IN Brief:
- Seven μSMARC configurations based on four NXP i.MX processor families will be represented in the CELUS Design Platform.
- Each 82 × 30mm module variant becomes a separate CUBO containing interfaces, schematic context, bill-of-material data, and implementation guidance.
- The integration moves module selection into the architecture stage before engineers continue detailed development in their preferred EDA environment.
SomDevices is integrating seven configurations from its μSMARC system-on-module portfolio into the CELUS Design Platform, giving embedded engineers access to processor modules while system architecture and surrounding circuitry are still being defined. The partnership covers four NXP i.MX processor families and is intended to reduce some of the manual work involved in selecting a module, interpreting its interfaces, and developing the application-specific carrier board around it.
The seven configurations span μSMARC modules based on the NXP i.MX 8M Plus, i.MX 91, i.MX 93, and i.MX 8M Mini processor families. Full and non-Wi-Fi versions of the first three families are included, alongside the full i.MX 8M Mini configuration. Each variant will appear separately within CELUS rather than being presented as one configurable component, allowing engineers to select the implementation intended for the design.
SomDevices uses an 82 × 30mm form factor for μSMARC while retaining compatibility with the SMARC connector architecture. The modules combine the processor, memory, and core embedded-system functions into a compact computing element, leaving application-specific I/O, power conditioning, communications, sensors, and other circuitry on the carrier board.
That modular approach can shorten development, but it does not remove the architectural work around the module. Processor choice affects available interfaces, power budgets, peripheral support, real-time capability, graphics, security, and software, while the carrier board still has to translate those resources into a manufacturable product. The CELUS integration moves more of the relevant information into the environment where those decisions are made rather than requiring engineers to reconstruct it from separate datasheets and reference material.
Within CELUS, each SomDevices configuration will be represented as a CUBO, the platform’s reusable circuit-building format. A CUBO combines technical specifications with application-oriented information including interfaces, schematic context, bill-of-material data, and implementation guidance. Engineers can use those blocks when developing a structured hardware architecture before moving the resulting design into established tools including Altium Designer, KiCad, Siemens EDA, and Autodesk Fusion.
The distinction between selecting a processor and selecting a complete system-on-module becomes increasingly important as embedded products take on more local processing. The i.MX families covered by the agreement span applications including industrial control, medical systems, transport, security, agriculture, smart infrastructure, and edge AI, where designers may need combinations of Linux application processing, real-time control, communications, and dedicated acceleration without committing engineering resources to a processor-down design.
A pre-engineered module can reduce that burden when the product’s differentiation sits elsewhere in the system. Memory layout, processor power sequencing, high-speed routing, and the core computing subsystem can remain contained within the module, while the product team concentrates on application-specific electronics. The trade-off is that the module and carrier architecture have to be selected early enough to avoid an expensive redesign if required interfaces or processing resources later prove unsuitable.
Moving module selection into an architecture platform addresses that timing directly. Instead of choosing a SoM after much of the system has already been specified, engineers can compare implementation requirements while the hardware remains fluid. That makes it easier to establish whether a module exposes enough interfaces, whether its power and connectivity requirements suit the product, and how much supporting circuitry will be required before detailed PCB work begins.
SomDevices also positions μSMARC as a basis for product families rather than a single fixed design. A carrier architecture using a standardised connector can potentially accommodate different processor modules as requirements change, although pin use, software, thermal limits, peripherals, and mechanical constraints still have to be checked for each migration. In industrial products with long service lives, that flexibility can be more valuable than headline processor performance because it provides another way to manage component availability and future product refreshes.
CELUS says more than 30,000 engineers in over 100 countries use its platform and component library, giving SomDevices a route to expose its modules directly at the point where architecture choices are being made. The useful measure of the partnership will be the amount of validated implementation detail contained in each CUBO. The closer those reusable blocks bring engineers to a credible carrier-board starting point, the less reason there is to reconstruct the same processor-module interfaces manually for every embedded design.
