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Posted to dev@nuttx.apache.org by "Alan C. Assis" <ac...@gmail.com> on 2026/02/28 20:18:55 UTC
RFC: NuttX Standard Module and Base Board
Hi Everyone,
Please review the document describing the initial specification for our SOM
and BB boards:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TyhSpZAtRyn2qT9Ix8BGUwJuKZuSkLFX
The next step will be adding all the signals to be present in the SOM.
During the discussion phase Lucas Zampar suggested we add the Ethernet in
the SOM itself to avoid issues with the signal's impedance. So although
initially the Ethernet and RJ45 connector will be in the SOM (although its
signal will still available in the SOM connector), but in the future
version it will be moved to the Base Board.
BR,
Alan
Re: RFC: NuttX Standard Module and Base Board
Posted by Tomek CEDRO <to...@cedro.info>.
very cool :-) when the connector pinout for SOM is ready i could take the
the bb-nxdart as my main focus in a free moment :-)
--
CeDeROM, SQ7MHZ, http://www.tomek.cedro.info
On Sun, Mar 1, 2026, 15:57 Alan C. Assis <ac...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Tomek,
>
> Thank you very much! I think for now we can keep it at
> https://github.com/NuttX/nuttx_hardware since there is no significant
> advantage to move to ASF infra, there is no hw test there.
>
> The initial idea is to have a BB compatible with many SOMs with different
> MCUs each, but you can create a single BB with many SOM slots to connect
> multiple MCUs at the same time.
>
> I think having a single slot in the BB is the most common usage, people
> will have to manually exchange from a MCU SOM to another to test different
> MCUs.
>
> The BB will have few peripherals (and expansion connector to MikroBUS,
> etc), so it will not be expensive, then for testing purposes people can
> have many BBs.
>
> In fact your idea of having a BB with multiples SOM is nice if we could
> activate (power ON/OFF) a SOM by time and use the same USB/UART and
> JTAG/SWD to collect the logs, but it will require some power control
> (and/or MUX) to automate this SOM transition. Let's start with the basics
> and evolve to improve it and achieve something more advanced like adding
> many SOMs in a single BB.
>
> Something that I will add is the DEBUG+ITM TRACE connector, this way at
> least for ARM chips we can have tracing using the ORBTrace Mini and
> Orbuculum (https://github.com/orbcode/orbuculum).
>
> I was thinking we should get these boards done for the NuttX Workshop last
> year, but it is moving more slowly than I imagined, unfortunately. So let's
> solidify the spec now and design the boards.
>
> BR,
>
> Alan
>
> On Sat, Feb 28, 2026 at 8:06 PM Tomek CEDRO <to...@cedro.info> wrote:
>
> > Very nice thank you Alan! :-)
> >
> > Do you need a dedicated git repo for that project like nuttx-hw or
> > something like that? :-)
> >
> > One idea that came to my mind is to have a dedicated base board with
> > many different modules (SOM) with different MCU/SoC for NXDART build
> > and runtime testing maybe with some USB-UART converters or USB hub
> > onboard to it could be attached to a TestNode with only one USB cable.
> > That would save some space for many different separate devkits and
> > create kind of standard test environment. What do you think? :-)
> >
> > Do you plan to have debug interface and/or usb-to-uart on the SOM or
> > just raw uart on some selected pins and the usb-to-uart / debug
> > interface would be placed on the BB? :-)
> >
> > --
> > CeDeROM, SQ7MHZ, http://www.tomek.cedro.info
> >
> > On Sat, Feb 28, 2026 at 9:19 PM Alan C. Assis <ac...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hi Everyone,
> > >
> > > Please review the document describing the initial specification for our
> > SOM
> > > and BB boards:
> > >
> > > https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TyhSpZAtRyn2qT9Ix8BGUwJuKZuSkLFX
> > >
> > > The next step will be adding all the signals to be present in the SOM.
> > >
> > > During the discussion phase Lucas Zampar suggested we add the Ethernet
> in
> > > the SOM itself to avoid issues with the signal's impedance. So although
> > > initially the Ethernet and RJ45 connector will be in the SOM (although
> > its
> > > signal will still available in the SOM connector), but in the future
> > > version it will be moved to the Base Board.
> > >
> > > BR,
> > >
> > > Alan
> >
>
Re: RFC: NuttX Standard Module and Base Board
Posted by "Alan C. Assis" <ac...@gmail.com>.
