Particle's Tachyon: First 5G-Enabled SBC Harnessing AI/ML Acceleration for Edge and IoT Applications

UPDATE (8/8/2024): Based on the feedback of the community, Particle has announced a second version of Tachyon that upgrades the single-board computer's original configuration of 4GB of RAM and 64GB of flash to 8GB and 128GB, respectively.

The original article continues below.

Today, Particle launched a Kickstarter for a single-board computer that combines the power and connectivity of a mid-range smartphone with a cutting-edge AI accelerator, all in a compact credit card-sized package. Meet Tachyon: the first Linux-based SBC powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon QCM6490 featuring an eight-core CPU, GPU, 12 TOPS NPU, Wi-Fi 6E, and 5G. Early bird prices start at $149!

Tachyon takeaways

• Single-board computer with mid-range smartphone performance in a compact Raspberry Pi form factor.
• Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon QCM6490 with an octa-core CPU, GPU, NPU, Wi-Fi 6E, and cellular 5G.
• Peripheral interfaces include USB-C, PCIe Gen 3, MIPI CSI, DSI, and compatibility with HATs designed for Raspberry Pi's GPIO header.
• Launching today on Kickstarter, with early bird rewards starting at $149 and shipments beginning in January 2025.

Tachyon overview

Tachyon is a single-board computer (SBC) that packs the processing capabilities of a modern mid-range smartphone with an AI accelerator into a development board about the size of a credit card. It features many peripheral interfaces, including GPIO compatibility for Raspberry Pi HATs and the latest wireless connectivity. The remarkable feature list adds wireless connectivity Wi-Fi 6E and cellular 5G (mmWave/Sub-6GHz).

Unlike other AI development options that often involve modular systems and carrier boards, Tachyon is a standalone computer running Linux (Ubuntu). This unique combination of hardware, connectivity, and Particle services ensures that you can start sending IoT data to the cloud within minutes of unboxing the AI-enabled SBC.

Particle is a full-stack Platform-as-a-Service that seamlessly integrates IoT hardware, software, and connectivity between the edge and the cloud. Microcontroller dev boards like Boron with an Arm Cortex-M33 provide LTE-M access to Particle's cloud infrastructure in a Feather form factor. Their products reduce the time it takes to start sending data to the cloud down to minutes. Introducing Tachyon gives IoT developers an exceptional step up in processing power compared to their existing products.

Tachyon's chipset

The chipset powering Tachyon is a Qualcomm Snapdragon QCM6490. This octa-core CPU chip has a GPU, an NPU, and radios for Wi-Fi 6E and cellular 5G (with LTE fallback). It includes 4GB of RAM and 64GB of built-in Universal Flash Storage (UFS). One reason Particle chose this chip is that Qualcomm classifies it for Industrial IoT applications and guarantees a 10-year lifetime availability.

The Qualcomm Kryo 670 CPU houses eight Arm Cores with varying specifications. A single Cortex-A78 core runs at 2.7 GHz, with three more A78 cores running at 2.4 GHz to handle high-performance tasks. Four Cortex-A55 cores running at 1.9 GHz manage less demanding tasks. Complementing these CPU cores is a Qualcomm Adreno 643L GPU running at 812 MHz, capable of driving 4K displays, further enhancing Tachyon's general-purpose processing power.

Nearly every microcontroller and microprocessor targeting edge applications includes a neural processing unit (NPU). This specialized hardware for AI accelerates the training or inferencing of machine learning (ML) models. The QCM6490 features an NPU rated for 12 tera-operations per second (TOPS). Particle expects it to be suitable for computer vision and audio identification applications, but these are just two examples available with this unique SBC.

Peripheral interface

Tachyon breaks out many of the QCM6490 wired interfaces. It has ribbon headers for connecting 4-lane CSI cameras like the IMX519, OV13850, or other computer vision sensors (up to 25 megapixels). A 4-lane DSI interface can drive displays up to 1200 x 2520 resolution. Two high-speed interfaces include a USB-C 3.1 PD port with DisplayPort and two PCIe Gen 3 interfaces. Additional USB-C ports provide connectivity to USB-based devices.

Wireless connectivity

Adding cellular connectivity to an IoT device seems relatively simple — at least from a hardware perspective. The difficulty is first getting certified with a carrier (in the appropriate regions) and then following rules for communicating on that network. On top of that layer, you need software that can handle the peculiarities of cellular communication or a hybrid of cellular and Wi-Fi.

At first, we were curious about Tachyon using Linux (Ubuntu) instead of Android. However, Linux is much better suited for headless operation. Also, many abstractions Android provides are less attractive on a platform with limited hardware variation and where low-level access to devices is more critical. One advantage Android might have offered to applications running on Tachyon is managing cellular communication. However, Particle's "it just works" connectivity handles that (and many other IoT-related tasks) for you and your device.

Kickstarter campaign

This campaign is not Particle's first time using Kickstarter. Their first cellular product (and third Kickstarter), Electron, was successfully launched in February 2015. We spoke with Zach Supalla, Particle founder and CEO, and asked why Particle chose to go with Kickstarter for Tachyon. He told us that Particle is eager to hear feedback on how engineers could use Tachyon before it starts shipping. He says their experience with Electron enabled them to ship the product as promised and get a head start on future changes (especially on the software stack) based on collaboration and feedback from backers.

The campaign launches today (Tuesday, July 30th). Early bird rewards start at $149, with an expected retail price of $249. Particle plans to begin shipping early units in January 2025. Learn more and back the campaign on the Tachyon Kickstarter page.