I.MX


The i.MX range is a family of Freescale Semiconductor proprietary microcontrollers for multimedia applications based on the ARM architecture and focused on low-power consumption. The i.MX application processors are SoCs, that integrate many processing units into one die, like the main CPU, a video processing unit and a graphics processing unit for instance. The i.MX products are qualified for automotive, industrial and consumer markets. Most of them are guaranteed for a production lifetime of 10 to 15 years.
Many devices use i.MX processors, such as Ford Sync, Kobo eReader, Amazon Kindle, Zune, Sony Reader, Onyx Boox readers/tablets, SolidRun SOM's, some Logitech Harmony remote controls and Squeezebox radio, some Toshiba Gigabeat mp4 players. The i.MX range was previously known as the "DragonBall MX" family, the fifth generation of DragonBall microcontrollers. i.MX originally stood for "innovative Multimedia eXtension".
The i.MX solutions consist of hardware and software optimized for the processor.

i.MX 1 series

Launched in 2001/2002, the i.MX / MX-1 series is based on the ARM920T architecture.
The i.MX2x series is a family of processors based on the ARM9 architecture, designed in CMOS 90 nm process.

i.MX 21 family

The i.MX21 family is designed for low power handheld devices. It was launched in 2003.
The i.MX27 family is designed for videotelephony and video surveillance. It was launched in 2007.
The i.MX25 family was launched in 2009. It especially integrates key security features in hardware.
The high-end member of the family, i.MX258, integrates a 400 MHz ARM9 CPU platform + LCDC + security block and supports mDDR-SDRAM at 133 MHz.
The i.MX233 processor, launched in 2009, integrates a Power Management Unit and a stereo audio codec within the silicon. This unique integration removes the need for external power management chip and audio codec chip.
The i.MX28 family was launched in 2010. It especially integrates key security features in hardware, an ADC and the power management unit. It supports mDDR, LV-DDR2, DDR2-SDRAM at 200 MHz.
The i.MX3x series is a family of processors based on the ARM11 architecture, designed in CMOS 90 nm process.

i.MX 31 family

The i.MX31 was launched in 2005. It integrates a 532 MHz ARM1136JF-S CPU platform + Video Processing Unit + 3D GPU + IPU + security block. It supports mDDR-SDRAM at 133 MHz. The 3D and VPU acceleration is provided by the PowerVR MBX Lite.
The i.MX37 processor is designed for Portable Media Players. It was launched in 2008.
It supports mDDR-SDRAM at 133 MHz.

i.MX 35 family

The i.MX35 family is the replacement of i.MX31. It was launched in 2009. The high-end member of the family, i.MX357, integrates a 532 MHz ARM1136J-S CPU platform + 2.5D GPU + IPU + security block. It supports DDR2-SDRAM at 133 MHz.
The i.MX5x series is based on the ARM Cortex A8 core. It comprises two families: the i.MX51 family and the i.MX50 family. It is designed in CMOS 65 nm process. Freescale licensed ATI's Imageon technology in 2007, and some i.MX5 models include an Imageon z460 GPU.

i.MX 51 family

The high-end member of the family, i.MX515, integrates an 800 MHz ARM Cortex A8 CPU platform + multi-format HD 720p decode / D1 encode hardware video codecs + Imageon 3D GPU + 2.5D GPU + IPU + security block. It especially supports DDR2 SDRAM at 200 MHz. The imx51 family was launched in 2009.
The i.MX508 processor is the result of Freescale collaboration with E Ink. It is dedicated for eReaders. Launched in 2010, it integrates the E Ink display controller within the silicon to save both BOM cost and space on the PCB. It especially supports LP-DDR2 SDRAM at 400 MHz.
i.MX535 was announced in June 2010. Shipped since the first quarter of 2011.
The i.MX 6 series are based on the ARM Cortex A9 solo, dual or quad cores and typically comes with one or more Vivante GPUs. It is designed in CMOS 40 nm process.
i.MX 6 Solo, Dual and Quad were announced in January 2011, during Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
NameClock speedCPU coresL2 cache
in kB		Embedded
SRAM in kB		3D GPU / shaders /
shader clock in MHz		2D GPUVector GPUVPUother graphics coresother cores
i.MX 6 ULL528 MHz
1128128security
i.MX 6 UltraLite528/696 MHz
1128128security
i.MX 6 SLL800 MHz/1.0 GHz1256128security
i.MX 6 SoloLite1.0 GHz1256128Vivante GC320Vivante GC355security
i.MX 6 SoloX1.0 GHz1256128 / 1 / 720Vivante GC320Vivante GC355Cortex-M4 core, security
i.MX 6 Solo1.0 GHz1512128 / 1 / 528Vivante GC320Full HD security
i.MX 6 DualLite1.0 GHz2512128 / 1 / 528Vivante GC320Full HD security
i.MX 6 Dual1.2 GHz21024256 / 4 / 594Vivante GC320Vivante GC355Full HD security
i.MX 6 Quad1.2 GHz41024256 / 4 / 594Vivante GC320Vivante GC355dual Full HD security
i.MX 6 DualPlus1.0 GHz21024512 / 4 / 720Vivante GC320Vivante GC355Full HD security
i.MX 6 QuadPlus1.0 GHz41024512 / 4 / 720Vivante GC320Vivante GC355dual Full HD security

