BCM2836IFBG - Quad-Core ARM SoC, BGA | Broadcom
MPN: BCM2836IFBG ✓ Active| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $16.81 | $16.81 |
| 10 | $16.5 | $165.00 |
| 100 | $15.9 | $1,590.00 |
| 500 | $15.2 | $7,600.00 |
| 1,000 | $14.6 | $14,600.00 |
Drop-in alternatives for BCM2836IFBG — same package, pin-to-pin compatible. Different-package parts requiring PCB rework are excluded.
Quick Comparison Tool — Select alternative parts for side-by-side comparison:
BCM2836RIFBG
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$12 / Unit
View Datasheet →BCM2837RIFBG
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
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View Datasheet →BCM2835IPPG
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Contact for price
View Datasheet →BCM2835RIPPG
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View Datasheet →BCM2836IFBG Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| CPU Core | 4x ARM Cortex-A7 |
| CPU Core Count | 4 |
| CPU Frequency | 900 MHz |
| Instruction Set Architecture | ARMv7 (32-bit) |
| GPU | Broadcom VideoCore IV |
| L1 Cache | 32 KB instruction + 32 KB data per core |
| L2 Cache | 512 KB shared |
| DRAM Interface | LPDDR2 SDRAM controller |
| GPIO | Yes (peripheral block per Broadcom documentation) |
| USB | USB 2.0 (USB 2.0 OTG / via hub companion in reference designs) |
| Audio Interface | PCM / I2S |
| Timers and Interrupt Controller | Yes (per family datasheet description) |
| Package / Case | BGA |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount |
BCM2836IFBG bga Pin Configuration Guide
Complete pinout information for BCM2836IFBG (bga package) with 48 pins. This analog component features input, output, and power supply pins. Refer to the manufacturer datasheet for offset null, compensation, and enable pin configurations. Ideal for signal conditioning and amplifier circuits.
No detailed pinout data available for BCM2836IFBG.
Refer to the datasheet for full pin configuration.
Estimated pin count: 48 pins (analog package)
Safe Operating Area (SOA) & Thermal Characteristics
No official SOA curve available for this component. Always operate within absolute maximum ratings specified in the datasheet. Ensure adequate cooling and derate as needed.
Typical Applications
BCM2836IFBG is suitable for 6 applications: Single-Board Computer, Industrial HMI and Embedded Controller, Digital Signage and Multimedia Player, IoT Gateway, Education and Prototyping Platforms, Camera and Vision Prototyping.
Single-Board Computer
The BCM2836IFBG is the compute heart of the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B, where its four 900 MHz Cortex-A7 cores run 32-bit Linux with enough headroom for desktop-class use, programming education, and lightweight server workloads. The VideoCore IV GPU drives dual-display-class 1080p30 video output while the ARM cores handle user applications, achieving smooth desktop responsiveness that the single-core BCM2835 could not deliver. Designers replicating this use case pair the SoC with LPDDR2 SDRAM on the memory bus, an SD-card boot path loaded by the GPU boot ROM, and a LAN9514-style USB hub/Ethernet companion. The key benefit is a mature software ecosystem: the same Raspberry Pi OS image family supports the BCM2836, reducing bring-up effort to board-level validation rather than kernel porting.
Recommended
Industrial HMI and Embedded Controller
In industrial human-machine interfaces and embedded controllers, the BCM2836IFBG provides Linux-capable compute with quad-core redundancy for concurrent UI rendering, protocol conversion, and data logging. The 900 MHz Cortex-A7 cluster with NEON SIMD accelerates touch-event processing and Modbus/OPC-UA style stack execution, while the integrated GPIO, SPI, I2C, and UART peripherals connect directly to PLC I/O, sensors, and field displays without external bridge chips. The VideoCore IV GPU renders local 1080p dashboards, eliminating a separate display processor. Because the part is proven in the Raspberry Pi 2 ecosystem, production teams inherit an extensively debugged firmware baseline; the main engineering tasks are power (5 V multi-amp supply), thermal management under sustained multi-core load, and a robust SD or eMMC storage strategy for 24/7 write endurance.
Recommended
Digital Signage and Multimedia Player
Digital signage players leverage the BCM2836IFBG VideoCore IV GPU, which hardware-decodes 1080p30 H.264 and composites layered graphics with minimal CPU load, leaving the four Cortex-A7 cores free for content management, networking, and remote-update agents. The integrated HDMI-capable display pipeline and PCM/I2S audio output allow a complete player on one chip plus SDRAM and flash, shrinking BOM cost versus CPU-plus-GPU two-chip designs. Compared with the BCM2835-based first-generation players, the quad-core 900 MHz upgrade doubles sustained decode-plus-app throughput, avoiding dropped frames when schedules, analytics, and network streams run concurrently. Designs should budget a heatsink or convection path because continuous video decode keeps the SoC near its thermal steady-state, and should use buffered HDMI circuitry for long cable runs.
