KARO electronics GmbH

TX Family Concept for SOMs

The Ka-Ro TX Family Concept provides a standard pinout for all TX SOMs - the 200 pin SO-DIMM connector is standard on all TX modules.  On the pin-compatible connector, common features needed for embedded devices are located on the same pins across the entire TX family range.   Ethernet, CAN, serial, USB and other interfaces are in the same position on all TX SOMs.

The TX Family Concept makes it very easy to exchange TX modules during development and production.  Development may start with one processor, but additional features discovered and defined during development may require more processing power or memory for processing or storage.  

As Ka-Ro continues to develop new SOMs for the TX Family Concept, customers are assured of easy upgrades with drop-in replacements using next-generation processors and memory, extending product lifetimes well beyond the 12 years guaranteed availability of each TX SOM.

The TX Family Concept makes it possible to create a new product family with a single hardware design working as a product platform.   Products with different performance, features and price points can be delivered by using different TX SOMs, so customers can order products with the exact functionality they need.   This approach eliminates the need to create separate products with different BOMs; production and inventory costs are minimized.

Selecting SOMs from the TX Family Concept means developing with no setbacks, redesigns or schedule delays, ensuring that your product is delivered on-time, with the functionality and features needed to succeed at launch and through a long and profitable product lifecycle.

Ka-Ro TX8M SOM based on the NXP i.MX 8M Mini

The new Ka-Ro TX8M is the latest and most powerful Ka-Ro TX SOM family , based on the NXP i.MX 8M multicore processor.   The new TX8M includes four 1.6 GHz ARM® Cortex®-A53 cores and a 400 MHz Cortex-M4 for real-time processing.   The NXP i.MX 8M Mini combines high-performance computing with efficient power consumption in an advanced 14nm silicon technology to provide an outstanding embedded solution, allowing TX8M users to create cutting-edge, innovative products.

The Ka-Ro TX8M is completely designed, produced and supported from Aachen, Germany – nothing is ever outsourced!   It is pin-compatible with all Ka-Ro SOMs in the TX Family, and the proven TX SO-DIMM form factor is small enough for handheld products and provides maximum design flexibility and ease of production.  The TX8M is well suited for all industrial applications, with rugged construction, a standard industrial rating of -25 to 85C, and a solid one-year warranty  

Applications for the TX8M include:

• Displays and Industrial HMI
• Streaming video and audio devices
• Edge Computing and IoT
• AI and Machine Learning
• Industrial Control and Automation
• Medical Devices
• Transportation Applications

Features of the Ka-Ro TX8M include:

• NXP i.MX 8M Mini applications processor
  1.6 GHz ARM® Cortex®-A53 Quad Core
  400 MHz ARM Cortex M4
• 1 GB RAM, 4 GB eMMC Flash
• MIPI Display Interface
• MIPI Camera Interface
• 10/100 Ethernet
• 4 UART, 4 I2C, 3 SPI
• PCIe 2.0
• USB (OTG and Host)
• 3.3V GPIO

• Linux BSP for 4.14 LTS Mainline Support
• Yocto Support

A complete Development Kit is available for the Ka-Ro TX8M.  It includes a TX8M SOM, a development baseboard with schematics and BOM, a 10” Polytouch LVDS display with LVDS to MIPI adapter.   The Development Kit includes Technical Support directly from Ka-Ro’s hardware and software designers.

For more information, contact Ka-Ro or Authorized Distributors worldwide.
www.karo-electronics.com/TX8M
www.karo-electronics.com/disti

Ka-Ro Electronics Design and Manufacturing Services

Ka-Ro can provide design and engineering services from our engineering and manufacturing facility in Aachen, Germany. Services include:

Hardware:

• Rapid prototype development
• Custom hardware design and layout
• Baseboard designs for Ka-Ro TX SOMs
• Electronic Manufacturing Services EMS IPC-A-610D Class 2
• BGA, μBGA and CSP mounting
• Testing Services including X-Ray, AOI and JTAG / Functional testing
• CFC-free cleaning

Software:

• Secure Boot Integration
• Device driver integration
• Bootloader and BSP customization
• Display porting
• OS Migration Services: Windows Embedded to Open Source

Combined with TX SOMs, our services can greatly accelerate your new product to market.

Ka-Ro Software Development

Software support available for Ka-Ro TX Family Concept SOMs:
- Linux
- Yocto Project
-uBoot Bootloader
- Microsoft Windows Embedded
- uBoot low-level bootloader
- Android (Third-Party)
- QNX (Third-Party)

Ka-Ro has a team of software experts continuously developing high-quality, production-ready software for use with our TX Family Concept SOMs.  This includes bootloaders, device drivers integrated in Board Support Packages, and development environments with tools to develop and program Ka-Ro TX modules.

Support is always available directly from our software developers, all of whom are also familiar with Ka-Ro hardware.  They quickly provide a solution that addresses both software and hardware.   You are assured of accurate and accountable support to ensure your product meets the highest performance and quality standards.

Linux
Ka-Ro developers are Linux experts.   We release our Board Support Packages (BSPs) to the mainline Linux kernel, and our BSPs are based on the Long-term Support (LTS) Linux, currently the 4.14 kernel.  This means that that the Ka-Ro BSP can be integrated easily, and additional device drivers can be added without conflicts.  Long-term Support provides a 6-year availability of the LTS kernel, which assures a stable Linux platform during the development and deployment of embedded products.  

In addition to a full-featured BSP, Ka-Ro supports a pre-compiled Debian (Stretch) OS and LXDE, a Debian-based desktop environment.

Yocto Project
Ka-Ro supports the Yocto Project 2.4 (Yocto) for Ka-Ro TX SOMs.  Complete recipes and installation guides are provided

Microsoft Windows Embedded
Ka-Ro continues to support and develop for customers using Windows Embedded software.   Ka-Ro created the first Windows Embedded Compact 7 BSP for the NXP i.MX 6Ultra-Lite processors and continues to assist customers to transition their products to newer versions of Windows Embedded running on TX SOMs.

Ka-Ro is a member of the Microsoft ecosystem for Windows 10 IOT Core, and we’ll be demonstrating prototypes at Embedded World 2019.   Come to Hall 3A-133