Re: Which embedded devices do you use?

[Optikos <optikos@verizon.net>]

On Tuesday, June 4, 2019 at 10:01:53 AM UTC-5, Ricardo Brandão wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I worked with embedded systems for a long time.
> 
> I started with Z-World devices on late 80's. And now I'm working mainly with ESP32 boards.
> 
> I'm learning ADA and I'd like to use it on my new projects. So, I'd like to know what boards/processors you guys are using.
> 
> Normally, my projects need Digital IOs, Analog Inputs, and any way to wireless communication: Bluetooth, BLE, WiFi...
> 
> And I'm used to work with I2C devices as well (OLED displays, sensors, RTC, and so on).
> 
> Thanks
> 
> --
> Ricardo Brandão

I like Marvell's ESPRESSObin board, as distributed in the USA by Globalscale Technologies (shipped direct from PRChina).

http://ESPRESSObin.net

With an Armada 3720 SOC, it is capable of doing some serious telecom/datacom high-speed packet processing with some hardware assist (instead of slow software-processor speed) on its 2 LAN and 1 WAN Ethernet ports.  (Of course better would be the 7000 or 8000 series Armadas which have full-fledged SR-IOV on their SOC, but hey there is always room for improvement in the future.)

There is also the ESPRESSObin's baby brother (with fewer Ethernet ports):  the new Sheeva64 in wall-wart form-factor, continuing the venerable SheevaPlug family.

https://www.GlobalscaleTechnologies.com/p-86-sheeva64.aspx

What is nice about the ESPRESSObin and Sheeva is that they are embrace Yocto-Project Linux, so you are not tied to any one Linux distro.  Instead, Yocto Project requires that you roll your own Linux distro from near-scratch (e.g., mimicking whichever distro or bleeding edge referent* that you prefer).

* e.g., Linus Torvold's git repository

https://www.YoctoProject.org

Each ARM hobbyist SBC community has a different specialty.  I wouldn't do high-packet-rate telecom/datacom processing on a Raspberry Pi, for example.  That is what the Marvell Armada line is better suited for.

Btw, Marvell's Armada series is the decscendent whose ancestors include the DEC StrongARM and the Intel XScale, so in some ways this is one of the “main trunks” in the ARM-processor community, especially for industrial usage–not some twig on a branch.

https://www.TheRegister.co.uk/2006/06/27/intel_sells_xscale

Plus, Marvell's MoChi (modular chip multi-die SOCs) technology (•not• in the Armada 3720) is one of the industry leaders in DARPA's MoChi endeavors in recent years.  DARPA is trying to seed some of the major SOC processor manufacturers with MoChi.  Getting on board with Marvell now likely prepares you for the aggressive MoChi future as the 1st-generation-MoChi 7000 and 8000 series eventually migrates into the hobbyist SBCs, and then aggressive-MoChi successors follow after that in coming years.

https://www.marvell.com/architecture/mochi