NXP Semiconductors I.MX 8M Installation manual

i.MX Audio Board Hardware User's Guide

NXP Semiconductors Document identifier: IMXABHUG

User's Guide Rev. 0, March 2, 2021

Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction........................................................................................... 3

1.1 Board overview..........................................................................................................................3

1.2 Board contents.......................................................................................................................... 3

Chapter 2 Boards...................................................................................................5

2.1 Audio board............................................................................................................................... 5

2.2 Interposer board........................................................................................................................ 6

2.3 HDMI card................................................................................................................................. 7

2.4 Button board..............................................................................................................................8

2.5 8MIC-RPI-MX8 board (NOT INCLUDED IN THE AB2 KIT)...................................................... 8

2.6 IMX-MIPI-HDMI board (NOT INCLUDED IN THE AB2 KIT)..................................................... 9

Chapter 3 Assembly.............................................................................................10

3.1 Enclosure assembly................................................................................................................ 10

3.2 Board assembly.......................................................................................................................10

Chapter 4 Board setting....................................................................................... 12

4.1 Power setting...........................................................................................................................12

4.2 Board ID settings.....................................................................................................................12

4.3 Boot settings............................................................................................................................13

4.4 CPLD mode setting................................................................................................................. 15

4.5 S/PDIF settings........................................................................................................................40

Chapter 5 Updating software............................................................................... 42

5.1 SOM software..........................................................................................................................42

5.2 CPLD software........................................................................................................................ 42

5.3 HDMI card software.................................................................................................................44

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Chapter 1

Introduction

This document is the hardware User’s Guide for the i.MX Audio Board System based on the NXP’s i.MX 8M Series applications

processors. This system is fully supported by NXP Semiconductors. This manual includes system setup and configurations, and

provides detailed information on the usage of the i.MX Audio Board System from a hardware perspective.

1.1 Board overview

The i.MX Audio Board System is a platform designed to show the most commonly used audio features of the i.MX 8M Series

applications processor in a small and low cost package. The i.MX Audio Board System is a development system, which helps

developers get familiar with the audio and processor before investing a large amount of resources in more specific designs.

Table 1 lists the features of the i.MX Audio Board System.

Table 1. Board features

Processor NXP Applications Processor i.MX 8M Series SOM

DAC 3×8-CH DAC Line Out, support I2S, MSB justified, LSB justified, DSD and TDM. The sample

up to 768 KHz and bit depth up to 32 bits

ADC 1×2-CH ADC Line In, support I2S, MSB justified, DSD and TDM. The sample up to 768KHz

and bit depth up to 32 bits

S/PDIF I/O S/PDIF IO with RCA and TOSLINK connectors, TOSLINK supports up to 192 KHz

Ethernet Up to 1000 Mbps with RJ45 connector

Trigger DC 12.0 V 100mA output

MIPI-DSI DSI interface with Mini-SAS connector

USB Type-C connector for USB 3.0 or USB2.0 base on different SOM application

Debug Connector Micro USB for UART debug

Micro-SD Support TF card slot with detect pin

FPGA/CPLD LCMXO3LF-9400C-6BG484I, 484-balls with 383 I/O, 9400 LUTs, two PPLs. This chip is for

switching route of SAI signals to support multiple SAI configurations

I2C connector 8-pin dual-row Pin Header for I2C expansion

On Board Buttons ON/OFF, RESET buttons on the Audio Board

LED indicators Power status, UART on the Audio Board

Interposer Board Support i.MX 8M Nano and i.MX 8M Mini SOM

HDMI Card The default card is EP HDMI Card and the IC is EP92A7E. It supports HDMI 2.0 3-in 1-out

repeater with audio in/out, ARC/eARC and HDCP 1.4/2.3.

Button Board It is dedicated board on the front panel. It supports six user buttons, one ON/OFF button and

one status LED.

8MIC-RPI-MX8 Board Eight digital microphones board (Optional)

1.2 Board contents

The i.MX Audio Board System contains the following items:

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• i.MX Audio Board with metal enclosure

• Interposer Board

• EP HDMI Card

• Button Board

• 12 V 5A power brick

• SCREW-TY PE3 M3X5-5-S × 1

• BT/WiFi Antenna × 3

• Quick Start Guide

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Introduction

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Chapter 2

Boards

i.MX Audio Board System is an excellent, configurable and functional audio processing platform. It consists of Audio Board (or

MCIMX8M-AUD), Interposer Board, EP HDMI Card and Button Board. Audio Board is a base board, it is used to carry the various

sub-boards, audio devices and other integrated circuit devices. Interposer Board is an adapter for connection of i.MX 8M series

SOM and Audio board. EP HDMI Card is a HDMI signal switch, it can distribute HDMI audio and video signal from 3-RX port to

