Howchip Introduces Scorpion 3 & Scorpion 5 Boards Powered by Nexell Processors

Howchip has announced 2 development boards based on Nexell processors. Even though pricing is not available yet for these boards, we can now know their main features. Both development boards have been launched as COM & carrier development kits.

Scorpion 3 is mainly focused for developments where a powerful dual-core Arm Cortex-A7 NXP3220 featured with Linux 4.14 can be enough, and Scorpion 5 seems to be focused for applications which may have more intensive requirements, for instance in terms of user interface, being based on a quad-core Arm Cortex-A9 NXP4330Q featured with Android Nougat and with UI specific features like 3D-Graphics Accelerator.

Even though there is not so much information, Howchip also announces as “coming soon” the Scorpion 1 board, based on Exynos i T200 as an integrated IoT solution.

Howchip Scorpion 3

Howchip Scorpion 3 is a great embedded computer in a board whose form factor is only 68x50mm. Since it is based on Linux 4.14, you can develop using Qt 5.6.3 which includes voice extensions. It has a 24-bit RGB/LVDS controller with a 2D accelerator, 512MB DDR3, 8GB eMMC, and a PMIC. Powered by an Arm TrustZone microcontroller, with HW dedicated components for cryptographic operations, including even Elliptic Curve Support.

Incorporating a full set of electronic peripherals like 3 USBs, 7 UARTs, 3 SPIs, 5 I2Cs, 2 CAN bus and 8x 12-bits ADC; it is a great choice for most common IoT devices.

Howchip Scorpion 3 Specifications

CPU
- 28 nm, HKMG (High-K Metal Gate) Process Technology
- Cortex-A7 Dual-Core CPU @ >1.0 GHz
System Controller
- 5 x 32-ch DMAs (2 x DMA, 2 x Secure-DMA, 1 x MDMA)
- various Power Mode (Normal, Idle, Standby, Deep-standby)
- various boot modes including SPI Flash/EEPROM, Nand-Flash, SD (eMMC), USB and UART
Memory/Storage Controller
- 16bit DDR3, DDR4 up to 1250 MHz
- various memory
- MLC/SLC NAND Flash with Hardwired ECC algorithm (4/8/12/16/24/40/60-bit)
- 3-ch SD/MMC
FHD Multi-format video codec
- Full-HD Multi-Format Video Decoder
Display Controller & Video Post-processor
- Display up to 1920X1080
- 1-ch LVDS Interface
Video Input Processor
- 1-ch ITU BT656/601 Parallel Video Interface
Connectivity
- 2-ch Controller Area Network V3.2.1.2
- 10/100M-bit Ethernet MAC (RMII I/F)
- 10/100/1000M-bit Ethernet MAC (RGMII I/F)- 3-ch SD/MMC
- 2-ch USB 2.0 Host, 1-ch USB 2.0 OTG
Peripherals
- 7-ch UARTs, 4-ch Timer, Interrupt Controller, RTC
- 4-ch I2S, 5-ch I2C, 3-ch SPI, 4-ch PWM, and GPIOs
- 8-ch 12-bit ADC (with supports resistive touch panel)
- SPDIF, Supports 4-ch RS485
- 4-ch PDM data
Security
- Security functions (AES, DES/TDES, SHA-1, MD5, PRNG, and TRNG) and Secure JTAG
- ARM Trust Zone technology
Package
- 380 Ball FCBGA Package, 0.80 mm Ball Pitch, 17X17 mm Body size

HOWCHIP SCORPION 3 DISPLAYs

10.1 inch Capacitive Touch
- 1280 x 800 Resolution
- Mechanical Size 228.6mm x 149.2mm
10.4 inch Resistive Touch
- 1024 x 768 Resolution
- Mechanical Size 236mm x 176.9mm
8.0 inch Capacitive Touch
- 1024 x 600 Resolution
- Mechanical Size 192.8mm x 116.9mm

Howchip Scorpion 5

Howchip Scorpion 5 is a bigger computer with more powerful features in a 69.6 x 52mm board. It runs Android Nougat on Nexell’s quad-core, Cortex-A9 NXP4330Q. SoC is clocked to 1.4GHz and it also has a 3D accelerated GPU with HD video support. This board also has 2GB DDR3, 8GB eMMC, and a PMIC.

Even though its computer abilities are superior to Scorpion 3, its low-level peripheral set is not as rich. Anyway, it has a good enough set of them, like 2 USBs, 6 UARTs, 3 SPIs, 3 I2Cs, and 8 ADCs; making it a great choice for most common IoT devices.

Regarding User Interface, you will see the advantage in comparison with Scorpion 3: display I/O include an HDMI port plus 4-lane MIPI-DSI and LVDS interfaces and a 24-bit parallel connection (BT601/656). There are also MIPI-CSI and CCIR 656/601 camera inputs, an analog audio jack, and line-in, speaker, and mic interfaces

Howchip Scorpion 5 Specifications

28nm, HKMG (High-K Metal Gate) Process Technology
513 pin FCBGA Package, 0.65mm Ball Pitch, 17x17mm Body size
Cortex-A9 Quad Core CPU @ 1.4GHz
High-Performance 3D Graphic Accelerator
Full-HD Multi-Format Video Codec
Supports various memory: x32 LVDDR3(Low Voltage DDR3), DDR3 up to 800MHz
Supports MLC/SLC NAND Flash with Hardwired ECC algorithm (4/8/12/16/24/40/60bit)
Supports Dual Display up to 2048×1280, TFT-LCD, LVDS, HDMI 1.4a, MIPI-DSI output
Supports 3-ch ITU BT656 Parallel Video Interface and MIPI-CSI
Supports 10/100/1000M-bit Ethernet MAC
Supports 3-ch SD/MMC, 5ch UARTs,32ch DMAs, 4ch Timer, Interrupt Controller, RTC
Supports 3-ch I2S, SPDIF Rx/Tx, 3-ch I2C, 3-ch SPI, 8-ch 12bit ADC, 3-ch PWM and GPIOs, 1-ch PPM
Supports MPEG-TS Parallel Interface and MPEG-TS HW Parser
Supports 1ch USB 2.0 Host, 1ch USB 2.0 OTG, 1ch USB HSIC Host
Supports Security functions (AES, DES/TDES, SHA-1, MD5, and PRNG) and Secure JTAG
Supports various Power Mode (Normal, Sleep, Deep-Sleep, Stop)
Supports various boot modes including SPI Flash/EEPROM, NOR, USB and UART

HOWCHIP SCORPION 5 DISPLAYs

8.0 inch Capacitive Touch
- 1024 x 600 Resolution
- Mechanical Size 192.8mm x 116.9mm

10.1 inch Capacitive Touch
- 1280 x 800 Resolution
- Mechanical Size 228.6mm x 149.2mm

INFORMATION SOURCES

Howchip Scorpion 3’s product page

Howchip Scorpion 5’s product page

LinuxGizmos

Javier Longares

I'm Javier Longares Abaiz, an electronic engineer with more than 15 years of professional experience developing new microcontroller-based products. During this time, I've developed dozens of products, and I can proudly say than some of them are currently being sold in more than 100 countries.

Nowadays I offer firmware and hardware consultancy services, including the development of new devices from scratch.