i.MX8M Plus powered Pico-ITX has stackable expansion board

i.MX8M Plus powered Pico-ITX has stackable expansion board

Aug 13, 2021 — by Eric Brown

— 234 views

Ibase’s “IBR215” Pico-ITX SBC runs Linux or Android on the i.MX8M Plus with 3GB LPDDR4, 64GB eMMC, 2x GbE, 3x USB, HDMI, M.2 B-key, and an optional expansion board with E-key, mini-PCIe, 2x CAN, 2x MIPI-CSI, and more.

Ibase announced a 105 x 72mm “2.5-inch” SBC based on NXP’s quad -A53, 2.3-TOPS i.MX8M Plus. The IBR215 is slightly larger than the typical 100 x 72mm Pico-ITX form factor and is available with a stackable -IO expansion board called the IBR215-IO.

The fanless IBR215 supports -40 to 85°C temperatures when equipped with an optional heatsink. The SBC is designed for industrial automation, smart home and buildings, smart cities and factories, retail environment, machine learning, and industrial IoT applications.

IBR215 (left) and IBR215-IO expansion board
(click images to enlarge)

The IBR215 joins i.MX8M Plus powered boards such as the similarly Pico-ITX/2.5-inch form factor RSB-3720 and two sandwich-style, COM-and-carrier products: SolidRun’s HummingBoard Mate Pico-ITX board and Technexion’s similarly community-backed Wandboard IMX8M-Plus. i.MX8M Plus modules with optional starter kits include F&S’ PicoCore MX8MP and Variscite’s VAR-SOM-MX8M-PLUS and DART-MX8M-PLUS.

The 14nm-fabricated i.MX8M Plus has up to 4x Cortex-A53 cores, which are clocked here to 1.6GHz. The SoC is further equipped with Vivante GC7000UL 3D and GC520L 2D GPUs, an 800MHz Cortex-M7 MCU, an 800MHz HiFi4 DSP, dual ISPs, and a 2.3-TOPs NPU for AI acceleration. The i.MX8M Plus tops out at 1080P encode and decode.

IBR215 with IBR215-IO
(click images to enlarge)

The IBR215 offers Yocto and Android 11 BSPs for the i.MX8M Plus, which is backed up here with 3GB LPDDR4, expandable to 4GB. Storage features include 64GB eMMC, expandable to 128GB and a microSD slot.

For communications, there are 2x GbE ports and an M.2 B-key 3052 slot with SIM slot and an optional 4G/5G modem. Other features include HDMI 2.0a, 2x USB 3.0 host, and a USB OTG port.

Three 40-pin (2×20) headers connect to the optional IBR215-IO board, which adds an M.2 E-key socket for an optional WiFi/Bluetooth module and a mini-PCIe socket with SIM for a 4G/LTE modem or other add-on modules.

The expansion board is further equipped with a RS232/422/485 DB9 port, 2x USB 3.0 headers, and dual-channel LVDS with backlight control. The IBR215-IO also supplies 2x CANBus, 2x MIPI-CSI, and other I/O shown below.

Specifications listed for the IBR215 include:

• Processor — NXP i.MX8M Plus (4x Cortex-A53 cores @ 1.6GHz); Vivante GC7000UL 3D and GC520L 2D GPUs; 2.3 TOPS NPU; 800MHz Cortex-M7; 800MHz HiFi4 DSP, 2x ISPs
• Memory/storage:
  • 3GB DDR4 (optional 1/2/4GB)
  • 16GB eMMC (optional up to 128GB)
  • MicroSD slot
• Networking:
  • 2x Gigabit Ethernet ports
  • Wireless options available via M.2 and IBR215-IO
• Media I/O:
  • HDMI 2.0a port
  • Dual-channel LVDS with backlight power (via IBR215-IO)
  • Mic-in, line-out audio headers
  • 2x MIPI-CSI (via IBR215-IO)
  • Cap touch IF (via IBR215-IO)
• Other I/O:
  • 2x USB 3.0 host ports
  • Micro-USB OTG port
  • 2x I2C, 4x GPIO
  • 2x USB 3.0 (via IBR215-IO)
  • RS-232/422/485 port (via IBR215-IO)
  • 2x UART, 2x PWM, 3x GPIO, PCM, I2C (via IBR215-IO)
  • 2x CAN-FD (via IBR215-IO)
• Expansion:
  • M.2 B-key 3052 slot with SIM slot for optional 4G/5G module
  • M.2 E-key 2230 slot (SDIO/UART) with optional WiFi/BT module (via IBR215-IO)
  • Mini-PCIe full-size slot (USB 2.0/PCM) with SIM slot for 4G/LTE/WiFi modules (via IBR215-IO)
• Other features — Watchdog; boot select switch; NFC and QR-code (via IBR215-IO)
• Operating temperature — -40 to 65°C (-40 to 85°C with optional heatsink); 10%~90% (non-condensing) relative humidity tolerance
• Power — 12V DC jack; 4-pin DC input header; 5V DC input (via IBR215-IO); power button
• Dimensions — 105 x 72mm (Pico-ITX/2.5-inch form factor); IBR215-IO is 100 x 72mm
• Operating system — BSPs for Yocto v3.0 Linux and Android 11; other OSes on request

Further information

No pricing or availability information was provided for the IBR215 SBC. More information may be found in Ibase’s announcement and product page.