Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5

For embedded processing Raspberry Pi has revealed the 55 x 40mm ‘Compute Module’ form of Raspberry Pi 5.

Processing come from a Broadcom BCM2712 with four 2.4GHz Cortex-A76 cores.

All connections to Compute Modules are via two high in count connectors – there are no ‘standard’ interface connectors.

There are multiple ram and flash options, and an optional wireless module for 2.4GHz and 5GHz IEEE 802.11 b/g/n/ac (Wi-Fi) and Bluetooth 5.0, with an on-board electronic switch to select the PCB trace antenna or an external antenna.

Ram options are: 1, 2, 4, 8 or 16Gbyte LPDDR4-4267 with ECC error corrrection.

Flash options are eMMC of 8, 16 or 32Gbyte, or no eMMC flash in the ‘CM5Lite’ model. “Peak eMMC bandwidth is 400Mbit/s, ffour times as fast as previous Compute Modules,” according to the company.

For displays, 4kp60 HEVC decoding, OpenGL ES 3.1 graphics and Vulkan 1.2 are supported, as are two HDMI 2.0 connections for dual simultaneous 4Kp60 monitors.

A DPI interface is available for parallel RGB displays, and there are two 4-lane MIPI ports for DSI displays, or CSI-2 cameras.

Other wired interfaces include: Gbit Ethernet (IEEE 1588), 1-lane Gen 2 (5Gbit/s) PCIe host, USB 2.0, 2x USB 3.0 (simultaneous 5Gbit/s), up to 30x GPIO (1.8 or 3.3V signalling), up to 5x UART, up to 5x I²C, up to 5x SPI, SDIO, I²S, up to 4x PWM, and .

An on-board real-time clock is provided, that needs an external battery.

5V power is required at 5A and the module needs a heatsink (above left)

As a design example, for prototyping, and to make a stand-alone computer, a matching ‘Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 IO Board’ has been designed to provide the CM5 with standard interface connectors and a place for the RTC battery.

Measuring 90 x 160mm, it takes in 5V 5A USB-C power and provides connections for: 2x HDMI 2.0 (full-size), Gigabit Ethernet with Pow (RJ45), 2x USB 3, microSD card socket (for CM5Lite), M.2 M-key PCIe, 2x MIPI DSI/CSI-2 (22pin 0.5mm pitch for flat flexy cable), 40pin HAT interface and 4pin fan interface.

Jumpers are provided to disable certain features, and there is a push-button for wake-up and shut-down.

For stand-along use, there will also be a case to accept a CM5 and its IO board.