El AMD Kria K24 is a new System-on-Module (SOM), that is, a system on a module or PCB. In addition, it contains a customized Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC and the Starter Kit KD240 Drives are designed for the development of industrial and commercial applications that need to be cheap and efficient.
The new AMD Kria K24 is about half the size of a credit card and consumes half the energy of the previous Kria K26 SOM, introduced in 2021 and which was from Xilinx, prior to the purchase of this company by AMD.
All the applications They include electric motor systems, robotics for industrial automation, power generation, public transportation such as elevators and trains, surgical robotics, medical equipment where motion control is needed, and electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.
What is a SoM?
Un SOM (System on Module) It is a hardware component used in embedded systems and electronic development applications. A SOM is a printed circuit board that integrates a number of essential components into a single compact PCB. These components typically include a processor or CPU (some are GPU-based and intended for AI), RAM, flash storage, device drivers, and other elements necessary for the system to function.
The main advantage of a SOM is that Greatly simplifies the design and development process of embedded systems, as it provides a turnkey solution that can be incorporated into a larger motherboard or development board. Hardware and software developers can focus on the specific functionality of their application without having to worry about the complexity of designing and manufacturing an entire board from scratch.
SOMs are especially useful in applications where space, energy efficiency and development time are critical. Some examples of common applications for SOM include medical devices, industrial automation systems, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, video surveillance cameras, access control systems, and many other embedded applications.
AMD Kria K24 Specifications
As for the technical specifications Of this new SOM from AMD, we have that the Kria K24 has:
- MPSoC: AMD (Xilinx) Zynq Ultrascale+ XCK24, which in turn is composed of:
- Quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 with up to 1.3 GHz clock frequency.
- Real-Time Dual-core Arm Cortex-R5F up to 533 MHz.
- Mali-400 MP2 GPU up to 600 MHz.
- FPGA fabric with 154K programmable logic cells.
- AMD Deep Learning Processor B2304 DPU with a performance of 852 GOPS.
- 9.4 Mb of SRAM memory integrated into the chip itself.
- System memory: 2GB 32-bit LPDDR4 @ 1066 Mbps with industrial grade ECC (*only in one version) soldered to the module.
- Storage: Still to be confirmed.
- Local:
- 1 240-pin board-to-board connector
- 1 40-pin board-to-board connector
- 4 1 Gbps Ethernet LAN connectors (2x PS GEM, 2x PL GEM)
- Drive and motor control: with three-phase inverters, quadruple encoder, brake control and torque sensor interface.
- 2 USB 2.0 / 3.0 ports.
- CAN
- RS-485
- in GPIOs
- Safety: IEC 62443 standard (RSA, AES, and SHA), with an integrated TPM 2.0 chip.
- Dimensions: 60x42x11 mm
- Versions:
- Business: supports a temperature range of 0 to 85°C, 2 years warranty, 5 years guaranteed operability, 10 years viability.
- Industrial: supports a temperature range of –40 to 100°C, supports ECC in memory, 3 years warranty, 10 years of operability, 10 years of viability.
- Software- Runs Linux distributions based on Yocto PetaLinux or Ubuntu Server 22.04 and supports pre-built hardware acceleration with Vitis engine control libraries. Additional apps can be installed from the Kria app store, and Python and the MATLAB Simulink environment can also be used to program the KD240 Drives module and starter kit.
More about the AMD Kria K24
What makes the AMD K24 SOM interesting for DSP and motor control applications They are, precisely, the efficiency and low latency that this new AMD board offers. And this stands out against other quite important competitors, such as the Texas Instruments AM64x, and the NVIDIA Jetson TX2 and Jetson Nano boards.
Regarding latency, we have to this system AMD only has 120 ns latency. On the other hand, AMD claims that it is half the latency of Texas Instruments AM64x processors. Furthermore, its high efficiency for DSP processing compared to NVIDIA GPU-based solutions, such as the Jetson TX2 and the Jetson Nano, is spectacular, since instead of consuming 15 and 10W respectively, the AMD Kria K24 consumes only 2.5W.
AMD also ensures that the advantage in latency improves up to 7 times as the number of motor shafts increases, which is very interesting even for professional industrial-grade applications, where the best is always needed.
About the KD240 Drives Starter Kit
Finally, say that the specifications of the KD240 starter kit have these other specs:
- SoM: AMD Kria K24 SOM.
- Storage: 512 Mbit QSPI flash, and slot for MicroSD memory cards, from where you can boot the Linux operating system.
- Industrial:
- 2 PL Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 ports, with TSN (Time-Sensitive Networking) and EtherCAT support.
- 1 PS Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port.
- Local:
- 2 USB 3.0 Type-A ports.
- CAN serial bus.
- RS485 terminal blocks.
- 12-pin PMOD expansion connector.
- 1-wire expansion connector (interface).
- JTAG connector for debugging.
- MicroUSB port for JTAG/serial.
- Fan connector Misc.
- DC jack for power.
- Engine control system:
- Connector for torque sensor.
- 3 phase motor connector.
- Brake control connector.
- DC Link Connector
- Single-ended QEI (Quadrature Encoder Interface) connector.
- QEI Differential Connector.
- Dimensions: 124x142x37mm.
- Weight :: 237g.
Price and Availability
The AMD K24 SOM and KD240 Drives Starter Kit are available now to order. However, you should know that while the commercial version of the K24 is shipping now, the industrial version is expected to begin shipping in the fourth quarter of this year, so we will have to wait a little longer.
The Kria KD240 Drives Starter Kit can be purchased for $399 directly in online stores or other distributors. You can also get a $199 motor accessory package, which will allow you to start working and experimenting with the AMD SOM right away, without needing anything else additional.