User Manual of SP7350 Mini Control Board (MCB)

Owned by Wells Lu
Last updated: Nov 20, 2024
10 min read

This manual provides comprehensive instructions on using the SP7350 Mini Control Board (MCB). When combined with the SP7350 Core Board, the SP7350 Mini Control Board forms a 4.1 TOPS AI platform with a wide range of I/O options for interfacing with external devices. It offers a compact and robust environment, enabling customers to develop their own AI software and applications. Please refer to the picture of the SP7350 Mini Control Board below:

image-20240801-024956.png
Board Dimensions: 134 mm x 101 mm

Table of Contents

1. Description of Main Equipment or Interfaces

Refer to the photo below, which shows the SP7350 Mini Control Board with the SP7350 Core Board (covered by the black heat-sink) mounted on it:

image-20240731-175838.png
Figure 1 Photo of SP7350 Mini Control Board + SP7350 Core Board

The table below describes:

Item

Descriptions

Remarks

1

Ethernet RJ-45 socket

Supports 10M/100M/1000M transmission.

2

USB 3.0 Type-A socket

Supports Low/Full/High/Super speeds.

Note that USB 3.0 Type-A and Type-C share with the same USB 3.0 port of SP7350, and they cannot be used simultaneously. Refer to item 11 for selection.

3

USB 3.0 Type-C socket

Supports Low/Full/High/Super speeds.

Note that USB 3.0 Type-A and Type-C share with the same USB 3.0 port of SP7350, and they cannot be used simultaneously. Refer to item 11 for selection.

4

USB 2.0 Type-A socket

Supports Low/Full/High speeds.

5

HDMI output interface

Supports 1080p, 720p, 480p resolutions.

6

Jack for 12V DC power input

The DC Jack plug diameter is 5.5mm, and the adapter power supply current must be greater than 1A.

7

Reset key

Resets CM4 and Main-power domain, but does not reset RTC.

8

Wake-up key.

Functions as follows:

  • (When powered off) Short press for 1 second: Power on (hardware action)

  • (When powered on) Short press for 1 second: Enter deep sleep mode (software function)

  • (During deep sleep mode) Short press for 0.3 seconds: Resume from deep sleep mode (software function).

  • (When powered on) Long press for more than 7 seconds: Shutdown (software function).

  • (When powered on) Long press for more than 10 seconds: Force shutdown (hardware function).

9

Jumper SIP1

It is for enabling auto power-on function:

  • Plug in a jumper to turn on power automatically.

  • Otherwise, required to press Wake-up key for 1 second to turn on power.

Plug a jump in by default

10

Ethernet Giga PHY chip

Realtek RTL8211FD chip.

11

Jumper SIP3

For selecting USB 3.0 Type A or C socket:

  • Plug in a jumper to select USB 3.0 Type C socket.

  • Otherwise, USB 3.0 Type A socket is selected.

12

Jumper SIP4

Not used.

13

MIPI-RX5 interface

Raspberry Pi camera compatible, 22-pin, 0.5mm FFC connector. Refer to section 6 for pin definitions.

14

MIPI/DSI to HDMI bridge chip,

LT8912B

15

1.5F super capacitor

Provides power for the RTC (Real-Time Clock) to continue operating when no external power is supplied.

16

SP7350 boot configuration switch

Refer to section 2.3 for details.

17

M.2 E-key socket

For interfacing SDIO wireless network card. Refer to section 9 for pin definitions.

18

SP7350 Core Board with heatsink

 

19

Micro SD card socket

 

20

PCB terminal block (CN8)

Refer to section 4.1 for details.

21

PCB terminal block (CN3)

22

PCB terminal block (CN7)

23

PCB terminal block (CN6)

24

PCB terminal block (CN5)

25

PCB terminal block (CN1)

26

3-pin, 100mil Pin-header

For selecting IO voltage. Refer to section 4.2.

27

PCB terminal block (CN4)

Refer to section 4.1 for details.

28

4-pin, 100 mil Pin-header (J79)

 

For UART0. Pin-assignment, from top to bottom, is (+5V, GND, RXD, TXD), where RXD and TXD are 3.3V signal. Refer to section 7.

29

PCB terminal block (CN30)

For DC +12V input.

30

USB 2.0 Type C socket

For UART0. Refer to section 7.

