Simply two months after we discovered of the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4S, one other Compute Module variant has appeared on-line. Twitter person Pi O in your Pocket has photos of a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3 with what seems to be the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W’s SoC package deal. The cryptically named Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3E has been revealed and it appears to be powering a Wallbox electrical car charging level.
Simply taken supply of a shiny @wallboxchargers EV charger and noticed the tremendous shiny new @Raspberry_Pi CM3E in there with its tremendous swanky mixed CPU/RAM package deal 😎 pic.twitter.com/oEUqKPMwTKJune 9, 2022
Proper now the Raspberry Compute Module 4 is probably the most highly effective and wanted Compute Module variant. However you’ll have a job getting your arms on one given the present shortages. For industrial prospects, who worth compatibility and continuation of service over energy, the Compute Module 4 continues to be distant of their improve path.
The Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3E makes use of the older SODIMM type issue, which implies it may be dropped into service boards together with the official IO board and a few third-party boards. Within the photos we are able to see the Compute Module 3E getting used with Wallbox’s personal service board, designed to be used in its vary of EV charging stations. The service board appears to have an IDE connector. Utilizing an IDE drive appears to be a stretch of the creativeness, so our greatest guess is that it’s a GPIO breakout for the 40 pin GPIO.
From a cursory search of the Raspberry Pi web site we discovered no data on this new board. We additionally checked out Raspberry Pi’s GitHub web page, the identical web page which highlighted the existence of the Compute Module 4S, however alas we could not discover any data on the Compute Module 3E. Even trying contained in the Compute Module 3 machine overlay returned nothing. So let’s perform a little detective work primarily based on what we are able to see.
The system on chip (SoC) reference matches that of the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W. RP3A0-AU is similar SoC that introduced a lot wanted efficiency to the Zero type issue. Granted it was considerably missing in RAM, however the RP3A0-AU has the CPU energy equal of the Raspberry Pi 3 however in a a lot smaller type issue. On the reverse of the Compute Module 3E we are able to see a Samsung KLM8G1GETF-B041 eMMC chip with 8GB of storage, loads of storage for a fundamental Raspberry Pi OS Lite set up, or a customized OS primarily based on a server picture. Additionally on the reverse of the Compute Module 3E is an information code, 4221, figuring out that the PCB was made within the thirty second week of 2021, and it was made in PRC (Folks’s Republic of China). So this isn’t a UK-made board from Sony’s Pencoed manufacturing unit, the location the place tens of millions of Raspberry Pi have been made.
| Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3E | Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W | Raspberry Pi 3 | Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | BCM2835 Arm v7 Quad Core Arm Cortex A53 operating at 1 GHz? | BCM2835 Arm v7 Quad Core Arm Cortex A53 operating at 1 GHz | Quad Core 1.2GHz Broadcom BCM2837 64bit CPU | Quad Core 1.2GHz Broadcom BCM2837 64bit CPU |
| RAM | 512MB LPDDR2? | 512MB LPDDR2 | 1GB | 1GB |
| GPIO | Through SODIMM | Commonplace 40 Pin (unsoldered) | Commonplace 40 Pin | Through SODIMM |
| Connectors | Service board dependent | Mini HDMI Micro USB energy Micro USB 2.0 knowledge Digital camera connector (Requires adapter) | 4 x USB 2.0, Ethernet, HDMI, Composite, Micro USB energy | Service board dependent |
| Wi-Fi / Bluetooth | None that may be seen | 2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi with PCB antenna Bluetooth 4.1, BLE | BCM43438 wi-fi LAN and Bluetooth Low Power (BLE) | Service board dependent |
| Dimensions | 67.6 x 31 mm | 65 x 30mm | 85 x 56mm | 67.6 x 31 mm |
If we assume the RP3A0-AU SoC is similar, the Compute Module 3E seems to be a good match for the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W. We should always have 4 competent Arm CPU cores operating at 1 GHz, and a moderately meagre 512MB of RAM. Sufficient for an embedded software, however not one thing that we’d actively search for residence use.
The use of the Compute Module 3E in Wallbox’s EV charging stations is nothing new, however this variant is and we are able to solely assume that the Compute Module 3E is an industrial solely product, which leads us on to a different variant that caught our eye.
There’s one other “industrial” Pi, the Compute Module 4S. Primarily, it’s the Compute Module 4, crammed into the older SODIMM type issue. Granted we do not get the total Compute Module 4 expertise. We’re restricted to 1GB of RAM and there’s no Wi-Fi. However we do get the total Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core 64-bit Cortex-A72 (Arm v8) CPU operating at 1.5 GHz. Industrial prospects wishing so as to add somewhat extra “oomph” to their merchandise with out the additional price of latest service boards could select this improve path.
We now have contacted Raspberry Pi for remark and are awaiting affirmation of our findings. This story will probably be up to date as soon as we’ve extra data.