Theobroma Systems and Arrow announce EPC-compatible i.MX51 board
Dreieich/Vienna, 9. March 2010 – Theobroma Systems and Arrow Electronics announce an EPC-compatible processor board that features the Freescale i.MX51 applications processor. The Embedded Platform Concept (EPC) is a modular design that integrates various hardware and software offerings and provides service, support and customization.
The i.MX51-based processor board is compatible to the EPC-platform. It has been developed by Theobroma Systems, a design-house and Freescale Design Alliance member, based in Vienna/Austria, and is supported by Theobroma Systems' software and systems engineering expertise. A BSP (Board Support Package) is initially provided for Linux with support for WindowsCE and Theobroma Systems' proprietary CriolloOS planned for the future.
"As a full service design house, we have taken our next logical step by utilizing the EPC environment for an own Processor Module to offer a compelling option to shorten time-to-market.", says Dr. Philipp Tomsich, CTO of Theobroma Systems, "We don't aim to become a module-supplier or to focus on selling prefabricated modules. However, our own line of EPC-compatible modules is an excellent tool to better support those customers that require a custom solution, but are lacking time to demonstrate their product to end customers."
Optimized for low power consumption, the i.MX51 is targeted to drive customer applications, including mobile Internet devices, ebooks, digital photo frames, gaming devices, human machine interface (HMI) applications, portable navigation devices, portable medical solutions and many others. Most peripherals provided by the i.MX51 are available on the board-to-board connectors, including Ethernet, video, audio and a wide range of communications interfaces (SPI, UARTs, USARTs, S/PDIF, PWM, GPIO, I²C).
The optional add-on board conveniently provides access to the video output signals and adds smart-card and NFC/RFID connectivity. A major strength of the i.MX51 is the flexible boot option, including booting from USB, UARTs, SD/MMC-cards, SPI-flash and NOR-flash. These options are fully supported with the module design and ease the integration into customer solutions.