2. Boot Devices and Configurations

The SP7350 MC Board supports booting either from on-board eMMC device or an SD card.

2.1. eMMC Boot 

To boot from the on-board eMMC device, set the boot switch configuration to [1 1 1 1]. Refer to Figure 2 for visual guidance.

The eMMC chip is located on the SP7350 Core Board, highlighted by the red rectangle in Figure 3.

2.2. SD Card Boot

To boot from an SD card, adjust the boot switch to [1 1 0 0]. Refer to Figure 4 for the switch settings.

Insert your SD card into the micro SD card socket, as demonstrated in Figure 5 below.

2.3. Definitions of Boot Configuration Switch

Table 2 outlines the interpretation of boot configuration switch settings.

 Boot Devices

Boot Configuration Switch

1

2

3

4

eMMC Boot

1

1

1

1

SDC Boot / ISP

1

1

0

0

USB ISP

1

1

0

1

In the above table, “1” signifies switch OFF, while “0” indicates switch ON.

3. In-System Program (ISP)

The SP7350 chip supports in-system programming (ISP) of the on-board eMMC device. Users can copy the ISP image file ISPBOOOT.BIN, (ISPBOOT1.BIN, ISPBOOT2.BIN, …) to a USB flash drive or SD card and directly program it onto the eMMC device. The programming process is as follows:

3.1. ISP from an SD Card

To perform ISP from an SD card, set the boot switch to [1 1 0 0]. Refer to Figure 6 for guidance.

Copy the ISP files ISPBOOOT.BIN (ISPBOOT1.BIN, ISPBOOT2.BIN, …) to the SD card and insert it into the Micro SD card socket as shown in Figure 7.

Ensure that the first partition of the SD card is formatted with the FAT32 file system. Power on the system, and it will automatically program the images into the eMMC device.

3.2. ISP from a USB Flash Drive

For ISP from a USB flash drive, set the boot switch to [1 1 0 1]. Refer to Figure 8 for guidance.

3.2.1. Using USB 3.0 Type C Socket

Copy the ISP file ISPBOOOT.BIN (ISPBOOT1.BIN, ISPBOOT2.BIN, …) to a USB 3.0 flash drive and insert it into the USB 3.0 Type-C socket as shown in the Figure 9.

Ensure the first partition of the USB flash drive is formatted with the FAT32 file system. Remember to plug a jumper into SIP3 to select the USB 3.0 Type-C socket. Turn on the power, and the system will automatically program the images from the ISP files into the eMMC device.

3.2.2. Using USB 3.0 Type A Socket

To use the USB 3.0 Type-A socket for ISP, insert the USB 3.0 flash drive into the USB 3.0 Type-A socket.

Ensure to remove the jumper from SIP3 to select the USB 3.0 Type-A socket. Turn on the power, and the system will automatically program the images from the ISP files into the eMMC device.

3.2.3. Using USB 2.0 Type A Socket

To perform ISP using the USB 2.0 Type-A socket, copy the ISP file ISPBOOOT.BIN (ISPBOOT1.BIN, ISPBOOT2.BIN, …) to a USB 2.0/3.0 flash drive. Insert the flash drive into the USB 2.0 Type-A socket.

Turn on the power, and the system will automatically program the images from the ISP files into the eMMC device.

4. PCB Terminal Blocks

The SP7350 MCB includes 7 PCB terminal blocks, which connect to 20 GPIO pins and 2 channels of ADC input. These GPIO pins can be utilized for general-purpose input/output (GPIO) functions or configured for specific functionalities such as SPI, I2C, UART, and more. The GPIO pins can be set to either 3.3V or 5.0V input/output voltage. Figure 12 below shows the photo of the 7 PCB terminal blocks, numbered (from left to right) CN8, CN3, CN7, CN6, CN5, CN1, and CN4 on the SP7350 MCB.

