NXP Semiconductors i.MX 8M Plus User manual
i.MX 8M Plus Hardware Developer’s Guide
NXP Semiconductors Document identifier: IMX8MPHDG
User's Guide Rev. 0, 03/2021
Chapter 1
Overview
This document aims to help hardware engineers design and test the i.MX 8M Plus series processors. It provides examples on
board layout and design checklists to ensure first-pass success, and solutions to avoid board bring-up problems.
Engineers should understand board layouts and board hardware terminology.
This guide is released with relevant device-specific hardware documentation, such as datasheets, reference manuals, and
application notes. All these documents are available on www.nxp.com/imx8mplusevk.
1.1 Device supported
This document supports the i.MX 8M Plus (15 x 15 mm package).
1.2 Essential references
This guide is supplementary to the i.MX 8M Plus series chip reference manuals and data sheets. For reflow profile and thermal
limits during soldering, see General Soldering Temperature Process Guidelines (document AN3300). These documents are
available on www.nxp.com/i.MX8MPLUS.
1.3 Supplementary references
1.3.1 General information
The following documents introduces the Arm® processor architecture and computer architecture.
• For information about the Arm Cortex-A53 processor, see www.arm.com/products/processors/cortex-a/cortex-a53-
processor.php
• For information about the Arm Cortex-M7 processor, see https://www.arm.com/products/processors/cortex-m/cortex-m7-
processor.php
• Computer Architecture - A Quantitative Approach (Fourth Edition) - John L. Hennessy and David A. Patterson
• Computer Organization and Design - The Hardware/Software Interface (Second Edition) - David A. Patterson and John L.
Hennessy
The following documentation introduces the high-speed board design:
• Right the First Time- A Practical Handbook on High Speed PCB and System Design - Volumes I & II - Lee W. Ritchey
(Speeding Edge) - ISBN 0-9741936- 0-72
• Signal and Power Integrity Simplified (2nd Edition) - Eric Bogatin (Prentice Hall)- ISBN 0-13-703502-0
• High Speed Digital Design- A Handbook of Black Magic - Howard W. Johnson & Martin Graham (Prentice Hall) - ISBN
0-13-395724-1
• High Speed Signal Propagation- Advanced Black Magic - Howard W. Johnson & Martin Graham - (Prentice Hall) - ISBN
0-13-084408-X
• High Speed Digital System Design- A handbook of Interconnect Theory and Practice - Hall, Hall and McCall (Wiley
Interscience 2000) - ISBN 0-36090-2
• Signal Integrity Issues and Printed Circuit Design - Doug Brooks (Prentice Hall) ISBN 0-13-141884-X
• PCB Design for Real-World EMI Control - Bruce R. Archambeault (Kluwer Academic Publishers Group) - ISBN
1-4020-7130-2
• Digital Design for Interference Specifications - A Practical Handbook for EMI Suppression -David L. Terrell & R. Kenneth
Keenan (Newnes Publishing) - ISBN 0-7506-7282-X
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• Electromagnetic Compatibility Engineering - Henry Ott (1st Edition - John Wiley and Sons) - ISBN 0-471-85068-3
• Introduction to Electromagnetic Compatibility - Clayton R. Paul (John Wiley and Sons) - ISBN 978-0-470-18930-6
• Grounding & Shielding Techniques - Ralph Morrison (5th Edition - John Wiley & Sons) - ISBN 0-471-24518-6
• EMC for Product Engineers - Tim Williams (Newnes Publishing) - ISBN 0-7506- 2466-3
1.4 Related documentation
Additional literature will be published in the future.
For the list of current documents, see i.MX8MPLUS and AN4579.
1.5 Conventions
Table 1 lists the notational conventions used in this document.
Table 1. Conventions used in the document
Conventions Description
Courier Used to indicate commands, command parameters, code examples, and file and directory names.
Italics
Used to indicates command or function parameters.
Bold Function names are written in bold.
cleared/set When a bit takes the value zero, it means to be cleared; when it takes a value of one, it means to be set.
mnemonics Instruction mnemonics are shown in lowercase bold. Book titles in text are set in italics.
sig_name Internal signals are written in all lowercase.
nnnn nnnnh
Denotes hexadecimal number
0b Denotes binary number
rA, rB Instruction syntax used to identify a source GPR
rD Instruction syntax used to identify a destination GPR
REG[FIELD] Abbreviations for registers are shown in uppercase. Specific bits, fields, or ranges appear in brackets. For
example, MSR[LE] refers to the little-endian mode enable bit in the machine state register.
x
An italicized
x
indicates an alphanumeric variable.
n, m
An italicized
n
indicates a numeric variable.
