Digi ConnectCore 8M Nano Application Note
ConnectCore® 8M Nano Performance
and Power
Benchmarking Report
Application Note
Revision history—90002449
Revision Date Description
A March 2021 Initial release.
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ConnectCore® 8M Nano Performance and Power
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Contents
Introduction
Power architecture
Primary input supplies 6
VSYS and VSYS2 6
VCC_MCA 7
PMIC output supplies 7
Measurement conditions
Hardware used 8
Software used 8
Digi Embedded Yocto 8
MCA firmware 8
Benchmark packages 8
Host requirements 9
General conditions 9
Location and environment 9
Instrumentation 10
SOM power measurements 10
How to calculate SOM power 10
Console cable 10
Measure points 10
Formula 11
Use cases
Low-power modes 12
Power-off 12
Suspend to RAM 12
System idle 13
Active modes 13
Performance tests
CPU 14
CoreMark 14
Memory 14
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perf-bench 14
eMMC 15
IOzone3 15
USB 15
IOzone3 15
Ethernet 16
Environment conditions 16
iPerf3 16
FTP 17
Wi-Fi 18
Environment conditions 18
iPerf3 18
Setup 18
FTP 19
GPU 20
Environment conditions 20
Glmark2 20
VPU 20
Environment conditions 20
Gstreamer video playback (decoding) 21
Audio 21
Environment conditions 21
Audio playback 22
Audio recording 22
Additional information
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Introduction
Introduction
This document characterizes power consumption and performance for the ConnectCore 8M Nano
SOM. It includes detailed measurements representing a variety of use cases and includes
performance tests for key interfaces, including CPU, memory, Wi-Fi, and video and audio playback.
Note This information is provided as a reference on the capabilities of the ConnectCore 8M Nano
platform. You may see different figures due to software or other factors.
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Power architecture Primary input supplies
Power architecture
The following diagram represents the full power architecture distribution of the ConnectCore 8M
Nano module with its three main components:
n The PCA9450 PMIC
n The iMX8M SOC
n The Micro Controller Assist (MCA)
The following diagram shows a typical application:
Primary input supplies
The ConnectCore 8M Nano requires three primary power supply inputs:
n VSYS
n VSYS2
n VCC_MCA
VSYS and VSYS2
VSYS and VSYS2 are the input power supplies to the on-module NXP PCA9450A Power Management IC
(PMIC), as well as to most of its regulators.
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Power architecture PMIC output supplies
Some PMIC regulators are internally dedicated to powering the module, while others power external
circuitry.
VCC_MCA
VCC_MCA is the input power supply of the on-module Digi Microcontroller Assist (MCA).
PMIC output supplies
The PMIC generates many power rails. Most are used internally in the SOM and some are also used
externally:
PMIC power rails Comments Used internally Used externally
1V8 General purpose 1.8V power rail Yes Yes
3V3 General purpose 3.3V power rail Yes Yes
VDDA_1V8 Yes No
MUX_3V3/1V8 Yes No
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