4.1. GPIO Pin-assignment and Specific Functions of Each Block

The following table details the GPIO pin assignments and specific functions for each PCB terminal block:

PCB Terminal Block

GPIO

Function 1

Function 2

Function 3

PCB Terminal Block

GPIO

Function 1

Function 2

Function 3

CN8

GND

NA

SARAD3

 

 

NA

SARADC0

 

 

CN3

GND

GPIO84

I2C6_SLK

 

 

GPIO85

I2C6_DATA

 

 

GPIO71

I2C1_DATA

 

 

GPIO70

I2C1_CLK

 

 

CN7

GND

GPIO81

UA6_RXD

SPI1_SS

AU2_LRCK

GPIO80

UA6_TXD

SPI1_RXD

AU2_BCK

GPIO83

UA7_RXD

SPI5_CLK

EXT_DAC_XCK

GPIO82

UA7_TXD

SPI5_TXD

AU2_DATA0

CN6

GND

GPIO60

PWM2

 

 

GPIO61

PWM3

 

 

CN5

GND

GPIO69

I2C0_DATA

UA0_RXD

 

GPIO68

I2C0_CLK

UA0_TXD

 

CN1

GND

GPIO72

SPI4_RXD

SPI5_RXD

AU_BCK

GPIO73

SPI4_SS

SPI5_SS

AU_LRCK

GPIO74

SPI4_TXD

SPI5_TXD

ADC_DATA0

GPIO75

SPI4_CLK

SPI5_CLK

AU_DATA0

CN4

GND

GPIO59

UA2_CTS_B

PMW1

 

GPIO58

UA2_RTS_B

PWM0

AU1_DATA0

GPIO56

UA2_TXD

I2C2_CLK

AU1_BCK

GPIO57

UA2_RXD

I2C2_DATA

AU1_LRCK

4.2. Configure IO Voltage

The IO voltage for the PCB terminal blocks can be configured using the following settings:

Voltage Selection Jumper

IO Voltage of PCB Terminal Blocks

3.3V

5.0V

To configure the IO voltage, adjust the voltage selection jumper accordingly.

5. USB 3.0 Type-C and Type-A Selection

The SP7350 MCB features a USB 3.0 interface that can support either a Type-C port (with Dual Role Device, DRD) or a Type-A port through a USB 3.0 switch. As shown in Figure 13, when the SEL pin is set to HIGH, the Type-A port (socket) is selected; otherwise, the Type-C port (socket) is selected.

Figure 14 shows the USB 3.0 Type-A socket, the USB 3.0 Type-C socket, and the jumper (SIP3) used to control the USB 3.0 switch.

The following table illustrates how to select between the Type-C and Type-A ports using the selection jumper (SIP3).

Selection Jumper (SIP3)

Ports

USB 3.0 Type-C

USB3.0 Type-A

To select the desired USB 3.0 port, simply adjust the jumper on SIP3 accordingly. If the jumper is plugged in, the system will use the Type-C port; if the jumper is removed, the system will use the Type-A port.

6. MIPI Camera FFC Connector

The MIPI-RX5 interface of SP7350 MCB connects to a Raspberry Pi-compatible 22-pin, 0.5mm camera FFC (Flexible Flat Cable) connector, CN22. Figure 15 shows the location of connector CN22 on the SP7350 MCB.

For detailed pin definitions of the FFC connector CN22, refer to Figure 16.

7. UART0 Port and UART0 over USB2.0 Type C Socket

The SP7350 MCB features a UART0 port, which can be connected to a UART terminal (such as a PC) via a 4-pin, 100-mil pitch pin-header, as illustrated in Figure 17.

The pin-out of the pin-header, from top to bottom, is 5V, GND, RX, and TX. All signals operate at a 3.3V logic level.

In addition to the direct pin-header connection, the SP7350 MC Board supports UART-to-USB 2.0 conversion using the CH340N bridge chip. This allows the UART0 port to be connected directly to a PC via a USB 2.0 Type-C cable.

Note: Before using the CH340N bridge chip, ensure that the appropriate driver is installed. Refer to attached Drivers for both Windows and Linux can be downloaded from the links below:

 

8. PCB Terminal Block CN30 for DC 12V IN

The SP7350 MCB includes a PCB Terminal Block CN30 for DC 12V input. Figure 18 shows the location of CN30.

The pin-out of CN30, from, left to right, is (GND, 12V).

9. M.2 Key E Socket (for Wireless Network Card)

The SP7350 MCB features an M.2 Key E socket, as shown in Figure 19. The dimensions of the M.2 module board should be 22 x 30 mm.

The pin definitions of the M.2 Key E socket are detailed in Figure 20.

For reference, Figure 21 illustrates a Sunplus M.2 Key E WiFi/Bluetooth module. The module size is 22 x 30 mm.

For more details, visit the Sunplus M.2 (Key E) WiFi/Bluetooth Module