The Raspberry Pi 5 is a new single-board computer from Raspberry Pi, featuring an updated processor that is twice as fast as the chip in the Raspberry Pi 4. One of the notable changes in the new board is the inclusion of a single-lane PCIe 2.0 connector, which allows users to add a PCIe NVMe SSD. However, the Raspberry Pi 5 itself does not have an M.2 connector, so additional hardware is required for this functionality. While Raspberry Pi plans to release its own daughter boards next year to add M.2 SSD support, third-party companies have already started offering options.

Pineberry Pi recently introduced the HatDrive! Top and Bottom add-on boards for the Raspberry Pi 5, providing support for PCIe NVMe SSDs. The bottom board supports M.2 2232/2242 cards and is priced at €20 ($22), while the top board, which supports up to an M.2 2280 SSD, costs €26 ($28).

Now, Pimoroni has unveiled the NVMe Base, which is a cheaper option at just over $14. Although it is not yet available, Pimoroni says the base will be released soon, and interested customers can sign up to be notified when it becomes available.

The NVMe Base is designed to be mounted to the bottom of a Raspberry Pi 5 and connects to the computer via a flex cable. It supports M.2 2232, 2242, and 2280 SSDs with speeds up to 800MB/s, thanks to its support for PCIe 3.0. It is important to note that the Raspberry Pi 5 officially supports only PCIe 2.0, which delivers approximately half the speed. However, adding an NVMe SSD to the Raspberry Pi 5 should still provide significantly faster read/write speeds compared to a microSD card and support for drives up to 4TB.

Source: Liliputing.

Radxa has released the ROCK 3B, a “PI-CO ITX” single-board computer (SBC) that combines the benefits of Pico-ITX and Raspberry Pi form factors. The board, measuring 100x72mm, features all main ports on the rear side and supports expansion through a 40-pin Raspberry Pi-compatible GPIO header and several M.2 sockets for storage and wireless modules. The ROCK 3B is the larger brother of the ROCK 3A, a business card-sized SBC introduced in 2021. Both boards are powered by the Rockchip RK3568 SoC and support up to 8GB LPDDR4. The ROCK 3B features two gigabit Ethernet ports, an M.2 B Key socket for 4G LTE/5G cellular modules, an M.2 PCIe 3.0 x1 socket for an M.2 2280 SSD, and an M.2 Key-E socket for WiFi 6.

The specifications of the ROCK 3B include:

• SoC: Rockchip RK3568 (J)
  • CPU: Quad-core Cortex A55 processor at up to 2.0 GHz
  • GPU: Mali G52 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0/3.2, OpenCL 2.0, Vulkan 1.1
  • VPU: 4Kp60 H.264/H.265/VP9 video decoder, 1080p60 H.264/H.265 video encoder
  • AI accelerator: 1 TOPS NPU; INT8/INT16/FP16/BFP16 MAC hybrid operation; support for TensorFlow, TF-lite, Pytorch, Caffe, ONNX, MXNet, Keras, Darknet
• System Memory: 2GB, 4GB, 8GB LPDDR4
• Storage: Pluggable eMMC module, MicroSD card slot, M.2 M key socket for NVMe with PCIe 3.0 x2
• Video Output: HDMI 2.0 port up to 4Kp60, 2x MIPI DSI connectors (4-lane and 2-lane), eDP connector, Touch Panel connector
• Camera: 1x MIPI CSI connector
• Audio: 3.5mm audio jack, digital audio via HDMI
• Connectivity: 2x Gigabit Ethernet ports, WiFi 6 via M.2 E key socket with PCIe 2.0 x1/SDIO/UART, 4G LTE/5G cellular via M.2 B key 3042 socket with PCIe, SATA, USB interfaces, and a SIM card socket
• USB: 2x USB 2.0 ports, 2x USB 3.0 ports (1x OTG+1x HOST)
• Expansion: Color-coded 40-pin GPIO header mostly compatible with ROCK Pi 4 and Raspberry Pi 3/4, exposing 5x UART, 1x SPI, 2x I2C, 1x PCM/I2S, 1x CAN bus, 6x PWM, 1x ADC, 6x GPIO, 1x USB 2.0, and 5V, 3.3V, and GND power signals
• Misc: RTC with connector for backup battery, IR receiver, RGB LED, Fan header, Power and recovery buttons
• Power Supply: 6V to 20V DC via USB-C port with USB PD 2.0, QC 3.0, or fixed voltage support, 5V via GPIO pin 2 or 4
• Dimensions: 100 x 75 mm (Pico-ITX and PI-CO ITX form factors)
• Certifications: CE/FCC

