Announcements

AM335x Sitara ARM Processor now released for production!

2012-06-02T13:03:00Z

The entire Sitara™ ARM® processor team is happy to announce the formal release to production of the AM335x ARM Cortex-A8 Processor. As of June 1, 2012, numerous AM335x devices are ready for order and shipment. This newest member of the Sitara product family provides the lowest DMIP per dollar processor on the market today with devices starting at less than $5.00 in 100K quantities.

This highly integrated solution includes:

- ARM Cortex-A8 up to 720MHz

- 3D Graphics Accelerator

- LCD and Touchscreen controller

- Industrial Communications Subsystem

- 2-Port Gb Ethernet Switch

- Support for LPDDR1/DDR2/DDR3 Memory

- Numerous peripherals including 2-port USB w/PHY, CAN, and a generic ADC

- Multiple operating frequencies (275, 500, 600, 720) and device options

- Two small compact packages (ZCE/ZCZ)

- Support for both Commercial (0 to 90C) and Industrial (-40 to 90C) Temperatures

Perfect for numerous end applications including portable navigation, security panels, smart white goods, wireless hard drives, and many others. The integrated Industrial Communications Subsystem also delivers support for popular industrial protocols such as Profibus, Profinet, EtherCAT and others making it a great solution for Industrial communications, control, and drive applications. Finally, this device consumes less than 5mW of power in low power modes making it a good fit for consumer and battery operated solutions.

7” LCD touchscreen, integrated Wi-Fi/BT, Ethernet, motor control, USB and on-board JTAG are a few of the different features you’ll find on our comprehensive Evaluation platforms. Coupled with software solutions for Android and Linux that deliver both a great out of box experience and a quick development setup to give you a head start in your product development. Our extensive software offering also includes StarterWare, a C-based, no-OS platform with example applications and programming examples for Ethernet, Graphics and other features as well as 3P solutions from QNX, Mentor, Wind River and more. You may also dig the newest beagle on the block, the BeagleBone by visiting Beagleboard.org! At $89, this solution offers a great open-source hardware solution and enormous community of users that are committed to the sharing of ideas and innovation.

As you can see, we’re extremely excited to bring this great solution to the market and can’t wait to work with you on your next project using the AM335x Sitara ARM Processor.

Get started today by visiting:

www.ti.com/am335x

Tools

AM335x Evaluation Module

AM3359 Industrial Development Kit

AM3359 Industrial Communications Engine

Software

Android Software Development Kit

Linux Software Development Kit

StarterWare

AM335x part numbers available for order today:

– ZCE Package

AM3352ZCE27
AM3352ZCED50
AM3354ZCED50

– ZCZ Package

AM3352ZCZ60
AM3354ZCZ60
AM3354ZCZD72
AM3357ZCZD27
AM3357ZCZD72
AM3358ZCZD72
AM3359ZCZD72
AM3352ZCZD72

Sitara AM335x ARM Processor Flash Video now live

2012-02-14T19:48:32Z

Check out a new flash video on AM335x http://focus.ti.com/general/docs/video/Portal.tsp?entryid=0_rkw06gw4&lang=en. Follow an engineer in his search for a highly optimized, low cost ARM processor at his local chip superstore.

TI accelerates industrial designs with a single-chip solution

2011-11-22T13:20:09Z

In conjunction with SPS, the world’s largest industrial trade show in Nuremburg, Germany, today we announced our new industrial automation solution to ease and accelerate industrial designs. Imagine using one chip that contains all the industrial communications protocols you need for your design, including EtherCAT^®, Ethernet/IP, PROFIBUS^®, PROFINET^®, POWERLINK and SERCOS III.

This is all possible with TI’s new Sitara™ AM335x ARM Cortex-A8 microprocessors because they offer an ARM + programmable real-time unit (PRU) architecture and several other key, on-chip industrial peripherals — CAN, ADC, USB + PHY and two-port Gigabit Ethernet with IEEE1588 — to enable fast network connectivity and rapid data throughput, as well as connection to sensors, actuators and motor control. This type of architecture eliminates the need for an ASIC or FPGA and can result in an overall bill of materials cost reduction of as much as 30 percent!

So, what type of industrial applications could you design with these processors? Here are a few ideas:

Drives and I/O level devices targeted to enable sensors, actuators, motor drives, communications modules and gateways needing industrial slave communications
Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) that need to control various I/O devices such as electric motors, hydraulic cylinders, magnetic relays, solenoids and more
Human Machine Interfaces (HMIs) for interactive touch screens on industrial automation interface panels
And many more!