1-TX port. Button Board integrates 6 push buttons for customized use and 1 red LED for status indicator. Figure 1 shows the block

diagram for better understand the connection of whole system.

aaa-040660

EP92

A7E

HDMI

MODULE

i.MX 8M

Nano/Mini/Plus

SOM

SDIO1_C SDIO1

dedicated

I2C4

PCIE

_I2C3

HDMI

mFI

eARC

3.3 V 1.8 V

SDIO1_M

SPDT

JTAG JTAG SAI6/7(ENET) RGMII

I2C3

M.2

KEY E

AUDIO

DETECTION

I2C2

_I2C3

DAC3_I2S_DSD

DAC2_I2S_DSD

DAC1_I2S_DSD

ADC_I2C_DSD

2ch

SDIO_M

PCIE

I2S/SPI/UART/I2C

UART/SPI/PDM

I2S/UART

SAI5

SAI3

SAI1

Bypass Ethernet

GPIO/

UART/I2C/SPI

SDIO2_C

SDIO1_C

I2C2

I2S

RESET ON/OFF

USB type-C

BOOT

SDIO2

I2C2

SPDIF RX/TX

RCA + OPT

PHY1

RTL8211FDI

NXH3670

ADC

AK5552

2ch used

6ch reserved

REMOTE

DEBUG

MIPI-DSI

RJ45 w/

transformer

Micro AB

2 x 20 pins

RPI 2x20

I2C2

SDIO2_C SPDT

SD card

slot

JTAG

FT2232H Micro B

24ch

DAC

AK4458

8ch

DAC3

DAC2

DAC1

8 bit

Config switch

40.152

MHz

45.1584

MHz

484-balls

383 I/O

LCMXO3LF-

9400C-6BG484

Figure 1. System block diagram

2.1 Audio board

Audio board is a mixed signal base board, it has rich on-board functions and extensive interfaces. User can enable or disable

on-board DAC, ADC and more, or connect or disconnect HDMI card, digital microphone board, M.2 card and more base on

real application.

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There is an M.2 KEY-E connector on the audio board. It supports PCIe bus when using i.MX 8M Mini SOM. It

supports PCIe and SDIO bus when using i.MX 8M Plus. It is not suitable for i.MX 8M Nano SOM. NXP only verifies

the WiFi/BT module with PCIe or SDIO bus on this connector.

NOTE

There are three DACs on the audio board, each DAC has eight channels line out, the whole system has 24 channels line out with

RCA connectors. Channel configurations from 2-CH all the way up to 24-CH including 9.1.6, 7.1.4, 5.1.2, which are supported by

immersive decoders, such as Dolby ATMOS, DTS:X and MPEG-H. The on board DAC chips support digital audio data protocols

including I2S, MSB justified, LSB justified, DSD and TDM. Its maximum sample up to 768 KHz, The maximum bit depth up to 32

bits. User can distribute these line out signals freely base on the real application.

There is an ADC which supports two channels line in with RCA connectors. The ADC is a Δ-Σ A/D converter, it supports I2S, MSB

justified, DSD and TDM digital audio data protocols, the maximum sample rate up to 768 KHz and the maximum bit depth up to 32

bits. An audio detection circuit is constructed by separating components for ADC input. If a valid audio signal which greater than

-41.5 dBV appears on the red RCA connector, the detection circuit will respond to this. The analog audio signal will be amplified

and transmitted to the controller via optocoupler. Optocoupler outputs low logic when a valid audio signal appears. If this signal

is not used, system can ignore it directly.

Except for DAC and ADC codecs, this system also supports S/PDIF I/O, HDMI audio extraction and ARC/eARC, eight DMICs

and other audio related things. S/PDIF I/O with RCA connectors for coaxial communication and TOSLINK connectors for optical

communication. HDMI with type A connectors can realize audio extraction and ARC/eARC. DMIC with general 40 pins connector

for voice cases.

Refer to Figure 1 for understand audio board and Figure 2 for the real board.

aaa-040661

Button Board

Connector

USB Type-C

USB Debug

MICRO-SD

On/Off

Reset

SOM Connector

Interposer Board

Connector

8-DMIC

Connector

Power Mode

Jumper DC 12 V Jack ADC Parallel Jumper

S/PDIF Route

Jumper

M.2 Connector

I2C Connector

CPLD Download

Power Switch

DAC Parallel JumperCPLD Mode Switch

DAC 24-CH

ADC 2-CH

S/PDIF TX

S/PDIF RX

12 V Trigger

HDMI Card I/F

Ethernet

HDMI I/F

only 8M Plus

mini-SAS

Figure 2. Audio board

2.2 Interposer board

Interposer board is an adapter for connection of i.MX 8M SOM and audio board. This board perfectly solves the connection

between i.MX 8M Nano or i.MX 8M Mini SOM and audio board. This board makes audio board more extensible and compatible.

