Tachyon 5G Single-Board Computer

Tachyon is a 5G-connected single-board computer (SBC) that takes the technology inside a modern smartphone and packs it into a Raspberry Pi form factor to power portable and remote computing devices. With a powerful Qualcomm Dragonwing SoC, an AI accelerator, and Particle’s application infrastructure, Tachyon combines all of the edge computing power, connectivity, and software necessary to embed intelligence into anything, anywhere.

Qualcomm Dragonwing SoC + AI accelerator

At the heart of Tachyon is the Qualcomm Dragonwing QCM6490 — an SoC that takes the power of a Dragonwing and packages it into an IoT-friendly package with upstream Linux support and a 10-year longevity guarantee.

The Dragonwing QCM6490 features an octa-core Qualcomm Kryo CPU, making Tachyon one of the most powerful single-board computers on the market. In addition, Tachyon has a Qualcomm Adreno 643 GPU and a Qualcomm Hexagon 770 DSP containing an AI accelerator capable of delivering 12 TOPS. It can drive 4K displays, consume high resolution video from two cameras, and run powerful AI/ML models to detect objects in video streams, classify sounds in audio streams, and process language.

Tachyon is capable of doing real work wherever you deploy it — at home, at work, or far afield.

Global 5G connectivity + Wi-Fi 6E

Upgrading the processor is only the beginning. We want to make it easy to deploy these things anywhere, and that means blazing-fast 5G connectivity.

Not only does Tachyon come with 5G connectivity operating at up to 2.5Gbs (with LTE fallback and an integrated custom cellular antenna!), but it comes pre-loaded with Particle’s embedded EtherSIM+ with free cellular telemetry and an optional low-cost data plan (more details below).

Sending gobs of data? Don’t worry, Tachyon has a Wi-Fi 6E connection for blazing fast connectivity over your Wi-Fi network, again with a built-in antenna.

Tachyon will come in two regional variants — North America and Rest of World. For a complete list of countries supported by Tachyon EtherSIM, check this table.

Expanding its capabilities

Tachyon is a powerful computer in its own right, but it really comes alive when connecting displays, cameras, sensors, and other peripherals.

But where are the usual big blocky USB and Ethernet ports, you ask? Well, don’t let the fancy cellular antenna make you think we forgot about wires and cables. Tachyon has dual USB-C connectors, automatically operating in both device and host modes depending on the attached cable. One of the USB-C 3.1 connections supports Display Port Alt Mode, which means you can connect Tachyon directly to a USB-C capable monitor (up to 4K), or use a USB-C Hub (such as the one we are offering as an add-on!) to add USB ports, HDMI and a gigabit Ethernet port. Oh, and for those familiar with Android development, we are using Fastboot and ADB so you can plug the device straight into your computer to power and control it over a single cable.

Of course, Tachyon also contains a Raspberry Pi-compatible 40-pin connector, plus support for cameras, displays, and PCIe peripherals connected via ribbon cables. Whether you’re using off-the-shelf peripherals, Raspberry Pi HATs, or building Tachyon into a custom PCB, Tachyon can handle whatever you throw at it.

Ubuntu + Yocto

A single-board computer is only as good as its software. We want to provide a software experience with “a low floor and a high ceiling;” it should be easy for anyone to get started, while at the same time highly capable and completely under your control.

Ubuntu has made a name for itself with its user-friendly design and robust support community, making it an excellent choice for both newcomers and experienced users. Mac and PC users should feel right at home with a familiar desktop experience, and Debian’s vast repository of software ensures that you have all the tools you need at your fingertips.

For headless applications (i.e. no display), we’ll also be providing support for a headless Ubuntu build that supports A/B partitions, enabling atomic OS upgrades out in the field.

Advanced users may prefer a more controlled environment and have stronger opinions on what should be in their Linux distribution; for these users, we will be supporting Yocto. Superusers who want to try running any other distribution or even operating systems — have at it! The chipset we’re using has upstream Qualcomm Linux support, as well as support for Android 13 and Windows 11.

Remote access + telemetry + OTA

Particle’s application infrastructure includes everything you need to deploy an intelligent device — including device management, OTA software updates, connectivity management, and data automation. Our platform is included for free with Tachyon, for up to 100 devices per account — and that includes a low data rate cellular plan for device management and telemetry!

EtherSIM+

So how do you actually use that 5G connectivity? Embedded into Tachyon is the next generation of Particle’s Eth…