Radxa Targets Space-Constrained Edge AI with the Powerful NX5 System-on-Module

Radxa has announced the impending launch of the NX5, a high-performance eight-core 260-pin SODIMM system-on-module (SOM) with built-in AI acceleration and up to 16GB of RAM, promising up to six tera-operations per second (TOPS) of dedicated compute for on-device edge artificial intelligence (edge AI).

Designed for embedded projects which need to combine high performance and a small form factor, the Radxa NX5 — brought to our attention by Linux Gizmos — is built around the Rockchip RK35488S system-on-chip (SOC). That gives it some impressive specifications: four Arm Cortex-A76 cores running at up to 2.4GHz, with sufficient cooling, alongside four Cortex-A55 cores running at 1.8GHz, an Arm Mali-G610 MP4 graphics processor, and a neural processing unit (NPU) offering INT4, INT8, INT16, FP16, BF16, and TF32 precision support and up to a claimed six tera-operations per second (TOPS) of compute for edge AI workloads.

To this, Radxa has added 1GB, 4GB, 8GB, or a generous 16GB of LPDDR4x RAM, depending on model purchased, and 4GB to 512GB of optional eMMC storage. There's an on-board gigabit Ethernet PHY, MIPI Camera Serial Interface (CSI) configurable as two two-lane or one four-lane connection, a two-lane MIPI D/C PHY receive and a four-lane D/C-PHY receive connection, up to two I2S, two PDM, and two S/PDIF transmit audio signals, two USB 2.0 ports, one USB 3.0 port, and an additional USB 3.0 On-The-Go (OTG) port, and two SATA ports — though these come with a proviso attached.

One of the module's two SATA ports is shared with the module's only free PCI Express Gen. 2 lane, meaning that if you want to connect a PCIe device you'll lose one of the two SATA ports; the second, meanwhile, is shared with the USB 3.0 port — or you can disable both the USB 3.0 and SATA ports and gain a second PCIe 2.0 lane. For displays, there's a single HDMI output supporting 8k60 displays, an embedded DisplayPort (eDP) supporting 4k60, a DisplayPort on the USB OTG port supporting 8k30, and a two-lane MIPI D/C PHY transmit connection.

On the general-purpose input/output (GPIO) front, the module offers a range of pins including up to 15 GPIO pins with pulse-width modulation (PWM) support, up to 10 UART, five SPI, seven I2C, and three CAN buses. There's also support for on-board SPI flash — though this, Radxa explains, is an after-market add-on which will need to be soldered in place by the buyer if required.

While Radxa's product page still lists the device as coming soon, though, reseller Arace Tech has listed the bare module at $70 for a 4GB/32GB model, $100 for 8GB/64GB, and $140 for 16GB/128GB; a passive heatsink is available for $5 extra. The company has also announced a kit which bundles a 4GB/32GB module with a carrier board, heatsink, and small cooling fan for $99.