Freescale i.MX 7 Series Processors

Freescale i.MX 7 Series Processors are highly integrated multi-market applications processors for enabling secure and portable Internet of Things applications. i.MX 7 are the first devices in the market that utilize the ARM® Cortex®-A7 and Cortex-M4 cores for general purpose programmable processing. They have a heterogeneous asymmetric architecture that provides ultimate flexibility by enabling a single-chip solution that can run sophisticated operating systems and provide real-time responsiveness.

The i.MX 7 series incorporates four independently controlled resource domains for maximum effectiveness and security when partitioning system resources like memory and peripherals.

The i.MX 7 applications processor is a Freescale Energy-Efficient Solutions product and is supported by companion Freescale power management ICs (PMICs).

Features

Cortex-A7
The Cortex-A7 core enhances the capabilities of portable, connected applications by fulfilling the ever-increasing power efficient MIPS needs of operating systems and applications

Dual core, heterogeneous processing architecture
The dual core architecture enables the device to run a rich operating system like Linux on the Cortex-A7 core and an RTOS on the Cortex-M4 core

Multi-level memory system
The multilevel memory system of the Cortex-A7 processor is based on the L1 instruction and data caches, L2 cache, and internal and external memory. The processors support many types of external memory devices, including DDR3, low voltage DDR3L, LPDDR2 and LPDDR3, NOR Flash, NAND Flash (MLC and SLC), QSPI and managed NAND including eMMC rev. 5.0.

Power efficiency
Power management implemented throughout the IC enables multimedia features and peripherals to consume minimum power in both active and various low power modes.

Advanced security
The processors deliver hardware-enabled security features that enable secure e-commerce, digital rights management (DRM), information encryption and secure boot.

Multimedia
The multimedia performance of each processor is enhanced by a multi-level cache system, NEON™ MPE (Media Processor Engine) co-processor and a programmable smart DMA (SDMA) controller.

Up to 2x Gigabit Ethernet with AVB
2x 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet controllers.

Electronic Paper Display controller
The processor integrates an EPD controller that supports E-INK color and monochrome panels with up to 2048x1536 resolution at 106Hz refresh, 4096x4096 resolution at 20Hz refresh and 5-bit grayscale (32-levels per color channel).

Human-machine interface
Each processor provides up to two separate display interfaces (parallel display and 2-lane MIPI DSI) and CMOS sensor interface (MIPI and parallel).

Interface flexibility
Each processor supports connections to a variety of interfaces: high-speed USB on-the-go with PHY, high-speed USB host with PHY, high-speed inter-chip USB, multiple expansion card ports (high-speed MMC/SDIO host and other), 2 Gigabit Ethernet controllers with support for Ethernet AVB, PCIe-II, four single-ended-input 12-bit ADCs, two CAN ports, I2S audio interface and a variety of other popular interfaces (like UART, I2C).

Applications

E-Readers
Building automation
Wearables
Point-of-sale
Enterprise scanners and printers
Smart home controls
Patient monitoring
IoT solutions

Block Diagram