It’s your turn! How would this unique, one-chip architecture specifically benefit your design?

Start your mission with the industry’s first $5 ARM® Cortex™-A8 microprocessor

2011-10-31T12:23:00Z

Imagine taking a handheld educational device based on an ARM9 processor and updating the product to include 3D interactive touch screen interfaces, higher resolution displays, better logic processing ability and wireless connectivity for multi-student interaction. This is all possible with TI’s newest ARM devices – the AM335x ARM Cortex-A8 microprocessors (MPUs). The better news is that with these new ARM MPUs you can afford to do this and still keep the bill of materials (BOM) costs and power levels low.

These new AM335x ARM Cortex-A8 MPUs were designed based on customer feedback and they pack high performance with on-board 3D graphics acceleration and touch screen controller, USB-PHY (x2), dual Gigabit Ethernet, CAN and more. These devices start at a low $5 price point while consuming a low 7 mW while in stand-by mode. When compared to previous generations, you can reduce BOM and printed circuit board space costs by up to $40 by utilizing all of the integrated features of the AM335x. Processors such as these can enable portable, pocket-sized applications with robust features, such as portable navigation, handheld gaming and education devices as well as factory automation.

Are you ready to explore the infinite possibilities on your own?

Find more information about the AM335x ARM Cortex-A8 MPUs here.
Developers can begin evaluation of the AM335x ARM microprocessors today with the $89 BeagleBone from BeagleBoard.org and TI’s EVM (TMDXEVM3558) for $995.

Leave us a note! We’d love to hear what you think about these MPUs, as well as what innovations you could create with them.

Sitara ARM® Cortex™-A8 and ARM9™ Microprocessors Wiki

2011-08-29T17:07:00Z

Looking for documentation on design tips, frequently asked questions and technical how-to’s on Sitara? Be sure to visit the Embedded Processors Wiki resources for it? The Wiki is a great companion resource to the E2E Sitara forums!

TI Android Gingerbread 2.3 DevKit version 1.0 is available for Sitara™ ARM© Cortex™-A8 AM35x, AM37x & OMAP35x Microprocessors

2011-04-01T12:34:47Z

TI’s Android Gingerbread 2.3 DevKit version 1.0 (EA) release is now available for Sitara AM35x, AM37x, and OMAP35x devices. The release has been validated on AM35x/AM37x EVMs and Beagleboard rev C4. The DevKit release can be downloaded from http://focus.ti.com/docs/toolsw/folders/print/androidsdk-sitara.html

This release package provides Android GingerBread 2.3 sources, SGX (3D graphics) drivers, Adobe Flash 10 support, WLAN and Bluetooth support for WL1271, Power Management (DVFS, suspend, resume, CPU IDLE, etc), S-Video, RowboPERF performance measurement application, NAND (UBIFS), USB Mouse cursor, Fastboot and standard applications from Android.

Release Notes are available at http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/TI-Android-GingerBread-2.3-DevKit-1.0_ReleaseNotes

What's new in this release?

The Devkit release has improved tools for debug and development environment. The release includes TI’s Code Composer Studio V5 with Android Plugins to ease Android app development and porting for developers. The gitorious.org/rowboat android sources (kernel, file system and boot loader) are pre-packaged to enable developers start building android for custom hardware with detailed host setup instructions.

Refer to http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/TI-Android-GingerBread-2.3-DevKit-1.0_DeveloperGuide for more details.

Power Management improvements are enabled by DVFS, CPU IDLE, Suspend, Resume, etc. Bluetooth Hands Free and Head Set profiles are supported, Mouse cursor is added (not in standard Gingerbread frame work from Google).

The following features from previous FroYo release are still retained: Adobe Flash 10 libraries (on request), USB Mass Storage, Audio record/playback, Keypad, Touchscreen, S-video, DVI, etc.

For support and queries please use http://e2e.ti.com/android

Flash Tool v1.4 now available with AM35x Support

2011-02-18T21:59:31Z

An updated version of Flash Tool is now available. Building upon the addition of ECC support in v1.3, this version also includes support for AM3517 and AM3505.

As always, you can find the flash tool at http://focus.ti.com/docs/toolsw/folders/print/flashtool.html

TI Android FroYo DevKit version 2.2 is available for AM37x, AM35x & OMAP35x devices

2011-01-31T15:59:45Z

As a follow up to our Android FroYo DevKit V 2.0 release in Oct 2010, we here by announce the availability of TI Android FroYo DevKit V 2.2 for AM35x, AM37x, OMAP35x devices. The release has been validated on AM35x/37x EVMs and Beagleboard rev C4/XM.

