Digi ConnectCore 8X Quick user guide

ConnectCore® 8X
System-on-Module
Hardware Reference Manual

ConnectCore® 8X System-on-Module Hardware Reference Manual 2
Revision history—90002295
Revision Date Description
1P December
2018
Initial release
2P January
2019
Added backdrive caution.
3P May 2019 Updated entire manual, including entire MCAsection, some pin data, block
diagram, and assembly information.
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© 2019 Digi International Inc. All rights reserved.
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Product name and model
Product serial number (s)
Firmware version
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Trace (if possible)
Description of issue
Steps to reproduce
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ConnectCore® 8X System-on-Module Hardware Reference Manual 3
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Contents
About the ConnectCore® 8X
Features and functionality 6
Module variants 9
Block diagrams 9
ConnectCore 8X module 10
NXP i.MX 8X application processor 11
The ConnectCore 8X System-on-module
Power interfaces 11
Reference power architecture scheme 11
System-on-module power rails distribution 12
Electrical characteristics 15
System power-up sequence 18
RTC power and coin cell charger 18
Bootstrap 19
Wireless interfaces 20
WLAN IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac 20
Bluetooth 26
PCI Express 26
CryptoAuthentication device 27
The Micro Controller Assist™ hardware 28
About the Micro Controller Assist 28
Reset control 29
IOs 29
Watchdog 31
Real-time clock 32
Pulse width modulation 32
Power management 33
MCA firmware update 36
IOMUX
Module pinout 38
IOMUX table 39
Extended LGAversion 57
ConnectCore® 8X System-on-Module Hardware Reference Manual 4

ConnectCore® 8X System-on-Module Hardware Reference Manual 5
Module specifications
Environmental specifications 94
Assembly instructions
Moisture sensitivity and shelf life 96
Mounting 96
Coplanarity 96
Solder paste print 96
Stencil 96
SMT pick and place 97
SMT process parameter reference 97
Reflow profile 97

About the ConnectCore® 8X
The ConnectCore 8X is a secure and extremely cost-effective connected System-on-Module platform.
Its innovative Digi SMTplus™ (patent-pending) surface mount form factor allows you to choose
simplified design integration leveraging proven and easy-to-use edge-castellated SMT technology, or a
versatile LGA option for ultimate design flexibility with access to virtually all interfaces.
Built on the NXP i.MX 8X application processor, the module is the intelligent communication engine for
today’s secure connected devices. It integrates dual-Ethernet and pre-certified dual-band Wi-Fi
(802.11a/b/g/n/ac) with dual mode Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity.
Features and functionality
The ConnectCore 8X System-on-module is based on the i.MX 8X processor from NXP. This processor
offers a number of interfaces, some of them multiplexed and not available simultaneously. The module
has the following features:
ni.MX 8X dual/quad Arm Cortex-A35 and single Cortex-M4F cores:
lCortex-A35 cores operate up to 1.2 GHz and support Arm virtualization extensions.
lCortex-M4F core operates up to 266 MHz.
lAArch64 for 64-bit support.
lAArch32 for backward compatibility with Armv7.
nSystem Control Unit (SCU):
lPower control, clocks, and reset.
lBoot ROMs.
lPMIC interface.
lResource Domain Controller.
nGraphics Processing Unit (GPU):
l4x Vec4 shaders with 16 execution units.
lSupports OpenGL 3.0, 2.0; OpenGL EX 3.1, 3.0, 2.0 and 1.1: OpenCL 1.2 FP and 1.1; OpenVG
1.1; and Vulkan.
lHigh-performance 2D Blit Engine.
ConnectCore® 8X System-on-Module Hardware Reference Manual 6

About the ConnectCore® 8X Features and functionality
ConnectCore® 8X System-on-Module Hardware Reference Manual 7
nVideo Processing Unit (VPU):
lH.265 decode (4Kp30).
lH.264 decode (1080p60).
lVP6/VP8 decode (1080p60).
lMPEG-2 decode (1080p60).
lMPEG4, H263, Sorenson Spark decode (1080p).
lRealVideo decode (1080p).
lJPEG dec (64Kx64K image size).
lH.264 encode (1080p30).
nUp to 4 GB, 32-bit LPDDR4-1200 memory.
n16 GB, 8-bit eMMC memory. Higher density available depending on product variant.
nNXP PF8100 Power Management IC (PMIC):
l7x DC/DC buck converters.
l4x LDO regulators.
lOTP (one-time-programmable) memory.
lCoin cell charger.
nCryptoAuthentication device.
nSecurity accelerators:
lEnhanced High Assurance Boot (HAB) secure and encrypted boot.
lRandom Number Generator with a high-quality entropy source generator and NIST
certifiable HMAC-based DRBG.
lRSA up to 4096, Elliptic Curve up to 1023.
lAES-128/192/256, DES, 3DES, ARC4, MD5, SHA-1, SHA-224/256/384/512.
lDedicated Security Controller for Flashless SHE and HSM support, Trustzone, RTIC.
lBuilt-in ECDSA/DSA protocol support.
l10x tamper pins: up to 5 active or 10 passive.
lVoltage and temperature tamper detection to help prevent against side-channel style
attacks.
l64 kB Secure RAM (can be erased via tamper detection).
n2x2 MIMO IEEE802.11 a/b/g/n/ac.
nBluetooth 4.2.
nDebug interfaces:
lSystem JTAG controller.
lSingle Wired Debug (SWD) interface for the MCA.

