Overview
Freescale delivers the cost-effective i.MX51
evaluation kit, allowing customers to develop,
debug and demonstrate their next great product
without compromising performance. As part
of our new price, performance and personality
series, the evaluation kit is designed to support
all the features of the device in a small, single-
board design to enable designers to complete
a development platform at a low price point of
less than an estimated $700USD. The i.MX51
EVK has two optional add-on modules: an LCD
module and an expansion board which includes
a camera, TV out, keypad and UART. Based on
a powerful ARM Cortex
™
-A8 core, the i.MX51
EVK delivers extreme performance and low
power consumption, helping developers design
products that meet today’s demands for
energy efficiency.
A range of connectivity options makes the
i.MX51 EVK suitable for developing many
different types of user applications. The
provided board support packages (BSP) for
Linux
®
OS and Windows
®
Embedded CE
enable rapid prototyping which helps to speed
up the processor selection process and quickly
deliver a demo into the hands of the project
stakeholders. The i.MX51 EVK includes two SD
cards: one pre-loaded with Linux and the other
with Windows Embedded CE. Both options
support a wide range of automotive, consumer,
general embedded and industrial applications.
Key Benefits
• Explore multiple connectivity options
with the i.MX51 applications processor:
display, touch screen, USB, SDIO,
Ethernet and others
• Investigate usage of the video and graphics
through the hardware accelerated video
processing unit, OpenGL
®
ES 2.0 and
OpenVG
TM
1.1 graphics processing units
• Develop with the MC13892 power
management chip from Freescale that
supports power sequencing of the i.MX51
device and output rails to supply power to
external components such as memories and
other system peripherals
• Use proven design examples and software
drivers to reduce hassles associated with
design-in of key connectivity and power
management options
• Enable rapid prototyping of human-machine
interfaces (HMI) via the on-board digital visual
interface (DVI) peripheral that allows the EVK
to interface to a standard PC monitor
• Boot from SD, SPI or NAND flash
Performance
With the i.MX51 EVK, designers have access to
key features needed for an end design offering
hardware functionality and connectivity required
for developing many applications, such as
portable media players, mobile Internet devices,
smartbooks, gaming consoles, ebooks,
media phones, digital photo frames, high-end
appliances, video and navigation, security and
surveillance, medical and factory automation.
With production-ready software components,
an optimized OS and a system-validated BSP,
designers have the tools to test and maximize
the performance of the applications they
have developed.
Software and hardware engineers can also
download this code to the target EVK to test
and validate their software and to run and
evaluate performance metrics. The ability to
have all communications ports working (serial,
USB) and to debug over JTAG and Ethernet is
essential for product development. The EVK
also provides boot select switches, which
provide the user with the option to override
the default boot setting of the CPU.
Personality
Freescale’s EVK for the i.MX51 applications
processor allows designers to quickly prototype
and demonstrate the results of their development
efforts in a small, portable design the size of a 5 x
5 portrait, giving confidence to project decision
makers that the product is that much closer to
production. Develop user-interactive software
and display your product-specific graphical
data on a high-quality, touch screen-enabled
7" WVGA LCD available as an add-on module
to the EVK. Connect additional input and output
peripherals such as a camera, TV out, keypad
and UART with the expansion board add-
on module. With the Freescale i.MX51 EVK,
prototyping and development are simplified to
improve time to market.
i.MX51 EVK Key Features
CPU
• i.MX51 applications processor
• 4 x 128 MB DDR2
• 4 MB SPI NOR
• PMIC: Freescale MC13892
• NAND and EIM header
i.MX Applications Processors
Evaluation Kit (EVK) for the
i.MX51 Applications Processor
Price. Performance. Personality.
