As the first “crossover” processor to hit the industry, the i.MX RT series is destined for some measurable amount of greatness from the start. The fine-tuned balance of high-performance and integration on an application processor and the real-time functionality of a microcontroller makes this processor perfect for low-power consumer electronics, drones/robots, home/building control, industrial, networking, and power & energy applications.
The i.MX RT processor can run at 600 MHz on the ARM Cortex-M7 core, and as low as 24 MHz in low-power mode. At 600 MHz, it sets the bar at 3020 CoreMark or 1284 DMPIS performance levels and can achieve low-latency response levels as low as 20 ns. There are also extensive external memory interface capabilities, including NAND, eMMC, QuadSPI NOR Flash, and Parallel NOR Flash.
The i.MX RT sub-series also features a 2D graphics acceleration engine, a parallel camera sensor interface, a display controller, and 3x I2S interfaces for multichannel audio. All these features enable advanced multimedia for graphical user interface and human machine interface applications. And for developing these applications, NXP has enabled support for Amazon FreeRTOS available within the MCUXpresso SDK.
There are 3 sub-series within the i.MX RT sub-series, of which are the RT1060, RT1050, and RT1020 which distribute various configurations of package type, memory, graphics capabilities, and interfaces. The 1050 and 1060 have higher capabilities at 512KB and 1MB, respectively, and both come in pin-to-pin compatible 196 BGA packaging. The 1060 has one extra Ethernet 10x100 port and 1xCANFD protocol capabilities over the 1050 but are otherwise relatively the same. The 1020, on the other hand, is generally more stripped down than both other sub-series. It has 256KB of memory and less overall features but does come in a cheaper 100 LQFP or 140 LQFP package.
Regardless of the sub-series, the i.MX RT Series is an extremely powerful adaptation of the processor and microcontroller market. It blends low-power application design with high-performance controller applications to allow any designer to integrate real-time functionality and usability into their design.