2023-09-25 Libre Computer AML-S905D3-CC Solitude AI SBC Announcement

Libre Computer AML-S905D3-CC Solitude, part of our Cottonwood family, is our latest low-power AI-enabled single board computer designed for rich IO edge applications. As the first low cost < $50 SBC to offer upstream AI and neuro-computing support, this board brings advanced hardware acceleration not found on any other platform.

Compatible with SystemReady IR operating systems, Solitude incorporates a advanced BIOS compatible with UEFI and supports standard Linux distributions out of the box. It offers seemly hardware migration for existing CC form factor applications that require new additional capabilities of the Cottonwood platform. It can boot any official Libre Computer image for any board since the BIOS abstracts the hardware behind UEFI.

The board offers industry-leading 1W idle power consumption and can be flexibly powered by USB Type-C, Power over Ethernet, or 5V header directly. For rich IO applications, the performance is similiar to our ROC-RK3328-CC Renegade platform with its Gigabit Ethernet and USB 3.0, although now four ports are exposed via USB 3.0 hub. System wake via UART, IR, button, and GPIO are supported for additional power optimization in constrained environments.

New to the Cottonwood family are MIPI CSI and DSI connectors not found on the Potato family. MIPI connectors follow the 22 pin layout found on the Raspberry Pi Zero W and Compute Module Base IO board for re-use with existing cameras and displays. Combined with the 1+TOPs NPU, Solitude is ideal for realtime 1080P+ video footage object detection and other modern AI workloads.

Features

  • 4 E Cores
  • 2 E GPU Cores
  • 1+ TOPs NPU Cores
  • Up to 4GB LPDDR4X
  • USB Type C Power + 2.0 Data Dual Role
  • HDMI 2.1
  • 3.5mm Jack with CVBS and Analog Stereo Audio Output
  • Gigabit Ethernet with WOL
  • 4 USB Type-A 3.0 Hub
  • PoE Connector
  • 40-Pin GPIO Connector
  • IR Receiver Sensor
  • DSI 4-Lane 22-Pin Connector up to 1080P
  • CSI 2-Lane 22-Pin Connector
  • 16MB Open Source UEFI BIOS
  • eMMC 5.x Slim Connector
  • MicroSD Card Slot with UHS SDR104 Support

The 40-pin header offers good pinmux coverage for existing peripherals in the Raspberry Pi and CC ecosystems. Additionally, it features numerous I2S, PDM, and TDM pin for support 16+ far field microphones making Solitude a premier audio core board.

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Do you mean that there is going to be 16 Mbit SPI Flash on board?

Yes, there’s 16MB SPI NOR on board.

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Great sound like just the right specs for my use case. When will a unit be available for purchase? I would very much like to test this out. And does it support main line linux? Cheers, Jeroen Wolf

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The units will be available in retail at the beginning of November. They support mainline Linux.

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Great thx for your quick response, three more questions. 1. For my portable project I am planning to use a custom linux distro as my OS. 50 percent of the targeted games (SNES RPG’s & ScummVM Point and Click games) use opengl. Is the GPU driver up for this task for the OS I intent to use??? 2. Is your company ok to supply the Schematics and Gerber files for this board? 3. I already have an amoled display for my project, but I am open for better suggestions. Can you advice on a good DSI display fully compatible with your board preferable 4:3? Cheers and thx, Jeroen

Schematics are already available. We do not release Gerbers. We do not make or sell any DSI panels but our distribution will have them available.

16MB Open Source UEFI BIOS

What does this mean? U-Boot with EFI or EDK2?

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No EDK2. We do not want to run any OPTEE or Tianocore.

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Hi there, got an AML-S905D3-CC Solitude, I was wondering how to use PoE to power it, could someone help ?

The PoE pins need a PoE mezzanine that will be made available near the end of November with the launch of the product. It is not currently available.

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That looks nice!!!

Is it possible to build a 3 bay NAS with it?
Using 3 Samsung SSD 850 EVO 2.5 inch drives?

As long as the NAS is separately powered it should be fine. The board will not power 3 hard drives through the USB 3 ports.

Is it possible to use a bigger power supply for the board?
For a drive 5V 1.4A is required. Would be a 5V 6A power supply compatible with the board? So it could power 3 drives through the USB 3 ports?

Thanks for your replay!

Do not try this. Anything higher than 3A is not supported. SBCs are not designed to route high current. Power the device directly via an external hub. 5V 900mA is the limit for the ports which are hard limited to 1A.

The only exception to this is Renegade ROC-RK3328-CC-V2 that is coming out next year. It has a dedicated power port to supplement electrical current to the USB 3 port for power hungry devices.

We always recommend a powered external USB hub to support power hungry devices.

Thank your!
I expected this, but I had to ask.
Can you give any parameters for an external powered USB hub, or will any work?

Is the board compatible, with the Flirc Raspberry Pi 3B Case?

This has USB Type-C instead of MicroUSB.

In case you’re not aware, the USB-C connector is slightly larger than a MicroUSB connector, so it probably won’t fit unless you enlarge the hole in the case.

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I could not find a 5V3A power supply on your website (https://www.loverpi.com/). Do you have any suggestion for one?