EE Times journalist Cabe Atwell recently noted that a plethora of single board computer (SBC) manufacturers are popping up on the market every year, bringing a myriad of hardware options in tow.
“Some of the newer SBCs to hit the market are certainly impressive, given their respective price points, multicore CPUs and gigabytes worth of RAM that rival some tablets and smartphones,” writes Atwell.
Image: UDOO Quad
“That onboard memory is key in taking SBCs out of the embedded world and into mainstream usage. Gone are the days of blinking lights and command lines. Only through RAM can desktop-level software come to the embedded development world.”
To illustrate the continuing evolution of SBCs, Atwell compiled a list of boards which includes HardKernel’s Odroid-U3, Cubieboard’s CubiTruck, Miniand’s Hackberry A10, Pandaboard’s ES, ST-Ericsson’s Snowball Board, Boundry Devices’ Nitrogen6X, Arndale’s 5420 Octa board, Origen’s 4 Evaluation Board, the Lemaker Team’s Banana Pro and the UDOO.
As we’ve previously discussed on Rambus Press, the demand for more memory has only increased over the years.
To be sure, DRAM is packed into an increasingly wide range of devices – such as Maker and dev boards, smartphones, tablets and wearables – in addition to traditional PCs and laptops.
“As Atwell notes, bolstering onboard memory is key to moving SBCs into the mainstream,” Loren Shalinsky, a Strategic Development Director at Rambus, added.
“Driven by an increased amount of DRAM, desktop-level software will allow engineers, Makers and more traditional end-users to take full advantage of the devices.”
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