Hi Tomek,
Thank you very much! I think for now we can keep it at
https://github.com/NuttX/nuttx_hardware since there is no significant
advantage to move to ASF infra, there is no hw test there.
The initial idea is to have a BB compatible with many SOMs with different
MCUs each, but you can create a single BB with many SOM slots to connect
multiple MCUs at the same time.
I think having a single slot in the BB is the most common usage, people
will have to manually exchange from a MCU SOM to another to test different
MCUs.
The BB will have few peripherals (and expansion connector to MikroBUS,
etc), so it will not be expensive, then for testing purposes people can
have many BBs.
In fact your idea of having a BB with multiples SOM is nice if we could
activate (power ON/OFF) a SOM by time and use the same USB/UART and
JTAG/SWD to collect the logs, but it will require some power control
(and/or MUX) to automate this SOM transition. Let's start with the basics
and evolve to improve it and achieve something more advanced like adding
many SOMs in a single BB.
Something that I will add is the DEBUG+ITM TRACE connector, this way at
least for ARM chips we can have tracing using the ORBTrace Mini and
Orbuculum (https://github.com/orbcode/orbuculum).
I was thinking we should get these boards done for the NuttX Workshop last
year, but it is moving more slowly than I imagined, unfortunately. So let's
solidify the spec now and design the boards.
BR,
Alan
On Sat, Feb 28, 2026 at 8:06 PM Tomek CEDRO <to...@cedro.info> wrote:
> Very nice thank you Alan! :-)
>
> Do you need a dedicated git repo for that project like nuttx-hw or
> something like that? :-)
>
> One idea that came to my mind is to have a dedicated base board with
> many different modules (SOM) with different MCU/SoC for NXDART build
> and runtime testing maybe with some USB-UART converters or USB hub
> onboard to it could be attached to a TestNode with only one USB cable.
> That would save some space for many different separate devkits and
> create kind of standard test environment. What do you think? :-)
>
> Do you plan to have debug interface and/or usb-to-uart on the SOM or
> just raw uart on some selected pins and the usb-to-uart / debug
> interface would be placed on the BB? :-)
>
> --
> CeDeROM, SQ7MHZ, http://www.tomek.cedro.info
>
> On Sat, Feb 28, 2026 at 9:19 PM Alan C. Assis <ac...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Everyone,
> >
> > Please review the document describing the initial specification for our
> SOM
> > and BB boards:
> >
> > https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TyhSpZAtRyn2qT9Ix8BGUwJuKZuSkLFX
> >
> > The next step will be adding all the signals to be present in the SOM.
> >
> > During the discussion phase Lucas Zampar suggested we add the Ethernet in
> > the SOM itself to avoid issues with the signal's impedance. So although
> > initially the Ethernet and RJ45 connector will be in the SOM (although
> its
> > signal will still available in the SOM connector), but in the future
> > version it will be moved to the Base Board.
> >
> > BR,
> >
> > Alan
>
Re: RFC: NuttX Standard Module and Base Board
Posted by Tomek CEDRO <to...@cedro.info>.
Very nice thank you Alan! :-)
Do you need a dedicated git repo for that project like nuttx-hw or
something like that? :-)
One idea that came to my mind is to have a dedicated base board with
many different modules (SOM) with different MCU/SoC for NXDART build
and runtime testing maybe with some USB-UART converters or USB hub
onboard to it could be attached to a TestNode with only one USB cable.
That would save some space for many different separate devkits and
create kind of standard test environment. What do you think? :-)
Do you plan to have debug interface and/or usb-to-uart on the SOM or
just raw uart on some selected pins and the usb-to-uart / debug
interface would be placed on the BB? :-)
--
CeDeROM, SQ7MHZ, http://www.tomek.cedro.info
On Sat, Feb 28, 2026 at 9:19 PM Alan C. Assis <ac...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hi Everyone,
>
> Please review the document describing the initial specification for our SOM
> and BB boards:
>
> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TyhSpZAtRyn2qT9Ix8BGUwJuKZuSkLFX
>
> The next step will be adding all the signals to be present in the SOM.
>
> During the discussion phase Lucas Zampar suggested we add the Ethernet in
> the SOM itself to avoid issues with the signal's impedance. So although
> initially the Ethernet and RJ45 connector will be in the SOM (although its
> signal will still available in the SOM connector), but in the future
> version it will be moved to the Base Board.
>
> BR,
>
> Alan