AM26x Hardware Design Guidelines

Abstract

The AM26x Hardware Design Guidelines is an essential document for hardware designers creating PCB systems based on the AM26x family of MCU devices. This document serves to integrate device-specific schematic and PCB layout recommendations by utilizing hardware design examples from the various AM263x, AM263Px, and AM261x evaluation modules (EVMs). The AM26x EVMs include the following hardware platforms:

Table 1-1 AM26x Evaluation Module (EVM) Platforms

Device Family	Hardware Platform
Device Family	LaunchPad	ControlCARD	System on Module (SOM)
AM263x	LP-AM263	TMDSCNCD263
AM263Px	LP-AM263P	TMDSCNCD263P
AM261x	LP-AM261		AM261-SOM-EVM

In general, AM26x LaunchPads are lower-cost, entry-level evaluation platforms, while ControlCARDs and SOMs are meant for engineers designing complex systems with higher I/O requirements.

Additional collateral documents and tools can be found in References.

Trademarks

Sitara™ is a trademark of Texas Instruments.

Arm® and Cortex® are registered trademarks of Arm Limited (or its subsidiaries) in the US and/or elsewhere.

All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

1 Introduction

The AM263x, AM263Px, and AM261x devices are single, dual, or quad-core Arm® Cortex®-R5F based MCUs in the Sitara™ MCU family intended for industrial and automotive motion control applications.

Note: In this document, AM26x refers to the TI Sitara™ MCU family of high-performance microcontrollers. This includes the AM263x, AM263Px, and AM261x devices. Device-specific references are denoted by the full general product number (AM263x, AM263Px, AM261x), while general device information are denoted by AM26x.

A typical AM26x design with a discrete power design is shown in Figure 1-1. This diagram is excerpted from the AM263x LaunchPad (LP-AM263) system block diagram.

A typical AM26x design with a Power Management Integrated Circuit (PMIC)-based power design is shown in Figure 1-2. This diagram is excerpted from the AM263Px controlCard (TMDSCNCD263P) system block diagram.

A typical AM261x design with a smaller footprint PMIC is shown in Figure 1-3. This diagram is taken from the AM261x LaunchPad (LP-AM261) system block diagram.

As seen in the following block diagrams, the AM26x devices offer designers a wide range of digital connectivity, control and analog sensor feedback options with multiple power design options supported.

Note: The current requirement for the System Voltage to 1.2V Buck Converter for AM263x, AM263Px is 3A. For AM261x, the current limit is 2A.

Figure 1-1 Typical AM26x System Block Diagram with Discrete Power (Based on LP-AM263 Launchpad Design)

Note: For AM263x, AM263Px, the 1.2V DC/DC converter must output 3A. For AM261x, the DC/DC converter must be current limited to 2A.

Figure 1-2 Typical AM26x System Block Diagram with PMIC Power (Based on TMDSCNCD263P controlCard Design)

Note: Due to the current output of the Buck_3 of the TPS6503600 (2A), this system block diagram is only applicable to AM261x systems.

Figure 1-3 Typical AM261x System Block Diagram with PMIC Power (Based on LP-AM261 Design)

This document must be referenced along with the other key AM26x collateral references. See Section 16 for a complete list of supplementary documents for the AM26x MCU devices.

Table 1-1 Acronyms Used in This Document

Acronym	Description
EVM	Evaluation Module. Referencing TI PCB assemblies such as the AM263x controlCard (TMDSCNCD263) or AM263x LaunchPad (LP-AM263).
PDN	Power Distribution Network. The active and passive components providing regulated power to a load such as the AM263x MCU power pins.
EMI	Electromagnetic Interference
PI	Power Integrity
SI	Signal Integrity
BOM	Bill of Materials
PMIC	Power Management Integrated Circuit
SOM	System on Module
LP	LaunchPad
SoC	System on a Chip