Globalscale Technologies has a follow-up to their low-cost ESPRESSOBin SBC based on Marvell Armada 3700LP SoC. The MochaBin-5G SBC is powered by a Marvell Armada 7040 quad-core Cortex-A72 processor, and offers 10GbE networking for as little as $159, with as well as optional WiFi 6 and 5G connectivity.
The single board computer is equipped with 16GB eMMC flash, up to 8GB DDR4, and plenty of high-speed interface with multiple Ethernet ports, USB 3.0 ports, M.2 socket for SATA and Cellular, and a mini PCIe for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity.
MochaBin-5G specifications:
- SoC – Marvell Armada 7040 quad-core Corex-A72 processor @ up to 1.4GHz
- System Memory – 4GB or 8GB DDR4 (soldered down)
- Storage – 16GB eMMC flash, 4MB SPI NOR flash for bootloader, SATA connector, M.2 2280 socket for SATA III SSD
- Networking
- 1x 10GbE SFP+, 1x 1GbE SFP (via 88E1512 PHY)
- 4x Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 LAN ports via Topaz 88E6141 switch
- 1x Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 WAN port (via 88E1512 PHY) with PoE support; Note: multiplexed with 1GbE SFP, so only one can be used at any time
- Optional 4G or 5G cellular connectivity via M.2 2250 socket plus SIM card slot
- Optional NXP 88Q9098 based Mini PCIe wireless card for 802.11ax WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5
- USB – 2x USB3.0
- Expansion – 16-pin MikroBUS header for GPS, and other expansion and accessories
- HW Security – Microchip ATECC608B secure element
- Debugging – 10-pin JTAG header, micro USB port for serial console
- Misc – Power button, RTC with CR2032 battery holder, 12V fan header, various LEDs, boot and CPU speed selection jumpers
- Power Supply – 12V DC or PoE
- Dimensions – TBD
The MochaBin-5G board ships with either Ubuntu or OpenWrt, with the latter maintained by Sartura who also work on mainlining Linux for the board, and relies on their own Replica One build system to provide the OpenWrt image. Another software partner of Globalscale Technologies is CubbitCell is a distributed NAS company, introduced the Cubbit distributed cloud storage solution on Kickstarter about two years ago. Cubbit will ship in a NAS version of MochaBin-5G board with a 2TB to 6TB NAS grade HDD.
OpenWrt software development progress is visible publicly with a recent commit by Sartura adding Globalscale MOCHAbin to OpenWrt, and which was discussed in a thread in OpenWrt forums.
Globalscale has recently launched the Mochabin-5G SBC on Kickstarter with a lowly $6,500 funding goal that has already been surpassed. There was a $110 super early bird for the 20 pieces of the board only with 4GB, but it did not last long. The cheapest reward is now the $159 “Mochabin Standard early bird” with the board with 4GB RAM, a 12V PSU, a plastic enclosure, and Ubuntu pre-installed. If you prefer having OpenWrt pre-installed, you’d need to pledge $225 for a “MochaBin Firewall” system that also contains the WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 mini PCIe card. The Cubbit powered “MochaBin NAS” further adds a 2TB NAS, of which 1TB is usable, for a total of $450, while the “MochaBin Ultimate” provides 10GbE, WiFi 6, and 5G connectivity for $549 with Ubuntu preloaded. Some of the wording on Kickstarter is confusing, so there may be some errors in the description. Shipping adds $20 to the US, $30 to the rest of the world, and backers will need to be patient as the MachoBin-5G SBC or router is scheduled to start shipping in May/June 2022.
Thanks to Maurer for the tip.
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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