LS1021AXE7HNB - Dual-Core 800MHz ARM Cortex-A7 SoC | NXP
MPN: LS1021AXE7HNB ✓ Active| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $57.92 | $57.92 |
| 10 | $54.5 | $545.00 |
| 100 | $48.9 | $4,890.00 |
| 500 | $44.1 | $22,050.00 |
| 1,000 | $40.05 | $40,050.00 |
LS1021AXE7HNB Overview
An SoC (System-on-Chip) integrates a CPU complex with on-chip peripherals and memory interfaces, allowing a single device to host the full compute and I/O subsystem of an embedded product. The LS1021A sits in NXP's Layerscape portfolio above Cortex-M microcontrollers and below QorIQ LS2xxx/LS3xxx application processors, and within the broader power management IC and processor taxonomy it is classified as an ARM Cortex-A class communications MPU. The pin- and software-compatible siblings LS1020A and LS1022A share the same package footprint, simplifying design migration.
Key features include dual Cortex-A7 cores with NEON and TrustZone, 32 KB I-cache and 32 KB D-cache per core, integrated SEC 5.x for IPSec/SSL/TLS/DTLS acceleration, two 10/100/1000 GbE controllers with TSN-ready timestamping, three PCIe 2.0 controllers, one USB 3.0 plus one USB 2.0 with PHY, two SATA 3.0 ports, support for DDR3L/DDR4 up to 1600 MT/s with ECC, and a single LCDC supporting up to 1920x1080. The industrial -40C to +105C junction rating and security-enabled SKU (-XE suffix denotes crypto acceleration enabled) make it well suited for industrial gateways and network appliances that must operate in uncontrolled environments.
Architecturally the LS1021A combines the Cortex-A7 CPU complex with NXP's Trust Architecture and SEC hardware blocks, so crypto, packet processing, and deterministic Ethernet run without consuming CPU cycles. Compared with a discrete FPGA + CPU design, this integration reduces BOM, board area, and the security attack surface in a single device. The 19x19 mm FCPBGA package is drop-in compatible with the LS1020A and LS1022A within the same package outline family.
Typical applications include industrial IoT gateways, factory automation controllers, secure routers and switches, building automation controllers, and small-form-factor NAS or print servers. Pair it with a Marvell Alaska 88E1512 GbE PHY or a TI DP83867IS for copper connectivity, and with a Micron MT41K256M16 DDR3L for memory. The LS1021AXE7HNB can also drive a small TFT LCD via its integrated LCDC for HMI panels.
When designing with this part, allocate at least four PCB layers, follow the NXP reference design for the DDR3L/DDR4 byte lanes with matched 50 ohm single-ended impedance, and provide a low-noise LDO (such as TPS7A4701) for the AVDD rail. Plan boot media with QSPI NOR (MT25QL256) or eMMC, and review the silicon errata document for revision 2.0 before committing to production.
This page synthesizes distributor stock and pricing, drop-in package-compatible alternatives, and NXP reference design notes that are not collated in the official QorIQ LS1021A datasheet alone.
Drop-in alternatives for LS1021AXE7HNB — same package, pin-to-pin compatible. Different-package parts requiring PCB rework are excluded.
Variants in this series
Same-series models that are drop-in compatible with LS1021AXE7HNB (same form factor and footprint) — differing in Core Architecture, Ethernet, PCIe, Package, SATA.
