AM57xx hardware
- SPRACK1 January 2019 AM5706 , AM5708 , AM5716 , AM5718 , AM5718-HIREL , AM5726 , AM5728 , AM5729 , AM5746 , AM5748 , AM5749

AM57xx hardware

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IMPORTANT NOTICE

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APPLICATION NOTE

AM57xx hardware

The purpose of this guide is to walk hardware designers through the various stages of designing a board on this platform.

Trademarks

All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

1 Introduction

This document follows the structure shown in Figure 1. Each design stage in the Timeline links to a collection of useful documentation, application reports, and design recommendations pertaining to that stage. Using this guide, hardware designers can efficiently locate the resources they need at every step in the board design flow.

Figure 1. Hardware Design Timeline

2 Constructing the Block Diagram

The first step in designing the hardware platform is to create a detailed block diagram. The block diagram should contain all major system ICs and illustrate which I/O ports are used for device interconnection. Below is a collection of resources to aid in the Block Diagram creation process.

The links at the TI website below provide block diagrams, application reports, tools, software, design considerations, and other related information for various products under category "Related End Equipments".
An EVM (Evaluation Module) is always a good source from which to start building a reference design for these devices. The technical documentation for the EVM is available for download from the following locations:
The AM57xx family of devices offer a range of performance options while being all designed using the same processing elements and interfaces. This allows that family to be software compatible. Additionally, AM574x, AM572x and AM571x have very similar footprints that allow migration on the same board design. The AM574x/AM572x/AM571x Compatibility Guide covers the differences in ball assignment, pin multiplexing and basic features between AM574x, AM572x, and AM571x.
Select from a list of complementary devices to attach to AM57xx device in your system:
- AM574x Power Management Device (required): TPS659037
- AM572x Power Management Device (required): TPS659037
- AM571x Power Management Device (required): TPS659037 or TPS65916
- AM570x Power Management Device (required): LP87332D + LP873220 or TPS65916

3 Selecting the Boot Mode

The block diagram that you are creating should also indicate which interface will be used for booting this device. These devices contain an on-chip ROM bootloader with the following features:

The boot config pins are sampled at power-on-reset
Sets up system for boot depending on boot configuration selected
Depending on boot mode, copies image to internal RAM and then executes it
Maximum size of the boot image is 128 KBytes

The following boot modes are supported:

NOR Flash boot
NAND Flash boot
SD boot
eMMC boot
QSPI_1 boot (1-bit SPI flash memories)
QSPI_4 boot (4-bit (Quad) SPI flash memories)
SATA boot
Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (UART) boot
Universal Serial Bus (USB) boot (like an ethernet card, not as mass storage)
HS USB 2.0 boot (like an ethernet card, not as mass storage)

If the first boot source fails to boot, the ROM will move on to the next one in the sequence. Keep in mind that some boot sources take some time to timeout if that boot source isn't available.

To understand details on different boot modes, see the device-specific technical reference manual (TRM).

Key Boot Considerations are:

It is recommended to include population options for other boot modes to aid in development
Boot pins have other functions after reset. Make sure your board design takes this into account when choosing pull-up/down resistors for the boot pins.

4 Confirming Pin Multiplexing Compatibility

The AM57xx device contains many peripheral interfaces. In order to reduce package costs while maintaining maximum functionality, many of the AM57xx terminals can multiplex up to 16 signal functions. Some background about the AM57xx pin-multiplexing:

Although there are many combinations of pin-multiplexing that are possible, only a certain number of sets, called IO sets, are valid due to timing limitations. These valid IO sets were carefully chosen to provide many possible application scenarios for the user.
In order to guarantee the IO timings published in the AM57xx data manual over the lifetime of the device, AM57xx software must implement the proper pin configuration requirements. These requirements impact software configuration of the following registers and are fully documented in the Pad Configuration section of the device-specific AM57xx TRM
- Pad Configuration Registers (muxmode, slew control, Virtual IO Timing Modes, and so forth)
- IODELAYCONFIG Registers (Manual IO Timing Modes)

Texas Instruments has developed a Windows/Linux application called the TI PinMux Tool that helps a system designer select the appropriate pin-multiplexing configuration for their AM57xx-based product design. This tool provides a way to select valid IO Sets of specific peripheral interfaces to insure the pin-multiplexing configuration selected for a design only uses valid IO Sets supported by AM57x. Additionally, it also provides generated output files to help software correctly implement the pad configuration requirements necessary for guaranteeing the device's IO timings. These generated files are named with the prefix "boardPadDelay." The TI PinMux Tool must be used to validate the device pin definitions chosen in your design. It can be accessed at the link below:

TI PinMux Tool

5 Confirming Electrical and Timing Compatibility

A key step in the hardware design before beginning schematic capture is to confirm both DC and AC electrical compatibility between this device and the other ICs connecting to it.

