MSC SM2S-IMX8MLC

NXP® i.MX 8M Mini Arm® Cortex®-A53

The flexible MSC SM2S-IMX8MLC SMARC 2.1 module family is highly scalable and equipped with i.MX 8M Mini Application Processors, manufactured by NXP using 14nm FinFET process technology. The module integrates single-, dual- and quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processors with up to 1.8 GHz, an Arm Cortex-M4 real-time processor and an efficient multimedia 2D/3D graphics processing unit (GPU). The thermal design power (TDP) ranges from 2 W to 5 W.

MSC SM2S-IMX8MLC offers cost-effective DDR4 memory technology, combined with up to 64GB eMMC Flash memory. Various interfaces for embedded applications such as Gigabit Ethernet, PCI Express, USB 2.0, dual-channel LVDS or MIPI-DSI and MIPI CSI-2 for connecting a camera are available.

The design deliberately omits features such as SD card socket, second Gigabit Ethernet port, CAN interfaces or on-board WiFi/Bluetooth module to allow single-sided assembly of the board.

The module is compliant with the new SMARC 2.1 standard, allowing easy integration with SMARC baseboards. For evaluation and design-in of the SM2S-IMX8MLC module, MSC provides a development platform and a starter kit. Support for Linux is available (Android support on request).

Highlights

Single, Dual or Quad core Arm Cortex-A53 Applications Processor up to 1.8GHz
Arm Cortex-M4 Real Time Processor up to 400MHz
Vivante multimedia 2D/3D Graphics Processor
Up to 1080p60 H.265 decode / H.264 encode
Up to 4GB DDR4 SDRAM at 2400 MT/s
Up to 64GB eMMC Flash
Dual-channel LVDS / MIPI-DSI x4 (optional)
MIPI CSI-2 Camera Interface
PCI Express x1 Gen. 2

Up to 4x USB 2.0 Host interface
1x USB 2.0 Host/Device interface
1x Gigabit Ethernet
1x MMC/SD/SDIO interface
2x I2S Audio Interface
14x GPIO
UART, SPI, I2C
SMARC 2.1 Compliant

Specs

Technology	Arm
Formfactor	SMARC Short Size
CPU	NXP i.MX 8M Mini Arm Cortex-A53 Applications Processor - i.MX 8M Mini Solo, single-core, 1.6 - 1.8GHz - i.MX 8M Mini Dual, dual-core, 1.6 - 1.8GHz - i.MX 8M Mini Quad, quad-core, 1.6 - 1.8GHz - i.MX 8M Mini SoloLite, single-core, 1.6 - 1.8GHz - i.MX 8M Mini DualLite, dual-core, 1.6 - 1.8GHz - i.MX 8M Mini QuadLite, quad-core, 1.6 - 1.8GHz Arm Cortex-M4 Real Time Processor at 400MHz
Chipset	SOC
RAM	Up to 4GB 2400MT/s DDR4 SDRAM, soldered, no ECC
Flash	Up to 64GB eMMC Flash QSPI NOR Flash (optional)
Storage Interfaces	1x MMC/SD/SDIO
USB	1x USB 2.0 Host/Client, 4x USB 2.0 Host or 1x USB 2.0 Host/Client, 1x USB 2.0 Host (optional)
Serial Interfaces	2x UART with 2-wire hand shake 2x UART w/o hand shake
Bus Interfaces	1x PCI Express x1 Gen.2 lanes 4x I2C up to 400 Kbit/s 2x SPI (with two chip selects)
Display Controller	Vivante GC NanoUltra 3D Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) 3D Graphics Acceleration, 1 shader, 6.4 GFLOPS OpenGL ES 1.0, 2.0 Video Processing Unit with hardware support for 1080p60 HEVC H.265, VP9, H.264, VP8 decode 1080p60 H.264, VP8 encode only available on i.MX 8M Mini Solo/Dual/Quad
Display Interfaces	Dual-channel LVDS interface, 18 or 24 bit (up to 1920x1080); also usable as one single-channel LVDS interface (up to 1366x768) or MIPI-DSI Display Interface, 4 lanes, up to 1920x1080 @ 60fps (optional)
Network Interface	1x 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet
Audio Interface	2x I2S Audio
Security Device	Advanced Security, Safety, and Reliability integrated in the SOC Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 (optional)
Miscellaneous	Watchdog Timer for system reset (programmable, 1s … 600s) High accuracy RTC 14x GPIO, configurable as input or output 64kbit ID EEPROM on I2C bus MIPI CSI-2 camera interface (CSI0, 2 lane) or MIPI CSI-2 camera interface (CSI1, 4-lane)
Feature Highlights	SMARC 2.1 compatible
OS Support	Linux Board Support Package Android Board Support Package (on request)
Power Requirement	Power Supply +5V +/-5%, 5V Standby Power Consumption 2-5 W typ. (depending on CPU and optional features)
Environment	Temperature Range: 0°C … +70°C operating commercial -40°C … +85°C operating extended -40°C … +85°C storage Humidity: 5 … 95% (operating, non condensing) 5 … 95% (storage, non-condensing)
Dimensions	82 x 50 mm
Certificates	UL / CE
Cooling	Heatspreader
Carrier	MSC SM2-MB-EP1 MSC SM2-MB-EP5

