AAEON a leader in industrial IoT and AI Edge solutions, has released the uCOM-IMX8P, a versatile SMARC 2.1 compliant CPU module built on the NXP i.MX 8M Plus platform.
Following the release of the x86-based uCOM-ADN earlier this year, the uCOM-IMX8P is AAEON’s first module on the 82mm x 50mm SMARC form factor to utilize RISC architecture. Featuring the NXP i.MX 8M Plus’ Quad-Core Arm Cortex-A53 processor, integrated NPU, and -40°C ~ 85°C temperature tolerance, AAEON clearly sees the uCOM-IMX8P as primarily geared towards use in industrial settings, with predictive maintenance, process optimization, and automated control systems being the most suitable applications, on paper. In addition to its RISC base is 4GB of onboard LPDDR4 memory and up to 128GB eMMC storage (default SKU: 16GB).
The uCOM-IMX8P hosts dual Gigabit Ethernet ports, one port of which supports Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN), USB 3.0, multiple UART interfaces, and two CPU-native CAN FD. In addition to these industrial communication options, the module offers substantial high-speed peripheral and sensor integration options, with a PCIe Gen 3 slot, both MIPI CSI and DSI for camera and display output, and an I2C interface for low-power, industrially versatile connectivity for multi-sensor systems, intelligent displays, and vision-based systems like ANPR.
The uCOM-IMX8P offers a number of features conducive to edge computing task management, including support for protocols like Modbus, MQTT, and OP CUA (upon request). Moreover, its integrated Vivante GC7000UL 3D GPU and NPU offers efficient AI inferencing capabilities. For display, the module’s strongest option is its HDMI 2.0a, which offers 4K display resolution, alongside MIPI DSI or LVDS, the latter being more commonly utilized for human-machine interface (HMI) in industrial settings. Operating system support is remarkably broad, with Debian 12 being the module’s default, but AAEON note that it is also compatible with Windows 10 IoT, Yocto, and Android, allowing for a great deal of flexibility for integrators.