The i.MX 7 series is based on the low-power ARM Cortex A7 CPU core with a secondary ARM Cortex M4 real-time co-processor. It is designed 28 nm fully depleted silicon-on-insulator process. So far only low-powered single and dual-core models, designed for IoT applications have been released. i.MX 7Solo and i.MX 7Dual were announced in September 2013.
NameClock speed CPU coresL2 cache 3D GPU2D GPUVector GPUVPUother graphics coresother cores
i.MX 7Solo8001512----PXPSecondary CPU – ARM Cortex M4 real-time co-processor
i.MX 7Dual10002512----PXPSecondary CPU – ARM Cortex M4 real-time co-processor

i.MX 8 series

There are three major different series of the i.MX 8:
Each series differs significantly from each other and are not pin compatible. Within each series some versions are pin compatible.
Each series also has a suffix such as Quad, Dual, Plus, Max or a combination thereof, for example: QuadMax or DualPlus. The i.MX 8 series has many variants but it is not clear how the name corresponds to a feature set. In previous CPU series the naming convention clearly corresponds to a function or feature set, but this is not the case with i.MX 8.
The i.MX 8 series was announced in September 2013 and is based on the ARMv8-A 64-bit CPU architecture. NXP have written that the i.MX 8 series is designed for Driver Information Systems and applications have been released.
In May 2016 the i.MX 8 became available as a multisensory enablement kit based on i.MX 8. Slides from NXP FTF found on the web indicated an initial total of 5 variants with varying the CPU and GPU capabilities. The CPU was suggested to include varying counts of Cortex-A72, Cortex-A53 and Cortex-M4, while the GPU is either 1 or 2 units of the Vivante GC7000VX. Other publications supported this general image, some even including photos of an evaluation kit that is named "Multisensory Enablement Kit" that got later promoted as a development support product by NXP.
The i.MX 8 was announced Q1 2017, based around 3 products. Two variants include four Cortex-A53. All versions includes one or two Cortex-A72 CPU cores and all versions includes two Cortex-M4F CPU cores.
All i.MX 8 SoCs include Vivante GC7000 Series GPUs. The QuadPlus is using GC7000Lite cores, while the 'QuadMax' includes two full GC7000 GPUs.
NameClock speed CPU coresL2 cacheGPUVPUOther cores
i.MX 8 QuadMax1.2 GHz + 1.6 GHz4× Cortex-A53 + 2× Cortex-A722× 1 MB2× Vivante GC7000/XSVXH.265 decode 4K/2K, H.264 encode/decode 1080p2× Cortex-M4F
i.MX 8 QuadPlus1.2 GHz + 1.6 GHz4× Cortex-A53 + 1× Cortex-A722× 1 MB2× Vivante GC7000Lite/XSVXH.265 decode 4K/2K, H.264 encode/decode 1080p2× Cortex-M4F
i.MX 8 DualMax1.6 GHz2× Cortex-A721 MB1× Vivante GC7000/XSVXH.265 decode 4K/2K, H.264 encode/decode 1080p2× Cortex-M4F

Standard Key Features: Advanced Security, Ethernet with AVB, USB 3.0 with PHY, MMC/SDIO, UART, SPI, I²C, I²S, Timers, Secure RTC, Media Processor Engine, Integrated Power Management.
*pre-production

i.MX 8

Main features
The i.MX 8M series were announced on January 4 at CES 2017. Main features:
FeatureARM coreARM coreAudioGPUVPUCamera
i.MX 8M Dual2× 1.5 GHz Cortex-A531× Cortex-M4F20 channels in/out;
32-bit up to 384 kHz, with DSD512 support		GC7000Lite4Kp60, H.265 and VP92× MIPI-CSI
i.MX 8M Quad4× 1.5 GHz Cortex-A531× Cortex-M4F20 channels in/out;
32-bit up to 384 kHz, with DSD512 support		GC7000Lite4Kp60, H.265 and VP92× MIPI-CSI
i.MX 8M QuadLite4× 1.5 GHz Cortex-A531× Cortex-M4F20 channels in/out;
32-bit up to 384 kHz, with DSD512 support		GC7000Lite-2× MIPI-CSI
i.MX 8M Solo1× 1.5 GHz Cortex-A531× Cortex-M4F20 channels in/out;
32-bit up to 384 kHz, with DSD512 support		GC7000nanoULTRA--

