Last year, we covered Dakota DR40x9 Wave-2 AC router board powered by Qualcomm IPQ4019 or IPQ4029 quad-core Cortex-A7 WiSoC, but there’s now a new Qualcomm based embedded SBC supporting WiFi 6.
DR6018 (aka AP.CP01 or just CP01) is powered by Qualcomm IPQ6018 quad-core Cortex-A53 WiSoC with 802.11ax WiFi 6, six Ethernet ports including five Gigabit Ethernet, and one 2.5 GbE port, as well an M.2 expansion socket.
Specifications:
- SoC – Qualcomm Atheros IPQ6018 quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ 1.8 GHz apparently part of Qualcomm Networking Pro 400 platform; 14nm FinFET process
- System Memory – 1GB (2x 512MB) DDR3L 16-bit interface with 32-bit memory bus design
- Storage – 256MB NAND Flash, 32MB NOR flash, SD card slot
- Networking
- Wired
- 5x Gigabit Ethernet ports
- 1x 2.5Gbps Ethernet port
- Wireless
- WiFi
- 2×2 2.4GHz MU-MIMO OFDMA 802.11b/g/n/ax WiFi 6, max 23dBm per chain
- 2×2 5GHz MU-MIMO OFDMA 802.11a/n/ac/ax WiFi 6, max 20dBm per chain
- 4x U.FL antenna connectors
- 2.4 GHz data rate up to 573 Mbps
- 5 GHz data rate up to 1201 Mbps
- Bluetooth – Footprint for Bluetooth module
- WiFi
- Wired
- USB – 1x USB 3.0 Type-C port, optional USB 2.0 Type-A port
- Expansion
- 1x M.2 (NGFF) “E Key” socket with MiniPCIe 3.0
- FFC/FPC Connector for LED
- Mini USB 2.0 port for Bluetooth debugging
- Debugging – 20-pin JTAG header for loader and firmware, 4-pin header for serial console.
- Misc – Reset button, switch for boot config, switch for auth enable
- Power Supply – 12VDC via DC jack input
- Dimensions – 218 x 150 x 16.5 mm (without heatsink)
The board apparently runs the older OpenWRT 14.07 Barrier Breaker firmware, and Qualcomm SDK is provided with QCA binary drivers
Typical applications include 802.11ax MU-MIMO OFDMA Access Point, mesh router supporting EasyMesh, and Smart AP with TWT (Target Wake Time) to extend the battery life of clients which may be especially useful for IoT projects.
I was initially contacted by Wallys Communications (Suzhou) about the DR6018 board, and they explained to me they have samples for test purposes only and will install an EMC shield during mass production. You may find more details and contact the company via the product page.
But I also found the board sold by Singapore based Compex under the name AP.CP01 or just CP01. They have some more documentation on their product page where the board is sold for $495.00, and CP01 WiFI 6 Embedded SBC is also listed on Codico website for 389 Euros.
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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Overpriced ? Unsupported ? Pick both…
It’s actually quite affordable for a dev kit. This isn’t supposed to be something you buy more than a couple of units of to develop your own hardware around.
I just love it when new hardware launches with six year old, unsupported software…
Holy… 500 USD, crazy people. You get for a couple hundred bucks a Mikrotik Switch with SFP+ these days. Cheap 10 gbit, instead of just 2.5 gbit. Add a 5G/2.4G Router behind it and you are ready to go.
But I have to admit, the Mikrotik Switch doesn’t have OpenWRT. But I guess, this is also not necessary. The router can have OpenWRT though.
Another person who clearly don’t understand that this product is a development board. This is NOT for mass deployment, be it for consumers or businesses.
I’d say it’s not at all obvious that this is a development board. This is mentioned nowhere on the product page, instead it’s even written “embedded board”. The large dimensions can make one think it’s more likely a dev board but I’m not that much convinced. In any case whether it’s to build a final product or to design a product to be sold in 1 year, it looks a bit dated in terms of hardware and software support. A53+2.5G is not revolutionary, those having an Espressobin have had this for a few years now. Even NAND isn’t the solution I’d turn to nowadays, too much pain dealing with file system incompatibilities.
11ax IQP6018 is ready,if someone is interested,please let me know!