Chips:

ETRAX FS

ETRAX 100LX

ETRAX 100LX MCM

History
Developer boards:

AXIS 82+ Developer Board

Axis Developer Board LX

System platforms:

AXIS 83+Device Server

Axis Device Server Platform

ETRAX 100LX Multi Chip Module

A full Linux computer on a single chip

Just add power to the chip and you have a Linux computer with network connection and a wide range of I/O options. Axis has designed a new ASIC with ease of design as one of the primary goals. This new ASIC takes into account the total system cost and tries to reduce costs in both the design cycle and in the production cycle. The powerful ETRAX 100LX MCM allows you to build extremely small and cost effective embedded devices.

The Module

The ETRAX 100LX Multi Chip Module (MCM) is using High Density Packaging (HDP) technology. HDP enables the integration of bare dies (i.e. un-encapsulated chips such as ETRAX 100LX, SDRAM, Flash) and other components (like resistors) to provide smaller, lighter and more cost-effective products. The MCM is built around the ETRAX 100LX system-on-chip processor. We have added almost all mandatory components for building a networked device.

In one single 256-pin PBGA capsule measuring only 27x27 mm we have integrated the following components:

ETRAX 100LX System-On-Chip (see specifications) 4Mbyte of Flash memory 16Mbyte of SDRAM memory Ethernet transceiver Reset circuitry ~55 passive components (resistors and capacitors)

Inside view of the MCM

The MCM includes enough Flash and RAM for many designs. It is possible to add more Flash memory and SDRAM outside of the Multi Chip Module if your application should need it.

Mandatory components outside the MCM are a 3.3 V power source and a 20 MHz crystal oscillator. 

Read more about the technical specifications

Have a look at the ETRAX 100LX MCM Designer's Reference for detailed technical information.

The pinout of the chip is available as a PDF document (32 KB).

Advantages with using the MCM over traditional board design

By using the Multi Chip Module in your designs, you will significantly decrease your hardware development time and also greatly reduce the risk of errors in your design. We allow you to focus on your application specific design and not having to worry about the essentials that are just supposed to work.

Advantages in development:

• Decreased development time
• Reduced risk of errors in the design
• Reduced electromagnetic interference (EMC)

Advantages in system cost, bill-of-materials and product management:

• Reduced production costs - There are a lot less components to mount and this will result in a smaller PCB with fewer layers. In most cases you can use a 2- or 4- layer PCB instead of a 4- or 6- layer PCB.
• Reduced BOM (bill-of-materials) - All components included in the MCM are sourced by Axis from the suppliers in very high volumes and at better rates than can be achieved for smaller volumes. Buying the MCM is normally cheaper than buying all the components separately - at least for volumes less than 10K per year. After that, the cost advantage wears off.
• Increased production yield - There are less components that can fail during production and the hardware is much simpler in design.
• Lower inventory costs - Instead of keeping stock and sourcing some 50 different components you only need one component which will also reduce logistical problems.
• Decreased footprint - The ETRAX 100LX measures only 27x27 mm, which will makes it possible to design products with a very small footprint. In practice, the connectors of your product will be the thing that decides the size of it.

Example design - A single port serial server

To give an example of how easy it is to design hardware using the ETRAX 100LX Multi Chip Module we have created a reference design for a single port serial server. 

All we needed to do was to add:

• RS-232 transceiver and connector
• RJ-45 connector for the 100 MBit Ethernet port 
• Reset switch
• Power logic
• 20 MHz crystal oscillator
• A couple of passive components

This is a complete embedded Linux system running Linux 2.4 and includes a web server for management. 

The schematics are available as a PDF document (518 kB).

Availability