Joshua Platform
Texas Instruments Sitara AM family platform designed for industrial automation, real-time control, and deterministic networking with integrated PRU-ICSS subsystem.
Reference Hardware Designs
Processor Options
- • TI AM6254 / AM6252 / AM6231
- • TI AM2434 / AM2432 / AM2431
- • TI AM6442 / AM6441 / AM6421
- • ARM Cortex-A53 (up to 4 cores @ 1.4GHz)
- • ARM Cortex-R5F (up to 2 cores @ 800MHz)
- • ARM Cortex-M4F MCU subsystem
- • PRU-ICSS (2x PRU cores per instance)
Memory & Storage
- • 512MB to 4GB DDR4 RAM
- • 16MB to 256MB OSPI NOR Flash
- • eMMC 5.1 (8GB to 64GB)
- • SD/MMC card interface
- • GPMC for parallel NOR/NAND
- • On-chip SRAM (TCM, OCRAM)
- • ECC support for mission-critical
Industrial Networking
- • Gigabit Ethernet with TSN support
- • PRU-ICSS for industrial Ethernet
- • EtherCAT SubDevice support
- • PROFINET IRT support
- • EtherNet/IP adapter
- • PROFIBUS DP
- • IEEE 1588 PTP, gPTP
Control Interfaces
- • CAN FD (up to 6 instances)
- • MCAN with ECC
- • UART (up to 10 instances)
- • I2C (up to 6 instances)
- • SPI/QSPI (up to 5 instances)
- • McASP audio interfaces
- • eCAP, eQEP, ePWM modules
Motor Control & Analog
- • Enhanced PWM (up to 9 modules)
- • eQEP for encoder interface
- • eCAP for capture/APWM
- • 12-bit ADC (up to 4 modules)
- • Sigma-Delta filter (SDFM)
- • Comparator subsystem
- • DAC for analog output
Connectivity & Display
- • USB 2.0/3.0 (Host/Device/DRD)
- • PCIe Gen 3 (Root Complex/EP)
- • HDMI/DisplayPort output
- • LVDS display interface
- • Parallel RGB display
- • Camera (CSI-2, Parallel)
- • GPIO with interrupt support
Operating Systems
Embedded Linux (Yocto)
Distribution & Kernel
- • TI Processor SDK Linux (Yocto-based)
- • Linux kernel 6.1 LTS with TI patches
- • PREEMPT_RT real-time patches
- • Mainline support for newer SoCs
Bootloader & Security
- • U-Boot with SPL (Secondary Program Loader)
- • TI Foundational Security (TIFS)
- • Secure boot with HS-FS/HS-SE devices
- • Hardware crypto acceleration
Linux Drivers
GPIO, I2C, SPI, UART, CAN FD, USB, Ethernet (CPSW), PCIe, eMMC/SD, OSPI, GPMC, Display (DSS), Camera (CAL/CSI2RX), Audio (McASP), ADC, PWM (EPWM), eQEP, eCAP, Crypto, DMAENGINE, PRU-ICSS remoteproc
TI-RTOS / FreeRTOS
RTOS Options
- • FreeRTOS on Cortex-R5F/M4F
- • TI-RTOS (SYS/BIOS) support
- • No-RTOS bare-metal option
- • SafeRTOS for functional safety
MCU+ SDK Components
- • Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL)
- • Industrial protocol stacks
- • Motor control libraries
- • IPC for multi-core communication
RTOS Drivers
GPIO, I2C, SPI, UART, MCAN, Timer, EPWM, eQEP, eCAP, ADC, SDFM, CMPSS, DAC, UDMA, IPC, Watchdog, ESM (Error Signaling Module)
PRU-ICSS Subsystem
PRU Cores
- • 32-bit RISC cores @ 333MHz
- • Deterministic execution (5ns/instruction)
- • Direct GPIO manipulation
- • Shared memory with ARM cores
Industrial Ethernet
- • EtherCAT SubDevice
- • PROFINET IRT Device
- • EtherNet/IP Adapter
- • HSR/PRP redundancy
Custom Protocols
- • Sigma-Delta interface
- • EnDat 2.2 / BiSS-C encoders
- • SENT (SAE J2716)
- • Custom bit-banging protocols
Middleware & Frameworks
Industrial Protocols
- • EtherCAT - SubDevice stack
- • PROFINET - IRT Device
- • EtherNet/IP - Adapter
- • Modbus - TCP/RTU
- • OPC UA - Server/Client
- • CANopen - Stack
- • IO-Link - Master
Communication
- • DDS - Real-time pub/sub
- • ROS 2 - Robot middleware
- • MQTT - IoT messaging
- • gRPC - Service calls
- • REST APIs - Web services
- • WebSocket - Real-time web
- • TSN - Time-sensitive networking
Motor Control
- • FOC - Field-Oriented Control
- • DTC - Direct Torque Control
- • V/Hz - Scalar control
- • Position Control - Servo
- • MotorControl SDK - TI libraries
- • InstaSPIN-FOC - Sensorless
- • FAST estimator - Observer
Development
- • Rust - Safe embedded
- • Docker - Containers
- • Zephyr RTOS - IoT OS
- • Qt - GUI framework
- • Node-RED - Flow programming
- • EdgeX Foundry - IoT edge
- • AWS Greengrass - Cloud edge
Functional Safety Features
Safety Certifications
- • IEC 61508 SIL 2/3 capable
- • ISO 13849 PLd/PLe
- • IEC 62443 cybersecurity
- • ISO 26262 ASIL B/D (automotive)
- • TÜV certified safety packages
Hardware Safety
- • Dual-core lockstep (R5F)
- • ECC on memories (SRAM, DDR)
- • Error Signaling Module (ESM)
- • Built-in Self Test (BIST)
- • Watchdog timers (RTI)
Safety Software
- • SafeRTOS certified kernel
- • Safety diagnostic libraries
- • MCAL AUTOSAR drivers
- • FMEA/FTA documentation
- • Safety manual & FMEDA
Application Areas
Industrial Drives
AC/DC motor drives, servo drives, VFDs, spindle drives, multi-axis motion control, industrial robots
PLCs & Controllers
Programmable logic controllers, PACs, remote I/O, distributed control systems, safety PLCs
Factory Automation
CNC machines, pick-and-place, conveyor systems, packaging machines, assembly lines
Grid Infrastructure
Solar inverters, grid-tie inverters, protection relays, smart meters, substation automation
Test & Measurement
Data acquisition, oscilloscopes, signal generators, protocol analyzers, industrial testers
HMI & Edge Gateways
Industrial HMIs, edge computing nodes, protocol converters, IIoT gateways, SCADA interfaces