[Arm-netbook] [EOMA26] example product layout

[luke.leighton]

On Mon, Aug 19, 2013 at 11:33 AM, joem <joem at martindale-electric.co.uk> wrote:
> On Mon, 2013-08-19 at 11:00 +0100, luke.leighton wrote:
>> On Mon, Aug 19, 2013 at 9:35 AM, joem <joem at martindale-electric.co.uk> wrote:
>> > On Mon, 2013-08-19 at 08:07 +0000, joem wrote:
>> >> > does anyone know of any other SoCs that would suit EOMA-26?  i've
>> >> > listed the TI AM3389 already
>> >> > http://elinux.org/Embedded_Open_Modular_Architecture/EOMA-26
>> >
>> >
>> > Sqeeeeeeek!!!
>> >
>> > This type of IO expander scheme chips are a waste of money for the
>> > price they are being sold in relation to the much higher functions
>> > that are expected of them.
>> >
>> > Its cheaper to get a $2 cortex-3 lets say with 48 pins or 64 pins
>> > and then use its i2c to talk to the chip, and then have inside
>> > the chip a little bit of software for keyboarding, led driving,
>> > interrupt generation, adc, usb, ethernet, lcd, etc.
>>
>>  yes - i mention that further down.
>>
>
> Sorry, yes, I were trawling through list of datasheets and didn't get to
> bottom of page.

 i've put a summary at the top.

> So would it not be easier to start with an arm cortex m3 lets say
> and stick with it. The shipping cost would not pay for the difference
> between a $2 chip and a $0.5 chip. Such an expansion board would cost
> under $10 but do far more than anything competing with it.

 what happens when people look at that page and start making I/O
boards in quantity 100k and 1m, with local supply chains?  this isn't
a small-scale project joe where we're writing this solely and
exclusively for tinkerers and arduinoists.

> There is also the LPC1768 costing $5
> http://www.aliexpress.com/item/LPC1768FBD100-LPC1768-NXP-QFP100-100-brand-new-original-authentic/990248235.html

 $5 is way too much, given that the SoCs on the EOMA68 CPU Cards are
likely to be around the $2 to $3 mark.  how can we find the 10k / 100k
pricing?

> I got KiCAD boards that I make already - the SoM1 CPU board takes 2
> of these puppies and brings them out to 200 pin SODIMM.
> http://www.gplsquared.com/SoM1/SoM1.html (the chip it takes is
> marked up as LPC1764 - same pinout more memory in LPC1768 - 512K!)
> It will take next to no time to modify it and make it specific for
> EOMA26 needs.

that'd be fantastic.
l.