NXP’s i.MX 8X Opens the Road for New Development in Automotive and Industrial IoT

Everything around us is constantly becoming smarter and more connected, from core elements of our everyday lives, such as more intelligent cars, to all sorts of smart industrial use cases – including robotics and all phases of manufacturing and automated factory applications.  At the same time, focus on safety and security in both the automotive and industrial markets is significantly growing, bringing new and added pressures to solve these challenges.

The i.MX 8X family of applications processors address this twin demand. To see it in action this month, NXP will be showcasing the latest features of the i.MX 8X processor family for smarter applications and increased safety in these markets at the upcoming Electronica and SPS Drives events.  Come check out demonstrations of machine learning for edge computing capabilities on the i.MX 8X applications processor, which can easily run segmentation, inference and graphics using a single GPU!  NXP will also highlight how these devices deliver safe and secure systems, multi-display graphical touch screens, fast boot and fast path to camera, all with lower power consumption.

For example, you’ll be able to experience how the i.MX 8X brings multi-domain voice recognition to life by utilizing the Cortex-A35 and Cortex-M4F cores, along with the Tensilica® HiFi 4 DSP for audio pre- and post- processing, key word detection and speech recognition for hands-off interaction. i.MX 8X also lets you take advantage of the large library of HiFi optimized audio and voice codecs and audio enhancement software packages. And it provides flexibility for audio partitioning between the NXP radio tuners and applications processors.

Enhanced Security and Reliability

Built with high-level integration to support graphics, video, image processing, audio and voice functions, the i.MX 8X processor family is ideal for safety-certifiable and efficient performance requirements for the broad array of industrial automation,  general-purpose HMI, networking and telematics applications. The processor family also includes a powerful set of new safety capabilities for industrial vehicle use cases (like avionics cockpit display, in-flight entertainment, train and heavy equipment HMI) and Industry 4.0 (for robotics, advanced industrial HMI and control, PLC, I/O controller and home/building control).

As devices evolve and increase in connectivity, security plays a larger role in securing safety; in other words, there is no safety without security. The i.MX 8X processor secures your system with advanced programmable security to ensure top-of-the-line security from first boot to securing with the latest cryptography standards. The i.MX 8X provide four key components to address security:

• SECO: An isolated, dedicated hardware security module (HSM) for cryptography, authentication, monitor and response
• Hardware protection against physical tampering (voltage, temperature, power)
• Root-of-trust for multiple, concurrent operating systems, from power-on to run-time
• Hardware-based, in-processor firewall domains for data and memory integrity of services

To increase your system’s accuracy, the i.MX 8X is NXP’s first i.MX applications processor to add Error Correcting Code (ECC) on the DDR3L interface to detect and correct memory bit corruption, keeping everything running smoothly and reliably. Safety Integrity Level 3 (SIL 3) certification for applications such as programmable logic controller (PLC), input/output (I/O) controller, robotic control and drones is much easier as a result. It’s. Fully Depleted Silicon on Insulator (FD-SOI) also provides 10x better Soft Error Rates (SER) failures-in-time (FIT) rates.

Constant Access for Mission Critical Applications

For applications requiring constant access to mission-critical information, such as pressure, speed or fuel levels.

Even more, the i.MX 8X makes it possible to ensure your display stays up and correct with SafeAssure® ASIL-B ready and SIL3 certifiable hardware that protects critical information with failover-capable quality of service to any display for constant accessibility – a necessity for applications requiring continuous access to mission-critical information, such as pressure, speed or fuel levels. These features are just the tip of the iceberg.  Check out the i.MX 8X family fact sheet for details.

NXP Ecosystem and Partners Supporting the i.MX 8X Family

NXP and our embedded board system partners are gearing up to enable a more streamlined development process and faster time to production of these solutions. The following partners have early access to the i.MX 8X family:

• Variscite is developing the VAR-SOM-MX8X and a SBC based on the i.MX 8X processors designed to deliver best cost/performance and power-optimized solutions, accompanied by production-ready software and longevity commitment.
• TQ Systems GmbH is developing two Platforms / Embedded Modules based on i.MX 8X for Industry 4.0, the MBa8Xx and TQMa8Xxand the MB-SMARC-2 and TQMa8XxS SMARC based platforms. All platforms will be available soon after Electronica.
• Toradex is extending its successful Colibri SoM family with the Colibri iMX8X System on Modulea perfect solution for demanding applications requiring a large ecosystem, wireless connectivity, ready-to-use Linux BSP and long-term support.
• Digi International will deliver the Digi ConnectCore® 8X family of pre-certified, low-power SOMs and SBCs with fully integrated wireless connectivity and built-in Digi TrustFence™ security for connected industrial and medical applications.
• PHYTEC launches the phyCORE-i.MX 8X System on Module and a Development Kitfor the NXP i.MX 8X family. The Module combines high performance with low power consumption. It was designed to be used for general purpose embedded control tasks with a superb price-performance ratio.

NXP’s i.MX ecosystem and technology alliances leverage the broad Arm community to further enable better customer solutions and faster time-to-market through access to tool chains, software, Codecs, middleware/applications, training and system integrators.

Jump start your development now!

NXP i.MX 8QuadXPlus Multisensory Enablement Kit is available now to help you accelerate your development on the i.MX 8X family of processors.

Together with NXP’s with world-class enablement, ecosystem, community, services and field resources, NXP is focused simplifying product evaluation and speeding up development for  thousands of customers worldwide.

The i.MX 8X multisensory enablement kits are available through NXP direct, nxp.com and NXP’s distribution partners.

See the i.MX 8X in Action at Electronica and SPS Drives in November

Booth/Show information

• NXP at electronica – Hall B5.502 November 13 – 16 Munich
• NXP at SPS IPCDrives – Booth 10.1- 231 November 27 – 29 Nuremberg

For more information visit i.MX 8X