Borea releases Rakun X91/X93 system IP block — one layout, two processors
Borea has released Rakun X91/X93, a system IP block that lets a single board design run either of two NXP processors.
The block is built around the i.MX 91 and i.MX 93, which are pin-compatible in both the 11×11 mm and 9×9 mm packages and share a PCB layout. A product built on Rakun X91/X93 can therefore be populated with the cost-optimised i.MX 91 or the more capable i.MX 93 — which adds a Cortex-M33 real-time core and an Ethos-U65 NPU — without a respin. The choice can be deferred to the purchase order.
That flexibility has become a supply strategy as much as a product strategy. “Two years ago this would have been a nice-to-have,” says [name, role] at Borea. “Today, being able to switch processors on a board you already have is the difference between shipping and not shipping.”
The memory subsystem was chosen with the same reasoning. Both processors drive a single 16-bit LPDDR4 device, typically 1 GB or 2 GB — a very different part of the market from the high-density DDR4 and DDR5 that data centre demand has drained. Inline ECC is implemented in the processor, so error protection does not require a scarce ECC-specific memory part.
Rakun X91/X93 ships as a PCB layout segment for integration into a customer’s own board, with Linux support and design assistance through bring-up and production. As with all Borea IP blocks, the customer owns the resulting design outright.