What I kind of have missed (which is easy with 1000+ replies) is that nothing has seems to have been discussed about all those header-pins on the main board. Also I did kind of miss a discussion about the boards layout. I'm not an electronics engineer but I roughly divide the main board into:
Powersupply and regulation circuits I think that's what the area between the ATX-like connector and the first set of memory connectors is about. Correct me if I'm wrong. The headers in this area could have something to do with the normal buttons and connectors on your everyday system case.
Processing area This is where, probably, the SOC is situated. Between the two sets of memory connectors.
I/O area The area between the second set of memory connectors and the USB ports / audio connectors. I guess here the raw signal processing is done for USB / Ethernet / Audio communication. The actual data processing probably is done by the SOC.
Expansion area The are with the PCI / PCIe and Xorro connectors. The majority of the slots seem to be directly driven by the SOC. The last two rows of connectors could be influenced / driven by the FPGA (?) which seems to be present between the CF-Connector and the slots. Using an FPGA could mean a lot of things, mostly flexibility.
Removable media I/O area What are all these headers for? IDE? SCSI? Floppy? Whatever you want depending on the programming of the FPGA (no visual lines between the SOC and this part). Or the direct connection is over the SATA connectors (which should hint at a IDE connector).
A lot to speculate on from a technology point of view. Man, I'm kind of excited and just have to know... (like all of us)
(seems like Ami603 kind of beat me at this type of post )
Last edited by Amiga_3k on 03-Jan-2010 at 08:51 PM.
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