NXP Semiconductors i.MX 8M Plus LPDDR4 EVK Installation manual

i.MX 8M Plus LPDDR4 EVK Board Hardware
User's Guide
NXP Semiconductors Document identifier: IMX8MPEVKHUG
User's Guide Rev. 0, March 9, 2021

Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction........................................................................................... 3
1.1 Board overview..........................................................................................................................3
1.2 Board contents.......................................................................................................................... 4
Chapter 2 Specifications........................................................................................ 5
2.1 Processor.................................................................................................................................. 7
2.2 Boot mode and Boot device configurations...............................................................................7
2.3 Power tree................................................................................................................................. 9
2.4 LPDDR4 DRAM memory (U2).................................................................................................10
2.5 eMMC memory (U3)................................................................................................................ 10
2.6 QSPI Nor Flash (U4)............................................................................................................... 10
2.7 SD card slot (J11)....................................................................................................................11
2.8 MIPI-CSI connectors (J12, J13).............................................................................................. 11
2.9 MIPI-DSI connector (J14)........................................................................................................11
2.10 LVDS connectors (J15, J16)..................................................................................................11
2.11 HDMI connector (J17)........................................................................................................... 11
2.12 Ethernet connectors (J8, J9)................................................................................................. 11
2.13 USB connectors (J5, J6, J7)..................................................................................................11
2.14 CAN Bus connectors (J19, J20)............................................................................................ 11
2.15 Audio Headset connector (J18).............................................................................................12
2.16 JTAG connector (J24)........................................................................................................... 12
2.17 USB DEBUG connector (J23)............................................................................................... 12
2.18 M.2 slot and Wi-Fi/Bluetooth module (J10)........................................................................... 13
2.19 Expansion connector (J21)....................................................................................................13
2.20 I2C connector (J22)...............................................................................................................14
2.21 Power Measurement Board connector (J25).........................................................................14
2.22 User interface buttons........................................................................................................... 15
2.23 User interface LED indicators................................................................................................16
Chapter 3 PCB information.................................................................................. 18
3.1 EVK design files...................................................................................................................... 19
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Chapter 1
Introduction
This document is the hardware User’s Guide for the i.MX 8M Plus LPDDR4 Evaluation Kit (EVK) based on the NXP
Semiconductor’s i.MX 8M Plus 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 LPDDR4 EVK board is a platform designed to show the most commonly used features of the i.MX 8M Plus Applications
Processor in a small and low cost package. The i.MX 8M Plus LPDDR4 EVK board is an entry level development board, which
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 Plus LPDDR4 EVK board.
Table 1. Board features
Processor NXP Applications Processor MIMX8ML8DVNLZAA
DRAM memory 6 GB LPDDR4 Micron MT53E1536M32D4DT-046 WT:A
Mass storage
32 GB eMMC5.1
SanDisk SDINBDG4-32G-I1(2D MLC)
SanDisk SDINBDA6-32G-I(3D TLC)
Micron 32 MB QSPI NOR MT25QU256ABA1EW7-0SIT
MicroSD card connector SD3.0 supported
Power NXP PMIC PCA9450CHN + Discrete DCDC/LDO
Camera × 2 CSI interfaces (Mini-SAS connector)
Display interface
× 1 DSI interface (Mini-SAS connector)
× 2 LVDS interfaces (Mini-SAS connector)
× 1 HDMI 2.0a Connector with eARC
Ethernet × 2 Gigabit Ethernet with RJ45 connectors
USB
× 1 USB (2.0/3.0) Type-C connector
× 1 USB (2.0/3.0) Type-A connector
CAN × 2 CAN FD DB9 Female connectors
Wi-Fi/Bluetooth
× 1 M.2 slot (KEY-E type), support PCIE3.0, SDIO, I2S, UART, I2C interfaces
Azurewave AW-CM276MA-07H (PCIE+UART), NXP 88W8997 based, Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) 2
× 2 Dual-Band (2.4/5 GHz), Bluetooth 5.1
Table continues on the next page...
