OLIMEX RT5350F-OLX-EVB [5/38] Chapter 1 overview

CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW

1. Introduction to the chapter

Thank you for choosing this single-board computer from Olimex! This document provides a user’s

guide for the RT5350F-OLinuXino and RT5350F-OLinuXino-EVB boards. As an overview, this

chapter gives the scope of this document and lists the board’s features. The document’s organization

is then detailed.

The RT5350F-OLinuXino development board enables code development of applications running on

the RT5350F SoC microcontroller, manufactured by Ralink (a MediaTek's subsidiary company)

from Taiwan.

The RT5350F-OLinuXino is typically used together with RT5350F-OLinuXino-EVB which

features most of the peripherals and connectors needed for evaluation and utilization of the RT5350

SoC.

The hardware designs of RT5350F-OLinuXino and RT5350F-OLinuXino-EVB board are open-

source, open-hardware and all documentation used for the hardware design and manufacturing is

available to the customer.

The software written by Olimex for both boards is also open-source and released under GPL

license.

1.1 Introduction to system-on-a-module design

The design of both RT5350F-OLinuXino and RT5350F-OLinuXino-EVB follows the system-on-a-

module approach. A low-cost modular design which allows rapid product development and

integration in own products. It is a two part system – a main part (smaller, multilayer, very densely

populated) that nests the processor, the memory, the power control unit and a peripheral part (bigger

and less densely populated) which contains the USB ports, the Ethernet connectors, most of the

other connectors and interfaces. SOM designs are targeted at customers who want to apply custom

modifications for own projects without having to deal with multilayer PCBs with controlled

impedance and BGA assembly. This modular approach makes it possible to create simple 2-layer

boards (that can be manufactured by your local PCB manufacturer) containing only the peripherals

you need with the dimensions and shape suitable for your specific case.

Both the main part and the peripheral part of the SOM system have support in the official

OpenWRT images distributed by Olimex and maintained by Olimex. These recommended images

are typically available at the wiki articles of the board. Furthermore, the OpenWRT community

recognizes the board and also provides official builds.

The hardware designs of both RT5350F-OLinuXino and RT5350F-OLinuXino-F are open source,

unlike other Olimex SOM designs (where the design layout of the densely populated part is

propriety).

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