NXP Semiconductors i.MX 8M Nano DDR4 EVK Installation manual

© 2019 NXP B.V.
i.MX 8M Nano DDR4 EVK Board Hardware
User's Guide
1.Introduction
This document is the hardware User’s Guide for the
i.MX 8M Nano DDR4 Evaluation Kit (EVK) based on
the NXP Semiconductor’s i.MX 8M Nano Applications
Processor. This board is fully supported by NXP
Semiconductor. This manual includes system setup and
configurations, and provides detailed information on the
overall design and usage of the EVK board from a
hardware system perspective.
1.1. Board overview
The DDR4 EVK board is a platform designed to show
the most commonly used features of the i.MX 8M Nano
Applications Processor. The i.MX 8M Nano DDR4
EVK board helps developers get familiar with the
processor before investing a large amount of resources
in more specific designs.
Table 1 lists the features of the i.MX 8M Nano DDR4
EVK board.
NXP Semiconductors
Document Number: IMX8MNEVKHUG
User's Guide
Rev. 0
,,
12/2019
Contents
1. Introduction........................................................................1
1.1. Board overview....................................................... 1
1.2. Board contents ........................................................ 2
2. Specifications..................................................................... 2
3. Processor............................................................................ 5
3.1. Boot Mode and Boot Device configurations........... 5
3.2. Power Tree.............................................................. 6
3.3. DDR4 DRAM memory........................................... 8
3.4. eMMC memory (U4).............................................. 9
3.5. QSPI Nor Flash (U5) .............................................. 9
3.6. SD card slot (J701) ................................................. 9
3.7. MIPI-CSI and MIPI-DSI connectors (J802, J801).. 9
3.8. Ethernet connector (J501)....................................... 9
3.9. USB connector (J301, J302) ................................... 9
3.10. Wi-Fi/Bluetooth (U6)............................................ 10
3.11. Audio Line output (J401)...................................... 10
3.12. Audio Card connector (J1001).............................. 10
3.13. JTAG connector (J902)......................................... 10
3.14. USB-UART connector (J901)............................... 11
3.15. Expansion connector (J1003)................................ 11
3.16. I2C connector (J1004)........................................... 12
3.17. User interface buttons ........................................... 12
3.18. User interface LED indicators............................... 12
4. PCB information.............................................................. 14
4.1. EVK design files................................................... 14
5. Revision history............................................................... 15

Specifications
i.MX 8M Nano DDR4 EVK Board Hardware User's Guide, User's Guide, Rev. 0, 12/2019
2 NXP Semiconductors
Table 1. Board features
Processor
NXP Applications Processor
MIMX8MN6DVTJZAA
DRAM memory
Micron 2 GB DDR4
MT40A1G16RC-062E:B
Mass storage
SanDisk 16 GB eMMC5.1
SDINBDG4-16G-I1
Micron 32 MB QSPI NOR
MT25QU256ABA1EW7-0SIT
MicroSD card connector
SD3.0 supported
Power
ROHM PMIC BD71850 + Discrete DCDC/LDO
Camera
CSI interface (Mini-SAS connector)
Display interface
DSI interface (Mini-SAS connector)
Ethernet
1 GB Ethernet with RJ45 connector
USB
Port1 is USB (2.0) Type-C connector, Port2 is used as the Power Input
Wi-Fi/Bluetooth
x1 on board Wi-Fi/Bluetooth module, 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, BT5.0
Audio connectors
3.5 mm Stereo Line output, 2Vrms
FPC connector (SAI ports) for Audio Card
Debug connectors
JTAG (10pin header)
MicroUSB for UART debug, two COM Ports for A53 and M7
Expansion connector
40-pin dual-row Pin Header for I2S, UART, I2C and GPIO expansion
I2C connector
8-pin dual-row Pin Header for I2C expansion
Buttons
ON/OFF, RESET
LED indicators
Power status, UART
PCB
8MNANOD4-CPU: 2inch x 2inch, 6-layer
8MMINI-BB: 4inch x 4.2inch, 8-layer
Orderable part number
8MNANOD4-EVK
*consists of 8MNANOD4-CPU plus 8MMINI-BB, boards not orderable separately
1.2. Board contents
The i.MX 8M Nano DDR4 EVK contains the following items:
•i.MX 8M Nano DDR4 EVK board, assembled by two separate boards, 8MNANOD4-CPU
(SOM Board) and 8MMINI-BB (Base Board)
•IMX-MIPI-HDMI Accessory Card, MIPI-DSI to HDMI adapter board
•USB Type-C 45W Power Delivery Supply, 5V/3A, 9V/3A, 15V/3A, 20V/2.25A supported
•Mini-SAS cable, 8" mini-SAS cable
•USB Type-C Cable, Cable –Assembly, USB 3.0, Type-C Male to Type-A Male
•USB micro-B Cable, Cable –Assembly, USB 2.0, Type-A Male to Micro-B Male
•USB Type-C to A Adapter, Adapter –USB 3.0, Type-C Male to Type-A Female
•Quick Start Guide
2.Specifications
This section provides the detailed information about the electrical design and practical considerations on
the DDR4 EVK board. Figure 1 describes each block in the high-level block diagram of the DDR4
EVK board.

