Boardcon Idea3288 Android SBC is Made for Digital Signage, Smart PoS, and Vending Machines

Boardcon Announces the Idea3288 SBC

Boardcon Idea3288 targets the commercial market with a variety of applications for its latest SBC, utilizing a Rockchip 3288 CPU module. The company says the Idea3288 is customizable for whatever commercial application that can be had, such as digital displays, vending machines, intelligent POS, automotive, IoT, and even access control systems.

Idea SoC RK3288 and Interfaces

The SBC is comprised of a Rockchip RK3288 quad-core Arm Cortex A17 processor with a Mali-T764 GPU, 2GB RAM, and 8GB eMMC flash. The interfaces include GbE, mDP, HDMI, 3x USB2.0 Host ports, one USB OTG port, audio, battery, MIPI DSI/CSI, UARTs, RS485, CAN, POE, Micro SD, PCI-e (for 4G modem), M.2 slot (for SSD), SIM slot, and more.

The SBC is made up of a carrier board and a CPU module

The SBC runs Android 7.1.2 operating system and is built to handle 4K video playback. The Idea3288 includes CM3288 CPU module fitted with RK3288 SoC that is in turn soldered onto the Idea3288 carrier board which is a slightly different design compared to the earlier Mini3288 SBC from the company based on the same processor.

CM3288 Module

The smaller, more compact SoM where the RK3288 resides, is built to be more efficient than the Mini3288 and comes with 2GB of LPDDR3 RAM and 8GB of eMMC storage.

Idea3288 SBC

The board offers expansion with a MicroSD slot, an M.2 SSD interface and mini-PCIe, GbE port with PoE support. There is a 2.4GHz WiFi and BT 4.0 module, s well as optional 4G connectivity with a SIM card slot.

Specifications include

Processor – Rockchip RK3388 quad-core Cortex-A17 cores @ up to 1.8GHz with Arm Mali-T764 GPU with OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0/3.1, OpenCL, DirectX9.3
Memory – On-module 2GB LPDDR3 RAM
Storage – 8GB eMMC flash (on module), MicroSD slot, optional SSD via M.2 slot
Networking – Gigabit Ethernet port with PoE connector, 802.11b/g/n WiFi 4 (2.4GHz) with Bluetooth 4.0, optional 4G LTE connectivity via mini-PCIe socket
Media I/O:
- HDMI 2.0 port for up to 4K@60fps with HDCP 1.4/2.2
- Mini-DisplayPort at up to 3840 x 2160
- LVDS (40-pin header) at up to 3840 x 2160
- MIPI-DSI (26-pin header) at up to 3840 x 2160
- MIPI-CSI (26-pin header or 24-pin FPC) for optional camera
- 3.5mm audio jack (Everest ES8388 codec)
Other I/O:
- 3x USB 2.0 host (2x ports, 1x interface)
- Micro-USB 2.0 OTG port
- RS485 (3-pin coastline connector)
- CAN (2-pin coastline connector)
- RS-232 (4-pin connector)
- Serial debug (4-pin connector)
- GPIO (14-pin connector for MEMS module)
- Fan interface
Expansion:
- M.2 slot for SSDs
- Mini-PCIe slot for optional 4G with GPS module + SIM card slot
Other features — IR receiver; RTC; recovery, power, and reset buttons
Power — 5VDC @ 3A jack; 3.7V Li-Ion battery connector
Dimensions – Baseboard: 135mm x 90mm; CPU board: 60mm x 46mm

More Information

Boardcon’s announcement has more information as does the Idea3288 product information page. Linuxgizmos has reported on the Idea3288 in its recent article and we wrote a piece on the previous Boardcon’s Idea3399, the predecessor to the Idea3288, powered by a more advanced Rockchip RK3399 processor.

Stephen Vicinanza

Stephen started writing about technology after publishing sci-fi short stories. His first White-Paper, written in 2008, was well received and inspired him to continue writing about technology. Today he writes in the technology space full time, covering a multitude of topics. During the time he wrote part-time he edited hundreds of titles for large publishers, in science and technology. He lives in Staten Island, with his wife and children.