[Arm-netbook] ULP-COM

[jm]

On Thu, 2012-11-15 at 09:51 -0500, luke.leighton wrote:
> hi joe, sorry about using top-posting etc. limited interface.  yeah,
> you Get It.  effectively it's a completely different market, this
> project is targetting i hesitate to use the word quotes consumers
> quotes, i'd like to think of them as "durers", or "durablers" - there
> isn't a group noun describing "people who want to buy [durable] stuff
> that lasts" and "new-age hippies" doesn't quite cut it.
> 
> so yeah we're targetting durablers with the EOMA initiative i.e.
> mass-volume appliances, whereas these SOM-style initiatives are
> targetting systems-level convenience for engineers to make easy design
> decisions.
> 
> there *is* a use for SOM-style standards, because even as you say joe
> when you start putting things like SD-sockets on the module, you start
> thinking "what else should i put there, and if so how much should be
> part of the standard" and it all gets  complicated really really
> quickly.
> 
> all riht gotta go more later

Hi Luke,

The way I saw it was that SoMs are just EOMAs without a metal case :-)
So if SoM gets built and debugged in bare mboards that is easily
accessible for testing and debugging, then in lightening quick time, the
EOMA will follow from that. Then its up to the 'EOMA standards
maintainer', i.e. yourself to dictate pinouts and consumer strategies.

The guys at cubieboard http://www.cubieboard.org have published their
circuit
http://dl.cubieboard.org/hardware/cubieboard_schematic_2012-08-08.pdf
(but I only see it yesterday) and this is cue for me to go copy all the
relevant bits asap to get a SoM built and then share asap for you
to build in lightening quick time the EOMA! :-)


> On 11/15/12, jm <joem at martindale-electric.co.uk> wrote:
> > On Thu, 2012-11-15 at 03:11 -0500, luke.leighton wrote:
> >> yes i've seen ulp-com.  it is the same deal as q-seven and other
> >> mxm-based modules. these standards are suitable for industrial
> >> applications such as digital signage and other factory-only-install
> >> purposes. due to the "optionality" inherent in these types of
> >> standards there will be massive fragmentation and confusion.  look at
> >> q-seven for an example: there is a list of appx 20 types of interfaces
> >> ranging from PCIe to RS232; next to each is an optional minimum and an
> >> optional maximum number of the interfaces that a particular card is
> >> permitted to support.  this number ranges from 0 to 8 in some cases.
> >> how the bloody hell anyone is supposed to successfully pick a
> >> particular card or even a motherboard when the interfaces are random
> >> is anybody's guess.
> >>
> >> so yes - nice idea, total chaos in practice, adoption will probably be
> >> specific to certain market segments such as digital signage, but even
> >> there, why go to all the trouble in such a high-volume market, when
> >> for $10k you can get a single board made up and not have the overhead
> >> of the connector.
> >
> > The mistake they make is to put too much into the SoM board.
> > Self restraint needed.
> > Put CPU + flash + RAM + xtals + regulator on SoM board
> > and leave the rest to the mboard. That way, the SoM can be changed
> > out for a faster / better version to upgrade the mboard.
> > It makes business sense as you and I will want to upgrade the CPU
> > and sponsor the better SoM makers by buying the specific SoMs that
> > have better features. Particularly those that are more open and have
> > better documentation. In the same way the mboards can be replaced
> > without loosing the investment in SoM boards.
> > For tinkerers, the SO-DIMM connector can be brought out to prototyping
> > area to rewire as needed - so most likely the SoM boards will never
> > become obsolete even if the mboards don't match pins.
> >
> > With CPUs like the A10, best to also put the uSD card to the SoM board.
> > That way you can keep the OS with the SoM board without having to rewire
> > between boards when you build up a collection of mboards and SoM boards
> > and start swapping between them.
> >
> >
> >> l.
> >>
> >>
> >> On 11/14/12, Barry Kauler <bkauler at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> > Have you guys seen this:
> >> >
> >> > http://blogs.arm.com/embedded/702-i-like-pc-like-arm-reaches-into-computer-on-module/
> >> >
> >> > cnxsoft posted some info on boards with ULP-COM connector:
> >> >
> >> > http://www.cnx-software.com/2012/11/14/kontron-ulp-com-samx6i-freescale-i-mx6-solo-dual-and-quad-computers-on-module/
> >> >
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