See Figure 3 for principle block diagram and the real board. The i.MX 8M Nano does not contain purple signals, i.e., MIPI-DSI,

PCIe, USB2, SAI1. For i.MX 8M Plus SOM can be plugged on the audio board directly and do not need interposer board.

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Boards

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aaa-040662

UART3

INTERPOSER

BOARD

ECSPI2

I2C2

I2C3

I2C4

UART4

UART2

SD2

DSI

CSI

PCIE

USB1

USB2

BOOT

JTAG

CLK

MISC

SAI2

SAI1

2x50

SAI3

SAI5

SPDIF

GPIOs

1V8

3V3

5V0

ENET

REMOTE_DBG

ID#

NVCC NET

CPID_GPIOs

SPDIF

SAI2

MISC

CLK

SD2

ECSPI2

UART3

ENET

SAI5

SAI3

5V0

3V3

1V8

I2C4

I2C3

I2C2

SAl1

UART2

UART4

PCIE

CSI

DSI

JTAG

USB2

USB1

GPIOs

i.MX

AUDIO

BOARD

i.MX 8M

NANO AND

MINI

2x502x10

2x20

EXP

I2C

SPOT

2x50 2x50 2x50 2x50 2x50

10 bit10 bit

Figure 3. Interposer board block diagram and real board

2.3 HDMI card

HDMI board is an ecological design, every company or individual can join this ecosystem to design their own HDMI card base on

NXP's standard documentation. One HDMI card is provided by NXP, it has 3-CH receivers and 1-CH transmitter and supports

HDMI input and HDMI ARC/eARC. See Figure 4 for principle block diagram and the real board.

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Boards

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5.0 V 1.25 V

3.3 V

1.27 V

MCLK

RX_BCLK

RX_FSYNC

RX_DATA[7:0]

TX_BCLK

w/ eARC

RX1

RX2

RX3

TX_FSYNC

GPIOs

TX_DATA[7:0]

TX_DATA[11:8]

PWR_EN

IRQ_B

RESET_B

DCDCs

/LDOs

EP92A7E

3- in, 1-out

aaa-040663

Figure 4. HDMI card block diagram and real board

2.4 Button board

The button board is assembled on the front panel of metal enclosure. It has 6 push buttons, the functions of the 5 buttons can be

customized, 1 button is ON/OFF function that from SOM directly. The connection between the button board and the audio board

is realized by 10 pins cable. The button board is as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5. Button board

2.5 8MIC-RPI-MX8 board (NOT INCLUDED IN THE AB2 KIT)

8MIC-RPI-MX8 is a digital mic phone board, there are eight microphones on the board, use this module for voice development

and so on. It is not in the Audio Board System Kit by default, but it can be found from 8MIC-RPI-MX8. Purchase it and plug directly

into the 40-pin expansion connector J1003 on the audio board. A reference picture is as shown in Figure 6.

aaa-040665

Figure 6. 8MIC-RPI-MX8 board

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Boards

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2.6 IMX-MIPI-HDMI board (NOT INCLUDED IN THE AB2 KIT)

IMX-MIPI-HDMI is a MIPI-DSI to HDMI board. Use this board for MIPI-DSI to HDMI transformation, the HDMI monitor can be tied

to this interface for video display or other HMI cases. It is not in the Audio Board System Kit by default, but it can be found from

NXP website IMX-MIPI-HDMI. A reference picture is as shown in Figure 7.

aaa-040666

Figure 7. IMX-MIPI_HDMI board

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Boards

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Chapter 3

Assembly

Audio Board System has a number of circuit boards as well as a metal enclosure. In the development and debugging, the assembly

of circuit board and enclosure should follow the corresponding steps, otherwise irreversible damage may occur.

3.1 Enclosure assembly

The enclosure consists of three parts, L-shaped bottom shell, U-shaped top shell and I-shaped rear panel. Generally, only need

to tear down the top shell for printed board assembly and electrical measurement and testing during development stage. A cross

screwdriver is required to remove the top shell. The upper casing can be removed after removing 28 screws that distributed on

the top and both sides of the top shell.

3.2 Board assembly

Audio board is a base board for other assemblable sub-boards. All installation and uninstallation should pay attention to electrical

connectivity. Do not install and uninstall these sub-boards frequently, because each connector has a limited plug-times.

3.2.1 Assembly of Interposer board

It is the hardest to install and uninstall interposer board, because there are three B2B connectors on the top of the board for

connection between SOM and interposer board, and there are six B2B connectors on the bottom of the board for connection

between audio board and interposer board.

Figure 8 illustrates the operation guide for this board.

1. Check all connectors on audio board.

2. Install interposer board into the base board.

3. Install the SOM board.

aaa-040667

Figure 8. Interposer board installation

There is also a wizard to uninstall the interposer board below. Recommend that use elbow tweezers, as shown in Figure 9, to

teardown interposer board and SOM board.

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