Xavier Carrier Board Development started.

We thought this would be a good idea to ask the end-users what they expect from a Jetson Xavier carrier board before we simply start the PCB design without asking you, the Customers. For the first time, you have the possibility to directly intervene in the design from us.

Please let me know what you want to have on a carrier board for the Jetson Xavier. We have set a simple form and a page where you can select all features that you wish to have for the Jetson Xavier board.

We also will create Video and Audio Capture Cards from 1080p60 up to 4k as well as external 4G,5G Modems including bonding.

https://rebotnix.com/xavier

Thanks a lot.

Gary

Unlike TX1/TX2 dev kits, Xavier dev kits are suitable for many applications without custom carrier cards.

What could be attractive for custom carrier cards would be:

(1). Bring out all 16 MIPI lanes and still be compatible with existing TX1/TX2 cameras, e.g., 4X 4 lane Leopard Imaging MIPI cameras using I-PEX cables, or add another connector for 4 MIPI lanes missing from Xavier Dev kits.

(2). Reducing size (e.g., 87mmX105mm instead of 105mmx105mm).

(3). Replacing PCIe connector with additional M.2 or cable connectors for PCIe cards.

Many people want a high data throughput. Maybe integrate a 10 gigabit ethernet.

Thanks for your feedbacks. That helps a lot.

We think about an base carrier board as well an adaption of the 16 MIPI lanes where you can connect the sensors that you want to.

linuxdev, we receive several feedbacks for a 10 gigabit ethernet way.

I keep you updated.

Just a thought…the PCIe is actually rated at gen. 4 speeds (16GT/s, 128b/130b encoding), and so far nothing exists in the real world to plug in to this slot which can actually run at gen. 4 speeds (I’ve not heard of anything except technology demo cards at gen. 4). A single gen. 4 lane can provide the throughput needed for a 10Gbit/s ethernet. If you can manage a quality signal to a 10Gbit chip at gen. 4 speed, then it will leave other lanes open. You could possibly still have a 1Gbit/s ethernet for control, or even several 1Gbit/s ports (each with its own root hub) if using a gen. 4 PCIe lane. Each lane at gen. 4 provides more than double the bandwidth of a gen. 3 lane (a bit over 15Gbit/s even after overhead).

16 GB is not enough for a 10G link? Wot? If you process data in real time, you can saturate 10G with less than what the Jetson has.
Also, there’s a 8x PCIE port. You can plug whatever high-speed device you want there! (USB, Ethernet, etc.)
Although if you need something very small, then something integrated on a board is better, but then that board will be quite specific to that need.

I agree that, with the new module form factor, the need for a custom board is a lot less. I got the Auvidea J90, for the TX2, but their software support didn’t really work right for me, so I ended up mounting the full ITX size motherboard on my robot (just make bigger brackets and eat the weight …)

What I would want in a carrier is:

  1. A power input that’s more secure than a barrel connector. Screw terminals or spade lugs or maybe even just 100mil pins (I think they can do 3A each, which for 12V in is plenty for the module itself.)

  2. I need USB2 for keyboard, mouse, and talking to hardware devices/microcontrollers. Currently, I plupg a small unpowered hub in for this.

  3. I need USB3 for the camera (I use the Stereolabs Zed)

  4. I need Ethernet for software/data loads (1G is great. 100Mb would be annoying but probably acceptable, like the J90 has.)

  5. I prefer auto-power-on, and perhaps a header for on/off/reset/recovery buttons.

  6. Having the recovery connectors on board is good.

  7. Some header I/O for UART and CAN and perhaps a couple of GPIO would be very good.

  8. The support circuitry for the RTC (such as a supercap) makes life much better than having to somehow supply my own.

  9. I’ve given up on MIPI cameras. The combination of connectors/wiring/cameras/drivers is just too annoying to work with. USB3 is fast enough. Latency is okay, not great. (I wish someone made a 120 Hz color USB3 camera that didn’t cost thousands.)

  10. Because there’s no WiFi on the Xavier, I may use USB for that, too.

  11. HDMI out is important, even for embedded devices; plugging in a real monitor is very helpful when debugging image processing onboard, and using a touch screen makes for a good user interface.

+1 for a secure power connector which won’t care about vibration.

snarky and yahoo2016 have compiled pretty good lists already.

I am currently using the TX2 (and other SOMs) for Computer Vision drone applications so reducing size and weight is desirable. I would second exposing the 4X 4 lane MIPI connectors and making them compatible with existing TX2 cameras (i.e. LI), the secure power connector, RTC, at least one USB3 and one USB2, 1G or 10G Ethernet for data transfer and GigE cameras

Here are my 2c of additional features for drone applications:

  1. Power circuitry that accepts a range of voltages 5-15V DC

  2. GPS or even better GPS + IMU on board, alternatively RS232/UART to connect to external GPS signals

  3. Industrial temperature range of operation -20 to 50C

  4. SATA or an additional M.2 (at least 2) for connecting an external SSD as the 32GB eMMC is too small and SD cards are too slow for imagery and video capture and real time processing.

  5. WiFi and/or BT to communicate with the base station

  6. CAN port which is the IO of choice for the major drone manufacturers (DJI)

  7. 2G/5G would be nice if cloud connectivity is needed (perhaps optional)

I personally like the approach most carrier board manufacturers have taken in developing a basic no-thrills carrier and several specialized board versions for media, industrial/automotive, drone, etc.

We found connecttech Rogue is very close to what we need:

Thanks, yahoo2016. Yes, the Rogue carrier is a nice option for drones. I am currently using the ConnectTech Spacely for TX2 but it would be nice to have more options on the market and especially with the most important features integrated on the carrier (1-6 in my list) and others (7) available as adapters or as special order.