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Pico sdram

ethanjamesauto·pico-sdram·pcb/sdram-demo/sdram.kicad_pcb

Pico sdram PCB layout, top view — open source RP2040/RP2350 board by ethanjamesauto

About the Pico sdram PCB

Pico sdram is an open source RP2040/RP2350 PCB design by ethanjamesauto, published on GitHub. It is a 2-layer board measuring 25 × 55 mm, with 10 components from 6 distinct parts.

Its main chip is the Pico, from the RP2040/RP2350 family. Other key parts include the 74HC595 and MT48LC16M16A2P. By type, the board carries 5 ICs, 4 capacitors and 1 jumper.

From the project

An attempt at using large SDRAM ICs with the Raspberry Pi Pico

This project attempts to interface a Raspberry Pi Pico with a 32MB SDRAM IC.

Shift registers may be reduce the number of GPIOs needed to interface with the ram. Because the RP2040 can only drive shift registers so quickly, the SDRAM chip would need to be driven at a lower clock speed. I propose a solution in which the control pins are driven using shift registers while the data bus is connected directly to the RP2040's GPIOs. This reduces the speed at which commands can be sent to the SDRAM, while still allowing the data bus to run at full speed. This solution has a drawback - it takes more…

Pico sdram, from the project README
From the project README

Main components on the Pico sdram

74HC595MT48LC16M16A2PPico

Pico sdram bill of materials (BOM)

10 components, 6 distinct parts — part numbers from the project's BOM.

QtyPartRefs
3
74HC595
U1, U2, U3
1
MT48LC16M16A2P
U4
1
Pico
U5
1
JUMPER_2_OPEN
Jumper_2_Open
JP1
2
2.2U
2.2u
C1, C4
2
100N
100n
C2, C3

Pico sdram design files

The KiCad project lives in the ethanjamesauto/pico-sdram repository on GitHub; these links point at the commit this page was built from.

Pico sdram: common questions

What microcontroller does the Pico sdram use?

The Pico sdram is built around the Pico, from the RP2040/RP2350 family.

How big is the Pico sdram PCB?

The Pico sdram measures 25 × 55 mm, has 2 copper layers and is 1.6 mm thick.

How many components are on the Pico sdram?

10 components, from 6 distinct parts, with part numbers taken from the project's own BOM. The full bill of materials is listed on this page.

Where can I download the Pico sdram design files?

From the ethanjamesauto/pico-sdram repository on GitHub, which has the KiCad layout, the schematic and the BOM; the links under Design files point to each one.

Can I use the Pico sdram design in my own project?

The repository has no license, so all rights stay with ethanjamesauto. Use it as a reference, and ask the author before reusing the design.

Can I test firmware for the Pico sdram without the hardware?

Yes. HardLabs builds a simulation of the board from its netlist and BOM, so you can run and debug RP2040/RP2350 firmware against it before you order a PCB.

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