Specifications
i.MX 8M Nano DDR4 EVK Board Hardware User's Guide, User's Guide, Rev. 0, 12/2019
NXP Semiconductors 3
Figure 1. i.MX 8M Nano DDR4 EVK Block Diagram

Specifications
i.MX 8M Nano DDR4 EVK Board Hardware User's Guide, User's Guide, Rev. 0, 12/2019
4 NXP Semiconductors
Figure 2 shows the overview of the i.MX 8M Nano DDR4 EVK board.
Figure 2. i.MX 8M Nano DDR4 EVK board overview
CAUTION
Type-C Port2 is the only power supply port, and it must be always supplied for system
running.
i.MX 8M Nano EVK is not a typical use case of the PD device. It is supplied by the
PD charger only, but with a power switch. When the switch keeps OFF for more than
5.5 seconds after adapting the PD charger, the charger (Source) will repower EVK
(Sink) after the system initiates the PD software. See Section 6.5.7 in the Universal
Serial Bus Power Delivery Specification Revision 2.0. There are two ways to avoid
repower:
•The power switch must always be in the ON position before attaching the PD
charger.
•Change the software to disable the PD function, and make it Type-C supply
only.
8MNANOD4-CPU
8MMINI-BB

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i.MX 8M Nano DDR4 EVK Board Hardware User's Guide, User's Guide, Rev. 0, 12/2019
NXP Semiconductors 5
3.Processor
The i.MX 8M Nano applications processors represent NXP Semiconductor’s latest achievement in
highly integrated multimedia-focused products offering high performance processing. These
applications processors can enable the growing market of smart, secure, connected devices. The i.MX
8M Nano applications processors feature NXP’s advanced implementation of the Quad Arm Cortex®-
A53+ Arm Cortex®-M7 cores, which operate at speeds up to 1.5 GHz and 650 MHz respectively. Each
i.MX 8M Nano device provides a 16-bit DDR3L/DDR4/LPDDR4 memory interface and other interfaces
for connecting peripherals, such as MIPI LCD, MIPI Camera, WLAN, Bluetooth™, Ethernet, Digital
Mic, and multi-sensors.
For more detailed information about the processor, see the datasheet and reference manual on
www.nxp.com/i.MX8MNANO.
3.1. Boot Mode and Boot Device configurations
The i.MX 8M Nano implement a compressed boot mode decode with four BOOT_MODE pins. It can
boot from the boot configuration selected on SW1101 or from the boot configuration stored on the
internal eFUSE. In addition, the i.MX 8M Nano can download a program image from a USB connection
when configured in serial downloader mode. The method used to determine where the processor finds its
boot information is from four dedicated BOOT MODE pins.
On the i.MX 8M Nano DDR4 EVK board, the default boot mode is to boot from the eMMC device.
There are two additional boot devices; a QSPI Nor Flash on the CPU board, and a MicroSD connector
on the Base Board. If you set the boot device to QSPI or MicroSD, the board will boot from the device
accordingly.
Table 2 shows the values used for boot selection.
Figure 3. Boot Selection

