SMARC 2.1 modules and carriers
A connector-based module standard built for serviceability and upgrade paths — and a specification with corners that only show up once you have shipped against it.
Fit
When this is the right choice
Choose it when
- The unit will be serviced or upgraded in the field
- You want a customer-replaceable performance upgrade path
- You are still iterating and will swap modules often
- You need PCIe, multiple display outputs, or a high interface count
Look elsewhere when
- The product sees sustained shock or vibration — the connector is the weak point
- Z-height is tightly constrained
- Volume is high and units are returned rather than serviced on site
Engineering
What’s actually hard about it
The parts that decide whether it works on the first spin, and the parts that cost a respin when they are wrong.
Pin-out compliance as a contract
A SMARC module promises a stranger’s carrier will work. The specification has corners where a reasonable reading and the common reading differ — the market expects the common one.
High-speed on a fixed footprint
PCIe, MIPI and Gigabit Ethernet all crossing the same connector, with no freedom to move the BGA.
Thermal as a shared responsibility
Module performance depends on the carrier’s copper. The documentation has to say so, in numbers.
Connector selection and retention
Mating cycles, retention hardware and board-to-board tolerance stack in a real enclosure.
What we have built on it
SMARC 2.1 modules around Renesas RZ/V2M, RZ/N2L and STM32MP2 silicon, together with reference carriers and full-break-out evaluation platforms — pin-out definition, DDR routing, power sequencing and the fabrication package.
Relevant services: System-on-Module design Carrier board design
Got a board to design — or one that won’t boot?
You talk to the engineer who would do the work. Reply within one business day, and we’ll sign your NDA before you go into detail.