Date
06/01/2015
PDF
Freescale Semiconductor introduced three additions to its highly successful i.MX 6 series of applications processors, providing compelling new options for the product line’s high-performance and value tiers. With these additions, the i.MX 6 series now delivers even higher levels of security, performance, power management and system bill-of-materials optimization for consumer, industrial and automotive markets.
The new i.MX 6DualPlus and i.MX 6QuadPlus devices deliver dramatic graphics and memory performance enhancements, while the new i.MX 6UltraLite targets cost and space constrained applications where power efficiency, small form factor and security are critical. The i.MX 6DualPlus and i.MX 6QuadPlus devices are software and pin compatible with a broad range of i.MX 6 processors, and all three of the new products incorporate a variety of connectivity options, while delivering high levels of security for trusted embedded computing.
“Freescale’s i.MX 6 series is the broadest and most versatile applications processing platform for multimedia and display applications, and this expansion adds new levels of performance, power efficiency and system-level cost savings for our customers,” said Ron Martino, vice president of Applications Processors and Advanced Technology Adoption for Freescale’s MCU group. “These newest i.MX 6 processors are designed to enable the creation of wildly innovative products for smarter and more secure automotive and Internet of Tomorrow applications.”
The new i.MX 6DualPlus and i.MX 6QuadPlus integrate multiple ARM® Cortex®-A9 cores and build upon the solid foundation of first-generation i.MX 6Dual and i.MX 6Quad processors by more than doubling the graphics performance and improving memory utilization by more than 50 percent.
Key features include:
· Enhanced versions of 3D, 2D and composition GPUs
· A newly optimized 64-bit DDR3/LVDDR3/LPDDR2-1066 memory interface to increase bus bandwidth
· More embedded SRAM, as well as added pre-fetch and resolve engines
The new i.MX 6DualPlus and i.MX 6QuadPlus are ideal for automotive instrument clusters and infotainment systems, as well as medical equipment, industrial HMI, digital signage and media streaming applications running in both active and low power modes.
i.MX 6UltraLite – promising new levels of energy and space efficiency
The i.MX 6UltraLite is engineered for applications and markets where security, cost, sleek form factors and optimized power efficiency are essential. For example, the processor’s power efficiency and advanced security features are ideal for the fast-growing Chinese mobile financial payments (ePOS) space.
Leveraging the energy efficiency of the ARM Cortex-A7 core and available in 14x14mm and 9x9mm BGA packages, the i.MX 6UltraLite is the smallest and most energy-efficient ARM-based processor, providing maximum performance in low-power, space constrained embedded environments.
Key features include:
· An advanced power management architecture featuring multiple energy saving modes, dynamic voltage and frequency scaling, as well as integrated power switch for flexible power gating in low power modes
· Robust security features such as secure boot, hardware cryptographic cipher engines and random number generators help enable hardware-verified peripheral and memory access requests for secure isolation and prevention of tainted system resources
· Hardware tamper detection and an integrated on-the-fly DRAM encryption/decryption engine make the i.MX 6UltraLite among the most secure ARM Cortex-A7 microprocessor solutions available
· Rugged reliability backed by qualification for Freescale’s Product Longevity Program. For Program Terms and Conditions, and to obtain a list of available products please see: www.Freescale.com/productlongevity.
Availability and Support
The i.MX 6DualPlus and i.MX 6QuadPlus are sampling now, with mass production planned for October 2015. Sampling for the i.MX 6UltraLite processor is planned to begin in July 2015. To support cost-, size- and power-optimized systems, the company’s PF0100 PMIC is available now for the i.MX 6DualPlus and i.MX 6QuadPlus products, and Freescale’s PF3000 series power management IC is targeted for availability prior to July 2015 for the i.MX 6UltraLite. To help speed and simplify development, Freescale and its broad ecosystem of partners provide a solid foundation of tools, Linux Board Support Packages and low-cost evaluation kits for systems designers and OEMs.
