looking for vendor agnostic embedded systems forum

I do think the CM4 modules are an attemt at the embedded market. Why didn't they use COM10/COM-Express?
Existing standards.
Why do you need COM modules in an embedded system? Are you gonna upgrade it? I always wondered.
www.advantech.com

Type 10

COM Express Mini Type 10 provides DDI display and eDP/LVDS interface; high speed I/Os such as USB3.0, SATAIII and PCIe.
www.advantech.com www.advantech.com

astyle said:
(Phishfry is the resident expert on that kind of stuff around here).
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Thank you for the kind words.
But I am that hobbiest that Kent dislikes. I would like to make some money at it. Not hobbiest money.

I see embedded systems due to my job on the waterfront.
From dredge pump controllers to steering system controllers I see alot. It is interesting to see the difference between European systems and Americian ones, especially connectors. Ships Helm these days are heavily electronics ladden. As are most spaces.
Research Vessels are probably the most tech I get to see.
www.oceaneering.com

Vessels | Oceaneering - Page 3

- Page 3
www.oceaneering.com www.oceaneering.com
 
kent_dorfman766 said:
I should probably refrain stoking the fire, so to speak, but since you asked... Yes, I absolutely consider them to be toys, and wholely innapropriate for anything even close to safety critical or secure applications (which encompasses many industrial apps). Someone may be able to make me a liar, but as of fourish years ago the PI was based on a PROPRIETARY broadcomm ASIC, where an engineer was able to expose a sidechannel ARM processor and "some" of the chip features without running afoul of his corporate bosses. Furthermore, being that the chip is manufactured in a country that is often politically at-odds with US policy, they are a prime target for becoming a cyber-espionage tool...especially since they are only "partly open " and thus cannot be "fully audited"...and because the masses are so enamored with them.

Then lets talk about Raspin...or Debian desktop crammed on a uSD card for PI. It is in no way, shape, or form suitable as an embedded OS. Remember my comments about hobbiist vs pro? The pro would run as much in RAM as possible instead of simply cloning the disk subsystem to Raspian and allowign the uSD card to become the standard non-volatile storage mechanism. uSD controller circuits are quite fragile. It is way too easy to brick a uSD by simply pulling it at the wrong moment.

Anyway, I'm not gonna comment futher on this. Feel free to flame away. I'll be wearing my asbestos coveralls. ;^)
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I believe your information is quite outdated. RPi chips are manufactured by TSMC and Samsung. I believe now all their SBCs are made in the UK. What is not open is the firmware (built by RPi or Broadcom). AFAIK *all* SBC asics are proprietary, except may be some RISC-V ones but even they have proprietary bits in their kitchen sink designs. As far as security is considered, I'd trust RPi hardware much more than random SBCs one can get from Chinese online shops or indeed any PeeCee laptop (speaking from a US centric PoV).

As far as the h/w design is considered, RPis are not very good and somewhat fragile and one has to deal with that for any real use (so don't pull SD cards at the wrong moment!). You can design more robust designs but at a much higher cost.
 
ralphbsz said:
There is a huge difference, in terms of
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Yes. I'm aware of all of that. I simply wanted to be short, and not elaborate all my knowledge about semiconductor production. However you cannot always be sure which particular IC by whom is manufactured where - even lot charges may differ. I don't know cause I've never done it yet, but I guess to ensure your ICs to be clean from a doubtless source, you have to deal otherwise than simply order at DigiKey, or just hand over the BOM to your local solderer.
Plus - and this brings us back to OP's original topic - a MCU (originally the OP asked for a ready board to buy, or even more a professional forum on this topic) to all the above criteria AND it's supported by FreeBSD.
I personally don't have so much issues in where it's manufactured as the OP - as long as it runs FreeBSD 😁
but I also don't know the OP's customer(s)/target market.
All I know is US can be very meticulously about origins, and destinations of even the smallest details of any apparently minor part. Ever done a UL certification? For a device from outside the USA? Yet not talking about deliver companies, supply orgs, sell to gov...aerospace, medical,...stuff - MINEFIElDS in JUNGLES! Not even a remote chance without the services of a specialized agency.

However,
all I wanted to say to this topic is, if the OP needs/wants a MCU board completely from 'trustworthy origins', that runs FreeBSD by all my experience it's very probable he or she needs to design her or his own board (including production in the USA), start by searching to pick a certain, doubtless MCU, which may not be full satisfactory supported by FreeBSD yet, which then may cause adaption of FreeBSD source...
That's what I summarized with 'tough call.'

But I may be completely wrong about all of that, and there is some suitable solution I simply don't know yet, of course.
 
Maturin said:
all I wanted to say to this topic is, if the OP needs/wants a MCU board completely from 'trustworthy origins', that runs FreeBSD by all my experience it's very probable he or she needs to design her or his own board (including production in the USA), start by searching to pick a certain, doubtless MCU, which may not be full satisfactory supported by FreeBSD yet, which then may cause adaption of FreeBSD source...
That's what I summarized with 'tough call.'

But I may be completely wrong about all of that, and there is some suitable solution I simply don't know yet, of course.
Click to expand...

Yes, looking like we will be spinning our own embedded boards: probly based on the Xilinx Zynq which contains both an ARM component and a FPGA on the same chip. I can then use Verilog to desigm the needed peripherals and hardware speed components, while allowing the ARM component to handle any complex processing and management. I'd like to consider freeBSD to run on it, but a lot of other things need to be considered, so we'll see.

AMD/Xilinx Zynq


I've previously successfully designed Zynq systems using yocto linux and freeRTOS, so I'd need to see a benefit for investing the time to create a freeBSD Zynq BSP before going that route.

Interesting how this thread has morphed...LOL

Phishfry I don't dislike you hobbiist guys. I'm thrilled that you are doing cool stuff and being creative.
 
Royal chefs, cooking enthusiasts, domestic wives and curious kids all source their potatoes from the same stall at farmers market anyway.
 
Wow, it's just today that I learned that OCD can also stand for On-Chip Debugger... I thought it stands for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder... (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsessive–compulsive_disorder)

Well, when somebody tries to emphasize how important it is to pay attention to the order of steps to take when working in any debugger, a non-technical audience would definitely assume the speaker has the medical/personality disorder.

When I was younger, I tried to do some research on the Raspberry Pi boards. It was not very serious research, I did just enough to understand what it would take to get involved, and was able to understand enough to successfully complete a helloworld project if I tried. Well, I got dragged into a psychologist's office on accusations of having OCD, the medical version. The psychologist asked me what my interests are. When I asked him if he even knows about Raspberry Pi, that it even exists - he had no idea that I was referring to anything even related to electronics. He honest-to-goodness thought I was talking about a pie made with raspberries that you can actually eat.
 
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