Since the beginning of the raspberry, it has always been the benchmark of the open source board. Most open source hardware boards on the market are designed with Raspberry Party. It is absolutely a faithful "hardcore powder" in which Banana Pi is definitely. It has been moderate, and now, with the continuous upgrade of the Raspberry Pivot, Banana Pi (evaluation) has finally ushered in a slight increase. First, the name is changed to Banana Pro, which sounds very embossed, but the real performance is maintained. ( Full-like A20 handling SOC), only functional and appearances have slight upgrades. In fact, Banana Pro appear quite a very embarrassing, it can be said that it is a raspberry part that has just been launched, why do you talk? Please take me slowly.
First, it seems that this "appearance order" should be like this: Raspberry Pie B -. 1882.Banana Pi -. 1882. Raspberry Parts B + -. 1882. Banana Pro -. 1882. Tree Raspberry 2, and according to the script setting, Banana Pro originals the opponent should be the Raspberry Party B +, perhaps the retrieval treasurer b + change is not large, so Banana Pro is just a slight change upgrade, the result is a raspberry The Foundation did not pay the card according to the normal executive, and the bottom of the bottom of the raspberry section was launched, and the performance was doubled directly on the basis of the Raspberry Piva B +. This 360-degree Jedi counterattack can I want to know Banana PRO. Have more wroth. Fortunately, Banana Pi has a good old man, which makes the entire performance of the entire board, but it is not repeated compared to the absolute advantage of the BBB. However, it is worth mentioning that Banana Pro is functionally innovative, the board WiFi module is unique, and it highlights the differentiated characteristics of its own products compared to other open source board computers. Other functions and improvements in the appearance, for engineers, Banana Pro remains a nice open source board computer.
Banana Pro
Said so much, let's take a look at the true face of Banana Pro's Lushan.
The Banana Pro box is very simple, simple, a single-handed banana party logo, and the design team Lemexy Client (Lemaker) is just right. In the box, a Banana Pro, a WiFi antenna wrapped with a static electric bag, and a document.
Looking carefully, Banana Pro has a change in the upgrade of Banana Pi with the upgrade of Raspberry B to B +, but on this basis, Banana Pro's upgrade is greater, first, we briefly look at Banana PRO Onboard resources.
Total A20SOC (ARM Cortex-A7 Dual-Core 2 x 1.0GHz), ARM Mali400MP2
1GB DDR3 (shared with GPU)
MicroSD card holder maximum expansion 64GB, SATA interface maximum extended 2TB hard disk
10/100 / 1000M Ethernet interface, 40pin GPIO extension, HDMI, A / V interface
Two USB 2.0 Host interface, an OTG Micro-USB interface, a Micro-USB interface for power supply
Power button, reset button, U-boot button, IR receiver
Through the introduction of the onboard resource, the main difference is still obvious, including the main difference, mainly, mainly including WiFi module, microSD card, GPIO extension interface, A / V interface, etc. We understand it in detail.
WiFi module
It is said that the WiFi module is the largest upgrade of Banana PRO. The board is equipped with the positive base AP6181 (AP6181 Data Manual) WiFi module, which is a low-cost low-power WiFi wireless communication solution, Based on Boyong WiFi chip, ARM Cortex-M3 kernel, support IEEE 802.11b / g / n, module itself is only 12mm * 12mm * 1.5mm, as shown below
There is only a small number of interfaces outside the AP6181 module, except for power signals, crystal clock signals, and module communication interfaces use SDIO, 3 types of transmission modes: SPI mode (50MHz), 1-bit mode, and 4-bit mode. For detailed RF indicators of AP6181, you can refer to the following table
It is also very convenient to use the WiFi module, and engineers use the IPEX interface next to the AP6181 module through the attached WiFi antenna, and then enter the system simple configuration, it is convenient to connect the Banana PRO to the network (this part is used in power-on. Time will be detained)
MicroSD card
Next to the WiFi module, we can see another change in Banana Pro. The original SD card is replaced with today's MicroSD card. This is not good. From the market, MicroSD card is gradually replacing SD card, Banana The change in PRO can be said to be in line with the current trend, but also give more space for more space to make more application extensions.
40pin GPIO Extension Port & A / V Interface
As for Banana Pro changed to 40pin GPIO expansion, this is really no doubt that moves the Raspberry B + approach, but this improvement is a good idea to engineers. As for the interface definition, there is no information on the official website, some lag.
In addition, the video terminal and the audio interface on the Banana Pi are also changed to 3.5mm composite audio video interface, interacting with the HDMI interface, becoming a video output interface of two specifications, which is convenient for engineers.
TTL serial port
If the serial pin of the picture below is not a change, it is just a place, but the author thinks that such a design is considered by the user's feelings, separately, independent of the serial port, which is high, easier Let engineers use it.
Overall, the improvement of Banana Pro is obvious, especially the panels with unique WiFi modules. If we are compared with the latest Raspberry Part 2, we can also see a lot of unique features of Banana PRO, as follows Table shown (click on the picture to enlarge):
Banana PRO
The Banana Pro onboard WiFi module not only enriches the functional application of the board itself, but also allows the engineer to connect the wireless network without purchasing WiFi Dongle, we will experience Banana Pro on the actual use. WiFi function.
Download the latest system mirror from the Banana Pro official website, here is the Raspbian system, simply build the outside, for convenience, directly use the USB to view the system start, as shown below
After power-on, log in to the serial entry, username: bananapi password: bananapi
You can find the current port current port through the ifconfig command.
This shows that Bananapi does not automatically load the wireless module, we can load via Sudo Modprobe AP6210 command, as shown below
After the wireless module is loaded, you can see WLAN0. At this time, then by configuring wireless network connections under the / etc / network / interfaces file. For example, it is set to automatically acquire, as shown below.
The setting is complete, restart the board after saving, you can use the WiFi to use the WiFi directly, it is quite convenient, and the picture below is viewed through the Ping Baidu official website.
More experience, such as running the Android system in Banana Pro, this article is not introduced, interested friends can try themselves.
summary
Introduced Banana Pro to the functional upgrade of Banana Pi, comparison with the functionality of the Raspberry 2, from hardware performance and function, Banana Pro is completely not lost to the Raspberry Pivot 2, especially onboard unique WiFi modules, more It is a way to make engineers, but whether a development board product can allow engineers to accept, not only relying on performance and functionality, but also depends on the difficulty, reference information is integrated, project instance experience, etc. Including Banana PRO and other open source hardware boards cannot be compared with the Raspberry Party, which is why even more open source hardware boards than the Raspberry Pie, but the Raspberry Part is still in the industry's benchmark. Become an engineer's favorite. Nowaday, it can be said that Banana Pro has been standing in front of the Raspberry PRO, it is to do, it is to let more engineers participate in it, share more information, DIY more projects Examples, this is also very worth looking forward to.
Reference
Pay tribute to the Raspberry - Open Source Platform Banana Pi
Banana Pro Chinese Forum
Banana Pro Pick your guide
Banana PRO official website
Original declaration: This article is originally created by the panel network, declined!
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