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Help with building Android tablet

Note: This was originally posted on 15th July 2012 at http://forums.arm.com

Hi there!

I have a school project to do, and I am really considering constructing my own Android tablet for that project. I'm aware that there are many difficulties with this. I'm planning to build something on the high-end for tablets today. This is what I'm planning to do:

I want it to be a 10.1 inch tablet, and I'll use Corning Gorilla Glass 2. I'd probably want to use an 1280 x 800 IPS display, since IPS is the only type of screen I know that is actually good. I'd also like it to be LED-backlit.
Optimally, I'd be looking for a thin, light profile, I think it should be 9.4mm thick (like the New iPad), if not thinner, and no heavier than 650g.
I'm not really giving much importance to cameras, but I think I'd like to have a 1.2MP front camera, and an 8MP rear camera, with an LED flash.
Under the hood is where most of my doubts lie. If I'd have to license an entire SoC, I'd probably be inclined towards NVIDIA Tegra 3, just because of its quad-core capabilities. But honestly, I was wondering whether I couldn't have a custom SoC built. In that case, I'd be willing to have an SoC with a dual-core ARM Cortex A-15, running at 1.5GHz. I'd also want dual-channel LPDDR2 or DDR3L memory controllers, although I'd prefer the DDR3L. For a GPU, I'd really like to have Imagination Technologies' PowerVR SGX543MP2 or MP3. I still have no idea about ISPs (Image Signal Processors) and video encoders/decoders.

I'm very skeptical about how can I take all of the internals and put them all in a chip. I also don't know how all these components go together to function. Any help is much appreciated. All I need to know is: is it actually possible? (by the way, I only have 9 months for this project)

Thanks in advance
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  • Note: This was originally posted on 7th September 2012 at http://forums.arm.com

    lets say...
    You spend a small part of your fortune in designing hardware, get a board, and work on a part of it for 2-3 months. Then one day when you start working on the other part of the board, you find it not working, scratch your brains and after a lot of troubleshooting you realize a mistake in your hardware design. Bad luck!!! That will be the time you'll be very disappointed and feel frustrated. You'll have to start rectification process, waste of time and effort. You spend another part of your fortune in rectification. now this is waste of money too.

    I agree with Isogen74. Building everything from scratch is a tough job consumes a lot of time and effort. why not start working with what is readily available in the market and save a lot of developing effort, money and time. This will also mean that we have a assurity of the a working hardware.

    Unless you are planning to launch your phone in the market, is the whole process of self-building everything form scratch needed?

    Don't be too ambitious dude. Just start with what is readily and easily available. Develop something (write a generalized software for all the peripherals you use such that you don't have to worry even if the board is changed), and when successful in building what you desire (ready with the final product that you want), get your own everything. Finally LAUNCH IT IN THE MARKET (and sent one for me too ;) )
    Remember STARTING a project is VERY VERY important. Wasting time in getting started is not a wise move dear. All the best. I know that with the enthusiasm and energy you have, you will definitely design something worth and LEARN A LOT.
    Share your experience and keep us posted. Good luck.
Reply
  • Note: This was originally posted on 7th September 2012 at http://forums.arm.com

    lets say...
    You spend a small part of your fortune in designing hardware, get a board, and work on a part of it for 2-3 months. Then one day when you start working on the other part of the board, you find it not working, scratch your brains and after a lot of troubleshooting you realize a mistake in your hardware design. Bad luck!!! That will be the time you'll be very disappointed and feel frustrated. You'll have to start rectification process, waste of time and effort. You spend another part of your fortune in rectification. now this is waste of money too.

    I agree with Isogen74. Building everything from scratch is a tough job consumes a lot of time and effort. why not start working with what is readily available in the market and save a lot of developing effort, money and time. This will also mean that we have a assurity of the a working hardware.

    Unless you are planning to launch your phone in the market, is the whole process of self-building everything form scratch needed?

    Don't be too ambitious dude. Just start with what is readily and easily available. Develop something (write a generalized software for all the peripherals you use such that you don't have to worry even if the board is changed), and when successful in building what you desire (ready with the final product that you want), get your own everything. Finally LAUNCH IT IN THE MARKET (and sent one for me too ;) )
    Remember STARTING a project is VERY VERY important. Wasting time in getting started is not a wise move dear. All the best. I know that with the enthusiasm and energy you have, you will definitely design something worth and LEARN A LOT.
    Share your experience and keep us posted. Good luck.
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