Taiwanese firm Advantech has introduced two compact computers-on-module using the NXP i.MX 95 processor family.

They are designed to enhance intelligent vision, AI inference and real-time control in industrial automation, medical systems and other IoT applications. The modules suit low power, scalable AI and high-speed connectivity in demanding edge environments.

The AOM-5521 Smarc smart mobility architecture and AOM-2521 OSM open standard module leverage the NXP i.MX 95 processor featuring a multi-domain architecture with up to six Arm Cortex-A55 cores operating at up to 2.0GHz with a dedicated 2Tops NXP eIQ Neutron NPU optimised for Linux-based edge applications.

The processor surpasses ASIL-B and SIL-2 functional safety standards and includes an Arm Cortex-M7 CPU for real-time domain applications, along with a Cortex-M33 CPU for critical system safety tasks. Compared with previous generations, the i.MX 95 provides four times the machine-learning performance, double the data throughput and 15% greater power efficiency.

The i.MX 95 integrates an NXP image signal processor (ISP) that can handle up to 500Mpixel/s from eight image sensors, with support for features such as RGB-IR and HDR. A built-in 4K video processing unit (VPU) enables 4K30P H.265/H.264 encoding and decoding, managing up to 32 simultaneous video streams.

Graphics performance is enhanced by the Arm Mali G310 3D GPU, supporting OpenGL ES 3.2, Vulkan 1.2 and OpenCL 3.0, enablers for demanding machine-vision applications. A dedicated 2D GPU independently drives 4K displays with multi-stream layering capabilities.

The built-in eIQ Neutron NPU works in tandem with the ISP, VPU and GPU to accelerate and optimise machine-vision workloads. Combined, these components improve performance for edge AI and vision systems.

Support for the NXP eIQ toolkit allows developers to leverage open-source and proprietary tools within the SDK and Yocto development environments, streamlining the creation of full system-level applications.

Connectivity includes one 10GbE and two 1GbE ports, all supporting time-sensitive networking (TSN) to meet high-speed networking demands, suitable for industrial gateways and networking.

They also include a set of industrial IO, such as two Can-FD ports for real-time communication in industrial automation and control systems.

For high-speed expansion, the modules have two PCIe Gen 3.0, one USB 3.0 5Gbit/s type C with phy, and one USB 2.0 with phy.

Both modules support high-speed LPDDR5 memory up to 6.4GT/s with in-line ECC and encryption for enhanced data integrity and security. Storage options include eMMC 5.1 and support for one eMMC/SD slot for industrial and IoT applications, including automation, networking and HMI systems.

The AOM-5521 is now available for purchase and the AOM-2521 will be available for engineering evaluations towards the end of this year. For further details on Advantech’s Arm computing products, visit risc.advantech.com.

With more than 8600 employees worldwide and a 40 year track record, Advantech (www.advantech.com) specialises in products, systems and services for the embedded AIoT market.