In this document, notation for all logical, bit-wise, arithmetic, comparison, and assignment operations follow C
Language conventions.
1.6 Acronyms and abbreviations
Table 2 defines the acronyms and abbreviations used in this document.
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Table 2. Definitions and acronyms
Acronym Definition
ARM Advanced RISC Machines processor architecture
BGA Ball Grid Array package
BOM Bill of Materials
BSDL Boundary Scan Description Language
CAN Flexible Controller Area Network peripheral
CCM Clock Controller Module
CSI MIPI Camera Serial Interface
DDR Dual Data Rate DRAM
DDR4 DDR4 DRAM
DDRC DDR Controller
DFP Downstream Facing Port (USB Type-C)
DRP Dual Role Port (USB Type-C)
ECSPI Enhanced Configurable SPI peripheral
EIM External Interface Module
ENET 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet MAC peripheral
EPIT Enhanced Periodic Interrupt Timer peripheral
ESR Equivalent Series Resistance
GND Ground
GPC General Power Controller
GPIO General Purpose Input/Output
I2C Inter-integrated Circuit interface
IBIS Input output Buffer Information Specification
IOMUX i.MX 8M Plus chip-level I/O multiplexing
JTAG Joint Test Action Group
KPP Keypad Port Peripheral
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Table 2. Definitions and acronyms (continued)
Acronym Definition
LDB LVDS Display Bridge
LDO Low Drop-Out regulator
LPCG Low Power Clock Gating
LPDDR4 Low Power DDR4 DRAM
LVDS Low-Voltage Differential Signaling
ODT On-Die Termination
OTP One-Time Programmable
PCB Printed Circuit Board
PCIe PCI Express
PCISig Peripheral Component Interconnect Special Interest Group
PDN Power Distribution Network
PMIC Power Management Integrated Circuit
POR Power-On Reset
PTH Plated Through Hole PCB (that is, no microvias)
RGMII Reduced Gigabit Media Independent Interface (Ethernet)
RMII Reduced Media Independent Interface (Ethernet)
ROM Read-Only Memory
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Chapter 2
i.MX 8M Plus design checklist
This document provides a design checklist for the i.MX 8M Plus (15 x 15 mm package) processor. The design checklist tables
recommend optimal design and provide explanations to help users understand better. All supplemental tables referenced by the
checklist appear in sections following the design checklist tables.
2.1 Design checklist table
Table 3. LPDDR4 recommendations (i.MX 8M Plus)
Check box Recommendations Explanation/Supplemental recommendations
1. Connect the DRAM_ZN ball on the processor (ball
R1) to a 240 Ω, 1% resistor to GND.
This is a reference used during DRAM output
buffer driver calibration.
2. The ZQ0 and ZQ1 balls on the LPDDR4 device
should be connected through 240Ω, 1% resistors to the
LPDDR4 VDD2 rail.
—
3. Place a 10 kΩ, 5% resistor to ground on the DRAM
reset signal.
This will ensure adherence to the JEDEC
specification until the control is configured and
starts driving the DDR.
4. The ODT_CA balls on the LPDDR4 device should be
connected directly to the LPDDR4 VDD2 rail.
LPDDR4 ODT on the i.MX 8M Plus is command-
based, making processor ODT_CA output
balls unnecessary.
5. The architecture for each chip inside the DRAM
package must be x 16.
The processor does not support byte mode
specified in JESD209-4B.
6. The processor ball MTEST (ball P2), should be left
unconnected.
These are observability ports for manufacturing
and are not used otherwise.
7. The VREF pin on the processor (ball R2) can be left
unconnected.
The VREF signal for LPDDR4 is generated
internally by the processor.
8. It is strongly suggested to use LPDDR4 if lower
power consumption is required since DLL-off mode is
not supported.
The LPDDR4 can operate at low frequency
without DLL-off mode.
Table 4. DDR4 recommendations (i.MX 8M Plus)
Check box Recommendations Explanation/Supplemental recommendations
1. Connect the ZQ(DRAM_ZN) ball on the processor
(ball R1) to individual 240 Ω, 1% resistors to GND.
This is a reference used during DRAM output
buffer driver calibration.
2. The ZQ ball on each DDR4 device should be
connected through individual 240 Ω, 1% resistors to
GND.
—
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Table 4. DDR4 recommendations (i.MX 8M Plus) (continued)
Check box Recommendations Explanation/Supplemental recommendations
3. Place a 10 kΩ, 5% resistor to ground on the DRAM
reset signal.
