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Core Board

NE503 Hardware Block Diagram

The core processing board hosts the Hailo15H SoC, NPU, memory, and storage subsystems. It exposes expansion interfaces to the interface board via board-to-board connectors. This document describes the hardware resources and pin definitions from a chip-level perspective.

Hardware Resource Overview​

NE503 consists of the following physical modules:

ModuleMain ChipDescription
Core Processing BoardHailo15H SoCSoC, NPU, memory, storage, I2C sensors, PCIe clock, Ethernet PHY
Interface BoardSTM32G0B0RET6MCU managing external IO, power, and peripheral control; TF card slot on board (see Interface Board)
Sensor BoardIMX678-AAQR1-C4K CMOS image sensor, connected via FPC connector
Light Boardβ€”Dual-light board (white/red PWM) + IR light board (near/far-IR PWM)
Lens ModuleAN41908A-VBAAF auto-zoom and autofocus lens driver

The core board and interface board are interconnected via board-to-board connectors: the core board provides native SoC pins, and devices on the interface board are connected to these pins through the connectors.

Interface Overview​

Core board resources are divided into two categories by physical location:

On-Board Resources β€” Physically soldered on the core processing board:

#FunctionChip ModelCategory
1LPDDR4MT53E2G32D4DE-046 WT:CSoC built-in
2eMMCSDINBDA6-64G-HSoC built-in
3QSPI FlashIS25WP064D-JKLESoC built-in
4Temperature SensorTMP1075DSGROn-board I2C
5GyroscopeLSM6DSROn-board I2C
6EEPROMAT24C02DOn-board I2C
7PCIe ClockPI6CG18201On-board I2C
8PCIe & USBHailo15H built-inSoC high-speed
9Ethernet PHYLAN8720AIOn-board RMII

Expansion Resources β€” Physically located on the interface board or external modules, connected through core board connector pins:

#FunctionChip/ModuleConnectionCategory
10Image SensorIMX678-AAQR1-CMIPI CSI-2 + I2C0Internal
11TF Cardβ€”SDIO0 + GPIOProduct
12Debug UARTβ€”UART0Debug
13BOOT Modeβ€”BOOT0/BOOT1Debug
14Lens DriverAN41908A-VBASPI (CS1)Internal
15Audio CodecNAU88C10I2S + I2C0Internal
16Radar Moduleβ€”UART2 + GPIOInternal
17MCU Reset ControlSN74LVC1G14DCKGPIOInternal

SoC Built-in Resources​

The following resources are directly connected via native SoC interfaces and physically soldered on the core processing board.

LPDDR4 (MT53E2G32D4DE-046 WT:C)​

8 GB LPDDR4, 4266 Mb/s, 8.5 GB/s single-channel bandwidth.

PinFunction
DDR_CH0_DQ0 ~ DDR_CH0_DQ15Channel 0 data lines
DDR_CH1_DQ0 ~ DDR_CH1_DQ15Channel 1 data lines
DDR_CH0_CA0 ~ DDR_CH0_CA5Channel 0 command/address lines
DDR_CH1_DQS1N / DDR_CH1_DQS1PChannel 1 data strobe differential pair
DDR_CH0_DQS1N / DDR_CH0_DQS1PChannel 0 data strobe differential pair

eMMC (SDINBDA6-64G-H)​

64 GB eMMC, connected directly to SoC SDIO1 interface.

PinFunction
SDIO1_DAT0Data line 0
SDIO1_DAT1Data line 1
SDIO1_DAT2Data line 2
SDIO1_DAT3Data line 3
SDIO1_CMDCommand line
SDIO1_SDCLKClock line

QSPI Flash (IS25WP064D-JKLE)​

8 MB, Quad SPI protocol, connected directly to SoC H_SPI interface.

PinFunction
H_SPI_DQ0FLASH_DQ0 (Data line 0)
H_SPI_DQ1FLASH_DQ1 (Data line 1)
H_SPI_DQ2FLASH_DQ2 (Data line 2)
H_SPI_DQ3FLASH_DQ3 (Data line 3)
H_SPI_CLKFLASH_CLK (Clock)
H_SPI_CS0FLASH_CS0 (Chip select)

PCIe & USB​

Hailo15H SoC native PCIe Gen4 and USB interfaces. PCIe clock provided by on-board PI6CG18201.

Ethernet PHY (LAN8720AI)​

10/100M Ethernet PHY, IO voltage 1.6V ~ 3.6V, connected to SoC via RMII interface, providing wired network communication.

PinFunctionNote
RMII_RXD0ETH_RMII_RXD0β€”
RMII_RXD1ETH_RMII_RXD1β€”
RMII_RX_ERETH_RMII_RXD2SoC pin mux name
RMII_CRS_DVETH_RMII_RXD3SoC pin mux name
RX_CLKETH_RMII_RX_CLKRMII reference clock 50 MHz
RMII_TXD0ETH_RMII_TXD0β€”
RMII_TXD1ETH_RMII_TXD1β€”
RMII_TX_ENETH_RMII_TXD2SoC pin mux name
MDIOETH_MDIOβ€”
MDCETH_MDCβ€”

On-Board I2C Devices​

The following I2C devices are physically soldered on the core board, allocated by bus. Devices on the same bus are distinguished by different slave addresses.

