IZITRON's IZIRUN Modules Offer a Range of STM32 Microcontrollers in an M.2 Form Factor

Open hardware modules offer Arm Cortex-M0, Cortex-M4, or Cortex-M7 cores, plus a range of peripherals — including Ethernet and USB OTG.

UPDATE (6/8/2021): IZITRON has officially launched the IZIRUN crowdfunding campaign, putting a starting price of $30 on the entry-level IZIRUNF0 module, $45 on the IZIRUNF4, and $60 on the IZIRUNF7, while the IZIGOBOARD carrier is priced at $50.

All physical rewards are scheduled to ship in October this year, but come with a caveat: "While we have secured some stock — including PCBs — for our first production batch, we could still face some unexpected delays due to the current supply chain situation," the company warns. "And, if we do, it could affect our delivery estimates. If we encounter any such issues, we will let you know through a campaign update."

Those interested can find out more and back the project on its Crowd Supply page

Original article continues below.

French hardware development firm IZITRON is preparing to launch a family of small form factor boards built around the STMicrolectronics STM32 systems-on-chip — and using the increasingly-popular M.2 connectors to mate with a motherboard.

"IZIRUN modules are compact STM32 boards with lots of built-in peripherals that use the M.2 67-pin connection for external communication via I2C, SPI, CAN, and UART protocols," the company writes of its impending launch. "MCU boards are available in ARM Cortex-M0, -M4, and -M7 to suit your application, and can connect to your own board or to the IZIGOBOARD SHIELD for easy access to MCU board peripherals like Ethernet and GPIO, and additional functionality like USB communication."

At launch, three models are to be available. The IZIRUNF0 is a low-power design built with the Internet of Things (IoT) in mind, powered by an STM32F030CCT6 with Arm Cortex-M0 running at 48MHz, 256kB of on-package flash and a further 512kB external flash, 32kB of RAM, and access to a 16kB EEPROM.

The IZIRUNF4 "mid-level" design switches to the STM32F407VET6, offering an Arm Cortex-M4 core running at 168MHz, 512kB of on-package flash, and 192kB of RAM, along with the same external flash and EEPROM as its lower-power stable-mate — plus an ATA6561 for CAN support and an 8742A for Ethernet networking. The board also increases the number of GPIO pins available to nearly double, and adds USB device support.

Finally, the top-end mode is the IZIRUNF7, using the STM32F769NIH6 to offer a Cortex-M7 core at 216MHz, 2MB of on-package flash, and 532kB of RAM, the same peripherals as the mid-range model, and an additional 8MB of SDRAM. A drop in the number of PWM, ADC, and UARTs available is made up for with the addition of USB On-The-Go (OTG) support, DSI, and DFSDM. All three models, meanwhile, measure 1.38x1.38in.

All three models are compatible with the IZIGOBOARD SHIELD, a carrier board which breaks out the GPIO headers, offers two micro-USB ports for power, UART, and USB host/device where compatible, a screw terminal for connection to a CAN bus, and an RJ45 connector for Ethernet — though, naturally, the features available to the user will depend on the IZIRUN module installed.

More information, and a link to be alerted when the crowdfunding campaign goes live, can be found over on Crowd Supply; source files, meanwhile, have been published to BitBucket.

Gareth Halfacree
Freelance journalist, technical author, hacker, tinkerer, erstwhile sysadmin. For hire: freelance@halfacree.co.uk.
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