OSD3358

4 Articles

Octavo Systems Shows Off With Deadbug Linux Computer

March 15, 2019 by 11 Comments

Once upon a time, small Linux-capable single board computers were novelties, but not anymore. Today we have a wide selection of them, many built around modules we could buy for our own projects. Some of the chipset suppliers behind these boards compete on cost, others find a niche to differentiate their product. Octavo Systems is one of the latter offering system-in-package (SiP) modules that are specifically designed for easy integration. They described how simple it would be to build a minimal computer using their SC335x C-SiP, and to drive the point home they brought a deadbug implementation to Embedded World 2019. [Short video after the break.]

Most of us encounter Octavo modules as the heart of a BeagleBoard. Their increasing integration made tiny wonders like PocketBeagle possible. But bringing out all those pins for use still required a four-layer circuit board. Octavo’s pitch for hardware professionals center around how easy integration saves time for faster time to market, and fortunately for us easy integration also translates to a more accessible device for our projects. It’s one thing to publish a document describing a hypothetical single-layer PCB for an Octavo module, it’s quite something else to show that concept in action with no PCB at all.

Of course, this little machine only has access to a fraction of the module’s functionality, and it is certainly overkill if the objective is just to blink a few LEDs. If so, we’d just use 555 timers! But it does show how simple a bare bones “Hello World” machine can be built, removing intimidation factor and invite more people to come play.

One of the three top winners in our circuit sculpture contest was a wireframe Z80 computer. There’s quite a jump from a Z80 to an Octavo SC335x, but we’ve already seen one effort by [Zach] over Supercon 2018 weekend to build a deadbug computer with an Octavo module. It won’t be long before someone one-ups this minimalist LED blinker with something more sophisticated and we can’t wait to see it. Continue reading “Octavo Systems Shows Off With Deadbug Linux Computer” →

Hackaday Prize Entry: BeagleLogic

July 19, 2017 by 17 Comments

A few years ago, [Kumar] created the BeagleLogic, a 14-channel, 100 MSPS logic analyzer for the BeagleBone as an entry for the Hackaday Prize. This is a fantastic tool that takes advantage of the PRUs in the BeagleBone to give anyone with a BeagleBone a very capable logic analyzer for not much cash.

This year, [Kumar] is back at it again. He’s improving the BeagleLogic with a BeagleBone on a chip. This is the BeagleLogic Standalone, a 16-channel logic analyzer at 100 MSPS using a single chip.

Like the BeagleLogic from a few years ago, [Kumar] is relying on those fancy PRUs in the BeagleBone that make reading GPIOs and blinking LEDs so easy and fast. Unlike the BeagleLogic shield/cape/whatever, the BeagleLogic Standalone uses the Octavo Systems’ OSD3358 — the BeagleBone on a chip — for the hardware. This incorporates everything in a BeagleBone into a single package, making for a compact unit that still has all the capabilities of the bigger BeagleLogic.

On board this pocket-sized logic analyzer is the OSD3358 itself, the logic analyzer frontend, a gigabit Ethernet port, USB, an SPI Flash, SD card slot and eMMC, and an RTC. An expansion header breaks out a UART, I2C, SPI, two PWM outputs, 6 GPIOs, and a clock to a PRU for experimental synchronous captures.

With a web-based frontend for this Logic Analyzer, this looks like it’ll be a fantastic tool for any hardware hacker, and something that should be reasonably inexpensive.

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An Even Smaller BeagleBone

April 15, 2017 by 51 Comments

The BeagleBone famously fits in an Altoids tin. Even though we now have BeagleBone Blacks, Blues, and Greens, the form factor for this curiously strong Linux board has remained unchanged, and able to fit inside a project box available at every cash register on the planet. There is another Altoids tin, though. The Altoid mini tin is just over 60×40 mm, and much too small to fit a normal size BeagleBone. [Michael Welling] has designed a new BeagleBone to fit this miniature project box. He’s calling it the Pocketbone, and it’s as small as the mints are strong.

The Pocketbone is based on the Octavo Systems OSD355x family, better known as the ‘BeagleBone on a chip’. This chip features a TI AM355x ARM Cortex A8, up to 1GB of DDR3 RAM, 114 GPIOs, 6 UARTs, 2 SPIs, 2x Gigabit Ethernet, and USB. It’s housed in a relatively large BGA package that makes routing easy, and as a proof of concept [Jason Kridner] built a PocketBone in Eagle.

[Michael]’s version of the Pocketbone is based on the earlier proof of concept, with a few handy additions. There’s an IO expansion header, provisions for a battery input, a few fixes to the USB, and all the parts are on one side of the board facilitating easier assembly. This version of the Pocketbone was created using KiCad, which will endear the project to the Open Source community.

New Part Day: A BeagleBone On A Chip

May 10, 2016 by 63 Comments

The current crop of ARM single board computers have a lot in common. Everything from the Odroid to the Raspberry Pi are built around Systems on a Chip, a piece of silicon that has just about everything you need to build a bare minimum board. You won’t find many hardware hackers playing around with these chips, though. That would require putting some RAM on the board, and some other high-speed connectors. Until now, the only people building these ARM boards were Real Engineers™, with a salary commensurate of their skills.

This is now about to change. Octavo Systems has launched a new product that’s more or less a BeagleBone on a chip. If you can handle putting a PCB with a BGA package in a toaster oven, you too can build your own ARM single board computer running Linux.

Octavo’s new System in Package is the OSD335x family, featuring a Texas Instruments AM335x ARM Cortex A8 CPU, up to 1GB of DDR3, and peripherals that include 114 GPIOs, 6 UARTs, 2 SPIs, 2 I2Cs, 2x Gigabit Ethernet, and USB.

The chips used in commercially available single board computers like the Pi and BeagleBone have hundreds of passive components sprinkled around the board. This makes designing one of these single board computers challenging, to say nothing about actually assembling the thing. Octavo is baking a bunch of these resistors, capacitors, and inductors right into this chip, allowing for extremely minimal boards running Linux. [Jason Kridner] – the BeagleBone guy – is working on a PocketBone, a full-fledged Linux computer that will fit inside an Altoids tin.

Of course, with this degree of integration, a BeagleBone on a chip won’t be cheap. The first part number of this family to be released, with the AM3358 CPU and 1GB of RAM, sells for $50 in quantity one.

Still, this is something we haven’t seen before. It’s a Linux computer on a chip that anyone can use. There is an Eagle symbol for this module. This is a chip designed for hardware hackers, and we can’t wait to see what people using this chip will come up with.