Tiny, temp-resistant SBC runs Android 6.0 on Snapdragon 820
Apr 3, 2017 — by Eric Brown 3,228 viewsiWave has launched a rugged, 56 x 50mm “iW-RainboW-G25S” SBC with a Snapdragon 820 SoC, up to 6GB of LPDDR4 RAM, up to 128GB eMMC, HDMI, WiFi, BT, and GPS.
The iW-RainboW-G25S single board computer, which iWave also calls the APQ8096 SBC and Snapdragon 820 SBC, runs Android Marshamallow on Qualcomm’s quad-core APQ8096 SoC, better known as the Snapdragon 820. Designed for high-end embedded applications that require high processing power, graphics and multimedia capabilities, the SBC weighs in at a tiny 56 x 50mm and supports -20 to 85°C temperatures.


iW-RainboW-G25S, front and back
(click images to enlarge)
The iW-RainboW-G25S is only the second Snapdragon 820 based SBC we’ve seen after Inforce Computing’s recent Inforce 6640, although a number of 820-based COMs have shipped. The Inforce 6640 has a much larger 100 x 70mm Pico-ITX footprint and a more extensive set of features, but is limited to commercial temperature support. iWave’s more minimalist board omits the GbE port, and depends solely the 802.11ac dual-band radio, which comes on a module that also provides Bluetooth 4.1. A Qualcomm IZat GPS module is also available.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 SoC integrates four 14nm FinFET fabricated “Kyro” cores that roughly mimic the ARMv8 Cortex-A72 design. The Kryo cores — two at 2.15GHz, and two at 1.6GHz — offer up to twice the performance and twice the power efficiency of the Cortex-A57 cores on the Snapdragon 810. There’s also a 624MHz Adreno 530 GPU with up to 40 percent improvement in graphics over the previous Adreno 430. An upgraded Hexagon 680 DSP and a 14-bit Spectra image signal processor (ISP) are also onboard.

iW-RainboW-G25S block diagram
(click image to enlarge)
The iW-RainboW-G25S ships with 3GB of LPDDR4, expandable to 6GB, which is the highest RAM maximum we recall seeing on an ARM-based SBC. You also get 32GB eMMC by default, expandable to 128GB. A microSD slot is also available.
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Real-world coastline ports are limited to a micro-HDMI port, a micro-USB port used for power, and an audio jack. A USB 3.0 port with Type-C connector is said to be optional.
MIPI-DSI and -CSI connectors are available along with some I2C and GPIO on a 30-pin connector. Other features include some tactile switches, a PMIC, and a battery connector.
Specifications listed for the iW-RainboW-G25S SBC include:
- Processor — Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 (4x 64-bit 14nm Kryo cores, with 2x at 2.2GHz and 2x @ 1.6GHz); 624MHz Adreno 530 GPU; Hexagon 680 DSP; 14-bit Spectra ISP)
- Memory/storage:
- 3GB LPDDR4, expandable to 6GB
- 32GB eMMC flash, expandable to 128GB
- MicroSD slot
- Media I/O:
- Micro-HDMI port (4K60 decode, 4K30 encode)
- MIPI-DSI (2-lane, via 30-pin connector)
- MIPI-CSI (4-lane, via 30-pin connector)
- Audio in/out jack (WCD9335 codec)
- Wireless:
- WiFi/BT module — 802.11ac dual-band + Bluetooth 4.1 with int. antenna
- GPS/GNSS module (Qualcomm IZat Gen8C WGR7640) with int. antenna
- Other I/O:
- USB 3.0 host port with Type-C connector (optional)
- Micro-USB 2.0 port for power
- 3x I2C (via 30-pin connector)
- 2x GPIO (via 30-pin connector)
- Console debug header
- Other features — 3x tactile switches
- Power — 5V via micro-USB; PMIC; 3.7V Li-Ion battery connector
- Operating temp. — -20 to 85°C
- Dimensions — 56 x 50mm
- Operating system — Android 6.x (Marshmallow) BSP
Further information
The iW-RainboW-G25S SBC, AKA APQ8096 SBC and Snapdragon 820 SBC, appears to be available for order, with no pricing or shipment information available. More information may be found at iWave’s iW-RainboW-G25S product page.
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