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Table 1. Board features (continued)
Audio connector 3.5 mm Audio jack for Headset
Debug connector
JTAG (10pin header)
Micro-B USB for UART debug (Two COM Ports for A53 and M7) and remote debug of JTAG,
Bootmode, ONOFF, SYS_nRST, and Power Measurement Board communication.
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
8MPLUSLPD4-CPU: 2.3 inch × 2.3 inch, 6-layer
8MPLUS-BB: 6 inch × 8.26 inch, 8-layer
1.2 Board contents
The i.MX 8M Plus LPDDR4 EVK contains the following items:
• i.MX 8M Plus LPDDR4 EVK board, assembled by two separate boards, 8MPLUSLPD4-CPU (CPU Board) and 8MPLUS-
BB (Base Board)
• USB Type-C 45W Power Delivery Supply, 5V/3A, 9V/3A, 15V/3A, 20V/2.25A supported
• 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-B Male to Micro-A Male
• USB Type-C to Type-A Adapter, Adapter – USB 3.0, Type-C Male to Type-A Female
• Quick Start Guide
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Introduction
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Chapter 2
Specifications
This section provides the detailed information about the electrical design and practical considerations on the LPDDR4 EVK board.
Figure 1 describes each block in the high-level block diagram of the LPDDR4 EVK board.
Figure 1. i.MX 8M Plus LPDDR4 EVK block diagram
Figure 2 and Figure 3 show the overview of the i.MX 8M Plus LPDDR4 EVK board.
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Figure 2. Top view i.MX 8M Plus LPDDR4 EVK board
Figure 3. Back view i.MX 8M Plus LPDDR4 EVK board
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Type-C Port0 is the only power supply port, and must be always supplied for system running.
NOTE
2.1 Processor
The i.MX 8M Plus processors represent NXP Semiconductor’s latest achievement in the machine learning, vision system,
advanced multimedia, and industrial automation focused products offering high performance processing with a high degree
of functional integration, targeted towards the growing market of Smart Home, Building, City, Industry 4.0 and Consumer
applications. The i.MX 8M Plus processor features NXP’s advanced implementation of the Quad Arm® Cortex®-A53+ Arm
Cortex-M7 core speeding up to 1.8 GHz, a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) of 2.3 TOPS, and an HDR-capable Image Signal
Processor (ISP). Each processor provides a 32-bit DDR4/LPDDR4 memory interface and other interfaces for connecting
peripherals, such as MIPI LCD, MIPI Camera, HDMI, LVDS, WLAN, Bluetooth™, PCIe, USB3.0, uSDHC, Ethernet, FlexCAN,
and multi-sensors.
For more detailed information about the processor, see i.MX8MPLUS datasheet and reference manual.
2.2 Boot mode and Boot device configurations
The i.MX 8M Plus processor offers multiple boot configurations which are selected by SW4 or from the boot configuration stored
on the internal eFUSE. In addition, the i.MX 8M Plus can download a program image from a USB connection when configured in
serial download mode. The four dedicated BOOT MODE pins are used to select the various boot modes.
Table 2 shows the values used in different boot modes.
Figure 4. Boot mode selection
Table 2. Boot mode settings
SW4-1 SW4-2 SW4-3 SW4-4
Boot mode
BOOT_MODE3 BOOT_MODE2 BOOT_MODE1 BOOT_MODE0
0 0 0 0 Boot From Fuses
0 0 0 1 USB Serial Download
0 0 1 0 USDHC3 (eMMC boot only, SD3 8-bit) Default
Table continues on the next page...
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Table 2. Boot mode settings (continued)
SW4-1 SW4-2 SW4-3 SW4-4
Boot mode
BOOT_MODE3 BOOT_MODE2 BOOT_MODE1 BOOT_MODE0
0 0 1 1 USDHC2 (SD boot only, SD2)
0 1 0 0 NAND 8-bit single device 256 page
0 1 0 1 NAND 8-bit single device 512 page
0 1 1 0 QSPI 3B Read
0 1 1 1 QSPI Hyperflash 3.3 V
1 0 0 0 ecSPI Boot
On the i.MX 8M Plus LPDDR4 EVK board, the default boot mode is from eMMC device. There are another two boot devices, one
QSPI Nor Flash on CPU board, and one MicroSD connector on the Base Board. Set SW4 as 0010 to choose uSDHC3 (eMMC)
as boot device, set 0011 to choose uSDHC2 (SD), and set 0110 to choose QSPI Nor. Set 0001 to enter USB Serial Download.
