The 1GHz MCU i.MX RT1170 is available!?

[ali_asadzadeh]

Hi,
Today I take a look at the RT1170,
https://www.nxp.com/products/processors-and-microcontrollers/arm-microcontrollers/i-mx-rt-crossover-mcus/i-mx-rt1170-crossover-mcu-family-first-ghz-mcu-with-arm-cortex-m7-and-cortex-m4-cores:i.MX-RT1170

And it seems NXP has finally released the docs and you can get the chip (Xmass gift ) , any Ideas or has one of you done something with it? what project would you use it for?

[martinribelotta]

The chips (ver 800MHz) is listed as non-stock for now:

https://www.digikey.com/short/4c7jdw

But is expect to turn as stocked in few days

[cgroen]

The chips (ver 800MHz) is listed as non-stock for now:

https://www.digikey.com/short/4c7jdw

But is expect to turn as stocked in few days

Mouser says Feb 12. The EVK is expected (Mouser) Feb 8, I already ordered both
Currently making library symbol for it...
Going to be exciting to see it. I though the users manual for the RT1064 was rather large at almost 3500 pages, not any more, the RT1170 UM is 6200+ pages 

[ehughes]

I can verify that it is very real.   I have an EVK in hand.

SDK & Parts are looking like late Feb.

[SiliconWizard]

Doesn't look bad. I haven't worked with NXP MCUs so far, so I can't make a specific comment.

But certainly I could see some applications. For instance, it looks beefy enough to be able to run some pretty nice audio effects/synthesizers while being a lot cheaper than the usual DSPs commonly used for that (especially for the dev tools!)

[phil from seattle]

Check out the PJRC audio stuff running on the Teensy 4.1 (iMXRT1062, 600 MHz) to get a sense of what is possible. PJRC is supposedly coming out with a Teensy 5.0 based on the 1170. I expect it to cost less than $30. pjrc.com

[ali_asadzadeh]

I think NXP should do something about A free Graphics library, probably buy embedded wizard or a similar company and make it free to attract more customers, also the price should be a bit lower, I hope we all could see a 1$ 1GHz MCU in a 1-2 years from now

Hopefully the new chip comes in 0.8mm BGA which can be done on a 4 layer @ JLCPCB, as I suggest them in the surveys

[cgroen]

I think NXP should do something about A free Graphics library, probably buy embedded wizard or a similar company and make it free to attract more customers, also the price should be a bit lower, I hope we all could see a 1$ 1GHz MCU in a 1-2 years from now

Hopefully the new chip comes in 0.8mm BGA which can be done on a 4 layer @ JLCPCB, as I suggest them in the surveys

It is (only) coming in a 289 pin 0.8mm pitch package (17x17 balls in a 14x14 mm package) according to datasheet..

I'm waiting for the schematic for the EVK before I can get on with the first design, there are a few of the signals around the DCDC/LDO stuff that are not exactly well described in the datasheet/hardware design manual. I have not been able to locate the schematics so far 

[newbrain]

I think NXP should do something about A free Graphics library, probably buy embedded wizard or a similar company and make it free to attract more customers

They already do!

[luiHS]

 
I find the new RT1024 more interesting, it is like the RT1020 (Cortex M7, 500Mhz) but with internal flash memory (4MB), and in LQFP144 format to be able to make designs with greater comfort.

One of these days I will try to make my first design with BGA, something that has a large pitch (0.8mm, 1mm), but still requires a 4 layer PCB which is quite expensive.

The only thing that caught my attention about the RT1070 is that it incorporates 2 and 4 lanes MIPI, interesting to be able to make designs with video screens, it remains to be seen if it supports hardware JPEG decoding. I already saw the datasheet and it seems that no, a pity, for now the only microcontroller I know with MIPI-DSI and hardware JPEG decoder is the STM32F769 / 779.

[cgroen]

I find the new RT1024 more interesting, it is like the RT1020 (Cortex M7, 500Mhz) but with internal flash memory (4MB), and in LQFP144 format to be able to make designs with greater comfort.

One of these days I will try to make my first design with BGA, something that has a large pitch (0.8mm, 1mm), but still requires a 4 layer PCB which is quite expensive.

The only thing that caught my attention about the RT1070 is that it incorporates 2 and 4 lanes MIPI, interesting to be able to make designs with video screens, it remains to be seen if it supports hardware JPEG decoding.

Luis,
according to the UM, it does not contain JPEG decoding in hardware (but a vector graphics engine is included)
Also agree that the MIPI is very nice, using LCD with traditional RGB interface steals a lot of I/O signals (so does SDRAM compared to HyperRAM)
A "funny" thing it contains 2 LCD controllers, the "traditional" one, and an extended one (with vector graphics etc).

[tmadness]

The issue I have with NXP are their dev boards. They are over featured and bring out too few pins. I wish they put out something like the STM32 nucleo series. The teensy series is the de-facto dev board for some of the NXP MCUs, but they don't bring out all the pins conveniently, nor do they have a debug interface.

[cgroen]

The issue I have with NXP are their dev boards. They are over featured and bring out too few pins. I wish they put out something like the STM32 nucleo series. The teensy series is the de-facto dev board for some of the NXP MCUs, but they don't bring out all the pins conveniently, nor do they have a debug interface.

I somewhat agree, there are a few that are ok, but it seems the 1170-EVK is on the heavy end....
For the RT106x (and LPC54628 etc) I usually make my own "eval" boards, it much easier that way.
I made a combined board for some of the processors I use the most, LPC1549, LPC824, LPC845 and LPC546xx. Also added a current monitor, a FTDI converter, 32 KHz osc and a few other things. Have helped me a lot on some of my designs where I needed to check some stuff before doing the final design....
I will do the same on the 1170 once that arrives.

