Anyone else find the lack of a MT3620 datasheet odd?

Question

Considering the effort and expense that is being put into promoting the Avnet Azure Sphere MT3620 starter kit, does anyone else find it odd that the MT3620 datasheet is not publicly available? Sure we have example code and you can infer a lot from that, but as far as I can tell any proper information on the MT3620 is available only under NDA. (The M4F core datasheet is at least.)

I can understand that maybe not everything is appropriate to be public. It must also be tricky when there are multilple companies involved - the board manufacturers (Avnet et al.), the silicon manufacturer (MediaTek) and the ecosystem provider (Microsoft). However, if you're trying to encourage people to use a device then the more clear information and documentation you can provide the better the uptake is likely to be.

cstanton · Accepted Answer

As discussed here: Re: Where do I find details on using the M4F cores on the Azure Sphere?

The way to find out the information you're after is to sign the Non Disclosure Agreement for the hardware by counter-signing an NDA which is requested via Azure.Sphere@avnet.com

The thing to remember is that the chip on the board is designed specifically for Microsoft, and any functionality/features are controlled/made available to the user as Microsoft want it to be, this is by design and to maintain security of what's accessible. To change this functionality would require an operating system rewrite on the chip, and I doubt (but don't hold me to it) this is possible on the received AzureSphere kits (and I am not convinced it's worthwhile).

However, that being said, by all means get in touch with them, sign the NDA and it's pretty harmless finding out for personal or company use.

bwilless · Answer

MediaTek just released a non-NDA version of the MT3620 datasheet. It can be found here: http://avnet.me/mt3620-datasheet

danzima · Answer

Hi folks, I've reached out to a few Avnet folks about this, I will send you any updates as I get them!

bwilless · Answer

As stated in my recent post here, we are working with the chip manufacturer to provide additional information in the near future. In the meantime, please leverage the Microsoft provided example application and API documentation for your development work: https://github.com/Azure/azure-sphere-samples/tree/master/Samples/IntercoreComms https://github.com/Azure/azure-sphere-samples/tree/master/Samples/ADC https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure-sphere/app-development/rt-app-development-overview

Jan Cumps · Answer

It's a little more subtile for a blogger. If you sign the NDA as a company employee, it's no big deal because you use it internally. Blogging is out in the open. You now have to decide if what you blog is based on - or reveals - info from a NDA covered source. Can you post source code that uses registers or constructs that you learned about in the data sheet? Can you share your project in source code? If you can't and want to share the NDA covered part in binary, do you break licenses of other modules you are using? NDA is ok for companies. As a blogger or open source developer I'd steer away from them firmly.

bwilless · Answer

Hi Michael, I agree that there is a lot of details not included in this document. We're working with the vendor to release more non-NDA documentation that should help fill the gaps. We're working on getting the additional documentation released, but be aware this is a slow process. Brian

mkv2 · Answer

Don't know if this is a result of one of you - but I think it's listed on Farnell's product page now:

https://uk.farnell.com/avnet/aes-ms-mt3620-sk-g/starter-kit-arm-cortex-a7-cortex/dp/3106884

Or directly here: http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/2819361.pdf

Anyone else find the lack of a MT3620 datasheet odd?

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