RK3588 EtherCAT Controller 2.5GbE Dual LAN NPU Real-Time Linux Motion Control Board

The RK3588_ETH is a single-board computer purpose-built as a Linux, Xenomai and IgH real-time EtherCAT solution based on the Rockchip RK3588S. Despite its compact size it functions as a full single-board PC, combining 8 GB of RAM, 32 GB of eMMC flash, 8K video decoding and an integrated 6 TOPS NPU for AI workloads. It is aimed at EtherCAT masters, motion control and industrial automation applications that need deterministic real-time networking.

The RK3588S SoC is an octa-core processor with four Arm Cortex-A76 cores at 2.4 GHz and four Cortex-A55 cores at 1.8 GHz, paired with an Arm Mali-G610 MP4 GPU supporting OpenGL ES3.2, OpenCL 2.2 and Vulkan 1.1. The VPU handles 8KP60 H.265, VP9 and AVS2 decoding, 8KP30 H.264 decoding, 4KP60 AV1 decoding and 8KP30 H.265/H.264 encoding, while the 6 TOPS NPU accelerates on-device AI inference.

For networking the board provides two 2.5GbE RJ45 ports based on Realtek RTL8125BG PCIe cards with a maximum throughput of 2.35 Gbps, plus one Gigabit RJ45 port based on the Realtek RTL8211F with a tested speed of 941 Mbps, making it well suited to EtherCAT and high-bandwidth industrial networks. An HDMI 2.1 port supports up to 8KP60 or 4KP120 output, and a 12-pin FPC connector breaks out 1 SPI, 3 UARTs, 1 I2C and 8 GPIOs for expansion. The board measures 90 x 62 mm and operates from 0 to 70 C.

• Rockchip RK3588S platform: An octa-core SoC with 4x Cortex-A76 at 2.4 GHz and 4x Cortex-A55 at 1.8 GHz drives real-time control and general computing.
• Real-time EtherCAT stack: Ships as a Linux, Xenomai and IgH real-time EtherCAT solution for deterministic motion control and automation.
• 2.5GbE and Gigabit LAN: Two 2.5GbE RJ45 ports (Realtek RTL8125BG) at up to 2.35 Gbps plus a Gigabit RJ45 port (Realtek RTL8211F) at 941 Mbps.
• 6 TOPS NPU: An integrated neural processing unit delivers 6 TOPS for on-device AI inference.
• 8GB RAM and 32GB eMMC: 8 GB LPDDR4X memory and 32 GB eMMC flash storage, with optional SPI flash for network booting and a MicroSD slot.
• 8K video engine: The VPU decodes up to 8KP60 H.265/VP9/AVS2 and provides HDMI 2.1 output up to 8KP60 or 4KP120.
• FPC expansion: A 12-pin 0.5 mm FPC connector exposes 1 SPI, 3 UARTs, 1 I2C and 8 GPIOs for industrial peripherals.
• Compact single-board design: A 90 x 62 mm PCB with USB 3.0 and USB 2.0, RTC, fan connector, user button, LEDs and an infrared sensor.
• USB PD power: Powered through a 5V / 9V / 12V USB Type-C port supporting USB Power Delivery.

The RK3588_ETH targets EtherCAT masters, motion control, robotics and industrial automation. Its Linux, Xenomai and IgH real-time stack plus dual 2.5GbE and Gigabit networking deliver deterministic control traffic, while the 6 TOPS NPU, 8K video engine and FPC expansion suit machine vision, human-machine interfaces and edge AI gateways in a compact single-board form factor.

The board measures 90 x 62 mm and can be integrated into a chassis or machine controller. Memory, storage, SPI flash and the EtherCAT real-time software stack can be configured to match the target motion control application.