company blog about Supply ST Evaluation Board: GNSS Evaluation Board,MCU Evaluation Board,MPU Evaluation Board

Supply ST Evaluation Board: GNSS Evaluation Board,MCU Evaluation Board,MPU Evaluation Board

Shenzhen Mingjiada Electronics Co., Ltd. specialises in the sale of electronic components, with extensive procurement channels and rich supply experience. We not only provide customers with stable and reliable original products but also offer ample inventory, competitive prices, and prompt delivery. We are committed to providing high-quality electronic component supply services to a wide range of end customers and distributors.

Main products: Integrated Circuits (ICs), 5G chips, new energy ICs, IoT chips, Bluetooth chips, automotive chips, artificial intelligence ICs, Ethernet ICs, memory chips, sensors, IGBT modules, etc.

【GNSS Evaluation Board】

The core mission of the GNSS evaluation board is to deliver high-accuracy, high-sensitivity positioning solutions. ST's boards not only integrate multi-mode satellite receiver modules but also ensure stable performance across diverse environments through extensive sensor integration and optimised design.

ST's GNSS solutions emphasise low power consumption, multi-system support, and data fusion. Take the X-STM32MP-GNSS2 expansion board as an example: it transcends being a mere receiver to function as a complete positioning sensor fusion platform.

Core Module: The onboard Teseo-LIV4F standalone GNSS module simultaneously receives and processes signals from major global satellite systems including GPS, Galileo, Glonass, and BeiDou, ensuring worldwide availability.

Sensor Fusion Design: To achieve more precise and reliable positioning (particularly in weak signal environments such as urban canyons or tunnels), the board integrates a complete inertial measurement unit (IMU):

- ISM330DHCX iNEMO Inertial Module: Provides 3-axis acceleration and angular velocity data.

- ILPS22QS Barometer: Utilises built-in Qvar technology to detect barometric pressure changes, aiding altitude measurement.

IIS2MDC Magnetometer: Delivers high-precision 3-axis magnetic data to aid heading determination.

Rapid Development Compatibility: The board offers direct compatibility with STM32MP series MPU mainboards (e.g., STM32MP157F-DK2) or Raspberry Pi via a 40-pin GPIO connector, significantly simplifying hardware integration.

【MCU Evaluation Boards】

MCU evaluation boards serve as fundamental platforms for validating control logic, peripheral functionality, and real-time performance. Typically designed for compactness, rich interfaces, and prioritising power efficiency alongside development ease.

Design Principles and Ecosystem Support

A typical MCU evaluation board design, as exemplified by the solution for NXP's LPC5536, centres around these core modules:

Power Management: Utilises high-efficiency buck regulators (e.g., MPM3610GQV) to supply the digital core, complemented by low-noise LDOs (e.g., ADP150AUJZ) to deliver clean power to sensitive analogue circuits (ADC/DAC). This is critical for system stability and signal accuracy.

Clock System: Incorporates a main system crystal oscillator (e.g., 16MHz) alongside a dedicated 32.768kHz RTC crystal oscillator, balancing high-performance timing requirements with low-power consumption.

Debugging and Storage: Integrates standard SWD/JTAG debug interfaces, often complemented by QSPI interfaces (e.g., W25Q64JV Flash) to expand storage capacity, meeting complex application demands.

Development Toolchain: Taking NXP's MCUXpresso ecosystem as an example, it provides comprehensive software support ranging from integrated development environments (IDEs) and configuration tools to secure programming (SEC), significantly lowering development barriers.

The FRDM-MCXE31B evaluation board exemplifies this approach. Based on the Arm Cortex-M7 core MCX E31B MCU, it incorporates onboard Ethernet PHY and RGB LEDs while achieving exceptional expandability through Arduino and Pmod-compatible interfaces. Its pre-programmed demonstration applications enable developers to ‘test out of the box’.

【MPU Evaluation Boards】

MPU evaluation boards target applications running complex operating systems like Linux, requiring robust computational power, large memory capacity, and high-speed peripheral interfaces. They typically adopt a modular ‘core board + expansion board’ design.

ST's STM32MP157F-DK2 exemplifies a heterogeneous MPU evaluation board, where the Cortex-A7 core handles upper-layer applications while the Cortex-M4 core manages real-time tasks. This architecture enables efficient energy management in industrial control applications.

By contrast, Renesas' RZ/V2H-EVK represents ultimate performance for vision AI. Optimised for low-power AI inference, it features 8GB LPDDR4X memory and extensive video interfaces, making it suitable for processing 4K video streams and real-time image recognition. The EK-RZ/A3M, meanwhile, focuses on HMI applications. Its key feature is the integrated graphics engine with a built-in LCD screen, facilitating rapid user interface development.