The Rock 3B was first unveiled in 2021 with a slightly different design, which was modified based on user feedback. The board is now available for purchase, with prices starting at $45 for the 2GB RAM version, $55 for the 4GB RAM version, and $75 for the 8GB RAM version on Arace Tech. However, it may be challenging to find compatible accessories as the website’s accessories section is not clear, and some accessories are missing.

Source: CNX Software – Embedded Systems News.

FriendlyELEC has introduced the CM3588 NAS Kit, which features the new Rockchip RK3588 board. The board comes with four M.2 Key-M sockets, each with a PCIe Gen 3 x1 interface, designed to accommodate 2280 NVMe SSDs or other M.2 PCIe modules. The CM3588 NAS Kit is equipped with the CM3588 Core system-on-module and offers a range of features. These include a 2.5GbE RJ45 connector, two HDMI 2.1 video outputs, one HDMI 2.0 video input, MIPI DSI and CSI connectors, several USB 3.0/3.1 ports, and a 40-pin GPIO header for expansion. he FriendlyELEC CM3588 NAS Kit:

System-on-Module – CM3588 Core board:

• SoC – Rockchip RK3588 with 4x Cortex-A76 cores @ up to 2.4 GHz, 4x Cortex-A55 cores @ 1.8 GHz, and an Arm Mali-G610 MP4 “Odin” GPU
• Video decoder – Supports 8Kp60 H.265, VP9, AVS2, 8Kp30 H.264 AVC/MVC, 4Kp60 AV1, 1080p60 MPEG-2/-1, VC-1, VP8
• Video encoder – Supports 8Kp30 H.265/H.264 video encoding
• AI accelerator – 6 TOPS NPU
• System Memory – 4GB, 8GB, or 16GB LPDDR4x @ 2133 MHz
• Storage – Optional 64GB eMMC flash
• Networking – Realtek RTL8125BG 2.5GbE controller
• 4x 100-pin high-density board-to-board connectors with USB 3.0/2.0, PCIe Gen 3 x4, 2.5GbE, HDMI Tx/Rx, GPIOs, etc.
• PMIC – Rockchip RK806-1 power management IC
• Dimensions – 65 x 55 mm (8-layer PCB)
• Weight – About 21 grams

Carrier board – CM3588 NAS SDK:

• Storage: Up to 4x M.2 2280 NVMe SSDs, microSD card slot, footprint for SPI flash
• Video Output: 2x HDMI 2.1 ports (up to 8Kp60 and 4Kp60), 1x DisplayPort via USB-C (up to 4Kp60), 4-lane MIPI DSI connector
• Video Input: 1x HDMI 2.0 input port (up to 4Kp60), 4-lane MIPI CSI connector
• Audio: 3.5mm audio output jack, 2-pin microphone connector, built-in PWM buzzer
• Networking: 2.5GbE RJ45 port
• USB: 2x USB 3.0 Type-A ports, 1x USB 3.0 USB-C DRP port with DisplayPort support (up to 4Kp60), 1x USB 2.0 host port
• Expansion: 4x M.2 2280 PCIe sockets (each with PCIe 3.0 x1), 40-pin GPIO header with various interfaces
• Misc: 2-pin RTC battery connector, IR receiver, fan connector, MASK button for eMMC flash update, reset button, power button, recovery mode button, user button, 4x LEDs for SSDs, 3-pin debug UART header
• Power Supply – 12V DC via power barrel jack or 2-pole terminal block
• Dimensions – 160 x 116 mm (4-layer PCB)
• Temperature Range – 0 to 70°C

