Dusun DSOM-042R is a Rockchip RK3588M system-on-module for "automotive AIoT" applications

Dusun DSOM-042R is a system-on-module based on Rockchip RK3588M automotive-grade AI SoC with 8GB RAM and 128GB eMMC flash, capable of operating in the -40°C to 85°C temperature range, and fitted with four high-density connected exposes the many interfaces from the octa-core Cortex-A76/A55 processor.

We first found out about the RK3588M SoC last year with the Firefly AIO-3588MQ board also comprised of a system-on-module and carrier board with support for up to sixteen cameras and up to six Full HD displays to drive the car dashboard, in-vehicle infotainment, a digital rearview mirror, headrest monitors, ADAS system, and more. We hadn’t noticed other manufacturers launch a product with the automotive-grade RK3588M, and the DusunIoT DSOM-042R offers another option.

Dusun RK3588M SoM specifications:

SoC – Rockchip RK3588M octa-core processor with
- CPU – 4x Cortex-A76 cores @ up to 2.1 GHz, 4x Cortex-A55 cores @ up to 1.7 GHz (frequencies TBC)
- GPU – Arm Mali-G610 MP4 GPU with OpenGL ES 3.2, OpenCL 2.2, Vulkan 1.1 support
- NPU – 6 TOPS AI accelerator
- VPU
  - Video decoding:
    - 8Kp60 H.265/VP9/AVS2
    - 8Kp30 H.264 AVC/MVC
    - 4Kp60 AV1
    - 1080p60 MPEG-2/-1/VC-1/VP8
  - Video encoding – 8Kp30 H.265 / H.264
- Up to 32-channel 1080p30 decoding and 16-channel 1080p30 encoding can be achieved.
System Memory – 8GB RAM
Storage – 128GB eMMC flash
1x 100-pin B2B connectors, 3x 80-pin B2B connectors with
- Storage – 3x SATA 3.0, 1x SDMMC, PCIe interfaces (see high-speed interfaces)
- Video Output
  - HDMI 2.1 up to 8Kp60 or 4Kp120
  - HDMI 2.0 up to 4Kp60
  - 2x MIPI DSI display interfaces up to 4Kp60
  - 2x DisplayPort 1.4 up to 8Kp30fps (multiplexed with USB 3.0)
  - 2x eDP1.3 connector up to 4Kp60
  - BT.1120 up to 1080p60
  - Up to seven displays supported
- Video Input
  - 1x 4-lane MIPI CSI or 2x 2-lane MIPI CSI
  - 2x MIPI DC (4-channel DPHY v2.0 or 3-channel CPHY V1.1)
  - DVP camera interface up to 150MHz input data
- Audio
  - 2x 8-channel I2S
  - 2x 2-channel I2S
  - 2x SPDIF
  - 2x 8-channel PDM (supports multiple MIC arrays)
  - Dual-channel digital audio codec (16-bit DAC)
  - VAD (Voice Activity Detection)
- Networking – Gigabit Ethernet
- USB – 3x USB 3.0, 4x USB 2.0, 2x USB 2.0 OTG
- High-speed interfaces
  - PCIe Gen 3.0 (x4, or 2x x2, or 4x x1)
  - 3x PCIe Gen 2.0 x1
- Low-speed I/Os – 9x I2C, 10x UART, 5x SPI, 16x PWM, GPIOs
- Analog – 7x ADC
Supply Voltage – 5V
Power Consumption
- Idle – 1.35W
- Typical – 4.8W
- Max – 20W
Dimensions – 66 x 50 x 5.8mm
Weight – TBD
Temperature Range – Operating: -40°C to 85°C; storage: -40°C to 105°C in the board’s datasheet
Humidity – 10% to 80 % (non-condensing)

The product page mentions support for Android 11 and Ubuntu 18.04 operating systems, but when asked to confirm that, the company replies that Android 12.0, Ubuntu Desktop and Server, Debian 11, and buildroot RTLinux can be supported.

The same product page documents all I/Os from the board-to-board connector, but apart from that it is light on detail and lacks any information about a reference carrier board, so I asked. I was first told customers can evaluate the module with the DSGW-380 carrier board for gateways pictured below.

But it’s obvious that carrier board is better suited to the Rockchip RK3588 version of the module, as it does not offer any camera interfaces and only two HDMI output ports, so it’s not optimal for advanced automotive applications requiring multiple cameras for ADAS and several displays for the dashboard and infotainment.

After I pointed this out to the company, they explained they mainly offer “SOM secondary development and mainboard ODM services” and “can design the carrier board according to the requirements”. So it looks like that may not have an evaluation carrier board for automotive applications, and it would have to be designed by the customer or by contracting Dusun. Existing carrier boards such as the one above can be used to test other functions of the Rockchip RK3588M system-on-module.

Pricing and availability information are not provided due to the custom nature of the design, and interested parties would have to contact the company to discuss the project in detail.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

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.