This will ensure adherence to the JEDEC
specification until the control is configured and
starts driving the DDR.
4. The processor ball MTEST (ball P2), should be left
unconnected.
These are observability ports for manufacturing
and are not used otherwise.
5. If boundary scan mode of the DDR4 DRAM device
is to be used to test connectivity with the i.MX 8M
Plus, TEN pin of the DRAM device should be routed
to a test point and pulled to GND through a resistor.
Otherwise it can be directly connected to GND. See
Testing DDR4 connectivity using boundary scan for
details about the limitations of the DRAM_RESET_N
signal in the boundary scan mode.
TEN=HIGH makes the DDR4 DRAM device enter
boundary scan mode(connectivity test mode). For
normal operation, TEN must be LOW.
6. DLL-off mode is not supported, which means DDR4
cannot run in low frequency, such as 100 MTS.
The power consumption for low power mode
in DDR4 system will be higher compared with
LPDDR4 system.
Refer to i.MX 8M Plus data sheet for supported DDR chip selects and bus width configurations.
NOTE
Table 5. I2C recommendations
Check box Recommendations Explanation/Supplemental recommendations
1. Verify the target I2C interface clock rates
The I2C bus can only be operated as fast as the
slowest peripheral on the bus. If faster operation
is required, move the slow devices to another
I2C port.
2. Verify that there are no I2C address conflicts on any
of the I2C buses utilized
There are multiple I2C ports available on
chip, so if a conflict exists, move one of the
conflicting devices to a different I2C bus. If it
is impossible, use a I2C bus switch (NXP part
number PCA9646).
3. Do not place more than one set of pull-up resistors
on the I2C lines.
This could result in excessive loading and
potential incorrect operation. Choose the pull-
up value commensurate with the bus speed
being used.
4. Ensure that the VCC rail powering the i.MX 8M Plus
I2C interface balls matches the supply voltage used for
the pull-up resistors and the slave I2C devices.
Prevent device damage or incorrect operation due
to voltage mismatch.
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Table 6. JTAG recommendations
Check box Recommendations Explanation/Supplemental recommendations
1. Do not use external pullup or pulldown resistors on
JTAG_TDO.
JTAG_TDO is configured with an on-chip
keeper circuit and the floating condition is
actively eliminated.
2. Follow the recommendations for external pull-up and
pull-down resistors given in Table 15.
—
3. For normal operation, JTAG_MOD (ball G20) should
be pulled down using a 10KOhm resistor. To enter
boundary-scan mode, this pin should be pulled up
to NVCC_JTAG using a 2.2KOhm resistor. Please
reference “COMPLIANCE_PATTERNS” in the chip
BSDL file.
—
Table 7. Reset and ON/OFF recommendations
Check box Recommendations Explanation/Supplemental recommendations
1. The POR_B input must be asserted at powered
up and remain asserted until the last power rail for
devices required for system boot are at their working
voltage. This functionality is controlled by the PMIC
(PCA9450CHN) on EVK.
POR_B is driven by the PMIC. If a reset button is
used, it should be connected to the PMIC_RST_B
pin of the PMIC instead of directly connected
to POR_B pin of the CPU. When POR_B is
asserted (low) on the i.MX 8M Plus, the output
PMIC_ON_REQ remains asserted (high).
2. For portable applications, the ONOFF pin may be
connected to an ON/OFF SPST push-button switch to
ground. An external pull-up resistor is required on this
pin.
A brief connection to GND in OFF mode
causes the internal power management state
machine to change state to ON. In ON mode,
a brief connection to GND generates an interrupt
(intended to initiate a software-controllable power-
down). The connection to GND for approximate 5
seconds or more causes a forced OFF.
3. Connect GPIO1_IO02( WDOG_B, ball B6) to
external PMIC or reset IC to repower the system
except SNVS is strongly recommended.
i.MX8M Plus cannot be reset by internal reset
source in idle mode, repower is preferred. Some
peripherals like SD3.0, QSPI also need repower
during system reset.
4. GPIO1_IO02( WDOG_B, ball B6) is used as Cold
Reset. If using a PMIC other than PCA9450, an
external pull-up resistor (100 Kohm) might be required
to support boundary-scan mode.
In boundary-scan mode, WDOG_B is floating.
Without the external 100 Kohm pull up, WDOG_B
might repeatedly reset the system when entering
boundary-scan mode. The PCA9450 disables
WDOG_B reset by default, so will not be impacted.
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Table 8. PCIe recommendations
Check box Recommendations Explanation/Supplemental recommendations
1. Use an appropriate external PCIe reference clock
generator.