The DevKit release V2.2 can be downloaded from http://focus.ti.com/docs/toolsw/folders/print/androidsdk-sitara.html

This release package provides a stable Android FroYo 2.2 distribution with integrated SGX (3D graphics) drivers, Adobe Flash 10 support (on request), TI hardware abstraction for video overlay, audio, camera and connectivity modules.

What's new in this release?

Power Management, WLAN (WL1271) on AM37x EVM, Bluetooth connectivity for OPP, A2DP profiles on AM37x EVM, Camera Image capture on Beagle XM, Fastboot utility for firmware upgrade, NAND UBI File System based booting, UI and video on S-video, hardware accelerated dynamic rotation for Video pipeline, etc.

This release can also support DSP (hardware) accelerated multimedia CODECs (720P MPEG4 ASP and H.264 MP/HP) for DM3730.

The following features from previous release are still retained,

Adobe Flash 10 libraries (on request), USB Mass Storage, Audio record/playback, Keypad, Touchscreen, etc.

The package also includes Linux Android kernel, tools and documentation to ease development, deployment and execution of Android based systems. The product forms the basis for all Android application development on OMAP35x, AM37x, AM35x, DM37x platforms.

Experience the TI Android DevKit V2.2

See Beagle XM analyzing and printing live BarCodes and QR Codes through Camera module, Go wireless with WLAN and Bluetooth support on AM37x EVM, Upgrade Firmware dynamically by flashing on board NAND with Fastboot, Improved power management, leverage RowboPERF app for performance measurement & benchmarking, and lot more...

For support and queries please use http://e2e.ti.com/android

CraneBoard for the Holidays!

2010-12-17T22:35:10Z

Just in time for the holidays, Mistral announced a new low-cost ARM® based development board for developers utilizing Texas Instruments’ AM35x Sitara™ ARM Cortex-A8™ microprocessor (MPU). Dubbed the CraneBoard, the new ARM-based open source development is a cost-effective alternative to the AM35x Sitara ARM MPU evaluation module and is priced at $199 from various distributors.

The CraneBoard is saving you both time and effort by providing you with a reference platform for hardware and software to easily duplicate designs. Another great thing about the CraneBoard is that its code compatible with other TI ARM Cortex-A8-based devices, including the AM37x Sitara ARM MPU found in the BeagleBoard-xM, to allow you to add functionalities and use previous code for any future devices you are wishing to develop! It gets even better! In addition to offering you design ease; the CraneBoard features new interfaces including Power over Ethernet (PoE), powered by TI’s TPS23750 PoE controller, and Controller Area Network (CAN) bus, not offered on other development boards. With these new interfaces, the CraneBoard is great for industrial (particularly human machine interface) and automotive applications.

To learn more about the CraneBoard, please visit http://www.craneboard.org.

TI adds two new MPUs to the Sitara™ family

2010-06-09T21:05:00Z

Monday, June 7, we announced two new Sitara AM37x MPU devices, the AM3715 and AM3703. These new 1GHz Cortex-A8 processors offer design flexibility and compatibility for a variety of high-performance, low-power applications.

What is so different about the AM37x compared to our other MPUs? The AM37x MPUs offer nearly a 40 percent increase in ARM performance, twice the graphics performance while reducing power by up to 30 percent when compared to previous Sitara and OMAP MPUs. These new processors will further enable end-equipment designers to push their applications and graphical interfaces to new performance levels while maintaining portability.

The AM37x MPUs are scalable within the Sitara and OMAP ARM MPU product family and offer pin-to-pin compatibility between the AM3715 and AM3707. Furthermore, customers can easily transition from OMAP processors with minimal board design changes. Another cool thing about the AM37x? It is now featured on the new BeagleBoard-xM (beagleboard.org). This low-cost board builds upon the success of the original BeagleBoard by adding the AM37x processor, more memory, Ethernet, and a USB Hub - all for only $179. Whether you’re ready to start your design today or are curious to see why Sitara processors should be used in your next design, the BeagleBoard-xM and the AM37x EVM provide terrific starting points with software solutions on Linux, WinCE, Android and a huge open source community. These new products will provide you a head start to optimize your products and applications today!

If you need more information, check outwww.ti.com/am37xprlp . Let us know what you think about our new processors and stay tuned for new developments!