Smart Mobility Architecture (SMARC) is a computer hardware standard for

computer-on-module A computer-on-module (COM) is a type of single-board computer (SBC), a subtype of an embedded computer system. An extension of the concept of system on chip (SoC) and system in package (SiP), COM lies between a full-up computer and a microco ...

s (COMs). SMARC modules are specifically designed for the development of extremely compact low-power systems, such as mobile devices.

Specification

The SMARC hardware specification V1.0 was published by the Standardization Group for Embedded Technologies (SGET). SGET had its first meeting in 2012, headed by Engelbert Hörmannsdorfer. The specification is freely available as a download on the SGET website. Generally, SMARC modules are based on

ARM architecture ARM (stylised in lowercase as arm, formerly an acronym for Advanced RISC Machines and originally Acorn RISC Machine) is a family of reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architectures for computer processors, configured ...

processors, they can, however, also be fitted with other low-power

system on a chip A system on a chip or system-on-chip (SoC ; pl. ''SoCs'' ) is an integrated circuit that integrates most or all components of a computer or other electronic system. These components almost always include a central processing unit (CPU), memory ...

(SoC) architectures, like, for example, ones based on

x86 x86 (also known as 80x86 or the 8086 family) is a family of complex instruction set computer (CISC) instruction set architectures initially developed by Intel based on the Intel 8086 microprocessor and its 8088 variant. The 8086 was introd ...

processors. Typically, SMARC modules’ power requirement is in the range of a few watts. Computer-on-modules integrate the core function of a bootable computer, as well as additional circuitry, including DRAM, boot-flash, voltage distribution,

Ethernet Ethernet () is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 198 ...

and display transmitter. The modules are deployed together with an application-specific carrier board, whose size and form can be defined to meet customer-specific requirements. The carrier board executes the required interfaces and can integrate, if required, any further functionalities, such as audio codecs, touch controller, wireless communication interfaces, etc. The SMARC specification outlines both the dimensions of the module and the positioning of the anchor points as well as the connector to the carrier board and the executed interfaces with the pin-out. The pin-out is optimized for ARM and low-power SoC interfaces and is distinguished from classical PC interfaces by its target-oriented focus on low-power and mobile applications. SMARC is based on the ultra-low power (ULP-COM) form factor which was introduced by the companies Kontron and

Adlink ADLINK Technology Inc. ( ) is a company that designs and manufactures products for embedded computing, test and measurement, and automation applications. ADLINK's product line includes computer-on-modules, industrial motherboards, data acquisition ...

in February, 2012. During the specification process by the SGET the standard was renamed to SMARC. SGET approved the 1.0 specification in December, 2012.

Dimensions

SMARC defines two module sizes: * 82 mm × 50 mm for extremely compact low-power designs * 82 mm × 80 mm for SoCs with higher performance and with increased space and cooling requirement

Connector

SMARC Computer-on-Modules have 314 card edge contacts on the

printed circuit board A printed circuit board (PCB; also printed wiring board or PWB) is a medium used in Electrical engineering, electrical and electronic engineering to connect electronic components to one another in a controlled manner. It takes the form of a L ...

(PCB) of the module which is plugged via a low-profile connector on the carrier board. In most cases, the connector has a construction height of 4.3 mm. It is also used for

Mobile PCI Express Module A Mobile PCI Express Module (MXM) is an interconnect standard for GPUs (MXM Graphics Modules) in laptops using PCI Express created by MXM-SIG. The goal was to create a non-proprietary, industry standard socket, so one could easily upgrade the grap ...

3.0 graphic cards, which naturally have completely different pin assignments.

Signal lines and pin assignments

Signal transmission is carried out via a total of 314 pins. 33 of these are reserved signal lines for power supply and grounding, so that with SMARC a total of 281 signal lines are effectively available. ARM- and SoC-typical energy-saving interfaces, like, for instance, parallel LCD for display connection, mobile industry processor interfaces for cameras,

Serial Peripheral Interface The Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) is a synchronous serial communication interface specification used for short-distance communication, primarily in embedded systems. The interface was developed by Motorola in the mid-1980s and has become a ...

(SPI) for general peripheral connection,

I²S I²S (Inter-IC Sound, pronounced "eye-squared-ess"), is an electrical serial bus interface standard used for connecting digital audio devices together. It is used to communicate PCM audio data between integrated circuits in an electronic devic ...

for audio and

I2C I, or i, is the ninth letter and the third vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''i'' (pronounced ), plural ...

are included. Besides these, classical computer interfaces such as

USB Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard that establishes specifications for cables, connectors and protocols for connection, communication and power supply (interfacing) between computers, peripherals and other computers. A broad v ...

SATA SATA (Serial AT Attachment) is a computer bus interface that connects host bus adapters to mass storage devices such as hard disk drives, optical drives, and solid-state drives. Serial ATA succeeded the earlier Parallel ATA (PATA) standard to ...

and

PCI Express PCI Express (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express), officially abbreviated as PCIe or PCI-e, is a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard, designed to replace the older PCI, PCI-X and AGP bus standards. It is the common ...

are also defined. In the 2.0 version of the SMARC specification not all of the 314 signal lines are assigned to fixed I/Os. The Alternate Function Block (AFB) has free pins available for different requirements. This is to ensure that the SMARC specification can flexibly accommodate up and coming technical developments which today are not foreseeable while remaining fully compatibility to previous designs. On the one hand, extended versions of the SMARC specification can assign new standard functions to these 20 AFB signal lines. On the other hand, the SMARC specification 1.0 lists the Media Oriented System Transport (MOST) bus, dual

Gigabit Ethernet In computer networking, Gigabit Ethernet (GbE or 1 GigE) is the term applied to transmitting Ethernet frames at a rate of a gigabit per second. The most popular variant, 1000BASE-T, is defined by the IEEE 802.3ab standard. It came into use i ...

, Super Speed USB, or industrial network protocols which could be imagined as or might be assigned as interfaces of the AFB.

References

External links

SGET website

SMARC Hardware Specification V2.0 + Errata
(ZIP, 1.4 M), published: June 2, 2016
SMARC Design Guide 2.0
(PDF, 2.4 M), published: March 23, 2017 {{Computer form factors Mobile technology