Specifications
i.MX 8M Nano DDR4 EVK Board Hardware User's Guide, User's Guide, Rev. 0, 12/2019
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Table 2. Boot selection
BOOT_MODE3
(SW1101 pin4)
BOOT_MODE2
(SW1101 pin3)
BOOT_MODE1
(SW1101 pin2)
BOOT_MODE0
(SW1101 pin1)
Boot Device
0
0
0
0
Boot from fuses
0
0
0
1
Serial downloader
0
0
1
0
eMMC/uSDHC3
0
0
1
1
MicroSD/uSDHC2
0
1
0
0
NAND Flash
0
1
1
0
QSPI 3B Read
0
1
1
1
QSPI Hyperflash 3.3V
1
0
0
0
ecSPI Boot
NOTE
Only SW1101[1-4] are used for boot selection, the left pins of SW1101
and SW1102 are useless for i.MX 8M Nano, either 0 or 1 is acceptable.
3.2. Power Tree
There is a Type-C power supply that needs to be connected to the i.MX 8M Nano DDR4 EVK board at
connector J302. The other powers on the EVK board are generated from PMIC and discrete devices to
supply the whole system. Figure 4 shows the Power Tree.

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i.MX 8M Nano DDR4 EVK Board Hardware User's Guide, User's Guide, Rev. 0, 12/2019
NXP Semiconductors 7
10
10
--
--
2600
2200
300
500
NxCxVx(0.5xF)
NxCxVx(0.5xF)
100
10
--
10
5V [400mA-3400mA]
5V/5A
LDO
Port2
VBUS_IN SEQ
DCDC BUCK
ADP191ACBZ-R7
5V/3A
VCC
3.3V
DCDC BUCK
SEQ
AVDD/LINE VDD
QSPI
mini-SAS
(MIPI CSI/DSI)
LDO1
LDO2
RTC_RESET_B
RTC_CLK
BUCK1
BUCK2
LDO3
BUCK7
BUCK8
BUCK6
MUXSW
LDO6
POR_B
1.8
0.8
--
--
0.85/0.95
0.85/0.95/1.0
1.8
1.8
1.2
3.3
3.3/1.8
1.2
--
1.8/2.5
USB TYPE-C
5-20V
DCDC_5V
2.5V/300mA
VDDEXT_3V3
TYP
Power SW
MPS MP875 9GD
USB Type-C
2500mA
VCCQ
VCC
CPU: i.MX8M Nano
WiFi/BT
TYP
VCC
VDD_5V
MPS MP214 7
LPDDR4
MicroSD
NVCC_SNVS_1V8
VDD_SNVS_0V8
RTC_RESET_B
CLK_32K_OUT
VDD_SOC&DRAM&PU_0V9
VDD_ARM_0V9
VDDA_1V8
VDD_1V8/NVCC_1V8
NVCC_DRAM_1V2
NVCC_3V3
NVCC_SD2
VDD_PHY_1V2
POR_B
NVCC_ENET
PMIC: BD71850
Load SW
1.8
0.8
--
--
0.85/0.95
0.85/0.95/1.0
1.8
1.8
1.1 → 1.2
3.3
3.3/1.8
1.2
--
8MNANOD4-EVK PWR TREE
3000mA
MOSFET
3.3V/4A
RT9193-25GB
Required(mA)PWR/Signal
DRP PD (5-20V)
VSYS
VBAT
VIO
1
2
3
4
5
6
6
7
8
9
9
10
11
VPP
VDD/VDDQ
Max Capability(mA)
1.8V
3.3V
5V
5V/3A
eMMC
REG
M.2 PCIe
10
10
--
--
3000
3000
300
1500
3000
3000
150
300
--
Audio DAC
1
2
3
4
5
6
6
7
8
9
9
10
11
Figure 4. Power Tree Diagram
In Figure 4, the developer can get all the voltage supply rails used on the EVK board. When some
modules are not enabled, the power supplies might be shut down by software. Table 3 lists the power
rails on the board.

