CM3 BCM43438

[simpkjoeusat]

Hello,

I am evaluating RPIE options to replace an embedded STR912 app for our company. The CM3 first attracted me because of the generic form factor and I though it had the same options as Raspie3b. After reading, I notice missing items and just thought they were on the development IO board as most micro companies place everything including the kitchen sink on them. The "RPI-CMIO-V3_0-SCHEMATIC.pdf does not detail the BCM43438. Can some please confirm if the BCM43438 is on the new developer IO board (RPI-COMPUTE3-KIT). Is there I link that details how to include the BCM43438 HW design to match up with the RPIE3b.

[6by9]

There is no Wifi/Bluetooth on the CMIO3.

I thought I'd seen links for adding BCM43438 to a Zero, but perhaps I'm misremembering for the ESP8266. The dt-blob gives you the default way that Wifi/BT is wired up on the Pi3.

[W. H. Heydt]

The CMIO development boards are just that: Development boards. They provide the bare essentials to develop your own carrier board: all the GPIO pins, a way to program the eMMC flash (CM/CM3), a microSD slot (for the CM3L), HDMI output, and a single USB-A 2.0 connector, since the SoCs used only have a single USB 2.0. Anything beyond that is up to you, if only because there will be someone out there who *doesn't* want any particular add-on that you do, and wants something that you don't.

Nothing prevents you from creating a WiFi/BT add on that connects to the appropriate GPIO pins.

[simpkjoeusat]

Thanks 6by9 for pointing me in a forward direction.

Hi W. H. Heydt- Thanks for the response. I understand that rpie org cannot make a development board to suit everyone's needs. In the market space that I sit in, most development boards have lots of extra stuff to show off the micro capabilities like LAN, USB, SD cards, and LCD displays. The engineers who make their own custom solution (carrier board) use the development kit as template and remove what they do not need. This approach is best suited for fastest time to market. I agree, I have the capability to build my own custom solution, and it seems I will, but this will take much longer. Best Regards...

[W. H. Heydt]

Thanks 6by9 for pointing me in a forward direction.

Hi W. H. Heydt- Thanks for the response. I understand that rpie org cannot make a development board to suit everyone's needs. In the market space that I sit in, most development boards have lots of extra stuff to show off the micro capabilities like LAN, USB, SD cards, and LCD displays. The engineers who make their own custom solution (carrier board) use the development kit as template and remove what they do not need. This approach is best suited for fastest time to market. I agree, I have the capability to build my own custom solution, and it seems I will, but this will take much longer. Best Regards...

Two questions occur to me... The first is: Do those other boards include the SoC and memory or do they--like the CMIO--take one of several possible SoC/memory/eMMC cards? The second is: How much do you pay for one of those all dancing, all dinging development boards? The lowest price I know of at the moment for a CMIO3 board is $120 and a CM#L goes for $25.

[simpkjoeusat]

On my last project, I studied the Freescale K60 series (Arm Cortext M4). They use a tower format that support add-on modules.

http://www.nxp.com/products/microcontro ... 60N512-IAR

Dig into the docs and you will find the schematics for everything. Some manufactures even provide gerbers to their dev kits.

I realize that as SBCs (ARM A series) became in vogue since 2010, that most of these are not free. A one time charge of a dev kit of $XXX for research purposes when you plan on making over 25K units per year is not a hard decision.