ODROID-XU3 Development Board

Remember ODROID-XU2 development board based on Exynos 5420? The bad news is that it apparently got scrapped, but the good news is that it gave birth to ODROID-XU3 development board powered by the latest Samsung Exynos 5422 octa core big.LITTLE SoC with support for Ubuntu 14.04 and Android 4.4, including GPU 3D acceleration with the company promising a full desktop experience in Ubuntu.

ODROID-XU3 specifications:

• SoC – Samsung Exynos 5422 quad core ARM Cortex-A15 @ 2.0GHz+ quad core ARM Cortex-A7 @ 1.4GHz with Mali-T628 MP6 GPU supporting OpenGL ES 3.0 / 2.0 / 1.1 and OpenCL 1.1 Full profile
• System Memory – 2GB LPDDR3 RAM PoP (933Mhz, 14.9GB/s memory bandwidth, 2x32bit bus)
• Storage – Micro SD slot (up to 64GB) + eMMC 5.0 module socket (16, 32, or 64GB module available)
• Video Output – micro HDMI (Up to 1080p) and DisplayPort (up to 2160p)
• Audio Output – micro HDMI and 3.5mm headphone jack
• Network Connectivity – 10/100Mbps Ethernet (Via LAN95144 USB + Ethernet controller)
• USB – 1x USB 3.0 host port, 1x USB 3.0 micro USB OTG port, 4x USB 2.0 ports
• Expansion – 30-pin header for access to GPIO, IRQ, SPI and ADC signals
• Debugging – Serial console header
• Misc – Accurate current sensors and voltage sensors for energy measurement, Power and RGB LEDs, cooling fan header
• Power Supply – 5V/4A power adapter using 5.5/2.1mm barrel.
• Dimensions – PCBA: 94x70x18mm; Enclosure: 98x74x29mm

ODROID-XU3 Block Diagram (Click to Enlarge)

The company can also provide USB modules / dongles for optical S/PDIF output, Gigabit Ethernet (USB 3.0 to Ethernet adapter), Wi-Fi 802.11n/g/n 1T1R with antenna, and 2.5″/3.5″ SATA drives (USB 3.0 to SATA III adapter).  Hardkernel will provide Ubuntu 14.04 support with OpenGL ES + OpenCL support, and Android 4.4.2 both based on Linux kernel 3.10 LTS, and the source code will soon be available on their github account. This is also the first ODROID board that supports Heterogeneous Multi-Processing / Global Task Scheduling implementation of big.LITTLE processing. You can get an overview of the board and see Ubuntu 14.04 running OpenGL ES 3.0 demo, and playing a windowed YouTube video – which makes me think hardware video decoding may not be implemented yet – in the video below.

ODROID-XU3 comes with a plastic case, an active cooler and a 5V/4A power adapter, and you get pre-order it for $179 + shipping on Hardkernel website with delivery schedule for the 18th of August 2014. There’s no internal storage with the board so you’ll need a micro SD card (Class 10 strongly recommended), or even better purchased one of the eMMC module with the board. The 16GB eMMC sells for $39 and includes an adapter to connect it to your PC. You can get more information, and/or purchase the board and a few of its 23 accessories on Hardkernel’s ODROID-XU3 product page.

Read more: http://www.cnx-software.com/tag/linux/page/4/#ixzz39AMVyrGU