Nvidia’s Jetson family, including the Jetson AGX Xavier, consists of modules incorporating an SoC that includes a 64-bit Arm Cortex-A multicore, compute engine along with machine-learning/artificial-intelligence (ML/AI) hardware acceleration. However, these modules can’t be used alone—they require a carrier board to provide peripheral connectors.
Addressing that issue, Diamond Systems’ Stevie (see figure) is designed to support Nvidia’s 987- by 100-mm Jetson AGX Xavier module. The module delivers up to 30 TOPS of performance using the 512-core Volta GPU with Tensor Cores plus accelerators with maximum power dissipation of 30 W (but they can run at under 10 W).
The carrier board features industry-standard connectors for dual Ethernet, dual USB, HDMI, and power input. It’s designed for production use and supports a number of interface sockets, including a M.2 2280 full-size, flash drive socket; Mini-PCIe card socket; and a camera module connector that enables interfacing to a range of embedded high-resolution cameras.
Stevie allows for the connection of sensors and networks. Wireless networks can be supported using Mini-PCIe modules. Stevie also exposes the module’s analog and digital interfaces. There’s support for a 12-bit, 1-Msample/s analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and a 12-bit digital-to-analog converter (DAC). The carrier board also has dual CAN transceivers and dual serial-port interfaces. Moreover, there are two USB 2 sockets. Diamond Systems provides a C library as well as a GUI for monitoring and controlling the various system interfaces.
The company also offers the Elton carrier board, which holds a Jetson AGX as well. In addition, it’s a base for stackable PC/104 boards.
