i.MX 8M is now available! Low power consumption, high performance, more flexibility, focusing on edge computing

The multi-core i.MX 8M Nano is scalable to run one, two or four Arm Cortex-A53 cores (up to 1.5GHz) and one Arm Cortex-M7 (up to 600MHz), yet delivers a total dynamic power (TDP) and sub-power of less than 2W in many Internet of Things (IoT) edge applications.

The processor integrates general-purpose 3D graphics capabilities (GC7000UL) and supports Vulkan in high-performance real-time graphics and OpenCL1.2 in advanced machine learning applications. The i.MX 8M Nano is the first product to provide hardware acceleration for asynchronous sample rate conversion (ASRC), providing up to 32 channels of high-quality audio streaming with extremely low noise and distortion.

With the i.MX 8M Nano , developers have access to up to 12 software-compatible and 9 pin-compatible high-performance application processors in the i.MX 8M family, supported by a rapidly expanding ecosystem of software and hardware developers.

“With the i.MX 8M Nano , NXP once again demonstrates its leadership in providing developers with more processor choice,” said Martyn Humphries, vice president and general manager of i.MX applications processors at NXP. “ One size does not fit all, and our customers need a family of processors that best fits their applications without having to reinvent the software and hardware for each new product. As the latest member of the growing i.MX 8M family, the i.MX 8M Nano delivers greater flexibility and is optimized for the power-sensitive, high-performance needs of the intelligent edge.”

“Leviton recently released the Decora Voice Dimmer with Amazon Alexa Built-in, which uses NXP’s high-performance i.MX 8M Mini applications processor to add even more intelligence, combining the convenience of hands-free voice control and smart home device management capabilities with Leviton’s best-in-class smart lighting control technology without the need for additional hardware,” said Aaron Ard, senior director of engineering at Leviton. “We are excited to see the i.MX 8M Nano become available, as its innovative and future-proof pin-compatibility allows us to continue to offer our solutions at a price point our customers will appreciate.”

i.MX 8M Nano System Block Diagram

NXP's i.MX 8M Nano is pin-compatible with the i.MX 8M Mini and software-compatible with the i.MX 8M, providing customers with excellent scalability when designing their systems. It also enables developers to maximize design and software reuse between multiple applications. In addition, all i.MX 8M processors meet strict industrial quality standards and are ideal for Industry 4.0 applications.

i.MX 8M Nano is NXP's second platform built with advanced 14nm LPC FinFET technology, enabling high-performance processing at low power. Even with all four Cortex-A53 cores running, power consumption is less than 1W in many IoT applications, making it ideal for power-sensitive edge computing applications. The real-time processing domain driven by the high-performance Cortex-M7 core (up to 600MHz) can further reduce power consumption by offloading tasks from the Cortex-A core, optimizing audio playback power consumption, and low-power monitoring system-level tasks.

The i.MX 8M series builds on decades of success with NXP’s i.MX 6 and i.MX 7 series of general-purpose application processors and is fully supported on both Linux and Android operating systems (OS).

In addition, NXP and Microsoft are working to bring Azure IoT Edge to i.MX 8M application processors across Linux and Windows 10 IoT core operating systems. As part of this work, Azure IoT Edge will be available on all i.MX application processor platforms. Customers can deploy and manage IoT Edge container applications using the Azure cloud dashboard. From i.MX 6, i.MX 7 to i.MX 8/8M, NXP customers can not only get the industry's richest application processors, but also seamlessly connect and take full advantage of Azure capabilities in their smart edge products.

The i.MX 8M family is supported by a rapidly growing ecosystem of hardware and software developers. For example, the i.MX 8M mini is now supported by more than 18 global board developers (Embedded Board System - EBS - partners). This growing ecosystem support will be extended to the i.MX 8M Nano .

The Nano development kit (EVK) is a two-board solution consisting of a compact compute module and a larger baseboard that provides the extensive connectivity required for product evaluation. The compute module is designed to support a variety of memory types (LPDDR4, DDR4, DDR3L) as well as i.MX 8M Nano , PMIC, eMMC, and soldered Wi-Fi/BT modules for out-of-the-box connectivity. The device uses the same EVK design as the i.MX 8M Mini, allowing developers to easily switch to the compute module that best suits their product needs.

The i.MX 8M Nano will be available for sampling in Q2 2019, with comprehensive sampling and volume production to be available in Q4 2019. For more information, visit www.nxp.com/iMX8Mmini .