[Arm-netbook] flying squirrel 7in tablet PCB nearing design completion

[Scott Sullivan]

On 03/22/2013 08:14 PM, luke.leighton wrote:
> http://rhombus-tech.net/community_ideas/kde_tablet/news/
>
> negotiations with suppliers almost done, the HV070WS1 has been
> withdrawn so it was necessary to pick the LD070WS1 (kindle fire
> screen).  touchscreen sourced, the mold is a "public domain" one.
> almost there, which is great because it'll come out at just the right
> time for testing the A10/A20 CPU Card.

Luke,

I was having some thoughts about the Flying Squirrel design and how I 
might re-purpose it over time. For some examples, when a better CPU 
cards become available, or the screen breaks and I re-use the board in 
another project, or to prototype other projects.

This led me to think about what I could put in the USB-only miniPCIe 
slot and what is on the expansion header. This was when I was reminded 
of mSATA which uses the miniPCIe connector, but not the same pin out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA#mSATA

If the flying squirrel PCB has the space, I think it would be 
advantageous to wire mSATA traces to miniPCIe connector. They don't have 
the be the default configuration, use of solder jumpers or 0-Ohm surface 
mount resistors (aka jumpers) could make it a manufacture time decision 
(or a post consumer re-work).

If there is a pin or electrical conflict with the USB on that socket, 
then the USB could also be jumper-ed in the same way.

In the "Tablet Inside Space" thread you noted that there was extra USB 
on the header already, so the loss of it on the miniPCIe connector is a 
non-concern when using mSATA in a laptop or post consumer position.

-- 
Scott Sullivan