i.MX 8M Mini

The i.MX 8M Mini is NXP's first embedded multi-core heterogeneous applications processors built using advanced 14LPC FinFET process technology. The i.MX 8M Mini family of processors brings together high-performance computing, power efficiency, enhanced system reliability and embedded security needed to drive the growth of fast-growing edge node computing, streaming multimedia, and machine learning applications.
At the heart is a scalable core complex of up to four Arm Cortex-A53 cores running up to 2 GHz plus Cortex-M4 based real-time processing domain at 400+MHz. i.MX 8M Mini core options are optimized for low-power but offer the breadth of processing power necessary for consumer, audio, industrial, machine learning training and inferencing across a range of cloud providers. The i.MX 8M Mini also packs-in hardware 1080p video acceleration to enable two-way video applications, 2D and 3D graphics to provide a rich visual HMI experience, and advanced audio capabilities to enable audio-rich applications. An extensive selection of high-speed interfaces enabling broader system connectivity, and targeting industrial level qualification, the i.MX 8M Mini family may be used in any general embedded consumer and industrial application.
Features
FeatureARM coreARM coreDRAMAudioGPUVideo DecodeVideo EncodeDisplayCameraUSB with PHY
i.MX 8M Mini1×, 2× or 4× Cortex-A531× Cortex-M4F32-bit LPDDR4/DDR4/DDR320x I2S
32-bit up to 384 kHz with DSD512 and TDM support
8-ch PDM microphone inputs		2D and 3D Graphics1080p60 H.265, H.264, VP8, VP91080p60 H.264, VP81x MIPI-DSI1x MIPI-CSI1x PCIe 2.0
3x SDIO/eMMC
2x USB 2.0
1x GbE
i.MX 8M Mini Lite1×, 2× or 4× Cortex-A531× Cortex-M4F32-bit LPDDR4/DDR4/DDR320x I2S
32-bit up to 384 kHz with DSD512 and TDM support
8-ch PDM microphone inputs		2D and 3D Graphics--1x MIPI-DSI1x MIPI-CSI1x PCIe 2.0
3x SDIO/eMMC
2x USB 2.0
1x GbE

i.MX 8X

The i.MX 8X series were announced on March 14, 2017. Main features:
For the automotive market a very similar series currently using ARM Cortex-A53 and/or ARM Cortex-M4 cores got presented in mid-2015 using the prefix S32.

Software support

Freescale proposes a layered approach of software with selection of software components optimized for its chips. The i.MX board support packages, common across all i.MX nodes, consists of kernel optimization, hardware drivers and unit tests. The company also provides a portfolio of multimedia Codecs. The i.MX solution also includes middleware with reuse of open source frameworks like multimedia framework plugins, power management, security/DRM or graphics.
All software solutions for i.MX are publicly available on the company website.

Linux

Freescale i.MX development kits include a Linux software stack with a GNOME Mobile environment.
On the i.MX51 family, the reference user interface is Ubuntu. The last Ubuntu version supported is 10.04.1. Ubuntu dropped the "official" i.MX51 family support since version 10.10. Since Ubuntu 11.10 support for the i.MX53 Quickstart board is available as a preinstalled desktop or server SD card.
The OpenEmbedded Linux distribution supports several i.MX platforms.
Commercial Linux support is available from companies like Lanedo, TimeSys, MontaVista, Wind River Systems and Mentor Graphics.

FreeBSD

Support for the Freescale i.MX51 was added to FreeBSD on 2013-03-20. Support for other members of the i.MX5 family has been added since.
Support for the Freescale i.MX 6 family was added to FreeBSD on 2013-10-31.

NetBSD

6.0 comes with support for the Freescale i.MX51. In version 7.0, support for i.MX 6 based boards was added.

OpenBSD

Support for the FreeScale's i.MX 6 series SoC was added to OpenBSD's head on the 2013-09-06.

RISC-OS

i.MX support in RISC-OS has been available since 2019.

Windows CE

Freescale i.MX development kits include WinCE.

Android

In February 2010, Freescale launched an Android platform for the i.MX5x family.

Chromium

In early 2010 Freescale demoed Chromium OS running on the i.MX515 processor. The company has not disclosed any further plans about Chromium or Chrome.

Real-time OS

Freescale has a range of partners providing real-time operating systems and software solutions running on the i.MX processors, such as Trinity Convergence, Adeneo, Thundersoft, Intrinsyc, Wind River Systems, QNX, Green Hills and Mentor Graphics.

wolfSSL

includes support for i.MX6 following all versions after wolfSSL v3.14.0. wolfSSL also provides additional support for using the Cryptographic Assistance and Assurance Module on the i.MX6.