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Tachyon Software Overview

Tachyon is built around a powerful QCM6490, paired with a microcontroller that plays a critical role in the device's behavior and reliability.

Together, these two components form a the system of Tachyon, which compromises of 16 total CPU cores of various natures!

Architecture​

  • Application Processor (AP)
    The AP runs the primary operating system and application logic. It is responsible for:

    • Managing user applications
    • Networking and system-level processes
    • Communicating with cloud services or local interfaces

  • System Controller (SYSCON)
    The SYSCON is a dedicated microcontroller that manages:

    • Power states and sequencing
    • Charging and power supply behavior
    • Physical interfaces like motion sensors or GPIOs
    • Booting the board, waking for low power state and managing features such as automatic power on / off

    SYSCON ensures the module stays efficient and responsive, especially during low-power states.

⚠️ Note: The SYSCON firmware is currently closed-source. There are two main reasons for this:

  1. The firmware is tightly integrated with custom hardware and power logic.
  2. We have not yet finalized the public release process for this software! 99% of the problem :)

Software Stack​

Tachyon ships with multiple software builds depending on the target use case:

1. System Controller Firmware (SYSCON)​

  • Runs on the embedded microcontroller.
  • Manages device-level operations like device wakeup/shutdown, charging control, and power sequencing.
  • Automatically updated alongside the application processor firmware during full system updates or when new system packages are installed.
  • This is the same firmware for all application processor variants

2. Application Processor Software​

The AP supports a flexible and growing set of software environments:

  • Standard Linux Build (Yocto)
    Optimized for embedded and industrial applications, featuring preinstalled utilities and support for containerized workloads.

  • Ubuntu Variant(s)
    A full-featured Ubuntu base image, suitable for advanced developers, prototyping, and integration with cloud-based development stacks.

  • Other OS Options

    Additional builds are available for experimentation, including:

    • Android: For user interface-driven applications or vertical-specific software stacks.
    • Windows IoT Core: Demo only at the moment. Talk to us if you are interested!

Additional Resources​