Marvell’s IAP Family Gets a New Addition

June 9, 2016

Marvell’s IoT Application Processor (IAP) family gets a new addition, the IAP220. Its integrated sensor hub extends battery life by allowing the host to sleep while sensor information is read and analyzed.

William G. Wong

Marvell’s IoT Application Processor (IAP) family gets a new addition, the IAP220 (see figure). Its integrated sensor hub extends battery life by allowing the host to sleep while sensor information is read and analyzed. The main processor is a dual-core, 1 GHz Cortex-A7. It also has a Cortex-M4F for real-time control.

Electronicdesign Com Sites Electronicdesign com Files Uploads 2016 06 08 Marvell Iap220 Fig 1

Marvellâs IoT Application Processor (IAP), the IAP220, incorporates an intelligent sensor hub, a Cortex-M4F, and a dual-core Cortex-A7.

The chip is designed for mobile Internet of Things (IoT) applications where low power means longer operational life. The system design employs multiple power domains, while critical areas support state retention. There is a very small, always-on region including a dedicated engine to read off-chip sensors. This allows the Cortex-M4F and dual Cortex-A7 cores to remain in their lowest power mode while sensors provide information. The system is supported by the SmartMe Sensor library. The library support motion sensor fusion, cognitive sensor processing, and gesture control. It can also do health and fitness analysis.

The IAP220 has an DDR3/LP-DDR2/3 memory controller. Flash storage is accessible via the eMMC interface and SDIO port.

The chip includes security hardware support in addition to support for secure boot and secure provisioning. The graphics subsystem supports OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0. The video subsystem provides HD encode and decode support, in addition to H.264, MPEG-4, H.263, and MJPEG support. It can drive an LCD display and supports MIPI video and command modes. The chips can handle a pair of two-lane CSI cameras. The audio support supports multiple PDM microphones and speakers along with I2S and TDM.

The chip is designed to work with Marvell’s Wi-Fi/Bluetooth hardware. The IAP220 development board works with the Marvell Wi-Fi/Bluetooth Connectivity board and the Marvell Sensor board. The development software is built around the Kinoma Javascript engine that supports the HomeKit protocol and links to cloud services like IBM’s Bluemix, Microsoft’s Azure, and Amazon Alexa.

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William G. Wong | Senior Content Director - Electronic Design and Microwaves & RF

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