About the ConnectCore® 8X Features and functionality
ConnectCore® 8X System-on-Module Hardware Reference Manual 8
ni.MX 8X interfaces:
lPCIe 3.0 with L1 substate support. In wireless modules, this interface is used by the
Wireless MAC and is not available for general purposes.
l1x USBOTG 3.0 with PHY - USB 3.0 can be used as USB 2.0.
l1x USBOTG 2.0 (with PHY).
l2x Gb Ethernet with AVB.
l3x CAN/CAN-FD.
lMedia Local Bus (MLB25/50).
l6x UARTs:
o4x UARTs, three of which support hardware flow control. (One of the UARTs with
hardware flow control is used by the Bluetooth and is not available for general purposes
in wireless variants.)
o1x UART tightly coupled with Cortex-M4F cores.
o1x SCU (not available for general use).
l10x I2C. Note that I2C ports associated with a specific PHY (e.g. MIPI DSI) can be used
generally but require the PHY to be powered on even if the PHY itself is not used:
o4x I2C: High Speed, DMA support. One of them (I2C0) is used internally in the SoM and is
not available for general purposes.
o4x I2C: Low Speed, no DMA support.
o1x I2C: PMIC control (dedicated).
o1x I2C: Cortex M4F (dedicated).
l4x SAI:
oSAI0 and SAI1 are transmit/receive.
oSAI2 and SAI3 are receive-only.
l2x Quad SPI or 1x Octal SPI (FlexSPI).
l1x SD 3.0 card interface.
lDisplays:
o2x MIPI-DSI/LVDS.
o1x 24-bit parallel display up to WVGA.
lCameras:
o1x MIPI-CSI camera with 4 lanes.
o1x 8-bit parallel CSI.
l1x Enhanced Serial Audio Interface (ESAI).
l2x ASRC (Asynchronous Sample Rate Converter).
l1x SPDIF.
lMPEG-2 Transport Stream.
l1x 12-bit, 6 channel ADC converter.
l3.3 V/1.8 V GPIO.
l4x PWM channels.
l1x 4x4 KPP (Key Pad Port).

About the ConnectCore® 8X Module variants
ConnectCore® 8X System-on-Module Hardware Reference Manual 9
l1x MQS (Medium Quality Sound).
l4x SPI.
nArm Cortex-M0+ Micro Controller AssistTM (MCA) subsystem:
lCortex-M0+ core operates up to 48MHz.
lPower and reset control.
lReal time clock (RTC).
l19 general purpose IOs (GPIOs), all IRQ capable with debouncing configuration.
l9 analog to digital converters (ADCs), all with comparator capabilities.
lWatchdog.
lTamper detection, both digital and analog.
l8 bytes of non volatile storage (NVRAM).
l3 UARTs, with optional hardware handshake.
l10 pulse width modulators (PWMs).
Module variants
Part number Variant Description CPU1eMMC LDPDR4
WiFi+
Bluetooth
CC-WMX-JM8E-NN 0x02 ConnectCore 8X
QuadXPlus 1.2GHz,
16GB eMMC, 2GB
LPDDR4, -40/+85C,
Wireless, Bluetooth
QuadXPlus
Quad-core
Automotive with
Cortex-M4, VPU,
GPU -
40ºC/125ºC
1.2GHz
16 GB 2 GB YES
CC-MX-JM8D-ZN 0x03 ConnectCore 8X
QuadXPlus 1.2GHz,
8GB eMMC, 2GB
LPDDR4, -40/+85C
QuadXPlus
Quad-core
Automotive with
Cortex-M4, VPU,
GPU -
40ºC/125ºC
1.2GHz
8 GB 2 GB NO
1CPU temperature is Tj (junction)
Note Contact your Digi salesperson for information on other variant configurations.
Block diagrams
The following figures show block diagrams of the ConnectCore 8X module and of the NXP i.MX 8X
application processor.

About the ConnectCore® 8X Block diagrams
ConnectCore® 8X System-on-Module Hardware Reference Manual 10
ConnectCore 8X module