Order Info

Order No.	Description	Reference	Status
92474	SMARC module based on NXP i.MX 8M Mini Quad, Quad-Core Cortex-A53 processor at 1.6GHz, 2GB DDR4, 16GB eMMC Flash, GbE LAN, PCIe, 4x USB2.0 Host, 1x USB2.0 Host/Device, LVDS, MIPI CSI-2 Camera input (CSI1); industrial temperature -40...+85°C	MSC SM2S-IMX8MLCQC- 14N0200I PCBFTX	PV
115240	SMARC module based on NXP i.MX 8M Mini Quad, Quad-Core Cortex-A53 processor at 1.6GHz, 4GB DDR4, 16GB eMMC Flash, 1x GbE LAN, 1x PCIe, 1x USB2.0 Host, 1x USB2.0 Host/Device, LVDS, MIPI CSI-2 Camera input (CSI0); extended temperature -25...+85°C	MSC SM2S-IMX8MLCQC- 24N0230E PCBFTX	PV

PV = Preferred variant; OR = on Request (in OEM quantities only)

Accessories

Carrier Options

Order No.	Description	Reference
68488	SMARC 2.0 Embedded Platform with PCI Express x4 slot, GbE, SATA, USB 3.0, USB 2.0, USB 2.0 OTG, RS232, CAN, SPI, eSPI, SMBus, I2C and GPIO interface, LVDS/eDP, DisplayPort and HDMI display interface, regulated backlight supply, HD/I2S audio interface, MIPI CSI-2 camera interface, mini PCI Express card slot, SD card slot, fan connector, CMOS battery, Mini-ITX form factor (170 x 170 mm), ATX power connector and single 12V/24V power jack, commercial temperature range 0..+70°C	MSC SM2-MB-EP1-001 PCBFTX
83977	SMARC 2.1 compatible embedded platform (146 x 80mm), 10-36V input voltage, 3x RS232, 2x CAN, dual RJ45 LAN with LED (1 x LAN i210) , 1x M.2 2280 Key M slot, mPCIe slot, 1x USB 3.0 Type A, 1x USB 2.0 Type A, 1x USB 2.0 internal, 1x μUSB 2.0 Host/Device, 2x SPI, I²C, 8 GPIO on FC, 1x HDMI, LVDS/eDP/DSI on JILI30 connector, μSD Card Slot, regulated backlight supply, I2S Audio, 1W Mono, camera connector, RTC battery. Industrial temperature range -40..+85°C, ARM full version	MSC SM2S-MB-EP5-002 PCBFTX
83981	SMARC 2.1 compatible embedded platform (146 x 80mm), 10-36V input voltage, 2x UART, 1x RS232, 2x CAN, 1x RJ45 LAN with LED, 1x USB 2.0 Type A, 1x USB3.0 Type A, 1x USB 2.0 internal, 1x μUSB 2.0 Host/Device, 2x SPI, 12 GPIO on FC, 1x HDMI , μSD Card Slot, LVDS/eDP/DSI on JILI30 connector, regulated backlight supply, RTC battery. Industrial temperature range -40..+85°C, ARM slim version	MSC SM2S-MB-EP5-004 PCBFTX

Cooling Options

Order No.	Description	Reference
83732	Heatspreader for SM2S-IMX8NANO and SM2S-IMX8MLC module, consisting of a single-piece aluminum plane and thermal pad for contact to the processor, with 2.7mm through-hole standoffs	MSC SM2S-IMX8NANO-01 HSP-001

Other Accessories

Order No.	Description	Reference
82479	Debug Console (UART) Adapter for i.MX6-based Qseven and nanoRISC modules, with 8-pin FFC cable to connect COM module to 9-pin D-Sub connector	MSC Debug Console Adapter
68948	Debug Adapter for i.MX6-based Qseven, SMARC and nanoRISC modules, with 10-pin FFC cable to connect to COM module, adapter provides headers for JTAG connection to Lauterbach and/or Goepel debuggers	MSC JTAG Adapter FFC 10-pin

Starter Kits

Order No.	Description	Reference
74008	Starter Kit for MSC SMARC i.MX 8 Series modules. Includes MSC SM2-MB-EP1 Baseboard, Heatspreader/Heatsink, SD Card with USB Card Reader, Power Supply and suitable cable kit. The StarterKit does not include the MSC SM2S-IMX8 / 8M / 8MINI / 8NANO / 8PLUS module. Please order your choice of module separately.	MSC SM2-SK-IMX8-EP1-KIT001 SETPAC