I2C BusOn-Board DeviceSlave Address
I2C1TMP1075 (Temperature Sensor), AT24C02D (EEPROM), PI6CG18201 (PCIe Clock)0x49, 0x50, 0x6A
I2C2LSM6DSR (Gyroscope)0x6A

Note: PI6CG18201 (I2C1, address 0x6A) and LSM6DSR (I2C2, address 0x6A) are on different I2C buses, so there is no address conflict.

I2C0 bus is routed to the interface board via connectors, connecting IMX678 and NAU88C10 (see Expansion Interfaces below).

Temperature Sensor (TMP1075DSGR)​

I2C1 slave address 0x49, 12-bit resolution, 0.0625Β°C.

PinFunction
H_I2C1_SDAI2C1 data line
H_I2C1_SCLI2C1 clock line

Gyroscope (LSM6DSR)​

I2C2 slave address 0x6A, integrated 3-axis accelerometer (Β±16 g) and 3-axis gyroscope (Β±4000 dps).

PinFunction
I2C2_SDAGPIO_6 (I2C2 data line)
I2C2_SCLGPIO_7 (I2C2 clock line)

EEPROM (AT24C02D)​

I2C1 slave address 0x50, 2 Kb (256 Γ— 8), standby current < 1 Β΅A.

PinFunction
H_I2C1_SDAI2C1 data line
H_I2C1_SCLI2C1 clock line

PCIe Clock Generator (PI6CG18201)​

I2C1 slave address 0x6A, 25 MHz, PCIe Gen4 low jitter 0.3 ps.

PinFunction
H_I2C1_SDAI2C1 data line
H_I2C1_SCLI2C1 clock line

Expansion Interfaces​

The following interfaces are routed through core board connectors. Physical devices are located on the interface board or external modules.

Image Sensor (MIPI CSI-2 + I2C0)​

The core board connects to the image sensor via MIPI CSI-2 data lanes and I2C0 control bus. IMX678-AAQR1-C is located on a separate sensor board, connected via FPC connector. I2C0 slave address 0x10.

PinFunction
CSI0_RX0P ~ CSI0_RX3NMIPI CSI-2 data lanes (4 Lanes)
H_I2C0_SDAI2C0 data line
H_I2C0_SCLI2C0 clock line

Lens Driver (SPI CS1)​

The core board SPI bus is routed via CS1 chip select to connect the AN41908A-VBA AF auto-zoom and autofocus lens driver. Shares SPI bus with QSPI Flash, distinguished by different chip selects. MCU SPI1 also connects to the same chip for homing and limit protection (see Interface Board).

PinFunction
H_SPI_DQ0FLASH_DQ0
H_SPI_DQ1FLASH_DQ1
H_SPI_DQ2FLASH_DQ2
H_SPI_DQ3FLASH_DQ3
H_SPI_CLKFLASH_CLK
H_SPI_CS1FLASH_CS1 (Lens driver chip select)

Note: The function column names FLASH_DQ0 ~ FLASH_DQ3 and FLASH_CLK above come from the SoC QSPI controller pin naming. These pins are connected to the lens driver chip AN41908A via CS1 chip select, sharing the same data and clock lines as the QSPI Flash (CS0), distinguished by different chip select signals.

Audio Codec (I2S + I2C0)​

The core board routes audio channels via I2S data interface and I2C0 control bus, connecting to the NAU88C10 audio codec (located on the interface board). I2C0 slave address 0x1A.

PinFunction
H_I2S_SDII2S data input
H_I2S_SDOI2S data output
H_I2S_WSI2S word select
H_I2S_SCKI2S clock
H_I2C0_SCLI2C0 clock line
H_I2C0_SDAI2C0 data line

UART2 (Radar Module)​

Core board UART2 pins routed via connector for external radar module connection. Pins can be multiplexed as GPIO.

PinFunctionNote
H_GPIO_4UART2_TXCan be multiplexed as GPIO
H_GPIO_6UART2_RXCan be multiplexed as GPIO, shared with I2C2_SDA
SAFETY_FATALSafety fault signalβ€”

SDIO0 (TF Card)​

Core board SDIO0 interface routed via connector to the TF card slot on the interface board, supporting low-speed and high-speed modes.

PinFunction
H_GPIO_17Speed mode control (high = low-speed, low = high-speed)
SDIO0_DAT0Data line 0
SDIO0_DAT1Data line 1
SDIO0_DAT2Data line 2
SDIO0_DAT3Data line 3
SDIO0_CMDCommand line
SDIO0_SDCLKClock line

GPIO (MCU Reset Control)​

Core board GPIO18 pin routed via connector to the SN74LVC1G14DCK reset chip for resetting the interface board MCU (STM32G0B0). In the reverse direction, the MCU can also reset the core processing board via PD8 (POWER_RST) (see Interface Board).

PinFunction
H_GPIO_18Reset control (active high)

Debug Interfaces​

The following interfaces are used for system debugging and firmware flashing, with connectors located on the interface board.

UART0 (Debug Serial Port)​

SoC native UART0, routed via connector for system debugging. This serial port has a dual role: it serves as the SoC debug serial port for system log output and interactive debugging, and also acts as the primary communication channel between the core processing board and the interface board MCU (STM32G0B0).

PinFunction
SOC_UART0_RXDUART0 receive
SOC_UART0_TXDUART0 transmit

BOOT Mode​

SoC boot mode configuration pins, routed via connector.

PinFunction
BOOT0Boot mode select 0
BOOT1Boot mode select 1

SoC BootMode[0:1] configuration:

ModeBOOT[1:0]
QSPI Flash00
PCIe01
UART10