Octavo Systems announced today they have released their OSD3358, the guts of a BeagleBone Black including processor, RAM, power management and 140 passives in a single chip package (system-in-package or SIP).
http://octavosystems.com/2016/05/09/octavo-systems-releases-osd3358-system-package-device/
http://octavosystems.com/2016/05/09/osd3358-new-era-integration/
This means for those looking to do variants of the BeagleBone, your work just got a lot simpler with 142 less parts to source and place on your PCB design. You can potentially also use large mechanical drills and fewer layers on your board. SOMs may have their place for greater customization and even further integration, but this puts the majority of that into a single package using popular traditional assembly methods (pick-and-place and a reflow oven).
This also means that for people doing capes, it might not be so complex to simply integrate this device onto your PCB and make a fully functional system.
Further, for select designs looking to stay highly engaged with the BeagleBoard.org community and maintain as much system compatibility as possible, the BeagleBoard.org logo program (http://beagleboard.org/logo) can help you participate in building the BeagleBoard.org community.
You can probably tell I’m pretty excited about this. No first product is without its warts and I’m sure we’ll hear a few of those soon, but I’ve personally helped do board bring up on some 5 or so designs so far around this chip without a substantial hiccup related to the SIP. It has been super easy to work with and can help save a lot of headaches.
