT. Both boards include 256MB DDR3 SDRAM, 256MB NAND flash, USB, USB, Ethernet, LCD interfaces and more, in a compact 70 x 55mm form factor.
Both boards have very similar specifications.
| Features | MYS-6ULX-IND | MYS-6ULX-IOT |
| SoC | NXP i.MX 6UltraLite (MCIMX6G2CVM05AA) with an ARM Cortex A7 processor @ up to 696 MHz and 2D graphics accelerator | NXP i.MX 6ULL (MCIMX6Y2DVM05AA) with an ARM Cortex A7 processor @ 528 MHz and 2D graphics accelerator |
|
DDR3 |
256MB (support up to 2GB) | |
| NAND Flash | 256MB (support 512MB/1GB) | |
| eMMC | DNP (Do Not Populate – Reserved design for optional 4GB flash) | |
| Ethernet | 10/100Mbps | |
| USB | 1x USB Host, 1x micro USB OTG | |
| Micro SD Card | 1x Micro SD card slot | |
| Buttons | 1x Reset Button, 1x User Button | |
|
LED |
1x Power Indicator, 2x User LEDs | |
| LCD Connector | 24-bit RGB LCD & Touch Screen (50-pin FPC connector) | |
| Debug Connector | 2.5mm pitch 3-pin Headers, TTL | |
| Expansion Headers | Two 2.0mm pitch 2x 20-pin headers with 1x Ethernet, 8x UARTs, 4x I2C, 2x CAN, 4x SPI, 8x ADC, 4x PWM, 2x I2S, 1x 8-bit Camera, 1x JTAG, up to 46x GPIOs | |
| WiFi Module | – | USB based, 2.4GHz, IEEE 802.11b/g/n standards |
| Dimensions | 70mm x 55mm | |
| PCB Layer | 8-layer | |
| Power Supply | 5V/1A | |
| Power Consumption | About 5V/0.25A (single board) About 5V/0.4A (board + 4.3” LCD) About 5V/0.8A (board + 7” LCD) |
|
| Working Temp. | -40°C~85°C | 0°C~70°C |
| Target Applications | Industry 4.0 | IoT |
So the main differences between the industrial and IoT versions are the use of i.MX 6UL processor and a wider temperature range for the former, and NXP i.MX 6LL processor and an extra WiFi module for the latter. Both boards run Linux 4.1.15 with Debian or Yocto + Qt images and BSP. The company has also implemented a demo using Amazon Alexa Voice Service available to customers.
Sample price for the boards is $26.80 for MYS-6ULX-IND, and $24.80 for MYS-6ULX-IOT, which you can purchase directly via the product page together with optional optional 4.3″ or 7″ LCD modules.
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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iMX6 has great software support, but the chips are just too expensive. MCIMX6G2CVM05AA is an $8 chip. Allwinner A64 is about 20x faster and it is $4. The software and support is far better than Allwinner, but for experienced designers is it worth paying a whole lot more for each production unit?
One decent strategy would be to do a quick run of 1-2K units using an iMX6 part to prove the product concept and lessen the software development load. Then make rev2 of your product on an Allwinner part.
@Jon Smirl
What about industrial temperature range? Does Allwinner have commercial and industrial temperature ranges for their chips?
I can see MYiR does not use any Chinese SoC for the embedded designs. I’ll ask them why.
I don’t believe AW has released any industrial temp range versions of their chips. I suspect they could if they wanted to (it is just a change in how they are fabbed) but I suspect that it does not matter to them.
iMX6 line is a big player in the automotive market so they have to do industrial temp range to serve that market. If AW tries for autonomous car chips you’ll see industrial range chips from them too.
For sure there is a market for systems that work outdoors in all climates, but it is small compared to the indoor market.
Oddly Allwinner English site only considers digital advertising display as industrial and recommends R58 ?
@Jon Smirl
Also, I think Allwinner does not commit on any lifetime / support duration (they will just do what they want and EOL their chips without notice, and their OEMs will do the same, which is a no-go for my projects), while NXP does commit on 10 years lifetime and software support.
Obviously we won’t see a 10$ i.mx6-based Orange Pi, but apart for those extreme low-cost products I don’t see a 4$ cost difference as the main issue : for industrial products and markets, software quality/support and trust in the SoC vendors (especially about lifetime) is the most important criteria.
@cnxsoft
MYiR Tech’s answer about not using cheaper Chinese SoC:
And no SOM version. With a possibility of a 4G eMMC