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i.MX 8M Nano DDR4 EVK Board Hardware User's Guide, User's Guide, Rev. 0, 12/2019
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Table 3. Power rails
SEQ
Power Rail
Regulator
Value/V
0
DCDC_5V
Discrete
5
1
NVCC_SNVS_1V8
BD71850 LDO1
1.8
2
VDD_SNVS_0V8
BD71850 LDO2
0.8
3
RTC_RESET_B
BD71850
-
4
CLK_32K_OUT
BD71850
-
5
VDD_SOC_DRAM_PU_0V9
BD71850 BUCK1
0.85/0.951
6
VDD_ARM_0V9
BD71850 BUCK2
0.85/0.95/1.02
6
VDDA_1V8
BD71850 LDO3
1.8
7
VDD_1V8/NVCC_1V8
BD71850 BUCK7
1.8
8
NVCC_DRAM_1V2
BD71850 BUCK8
1.23
9
VDD_3V3/NVCC_3V3
BD71850 BUCK6
3.3
9
NVCC_SD2
BD71850 MUXSW
3.3/1.8
9
VDD_5V
Load Switch
5
9
VDDEXT_3V3
Discrete
3.3
10
VDD_PHY_1V2
BD71850 LDO6
1.2
11
POR_B
BD71850
-
12
VSD_3V3
Load Switch
3.3
1. BD71850 BUCK1 default output voltage is 0.8 V. Software will change it to 0.85 V for nominal mode, 0.95 V for overdrive
mode in SPL before DDR initialization.
2. BD71850 BUCK2 default output voltage is 0.9 V. Software will change it to 0.85 V for 1.2 GHz operation, 0.95 V for 1.4
GHz, 1.0 V for 1.5 GHz.
3. BD71850 BUCK8 default output voltage is 1.1 V. Software will change it to 1.2 V in SPL before DDR initialization.
3.3. DDR4 DRAM memory
The i.MX 8M Nano DDR4 EVK board has one 1G x 16 (1 channel x 16 I/O) DDR4 SDRAM chip
(MT40A1G16RC-062E:B) for a total of 2 GB RAM memory.
In the physical layout, the DDR4 chip is placed on the TOP side, the data traces are not necessarily
connected to the DDR4 chips in sequential order, but for ease of routing, are connected as best
determined by the layout and other critical traces.
The DRAM_VREF can be generated by i.MX 8M Nano internally, so it does not need to use external
power supply and decoupling capacitors. The calibration resistors used by the DDR4 chips and
processor are 240 Ohm 1 % resistors. The differential termination resistors for DRAM Clock are two 43
ohm 1 % with one 0.22 uF capacitance on EVK. Developers can change this value depending on
simulation and test result.