Support

Manual

MSC_SM2S_IMX8NANO_User_Manual

Last update: 21/12/2023 2.22 MB

App_Note_036_Using_Cortex-M_on_MSC_SM2S-IMX8x_modules

Last update: 29/12/2022 929 KB

Cortex-M_patches

Last update: 29/12/2022 30 KB

Application Notes

App_Note_017_OS_Boot_support_for_different_media

Last update: 29/12/2022 147.99 KB

App_Note_030_Building_from_MSC_Git_V2_1

Last update: 27/08/2024 509.53 KB

App_Note_030_Addendum_Building_from_MSC_Git_2024-12-20

Last update: 20/12/2024 420.14 KB

App_Note_032_Secure_Boot

Last update: 29/12/2022 332.92 KB

App_Note_036_Using_Cortex-M_on_MSC_SM2S-IMX8x_modules

Last update: 29/12/2022 929 KB

App_Note_036_Cortex-M_patches.tar

Last update: 24/05/2022 40.00 KB

App_Note_038_SMARC_2-1-1_Carrier-Board_Recommendations

Last update: 11/05/2023 440.94 KB

App_Note_040_DTB_File_Selection_v20

Last update: 29/12/2022 424.73 KB

App_Note_043_Converting_eMMC_from_MLC_to_pSLC.pdf

Last update: 03/01/2023 266.21 KB

App_Note_045_Cortex-M_RPMSG_Communication_v1.6.pdf

Last update: 27/02/2024 314.87 KB

App_Note_045_Patches_v1.6.zip

Last update: 27/02/2024 11.21 KB

App_Note_049_Selecting_U-Boot_Debug_Port_on_iMX8_module_family.pdf

Last update: 23/12/2022 157.69 KB

App_Note_049_meta-debug-uart.zip

Last update: 28/12/2022 22.57 KB

App_Note_050_Manually_Change_Debug_UART_Port_on_iMX8_Series

Last update: 06/07/2023 289.48 KB

App_Note_051_JTAG-a_basic_introduction

Last update: 06/07/2023 464.77 KB

Compliance documents

CHINA-ROHS_TRIA_SMARC_2024-12-16

Last update: 18/12/2024 133.62 KB

REACH-ROHS_TRIA_SMARC_2024-12-16

Last update: 18/12/2024 111.13 KB

Mechanical data

MSC_Mechanical_3D_information-AVE

Last update: 11/12/2023 213 KB

MSC_SM2S-IMX8NANO-01_HSP-001_3D

Last update: 29/12/2022 18 MB

MSC_SM2S-IMX8NANO-QC-14N0201I_ES1_3D

Last update: 29/12/2022 20 MB

Demo Images

Linux

Download

msc-image-base-sm2s-imx8mlc-nano_v1.13.0_22082024

Last update: 06/09/2024 181.44 MB

Download

msc-image-qt5-sm2s-imx8mlc-nano_v1.13.0_22082024

Last update: 06/09/2024 840.61 MB

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MSC SM2S-IMX8MLC

Highlights

Specs

Order Info

Accessories

Carrier Options

Cooling Options

Other Accessories

Starter Kits

Support

MSC_SM2S_IMX8NANO_User_Manual

App_Note_036_Using_Cortex-M_on_MSC_SM2S-IMX8x_modules

Cortex-M_patches

App_Note_017_OS_Boot_support_for_different_media

App_Note_030_Building_from_MSC_Git_V2_1

App_Note_030_Addendum_Building_from_MSC_Git_2024-12-20

App_Note_032_Secure_Boot

App_Note_036_Using_Cortex-M_on_MSC_SM2S-IMX8x_modules

App_Note_036_Cortex-M_patches.tar

App_Note_038_SMARC_2-1-1_Carrier-Board_Recommendations

App_Note_040_DTB_File_Selection_v20

App_Note_043_Converting_eMMC_from_MLC_to_pSLC.pdf

App_Note_045_Cortex-M_RPMSG_Communication_v1.6.pdf

App_Note_045_Patches_v1.6.zip

App_Note_049_Selecting_U-Boot_Debug_Port_on_iMX8_module_family.pdf

App_Note_049_meta-debug-uart.zip

App_Note_050_Manually_Change_Debug_UART_Port_on_iMX8_Series

App_Note_051_JTAG-a_basic_introduction

CHINA-ROHS_TRIA_SMARC_2024-12-16

REACH-ROHS_TRIA_SMARC_2024-12-16

MSC_Mechanical_3D_information-AVE

MSC_SM2S-IMX8NANO-01_HSP-001_3D

MSC_SM2S-IMX8NANO-QC-14N0201I_ES1_3D

msc-image-base-sm2s-imx8mlc-nano_v1.13.0_22082024

msc-image-qt5-sm2s-imx8mlc-nano_v1.13.0_22082024

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