Low-cost solutions, analysis of application scenarios for RK3506
The RK3506 is an MPU product launched by Rockchip. With a chip manufacturing process of 22nm, it is positioned as a lightweight and low-cost solution. This MPU features low power consumption, rich peripheral interfaces and high real-time performance, making it suitable for a variety of industrial and commercial scenarios. Based on the design features of the RK3506, this article will analyze its application scenarios for you.
The RK3506 core board is mainly divided into three models, and the differences between each model are shown in the following figure.
Scenario 1: Display Human-Machine Interface (HMI)
The display interface of the RK3506 core board supports RGB, MIPI and QSPI outputs, and also supports 2D graphics acceleration. It can easily run GUIs such as QT and LVGL, and can boot up within 3 seconds at the fastest. It supports software decoding of 720P 30FPS videos and can perform decoding of H.264 and MJPEG.
Scenario 2: Industrial Communication
The RK3506 core board supports dual 100-megabit Ethernet ports, two CANFD interfaces and six UART interfaces, meeting the control and communication requirements in conventional industrial fields. In addition, this processor supports the DSMC bus, which can conveniently expand more resources through FPGA.
Scenario 3: PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) Control Applications
The RK3506 core board platform supports AMP (Asymmetric Multiprocessing) multi-core heterogeneous multi-systems and the AMP system architecture combining Linux, RTOS (Real-Time Operating System), and Bare-metal. It can achieve application structures such as 2xCortex-A7 Linux + 1xCortex-A7 RTOS + Cortex-M0 HAL or 3xCortex-A7 RTOS + Cortex-M0 HAL. (It provides a standard RPMsg inter-core communication solution.)
| Item | Bind the real-time core without participating in other system schedulings | Shutdown an A7 core and bind the real-time one, excluding it from other system schedulings |
| CPU | 3*Cortex-A7 | 2*Cortex-A7 |
| CPU Frequency | 1.3GHz | 1.3GHz |
| DDR | 16bit DDR3 800MHz | 16bit DDR3 800MHz |
| L1 Cache | 16 KB I/D | 16 KB I/D |
| L2 Cache | 128 KB | 128 KB |
| Preempt-RT(Pressure - up delay) | ≈62us | ≈62us |
| Xenomai(Pressure - up delay) | ≈68us | ≈68us |
Pressurization: Use stress-ng for load testing.
Binding the real-time core: cyclictest runs on the isolated core.
It supports EtherCAT IgH and has undergone special optimizations. In the real-time performance test, it can achieve control within 1 ms, with a jitter delay of 90 μs.
Scenario 4: Industrial handheld terminals
Based on the HMI (Human Machine Interface) solution and combined with an excellent power consumption control strategy, this product is highly suitable for scenarios of small handheld devices. The RK3506 core board has low power consumption when fully loaded and a small temperature rise.
If you need a development board based on RK3506, please contact us.