Recommended
IoT Gateway
As an IoT gateway processor, the BCM2836IFBG bridges low-speed field buses to IP networks: the four Cortex-A7 cores run a full Linux network stack with TLS termination, MQTT/CoAP brokers, and protocol translation, while integrated USB 2.0 hosts Wi-Fi, LTE, or Ethernet dongles and the GPIO/SPI/I2C blocks talk to sensor clusters. With roughly six times the CPU throughput of the BCM2835, it sustains encrypted tunnels and edge filtering that single-core designs cannot, making it appropriate for building automation and smart-metering aggregators. The LPDDR2 memory controller keeps multi-service workloads in RAM without swapping to flash. Power-sensitive deployments typically clock-govern the cores dynamically; the SoC supports frequency scaling in the standard Raspberry Pi OS kernel, allowing idle power reduction in always-on gateway installations.
Recommended
Education and Prototyping Platforms
The BCM2836IFBG anchors educational single-board platforms because its ARMv7 quad-core architecture runs standard Linux distributions and teaching toolchains (Python, Scratch, C/C++) without cross-compilation. The VideoCore IV GPU enables computer-vision and graphics coursework, while the exposed GPIO, I2S audio, and USB peripherals support robotics, sensor, and audio labs on one board. Compared with the BCM2835, the four-core 900 MHz cluster lets each student session compile code and run an IDE concurrently without swap thrashing, a decisive improvement for classroom fleet reliability. Curriculum authors also benefit from the publicly documented peripheral register map shared across the BCM28xx family, which lets advanced courses program bare-metal GPIO and interrupt controllers directly - a pedagogical feature few proprietary SoCs offer.
Recommended
Camera and Vision Prototyping
Vision prototyping systems use the BCM2836IFBG together with the VideoCore IV image-signal-processing pipeline, which accepts MIPI camera input and performs ISP functions (debayering, white balance, compression) in fixed-function hardware at up to 1080p30, offloading the ARM cores for OpenCV-style analysis. The quad-core 900 MHz cluster provides roughly a sixfold uplift over BCM2835 vision designs, enough for motion detection, QR decoding, and lightweight neural inference under optimized frameworks. Integrated GPIO handles camera-clocking strobes and trigger I/O, and PCM/I2S supports audio-visual fusion experiments. Engineers should design the SDRAM and power rails for bursty ISP bandwidth, and prefer the BCM2837 successor when higher-resolution sensors or deeper neural models exceed the Cortex-A7 compute envelope in production vision nodes.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for BCM2836IFBG — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | BCM2836RIFBG | BCM2837RIFBG | BCM2835IPPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Package | BGA | BGA - same family | BGA - same family | BGA - same family |
| Brand | Broadcom | Broadcom | Broadcom | Broadcom |
| CPU Cores | 4x ARM Cortex-A7 | 4x ARM Cortex-A7 | 4x ARM Cortex-A53 (64-bit) | 1x ARM11 |
| CPU Frequency | 900 MHz | 900 MHz | 1.2 GHz | 700 MHz |
| GPU | VideoCore IV | VideoCore IV | VideoCore IV | VideoCore IV |
| Primary Board Usage | Raspberry Pi 2 Model B | Raspberry Pi 2 Model B (variant) | Raspberry Pi 3 | Raspberry Pi 1 |
| Software Compatibility | ARMv7 32-bit Linux | Identical (same die) | ARMv7/v8 compatible | ARMv6 compatible |
| Reference Price (qty 1) | 16.81 USD | [DATA_NEEDED] | [DATA_NEEDED] | [DATA_NEEDED] |
Key Differentiators
- Quad-core performance uplift within the BCM28xx family (vs BCM2835IPPG)
- Cost-optimized 32-bit platform for existing designs (vs BCM2837RIFBG)
- Proven ecosystem and documented peripherals (vs BCM2835IPPG)
Design Notes
Design the primary rail as a 5 V input converted to the SoC core/memory rails, sized for Raspberry Pi 2-class current: the reference board specifies a 5 V, 2 A supply for the whole system. Estimated: with four Cortex-A7 cores at 900 MHz under multi-core load plus 1080p video decode, SoC consumption dominates the budget, so size the core DC-DC converter with at least 30% margin above worst-case measured current and add bulk capacitance near the LPDDR2 rails to handle burst memory currents without droop.
Sustained quad-core load plus video decode keeps the BCM2836 near its thermal steady-state; in Raspberry Pi 2 enclosures, a passive heat spreader over the SoC and SDRAM is standard practice. Estimated: continuous decode-class workloads in a sealed enclosure without airflow can push silicon well above ambient, so verify junction temperature with thermocouple measurement under your worst-case workload and specify a heatsink or ventilation when the case exceeds comfortable touch temperature in your thermal test.
Do not treat BCM2836 as a BCM2835 pin-for-pin swap: although the peripheral memory map and firmware flow are family-compatible (GPU loads the kernel from SD), the CPU cluster and ballout changed, requiring a new PCB. Also confirm ordering-code suffixes (IFBG vs RIFBG) against Broadcom ordering documentation before qualifying alternate stock, and keep the GPU boot firmware version aligned with the SoC generation - a BCM2835 firmware image will not boot a BCM2836 board.
Compliance Information
Compliance data not stated in the provided web sources; Broadcom SoCs for Raspberry Pi products are consumer/industrial grade, not automotive qualified. Obtain RoHS/REACH declarations from Broadcom or your distributor.