The NXP EVK board design uses an IDT
9FGV0241 device. However, NXP does not
recommend one supplier over another, and does
not suggest that this is the only clock generator
supplier. The device used should support all the
specs (jitter, accuracy, etc.).
2. The differential transmitters from the processor must
be AC coupled. It is recommended to use a 0.1 μF cap
on both the PCIE_TXP and PCIE_TXN outputs.
PCIe specification compliance requires AC
coupling at each transmitter. The receiver must be
DC coupled.
3. The PCIEx_RESREF ball (ball F16) should be
connected to the ground through a 8.2 K Ω, 1%
resistor.
—
Table 9. USB recommendations
Check box Recommendations Explanation/Supplemental recommendations
1. Connect a 200 Ω, 1% resistor to the ground on the
USBx_TXRTUNE ball (ball F10 and F12).
—
2. Route all USB differential signals with 90 Ω
differential impedance. —
3. ESD protection should be implemented at the
connector pins. Choose a low capacitance device
recommended for high-speed interfaces.
This will prevent potential damages to board
components from ESD.
4. USB1_DNU, USB2_DNU are not functional,
recommend to use common GPIO if USB identification
is needed.
—
5. If USB connector is MicroAB or MicroB,
USBx_VBUS must not connect directly to the 5 V
VBUS voltage of connector; Instead, this pin must be
isloated with an external 30 K 1% resistor.
—
6. PCB trace length of the USB3.0 TX/RX signals
should not exceed 6 inches in order for the eye
diagram to meet compliance test requirement.
—
Table 10. FlexSPI recommendations
Check box Recommendations Explanation/Supplemental recommendations
1. Read strobe(DQS) pad should be floated or with
a 10-18pF cap load to compensate SIO/SCK
pins load for high speed running, if the memory
device does not provide DQS.
There are three modes for the internal sample
clock for FlexSPI read data:
Dummy read strobe generated by
FlexSPI controller and looped back
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Table 10. FlexSPI recommendations
Check box Recommendations Explanation/Supplemental recommendations
internally(FlexSPIn_MCR0[RXCLKSRC] = 0x0),
can only reach 66Mhz operation frequency;
Dummy read strobe generated by FlexSPI
controller and looped back through the DQS
pad(FlexSPIn_MCR0[RXCLKSRC] = 0x1), can
reach 133Mhz operation frequency. In this mode,
this pin can be floated or put some cap loads on
board level to compensate SIO/SCK pins load;
Read strobe provided by memory device and input
from DQS pad(FlexSPIn_MCR0[RXCLKSRC] =
0x3), can reach 133Mhz operation frequency.
Table 11. Oscillator/Crystal recommendations
Check box Recommendations Explanation/Supplemental recommendations
1. Connect a 24 MHz crystal and a 510K Ω resistor
between 24M_XTALI and 24M_XTALO (balls G25 and
G26).
This crystal should have ESR not greater than 60
Ω, and be rated for a drive level of at least 100
µW. Follow the manufacturer’s recommendation
for loading capacitance. Use short traces between
the crystal and the processor, with a ground
plane under the crystal, load capacitors, and
associated traces.
2. Connect a 32.768 KHz crystal and a 4.7M Ω
feedback resistor (must install) between RTC_XTALI
and RTC_XTALO (balls J25 and J26). Alternatively, an
external 32.768 KHz clock can be fed into RTC_XTALI
to provide the RTC clock for the i.MX 8M Plus. See
item #3.
This crystal should have ESR not greater than 70
kΩ, and be rated for a drive level of at least 0.5
µW. Follow the manufacturer’s recommendation
for loading capacitance. Use short traces between
the crystal and the processor, with a ground
plane under the crystal, load capacitors, and
associated traces.
3. If using external 32.768 KHz clock rather than
a crystal to provide the RTC clock, it should be
connected to RTC_XTALI pin. The RTC_XTALO pin
should be connected to NVCC_SNVS_1P8 through a
100Kohm resistor.
The voltage level of this driving clock should
not exceed the voltage of the NVCC_SNVS_1P8
rail, or damage/malfunction may occur. The
RTC signal should not be driven if the
NVCC_SNVS_1P8 supply is OFF. For RTC
VIL and VIH voltage levels, see the latest
i.MX 8M Plus data sheet available at
www.nxp.com/i.MX8MPLUS.
Table 12. i.MX 8M Plus power/decoupling recommendations
Check box Recommendations Explanation/Supplemental recommendations
1. Comply with the power-up sequence guidelines
as described in the data sheet to guarantee reliable
operations of the device.
Any deviation from these sequences may result in
the following situations:
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