FAQs (Naon)

Info Box Applies to Naon

Introduction

This page collects all the Frequently Asked Question regarding Naon

General

Q: Where can I find Naon SOM information?

A: please refer to the following resources:

Resource	Description
Naon category page	This page lists all the wiki pages regarding the Naon CPU module
Naon category page	This page reports Naon SOM specification and basic information
Naon Hardware Manual	This page points to the Naon Hardware Manual
Naon product page	This is Naon web page on DAVE Embedded Systems website

Q: Do you provide an evaluation kit?

A: yes, we provide the Naon Embedded Linux Kit. Please refer to Naon_Embedded_Linux_Kit_(NELK). The NELK includes:

• 1x NaonEVB-Mid or NaonEVB-Lite carrier board
• 1x Naon CPU module
• 1x +12V Power supply adapter
• 1x SD Card containing:
  • Documentation
    • Naon, Maya and Dido hardware manuals
    • NaonEVBs schematics and mechanical drawings
    • Application notes
  • Software
    • Boot partition with bootloader and kernel binaries
    • Root file system partition
    • DAVE Embedded Systems Virtual Development Kit: virtual machine with pre-installed SDK and source trees
• 1x packing list

System design

Q: Can you suggest some guidelines for the carrier board design?

A: As a starting point, you can refer to the Carrier_board_design_guidelines_(SOM) page, that will highlight some best practices that applies to all SOMs. For specific information on Naon, please refer to the Naon integration guide.

Q: What is Naon power consumption?

A: Naon platform is so flexible that is virtually impossible to test for all possible configurations and applications on the market. Generally speaking, application specific requirements have to be taken into consideration in order to size power supply unit and to implement thermal management properly. However, we've performed some tests that should cover most of real-world scenarios and we've reported the results on the Power_consumption_(Naon) page.

Q: How can I reduce power consumption?

A: The Linux kernel provided with the NELK implements some power management features, in particular:

• CPU Governor Usage
• Operating Performance Points
• Subsystem frequency selection
• Standby mode

For a full description of the power management strategies, please refer to the NELK Power Management page.

Q: During operation, the CPU is rather hot. Is it normal? Can you suggest some strategies for thermal management?

A: Yes, it is normal. DM814x/AM387x thermal behavior is strictly related to the process (known as “Hi-Performance / Hi-Leakage”) used to produce the die. The manufacturer chose to focus on maximizing the performance, at the expense of power consumption because the component was conceived to penetrate the high-definition video market segment, which is known to be highly demanding in terms of hardware resources.

Please refer to the Thermal_management_(Naon) page for more information on the thermal management strategies.

Using NELK

Q: I've received the NELK package. How am I supposed to start working with it?

A: You can follow the steps listed below:

• Check the kit contents with the packing list included in the box
• If the bootable SD card is available:
  • insert the SD into the card reader on the carrier board
  • connect the power supply adapter and the serial cable as described in NaonEVB-Mid Quick start and NaonEVB-Lite Quick start
  • start your terminal emulator program
  • switch on the power supply
  • monitor the boot process on the serial console
• Install the DVDK virtual machine image (please refer to Starting DVDK)
• Check the virtual machine components (please refer to NELK DVDK layout)
• Build the software components for the Naon platform as described in NELK: Build the whole kit
• Boot the system from network to test the development platform (please refer to Boot the system)

Q: How can I update the NELK version?

A: The NELK update procedure, starting from an existing DVDK installation and updating only the SDK (tools, sources and root file system) without creating a full new DVDK virtual machine, is described in the How_to_update_NELK page.