[mac.6]

Doesn't look bad. I haven't worked with NXP MCUs so far, so I can't make a specific comment.

But certainly I could see some applications. For instance, it looks beefy enough to be able to run some pretty nice audio effects/synthesizers while being a lot cheaper than the usual DSPs commonly used for that (especially for the dev tools!)

For that there is i.mxRT600, but not user friendly (0.5mm BGA).

[ali_asadzadeh]

They already do!

If they are serious, No one would even take a look at ewmin, Because of it's outdated feel and look, ST has touchGFX, so NXP needs something better than that.

[JPortici]

they support lvgl in many of their demo boards. lvgl has also specific ports that use the graphic accelerators in some of the processors

[cgroen]

they support lvgl in many of their demo boards. lvgl has also specific ports that use the graphic accelerators in some of the processors

I have used emWin and now also lvgl. I like lvgl A LOT more to be honest, very good documentation, source available, good active community. Even made my first (personal) project with it some time ago (used the older version 6, newest versions are even better)
Embedded Wizard, TouchGFX, Crank Storyboard etc. all seems soo extremely bloated imho.

Anyway, looking forward to news on the RT1170

[ali_asadzadeh]

Embedded Wizard, TouchGFX, Crank Storyboard etc. all seems soo extremely bloated imho

The future is one of these babies, I personally use ST with Touch GFX for now, But if NXP provide some free  Modern Graphics, I will definitely switch to NXP.

[JPortici]

You also have Qt for microcontrollers on this family
At what cost i do not want to know.

In any case, re LVGL, i've began using it a month ago and i'm also liking it a lot over any other library i used in the past.. good documentation, lots of possibilities and customization and most important i can do great part of the development on my pc with the tft simulator. I don't know if any of the other libraries use SLD or a simillar mechanism for simulation/development but i love it.
What LVGL lacks though is a good graphics composer and style editor (i haven't been satisfied with what i saw)

[SiliconWizard]

Doesn't look bad. I haven't worked with NXP MCUs so far, so I can't make a specific comment.

But certainly I could see some applications. For instance, it looks beefy enough to be able to run some pretty nice audio effects/synthesizers while being a lot cheaper than the usual DSPs commonly used for that (especially for the dev tools!)

For that there is i.mxRT600, but not user friendly (0.5mm BGA).

Yeah, not the same approach at all though. The RT600 is an hybrid with a Cortex M33 core and a DSP core (completely different) from Cadence, this arrangement makes it a lot less convenient to develop for. And I also don't know how efficient this DSP @600 MHz is compared to a Cortex M7 @1 GHz with the proper extensions. OTOH, it seems cheaper. Overall, not what I would be looking for personally.

[cgroen]

Good news,
the EVK design files has just been released 

https://www.nxp.com/design/development-boards/i-mx-evaluation-and-development-boards/i-mx-rt1170-evaluation-kit:MIMXRT1170-EVK
Schematic is in PDF.
Design files (SCH, PCB) is for Orcad, if any of you guys can convert to Altium, I would be very happy

[asmi]

but still requires a 4 layer PCB which is quite expensive.

If 7$ for 5 boards 10x10 cm is expensive for you then I don't know how much cheaper it can really get...

[SiliconWizard]

One of these days I will try to make my first design with BGA, something that has a large pitch (0.8mm, 1mm), but still requires a 4 layer PCB which is quite expensive.

Just a couple thoughts. 4-layer PCBs are not that expensive anymore. Besides, for high-speed digital logic, I would certainly avoid using anything below 4 layers anyway.

And then, relative to BGAs in particular, the additional cost is not just PCBs. Unless your PCBs are huge, I guess the added cost will even be marginal compared to the additional equipment (and training) you will need to properly solder BGAs. Not that you'll have to spend a lot either, but if all you have is soldering iron, then you'll need to invest in some additional tools and learn how to use them.

[bson]

No reason not to get 4-layer boards anymore, and I only use 2 layers for adapters, test fixtures, and the simplest boards anymore.  Simply having fixed power and ground planes available almost anywhere is well worth the small incremental price.  They also have friendly design rules, so makes layout easier in many ways.

A large 0.5 pitch BGA on the other hand will almost certainly call for plugged blind vias with close to zero annulars (or microvias), which will begin to cost real money.  The usual CN prototype line ±2 mil drill precision just isn't going to cut it , and they won't do blind vias at all.

I haven't looked at the M7 or its cache implementations (which I assume is part of the ARM core), but for DSP it should probably be disabled, or if it's possible peg a portion to it to always map to an address range so it can be used as a fast buffer.  Otherwise it's not going to be any faster than the SRAM used.  (And in fact a normal associative cache will only get in the way and make it difficult to validate performance; so it gets disabled, and then if enabled the speed benefit is of no value since it can't be relied on.)  But if it's peggable, or some coloring scheme can be used, then that 800M/1GHz might make a difference!

[cgroen]

.
.
A large 0.5 pitch BGA on the other hand will almost certainly call for plugged blind vias with close to zero annulars (or microvias), which will begin to cost real money.  The usual CN prototype line ±2 mil drill precision just isn't going to cut it , and they won't do blind vias at all.
.

pcbway does both blind and buried vias (obviously at a higher cost than simple 4/6/8 layers, but still way lower than most western prices)

Ex:
6 layer, 5 pcs 100x100 mm, 6 layer, ENIG, 3/3 mil is $391,-
6 layer, 5 pcs 100x100 mm, 6 layer, ENIG, 3/3 mil and HDI Buried/Blind via is $458,-