Specifications
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NXP Semiconductors 9
3.4. eMMC memory (U4)
The eMMC memory is connected to the uSDHC3 interface of i.MX 8M Nano, and it can support up to
eMMC 5.1 device. The eMMC memory is on the 8MNANOD4-CPU board, and the part number is
SDINBDG4-16G-I1. It is the default boot device of the EVK. The boot settings are as shown in Table 2.
3.5. QSPI Nor Flash (U5)
The QSPI memory is connected to the FlexSPI interface of i.MX 8M Nano, and it can support up to
166 MHz DDR mode device. The QSPI memory is on the 8MNANOPD4-CPU board, and the part
number is MT25QU256ABA1EW7-0SIT. To select it as the boot device of the EVK, developers can
refer to the boot settings as shown in Table 2.
3.6. SD card slot (J701)
There is one MicroSD card slot (J701) on the 8MMINI-BB board, connecting to the uSDHC2 interface
of i.MX 8M Nano. This connector supports one 4-bit SD3.0 MicroSD card. To select it as the boot
device of the EVK, developers can refer to the boot settings as shown in Table 2.
3.7. MIPI-CSI and MIPI-DSI connectors (J802, J801)
The i.MX 8M Nano processor supports one 4-lane MIPI-CSI and one 4-lane MIPI-DSI. The MiniSAS
connectors are designed to support camera and LCD with dedicated pin definition. The connectors are as
shown in Figure 2. Display and camera accessory boards are available separately. The full list can be
found at www.nxp.com/i.MX8-ACCESSORY-BOARDS.
3.8. Ethernet connector (J501)
The Ethernet subsystem of the EVK board is provided by the Qualcomm AR8031 Ethernet Transceiver
(U501). The Ethernet Transceiver (or PHY) receives standard RGMII Ethernet signals from the MAC-
NET core of the i.MX 8M Nano. The processor handles all Ethernet protocols at the MAC layer and
above. The PHY is only responsible for the Link Layer formatting. The Ethernet connector (J501)
integrates Magnetic transformer inside, so it cannot be directly connected to AR8031 (U501).
Each EVK board has a unique MAC address, which is burned into i.MX 8M Nano by Fuse. A label with
the unique MAC address is placed on the connector for reference.
3.9. USB connector (J301, J302)
The i.MX 8M Nano Applications Processors contain one USB 2.0 OTG controller, with one integrated
USB PHY. There are two USB Type-C connectors on the EVK board, but only Port1 can support Host
and Device Mode.
J301 is connected to USB1 interface of i.MX 8M Nano, which can act as the download port of the EVK.

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J302 is the power supply port of the EVK.
3.10.Wi-Fi/Bluetooth (U6)
The EVK board has a Wi-Fi/Bluetooth module LBEE5HY1MW on the 8MNANOD4-CPU board. The
module is Cypress CYW43455 based, contains SDIO3.0, UART, PCM interface, and can support
802.11a/b/g/n/ac, BT5.0. The 2.4G/5G antenna is stuck to the edge of the Base Board with a coaxial
cable connected to the CPU Board.
3.11.Audio Line output (J401)
The EVK board uses a high-quality Stereo DAC WM8524 (U401), which can support 24 bit I2S data
and 192 KHz sampling rate. The Line output of WM8524 is 2Vrms, not like common headphone output
1 Vrms. Developers must be very careful about this interface. The Line output connector (J401) is a
3.5 mm 4-pole (or TRRS) phone jack.
CAUTION
The Audio Line output connector is designed for active speaker with a power amplifier. To connect it with a
headphone, make sure that the headphone has volume control functionality and set the headphone’s volume
properly before wearing it. Do not plug in the non-volume-control headphone directly. The audio output
volume may be too high for non-volume-control headphone and may damage it.
3.12.Audio Card connector (J1001)
One 60-pin FPC connector (J1001) is provided on the EVK board to support audio card connection, and
the developers can use the audio card to perform audio features development.
CAUTION
There is no SAI1 from the i.MX 8M Nano process, so AK4458/ AK4497 can’t be enabled on audio card.
3.13.JTAG connector (J902)
The i.MX 8M Nano Applications Processor has four JATG signals on dedicated pins, and one HW reset
input signal POR_B. Those signals are directly connected to the 10-pin 1.27 mm JTAG connector J902.
The four JTAG signals used by the processor are:
•JTAG_TCK TAP Clock
•JTAG_TMS TAP Machine State
•JTAG_TDI TAP Data In
•JTAG_TDO TAP Data Out