Jetson AGX Orin Notes

A bit of trivia – the connector for the Jetson AGX Orin is 699 positions and costs $74.

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Is this the correct connector? There is a Mirror Mez connector that looks the same as the 699 pin version but only has 63 columns verses the 699’s 65 columns. When groking documentation on DigiKey for example it’s easy to get these two mixed up due to confusion over Molex’s part numbering system as they look identical. Also note how this connector mates with itself. The pin numbering which must be used with a carrier board has the row lettering (A-L) reversed from the Molex documentation. Nividia could have avoided a bit of brain scramble on the part of us developers if THEY had mirrored the pin numbering of the AGX module then Molex’s documentation would match that needed by the mating connector on any daughter card. There are also two different heights in this connector series. Part number 2034560003 is 5.5mm high, 2034560001 is 2.5mm high. Depending on connector selection this gives mated heights between PCB’s of 5, 8 or 11mm. See the drawing below:

2034560003_sd.pdf (1.9 MB)

Reference Documentation for AGX Design

Design guide for daughter cards:
Jetson_AGX_Orin_Series_Design_Guide_DG-10653-001_v1.6.pdf (3.5 MB)

AGX module basic data sheet:
Jetson_AGX_Orin_Series_Data_Sheet_DS-10662-001_v1.5.pdf (788.6 KB)

Nvidia AGX carrier board specifications:
Jetson_AGX_Orin_DevKit_Carrier_Board_Specification_SP-10900-001_v1.1.pdf (1.1 MB)

AGX module thermal design guide:
Jetson_AGX_Orin_Series_TDG-10943-001_v1.2.pdf (512.2 KB)

AGX carrier board Schematic: (anyone have a D size plotter handy? )
P3737_A05_OrCAD_schematics(base_version).pdf (1.3 MB)

Pin function names:
Jetson_AGX_Orin_Pin_Function_Names_Guide_DA-11060-001_v1.0.pdf (758.8 KB)

Dunno, I got the PN from our CAD library :slight_smile:

Jetson AGX Orin Development Kit

The development kit is a hefty chunk with a large integrated heat-sink:

Documentation:

A plastic cover can be removed to reveal a PCI slot:

The USB-C connector is plugged into the USB-C port above the power jack to power the unit.

The specs on the power supply are interesting:

This is a USB-C PD (power delivery) supply capable of delivering multiple voltage and current combinations. The power supply uses the USB Power Delivery protocol to communicate with the connected device to determine the optimal voltage and current combination. This type of power supply is highly versatile and capable of powering low-power smartphones to high-end laptops.

This power is delivered on the VBUS pins (5-20V).

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The USB-C PD protocol communicates over the CC1/CC2 pins – only one is used based on cable orientation. The PD protocol uses a Bi-phase Mark Coded (BCM) signaling.

It looks like there are some efforts to integrate the USB-C PD protocol into Zephyr.

(note, this post is a wiki, so feel free to edit it with updates on the dev kit)

USB-C PD is a nice complex solution to a mostly political problem due to China’s demands that companies reduce the number and variety of power supplies for mobile devices. For the Nitro I vote for simplicity and go with another standardized power supply, the 19V laptop standard used by ASUS and most other laptop makers these days. The AGX dev kit, at least on paper according to the schematics, can operate with one of these in addition to USB-C PD. 4.5A through those itty bitty contacts is definitely pushing the limit. The least little bit of dirt or crud on them and they’ll start heating and at 90W eventually burn up the connector, gold contacts notwithstanding.

Yes, for stationary industrial devices where you are not trying to charge batteries in multiple devices on the go, USB-C PD is probably overkill.