This document provides an overview of the BeagleBone Black embedded development board. It describes the BeagleBone Black as an open-source Linux computer and flexible development platform. Key features highlighted include a 1 GHz processor, 512MB RAM, HDMI and Ethernet ports, and expansion slots for additional hardware. The document also briefly introduces the concept of "Capes" which are add-on circuit boards that plug into the BeagleBone Black's expansion headers.

1. Embedded Systems Design: P1 - Introduction
Embedded Systems Design P1 1
BeagleBone Black
Open-source Linux computer

2. BeagleBoneBlack
2
Complete development system
Ecosystem from prototype to
product
Flexible open hardware and
software development platform
• 1 GHz performance
• On-board HDMI to connect
directly to TVs and
monitors
• 512MB DDR3
• On-board flash storage
frees up the microSD card
slot
• Support for existing
Cape plug-in boards
BeagleBone Black

3. BeagleBone Black
3
Boot
Button
Reset Button
LEDS
10/100 Ethernet
DC Power
USB Client
Serial
Debug
USB Host
microHDMI
microSD
Expansion slot for
additional storage
2GB (4GB) on-
board storage
using eMMC
• Pre-loaded with
Ångström Linux
Distribution
(Debian for newer
boards)
• 8-bit bus
accelerates
performance
• Frees the microSD
slot to be used for
additional storage
for a less
expensive solution
than SD cards
1 GHz Sitara
AM335x
ARM®
Cortex™-A8
processor
Easily connects
to almost any
everyday
device such
as mouse
or keyboard
512MB DDR3
Faster, lower power
RAM for
enhanced user-friendly
experience
Provides a
more
advanced user
interface and
up to 150%
better
performance
than ARM11
Connect
directly to
monitors
and TVs
Development interface
and directly powers
board from PC
Expansion
headers
Enable cape hardware
and include:
• 65 digital I/O
• 7 analog
• 4 serial
• 2 SPI
• 2 I2C
• 8 PWMs
• 4 timers
Power Button
• Power supply
• USB network cable
• 2GB on-board storage
• PRU for real-time

4. BeagleBone Black Raspberry Pi Raspberry Pi 3
1GHz armv7 (3,319.96 DMIPS*) 700MHz armv6 (809.06
DMIPS*)
4× ARM Cortex-A53, 1.2GHz
(~2760 DMIPS)
$45 MSRP from over 35
distributors
$35/$25 from 2 distributors (+
resellers)
$35 from multiple distributors
1 USB host + 1 USB client 2 USB host 4x USB 2.0 host ports
Power via USB Power via USB connector with
wall-wart
Power via USB connector with
wall-wart
92-pin expansion (65 GPIO, 8
PWMs, 7 channel ADC, 2 SPI, 2
I2C, 4 UART, ...)
26-pin expansion (8 GPIO, 1
PWM, 1 SPI, 1 I2C, 1 UART)
40-pin header (26 –GPIO, UART,
SPI, I2C, PCM/I2S, 2xPWM) +
CSI (camera) + DSI (display)
2-200MHz programmable
realtime units
N/A N/A
PowerVR 3D graphics Videocore IV GPU VideoCore IV @ 300/400 MHz
Open hardware Closed hardware Closed hardware
Open source boot + optional 3D
binary
Closed 3D binary required to
boot
Closed 3D binary required to
boot
Pre-programmed on-board 4GB
flash
N/A N/A
Included USB cable N/A N/A
No Wi-Fi No Wi-Fi Wi-Fi

5. Cloud 9 IDE
• Zero-install integrated development environment
• Go to http://192.168.7.2:3000
5

6. “Capes”
Breadboard Breakout LCD DVI-D CANBus
Profibus
RS232 RS485
7”, 4.3” or 3.5”
VGA Battery
CAN
Proto RF-CC1101
CC2500
CC2530
Weather Camera
LVDS
BeBoPr 3D
Printer
Radar
Audio
DVI-D
w/Audio

7. Cape expansion headers
7

8. Power limitations on the pins
8

9. Managing GPIOs (and LEDs)
9

10. Blinking LED
10

11. 11
Wide set of existing projects

12. Open Source
12
Open source gives people the freedom to control their technology while
sharing knowledge and encouraging commerce through the open
exchange of designs and code
Development
Unchained
Open Source for hardware and software

13. Multiple software possibilities
13
OS
Programming
Language
Environments/
Libraries
Flavors
StarterWare™
More… More…
C
C++
Cube
More… More…

14. Angström
14

15. How Does It Work? Layers
15

16. BSP “Layers”
• Layers contain extensions and customizations to base system
• Can include image customizations, additional recipes, modifying
recipes, adding extra configuration
• Really just another directory to look for recipes in
• Added to the BBLAYERS variable in build/conf/bblayers.conf
• BSPs are layers that add machine settings and recipes
• Machine settings are specified in a layer's conf/machine/xxx.conf
file(s)
• Examples:
• Sandy Bridge + Cougar Point:
• meta-intel/conf/meta-sugarbay/machine/sugarbay.conf
• Routerstation Pro (MIPS)
• yocto/meta/conf/machine/routerstationpro.conf
16

17. Source Fetching
• Recipes call out location of all sources, whether on the internet or
local (Look for SRC_URI in *.bb files)
• Bitbake can get sources from git, svn, bzr, from tarballs, and many,
many more*
17

18. Image Generation
• Images are constructed using the packages
built earlier in the process
• Uses for these images:
• Live Image to boot a device
• Root filesystem for QEMU emulator
• Sysroot for App development
YP lets you customize your embedded Linux OS
18

19. Use NFS/Local Disk, Pkg Manager
System Developer
App Developer
Package
Repository
QEMU
Device
emulator
Device under
development
Sysroot
19

20. Use NFS/Local Disk, Pkg Manager
System Developer
App Developer
Sysroot
Package
Repository
QEMU
Device
emulator
Device under
development
Device and App Development Models Supported
Package
Manager
20