The CM3588 Core module with heatsink starts at $95 and comes with 4GB RAM and no flash. The CM3588 NAS Kit, which includes the Core module with heatsink and the CM3588 NAS SDK carrier board, starts at $130. Additional accessories such as a 12V/2A power supply and a microSD card are required to boot the OS. There is also a kit option with an 8GB+64GB Core module, the carrier board, and a 12V/2A power supply for $154.89 plus shipping. The variant with 16GB RAM adds an extra $15.

Source: CNX Software – Embedded Systems News.

PineBerry Pi has launched the HatDrive! Top M.2 HAT for Raspberry Pi 5, which takes advantage of the FPC PCIe connector. The HatDrive features an M.2 Key-M socket with a PCIe x1 interface, supporting 2230 and 2242 modules. This allows users to install an SSD, AI accelerator, or other compatible M.2 modules. The HAT is connected via a 40mm long 16-pin FPC cable, which supports up to PCIe Gen3. It also utilizes the 40-pin Raspberry Pi GPIO header for the I2C EEPROM required by compliant HATs, power supply monitoring and diagnostics, and the ability to stack another HAT on top if necessary. The package includes spacer pins, M2.5 screws, a spacer pin for M.2 card mounting, and an optional male-female HAT connector.

Additional specifications of the PineBerry Pi HatDrive include:

• Voltage regulator delivering up to 3A for the 3.3V power rail, compliant with M.2 (NGFF) standard.
• Installation of M.2 disks in 2230 or 2242 format thanks to a dedicated metal bracket (custom CNC made).
• Misc – 2 LED lights for power supply voltage (“PWR”) and M.2 disk activity (“ACT”).
• Power Supply:
  • Via FPC PCIe ribbon (providing a minimum of 5W continuous power)
  • Via 40-pin HAT connector
  • Monitoring – Real-time monitoring and diagnostics of the power supply bus, measuring voltage, current, and power parameters via an I2C interface
• Dimensions – 65 x 56.50 mm (4-layer PCB, Raspberry Pi HAT compliant)

PineBerry Pi is planning to manufacture 5,000 units of the HatDrive and is currently accepting pre-orders for €20, with shipping scheduled to begin in early December.

Additionally, PineBerry Pi offers the “HatDrive! Bottom,” which is larger (90 x 56 mm) and meant to be connected on the bottom side of the Raspberry Pi 5. It supports M.2 2230, 2242, and 2280 NVMe SSDs. The HatDrive! Bottom includes an extra through 5V 4-pin connector as a redundant power supply (up to 2A at 5V). It can be pre-ordered for €25.99.

Source: CNX Software – Embedded Systems News.

SD Association (SDA) has announced the new SD 9.1 specification that doubles the speed of microSD Express memory card speed up to 2GB/s, defines four new SD Express Speed Classes to ensure guaranteed minimum sequential performance levels, and adds support for multi-stream access and related power and thermal management to assure the guaranteed performance.

The new SD 9.1 specification doubles the speed of microSD Express cards, with a maximum speed of 1,969 MB/s achievable over a PCIe Gen4 x1 interface. The cards remain backward compatible with the existing microSD card standard at the lower UHS speeds. The specification also introduces four SD Express classes with minimum guaranteed speeds.

Three new features have been defined in the SD 9.1 specification: power management through maximum power values, thermal management with specific thresholds, and an access rule for multi-stream recording.

While several companies have announced microSD and SD Express cards, they are not yet commercially available. It remains to be seen whether these types of SD cards will be widely adopted.

The press release and white paper provide additional details about the new features added to the SD 9.1 specification.

Source: CNX Software – Embedded Systems News.