so my question is:
* do you have experience on these Qseven solutions / modules? are these cost effective, in the end?
* do you think a standard approach is better over a proprietary solution or it doesn't make a real difference?
To answer your second question, I don't think there's any reason to standardize the SOM module. There's a bazillion SoCs out there, and they all have different sets of peripherals. How would you possibly come up with a SOM form-factor that fits all of them?
The only time I've seen universal SoMs used in a project is in industrial systems that were built to replace a PC. There, size/power consumption doesn't matter.
But everywhere else, products need to be *small* and battery-operated. That's hard to do with a one-size-fits-all SoM architecture.
And what do you get from that approach? The ability to swap out SoM modules without redesigning a board? I've never gotten far into a project and thought, "oh, gee, I'd really like to completely switch CPU architectures, but then I would have to spend an afternoon re-routing my board! Yuck!"
Why? Because, in the end, PCB layout for a SOM is trivial --- but porting a BSP from one architecture to another is far more yucky.
And that's the thing that SoM manufacturers don't tell you: sure, they'll give you a reference BSP, but there's a *ton* of kernel work required to get your system up and running, and none of that is stuff that a SoM manufacturer can accomplish.
I wouldn't touch these chinese SOCs with a ten feet pole. They are not documented at all, you just get a barely working Linux distro and you are on your own. If there is an issue, which requires change in drivers, you are screwed, since no documentation.
Completely disagree. The AllWinner stuff I've done before integrates really nicely into my Yocto-based environment, and doesn't feel any different than when I'm targetting an i.MX6 or a TI job. The reference manuals are perfectly fine --- no worse than any other.
The big problem that plagued these SoCs for years was long-term availability. Production moves rapidly in China, so you're sort of expected to buy your 5k units, pump out the design, and then move onto the next thing. Us lazy, slow American companies move at a snail's pace, and want to keep pumping out the same dumb industrial control/monitoring project for 15 years without having to update/innovate, so we need long-term commitments from our silicon vendors.