NAND boot is not supported on the i.MX 8M Plus LPDDR4 EVK board, but it is supported on the i.MX 8M Plus DDR4 EVK board.
For more information about the boot module, such as the meaning of every bit of the Boot Switch, see the i.MX 8M
Plus Reference Manual on i.MX8MPLUS.
NOTE
Figure 5 shows the connection of SW4 and i.MX 8M Plus boot mode signals.
Figure 5. Boot configuration schematic
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2.3 Power tree
There is a USB Type-C power supply that needs to be connected to the i.MX 8M Plus LPDDR4 EVK board at connector J5 (Type-C
Port0). The other powers on the EVK board are generated from PMIC and discrete devices to supply the whole system. Figure
6 shows the Power Tree.
Figure 6. Power tree diagram
In Figure 6, the developers can see all the voltage supplies used on the EVK board. When some modules are not enabled, the
related power supplies might be shut down by software. Table 3 lists the power rails on the board.
Table 3. Power rails
SEQ Power rail Regulator Value/V
0 DCDC_5V Discrete 5.0
1 NVCC_SNVS_1V8 PCA9450C LDO1 1.8
2 CLK_32K_OUT PCA9450C —
Table continues on the next page...
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Table 3. Power rails (continued)
SEQ Power rail Regulator Value/V
3 VDD_SOC PCA9450C BUCK1/3 0.85/0.951
4 VDD_ARM PCA9450C BUCK2 0.85/0.95/1.02
5 VDDA_1V8 PCA9450C LDO3 1.8
6 VDD_1V8 PCA9450C BUCK5 1.8
7 NVCC_DRAM_1V1 PCA9450C BUCK6 1.1
8 VDD_3V3 PCA9450C BUCK4 3.3
8 VSD_3V3 PCA9450C MUXSW 3.3
9 NVCC_SD2 PCA9450C LDO5 3.3/1.8
10 VEXT_3V3 Discrete 3.3
10 VDD_5V Load Switch 5.0
11 POR_B PCA9450C —
12 PER_12V Discrete 12
1. PCA9450C BUCK1/3 dual phase default output voltage is 0.85 V. Software will change it to 0.95 V for overdrive mode.
2. PCA9450C BUCK2 default output voltage is 0.85 V. Software will change it to 0.95 V for overdrive mode, 1.0 V for super
overdrive mode.
2.4 LPDDR4 DRAM memory (U2)
The i.MX 8M Plus LPDDR4 EVK board has one 1536 Meg × 32 (2 channels × 16 I/O) LPDDR4 SDRAM chip
(MT53E1536M32D4DT-046 WT:A) for a total of 6 GB RAM memory.
In the physical layout, the LPDDR4 chip is placed on the TOP side, the data traces are not necessarily connected to the LPDDR4
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 Plus internally, so it does not need to use external power supply and decoupling
capacitors. The calibration resistors used by the LPDDR4 chips and processor are 240 Ω 1% resistors.
2.5 eMMC memory (U3)
The eMMC memory is connected to the uSDHC3 interface of i.MX 8M Plus, which can support eMMC 5.1 devices. The EVK
has mixed eMMC parts from different vendors, for example SDINBDG4-32G-I1(2D MLC) or SDINBDA6-32G-I(3D TLC). It is the
default boot device of the EVK. The boot settings are as shown in Table 2.
2.6 QSPI Nor Flash (U4)
The QSPI memory is connected to the FlexSPI interface of i.MX 8M Plus, which can support up to 166 Mhz DDR mode device. The
QSPI memory is on the 8MPLUSLPD4-CPU board, and the part number is MT25QU256ABA1EW7-0SIT. It can support 166Mhz
SDR and 90Mhz DDR operation. To select it as the boot device of the EVK, refer to the boot settings as shown in Table 2.
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