Why beaglebone

Harry

Other Parts Discussed in Thread: AM3359

Dear all,

I am a ARM-M programmer who had been programming for more than 1 year.

I am really new to this concept of Arm- A or Arm-R and i am wondering whats so special about Beaglebone. I understand it bears a considerable popularity now within all programmers but i fail to understand why?

As far as i know, we can do most stuff that are done with Beaglebone using a normal Arm-M like Stellaris LMF4120. Can someone please explain me enough or encourage me with proper reasons as to why i must learn Beaglebone?

thank you so much.

over 13 years ago

0 Renjith Thomas over 13 years ago

Guru 31670 points

Isuru,

BeagleBone uses Sitara AM335x series of processor from TI. It has ARM Cortex-A8 core which can clock upto 1GHz. Also it has an MMU which is required for any High Level OS (HLOS) like Linux, Android or Wince to be running. In stellaris you won't be able to run a HLOS like this. Also it has lot more powerful peripherals like a GPU etc.

It really depends on the application that you are developing, whether to continue using Stellaris or use bit more high end AM335x. I hope my explanation is satisfactory.

0 Satyaprakash Mishra over 12 years ago in reply to Renjith Thomas

Intellectual 815 points

Hello Renjith

Does BeagleBone has MMU on borad ?

I found nothing MMU specific on BeagleBone schematic & reference manual, can u help me get clarified that we have a MMU on beaglebone.

Regards

Satyaprakash

0 TimHarron over 12 years ago in reply to Satyaprakash Mishra

TI__Mastermind 18130 points

The MMU is a part of the Cortex-A8 core. I am not sure how much the ARM documentation discusses it, but that is where I would look for more information on it.

*edit* For clarification, the BeagleBone (and BeagleBone Black) board uses the AM3359 which is a Cortex-A8 based device.

0 Renjith Thomas over 12 years ago in reply to Satyaprakash Mishra

Guru 31670 points

Sathya,

You can refer to the ARMv7 documentation for specific details of MMU of Cortex-A8.

http://www.cs.utsa.edu/~whaley/teach/FHPO_F11/DDI0406B_arm_architecture_reference_manual_errata_markup_9_0.pdf

Alternatively there is simpler and older document (ARM9 series) for easier understanding of MMU.

https://www.scss.tcd.ie/~waldroj/3d1/arm_arm.pdf

0 Satyaprakash Mishra over 12 years ago in reply to TimHarron

Intellectual 815 points

Hi Tim

Thanks for ur answer. It helped me.

Regards

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Why beaglebone