Firefly ROC-RK3506J-CC industrial SBCfeatures hybrid multicore design, dual LAN, and wide temp support

Firefly’s ROC-RK3506J-CC is a compact single board computer built around the Rockchip RK3506J, with a tri-core Cortex-A7 and a Cortex-M0 core. Built around real-time embedded applications with Linux and RTOS support, and is suitable for both industrial and commercial environments.

The board includes 512MB DDR3 RAM, 8GB eMMC flash, optional SPI Flash, and a microSD slot (not usable with eMMC simultaneously). It offers dual 10/100Mbps Ethernet, USB 2.0 Host, USB Type-C OTG/power, and MIPI-DSI for display. Additional features include 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, 40-pin and 50-pin expansion headers, RTC battery socket, audio I/O via 3.5mm jack and headers, and debug and boot buttons. Power consumption ranges from 0.2W to 1.5W, and it operates in the –40°C to 85°C industrial range.

This isn’t the first SBC we’ve seen based on the RK3506J processor. We previously covered the ArmSoM Forge1, an industrial-grade single-board computer designed for embedded applications. Another similar board is the Forlinx FET3506J-S, which also integrates the same SoC for industrial and real-time use cases.

Firefly ROC-RK3506J-CC SBC Specifications

• SoC – Rockchip RK3506J
  • 3x Arm Cortex-A7 cores @ up to 1.2GHz
  • 1x Arm Cortex-M0 core
  • 22nm process node
• System Memory – 512MB DDR3 RAM
• Storage
  • 8GB eMMC flash
  • 256MB SPI Flash (optional)
  • microSD card slot (not usable with eMMC simultaneously)
• Networking
  • 2x 10/100Mbps Ethernet (RJ45)
  • 2.4GHz 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi
  • 1x onboard Wi-Fi antenna header
• Display Interface – MIPI-DSI (2 lanes, 1280×1280 @ 60fps)
• Audio
  • 3.5mm audio jack (CTIA, mic support)
  • 1x speaker out via header
  • 1x mic input via header
• USB
  • 1x USB 2.0 Host port (max 500mA)
  • 1x USB Type-C port (OTG + 5V/2A power input)
• Expansion
  • 1x 40-pin GPIO-compatible header (2.0mm pitch)
  • 1x 50-pin general-purpose header (2.0mm pitch)
• Misc
  • 1x 3-pin debug header
  • 1x RTC battery socket (2-pin)
  • Buttons – Reset, Boot, Recovery
• Power Supply
  • Input: 5V/2A via USB Type-C
  • Power consumption:
    • Max: 1.5W (5V/300mA)
    • Typical: 1W (5V/200mA)
    • Sleep: 0.2W (5V/40mA)
• Dimensions – 99.4 x 60.0 x 12.3 mm
• Operating Temperature – -40°C to 85°C
• Weight – ~42g

The ROC-RK3506J-CC supports Linux 6.1 with Buildroot, enabling streamlined customization for embedded applications. It also features AMP (Asymmetric Multiprocessing) and SMP (Symmetric Multiprocessing) support, allowing the tri-core Cortex-A7 and Cortex-M0 to run Linux and RTOS tasks concurrently. The board integrates support for the LVGL UI framework with hardware-accelerated 2D graphics for responsive graphical interfaces, and it is compatible with lightweight real-time operating systems like RT-Thread on the Cortex-M0 core.

The ROC-RK3506J-CC can be purchased directly from the Firefly store, with the SoM version (512MB RAM, 8GB eMMC) priced at $29.