The device data sheet has important information with regards to timing and electrical characteristics.
For high-speed interfaces, you can run IBIS simulations using IBIS models provided for AM57x ZCE and ZCZ package to confirm signal Integrity. The IBIS model for your chosen AM57xx device can be downloaded from the Models section under the Tools & Software tab of the device's product page on ti.com.
Using IBIS Models for Timing Analysis

NOTE

TI provides PCB layout specifications for the following interfaces, eliminating the need to perform electrical analysis:

DDR3/DDR3L - see the device-specific data manual (precludes timing analysis)
USB, HDMI, SATA, PCIe - see the High-Speed Interface Layout Guidelines

6 Designing the Power Subsystem

Once the block diagram has been validated for pin multiplexing, electrical, and timing compatibility, the power sub-system can be designed. Texas Instruments requires that the following PMIC (or Power Management IC) be used with AM57x designs:

AM574x Power Management Device (required): TPS659037
AM572x Power Management Device (required): TPS659037
AM571x Power Management Device (required): TPS659037 or TPS65916
AM570x Power Management Device (required): LP87332D + LP873220 or TPS65916

Note that both the TPS659037 and TPS65916 PMICs require an external 16.384MHz crystal.

See the resources below on estimating power consumption and designing a AM57x + PMIC solution.

The Power Estimation Tool (PET) provides insight into the power consumption of select AM57xx processors. The tool includes the ability for you to choose multiple application scenarios and understand the power consumption as well as how advanced power saving techniques can be applied to further reduce overall power consumption.
AM574x Power Estimation Tool
AM572x Power Estimation Tool
AM571x Power Estimation Tool
AM570x Power Estimation Tool
AM572x Power Consumption Summary
AM571x Power Consumption Summary
AM570x Power Consumption Summary
TPS659037 Power Management Unit (PMU) for Processor Data Sheet
TPS659037 User's Guide to Power AM574x, AM572x, and AM571x User's Guide

7 Designing the Clocking Subsystem

In addition to the power subsystem, the clocking subsystem needs to be designed to provide appropriate clocks to all ICs in the system. These clocks can be created by pairing crystals with internal oscillators within the system ICs, or they can be created by a separate clock generator. For your design, see the information below on designing the clocking subsystem.

Key Considerations:

The device operation requires one or more of the following clocks:
- A 32k optional crystal as an optional clock source for the RTC.
- Two HF crystals, SYS_CLKIN1 (mandatory) with either 19.2, 20, or 27 MHz and SYS_CLKIN2 (optional) with 19.2-32 MHz quartz or 12-38.4 MHz CMOS square clock source as reference clocks for system operation.
For more details, see the Clocking sections of the device-specific data sheet and TRM.

8 Analyzing Thermal Management Requirements

The product design cycle should include thermal analysis and thermal management techniques to ensure the operating junction temperature of the device is within functional limits.

Thermal Design Guide for DSP and ARM Application Processors
Power and Thermal Design Considerations Using TI's AM57x Processor Reference Design
AM572x Thermal Considerations
Thermal ratings listed in the device-specific data manual
Thermal models on the device-specific product page on ti.com

9 Floorplanning the PCB

Before beginning schematic capture, it is recommended to floorplan the system PCB to determine the interconnect distances between the various system ICs.

10 Creating the Schematics

At this point in the design, it is time to start capturing the schematics. The following collection of information will aid you in creating the schematics:

Key Considerations
- Output clocks that are internally looped back
- Do not forget to install a JTAG connection
- JTAG: Make sure to use the RTCK pin on the JTAG connector. For more information, see the Emulation and Trace Headers Technical Reference Manual.
It is helpful to refer to the EVM schematics (that can be downloaded from the EVM links listed above in Section 2) as examples throughout the schematic capture process:
Make sure to use the canned schematics in the device-specific data sheet for the following interfaces:
- DDR3/DDR3L
For detailed information on USB, HDMI, SATA, and PCIe board design, see the High-Speed Interface Layout Guidelines
During and after schematic capture, check your design against the schematic checklist:
- AM57x Schematic Checklist
Plan to have an internal review to go through the schematic checklist and inspect other key areas of the schematic to look for inaccuracies, missing net connections, and so forth.

Below is a list of additional aids available on the AM57xx device's product page that can be used during your schematic and board design:

Altium symbols
Pin names and numbers in the device-specific data manual:
BSDL Simulation Models
IBIS Simulation Models

11 Laying Out the PCB

After completing schematic capture, see the following information on laying out the PCB:

It is often helpful to refer to an example layout when designing a custom PCB:
- The EVM designs listed in Section 2 all contain full PCB layouts that can be used as successful sample designs.
Make sure to follow the Layout Specifications for the following Critical Interfaces:
- DDR3/DDR3L - see device-specific data sheet
- USB, HDMI, SATA, PCIe - see the High-Speed Interface Layout Guidelines
Plan to have an internal PCB layout review with your design team to verify that net connection traces and the power distribution network were created correctly.
General Information Articles:
- Understanding TI’s PCB Routing Rule-Based DDR Timing Specification
- AM57xx BGA PCB Design

12 Board Bringup/Diagnostic

Once your custom PCB has been produced and assembled, see the following information on bringing-up and debugging the system.

Overview of Debug and Trace Tools wiki
Category: Code Composer Studio v6
Code Composer Studio Using BSDL to validate AM57xx based board
- You can use AM57xx BSDL files to validate the connectivity on board build.
Processor SDK RTOS Diagnostics

13 References

IMPORTANT NOTICE AND DISCLAIMER

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