Summary of EXTREMELY COMPACT BREADBEE HAS 1GHZ ARM CORTEX-A7 SBC AND ON-BOARD ETHERNET
The BreadBee is a compact, Linux-based single-board computer measuring 32 x 30 mm. Designed for IP cameras and hobbyist integration, it features an ARM Cortex A7 SoC running at 1GHz. The board includes 64MB DDR2 memory, 100 Mbit Ethernet, USB capabilities, multiple UARTs, SPI interfaces, ADC channels, and hardware acceleration for H.264 encoding and cryptography. It supports bootable SPI-NOR flash and SD/SDIO interfaces within its tiny footprint.
Parts used in the BreadBee:
- MStar MSC313E SoC
- ARM Cortex A7 processor
- 64kB static RAM
- 64MB DDR2 memory
- 100 Mbit Ethernet interface
- SPI-NOR flash
- 4x 10-bit ADC channels
- 2x SPI interfaces
- 1x I2C interface
- 3x UARTs
- 8x PWM pins
- Real-Time Clock and Watchdog timer
- USB PHY with host/device mux
- SD / SDIO interface
Measuring about 32 x 30 mm in footprint, Palmer’s fully-functional development board is a very small Linux-based single-board computer built around an ARM Cortex A7 SoC and targets IP cameras.
There are no solutions yet that can run a real OS like Linux that can be integrated by hobbyists into boards from cheap PCB vendors that don’t have show-stopping limitations. The BreadBee is based on a relatively unknown IP camera SoC, the MSC313E, from a company called MStar. You might have never heard of MStar but you probably have one of their chips on your TV. The MSC313E has just enough of the usual microcontroller peripherals to make it useful, comes in a (relatively) easy to work with QFN package, is tiny, and costs $4. It is a bit harder to integrate into your designs than a microcontroller that requires a single power supply but all of the information you would need to do so is right here
explains Palmer as he prepares to launch a crowdfunding campaign for his new design.
The single-board computer, he said, is one that can be integrated into any project while reserving considerable space. Despite its very small form factor, BreadBee boasts of certain impressive specifications which include:
- Single-core Arm Cortex A7 SoC running at 1GHz
- 64kB static RAM and 64MB of DDR2 memory
- 100 Mbit Ethernet
- Bootable and memory-mapped SPI-NOR
- 4x 10bit ADC channels
- 2x SPIs, 1x 12C
- 3 x UARTs
- Quite a lot of GPIOs
- 8x PWM pins
- Real-Time Clock and Watchdog timer.
- USB PHY and host/device mux
- SD / SDIO interface
- 32mm x 30 mm in size
The chip has also quite a number of features like the camera interface and h264 encoder for IP camera duties, hardware cryptographic acceleration, command-queue direct memory access controller, audio ADC / DAC, IR decoder and 8051 low power mode management MCU that are yet to come to their prime.
Read more: EXTREMELY COMPACT BREADBEE HAS 1GHZ ARM CORTEX-A7 SBC AND ON-BOARD ETHERNET
- What is the size of the BreadBee development board?
The board measures 32 x 30 mm in footprint. - Which processor powers the BreadBee single-board computer?
It uses a single-core Arm Cortex A7 SoC running at 1GHz. - Can the BreadBee run a real operating system like Linux?
Yes, it is a fully-functional Linux-based single-board computer. - What type of memory does the BreadBee include?
It has 64kB static RAM and 64MB of DDR2 memory. - Does the BreadBee support Ethernet connectivity?
Yes, it features a 100 Mbit Ethernet interface. - What camera-related features are built into the chip?
The chip includes a camera interface and H.264 encoder for IP camera duties. - How many GPIO and PWM pins are available on the board?
The board offers quite a lot of GPIOs and 8 PWM pins. - Is there a cryptographic accelerator on the BreadBee?
Yes, it includes hardware cryptographic acceleration.