Quick Comparison Tool — Select alternative parts for side-by-side comparison:
LS1021AXN7HNB
✅ Drop-In📋 Reference alternative (not in catalog)
LS1020AXN7HNB
✅ Drop-In📋 Reference alternative (not in catalog)
LS1022AXN7HNB
✅ Drop-In📋 Reference alternative (not in catalog)
LS1021AXE7HQB
✅ Drop-In ⚠️ Specs Unverified📋 Reference alternative (not in catalog)
LS1021AXN7KQB
✅ Drop-In ⚠️ Specs Unverified📋 Reference alternative (not in catalog)
LS1021AXE7HNB Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Core Architecture | ARM Cortex-A7 (dual-core) |
| Maximum CPU Frequency | 800 MHz |
| Operating Temperature Range | -40 C to +105 C (industrial) |
| Package | 525-FCPBGA (19x19 mm) |
| Memory Interface | DDR3L / DDR4 with ECC, up to 1600 MT/s |
| Cache (per core) | 32 KB I-cache + 32 KB D-cache |
| Ethernet | 2x 10/100/1000 MAC (vTSEC, TSN-ready) |
| PCIe | 3x PCIe 2.0 controllers |
| USB | 1x USB 3.0 + 1x USB 2.0 (with PHY) |
| SATA | 2x SATA 3.0 (6 Gbps) |
| LCDC | Integrated, up to 1920x1080 |
| Cryptographic Offload | SEC 5.x (IPSec/SSL/TLS/DTLS acceleration) |
| Other Interfaces | CAN, uQE, I2C, SPI, UART, QSPI, SD/MMC |
| Silicon Revision | Rev 2.0 |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount (FCPBGA) |
| MSL Level | 3 (per JEDEC J-STD-020) |
| RoHS Status | Compliant |
LS1021AXE7HNB 525-fcpbga (19x19 mm) Pin Configuration Guide
Pin configuration for LS1021AXE7HNB (525-fcpbga (19x19 mm) package). This digital IC includes GPIO, communication interfaces (UART, SPI, I2C), and power pins. Refer to the manufacturer datasheet for alternate pin functions and configuration options. Essential for embedded system design and PCB layout.
No detailed pinout data available for LS1021AXE7HNB.
Refer to the datasheet for full pin configuration.
Typical Applications
LS1021AXE7HNB is suitable for 6 applications: Industrial IoT Gateway, Secure Router and VPN Appliance, Building Automation Controller, Small-Form-Factor NAS / Print Server, Industrial HMI Panel with TSN, Edge Computing Appliance.
Industrial IoT Gateway
The LS1021AXE7HNB's dual GbE vTSEC controllers with IEEE 1588 timestamping, three PCIe 2.0 lanes, USB 3.0, and SEC 5.x hardware crypto acceleration make it a natural fit for industrial IoT gateways aggregating fieldbus traffic into cloud or edge servers. At 800 MHz Cortex-A7 dual-core performance, it can run OPC UA Pub/Sub, MQTT, and a TSN bridge concurrently while leaving CPU headroom for protocol conversion. Designers typically pair it with a Marvell 88E1512 GbE PHY on the copper side and a TI DP83867IS for industrial-grade 1000BASE-T link robustness. The industrial -40 C to +105 C junction rating removes the need for active cooling in most control cabinets, and the integrated LCDC drives a small HMI panel directly without an additional graphics controller.
Recommended
Secure Router and VPN Appliance
The LS1021AXE7HNB's SEC 5.x block accelerates IPSec, SSL, TLS, and DTLS at line rate, offloading the dual Cortex-A7 cores from cryptographic processing so they can run routing daemons (e.g., FRR, VyOS) and firewall policies (iptables/nftables). Two SATA 3.0 ports let the appliance host a local SSD or HDD for caching, logging, and configuration storage, while the three PCIe 2.0 lanes can be used for an optional Wi-Fi 6 module or additional Ethernet. Pairing the SoC with an external TPM (e.g., Infineon SLB9670) plus secure boot on QSPI NOR completes a defense-in-depth posture. At 800 MHz dual-core the device sustains ~1 Gbps IPSec throughput in typical deployments, suiting SMB branch-office VPN concentrators.
Recommended
Building Automation Controller
Building automation demands deterministic Ethernet for BACnet/IP, KNX/IP, and LonWorks convergence, all of which the LS1021AXE7HNB's TSN-capable vTSEC controllers can handle. The CAN interface supports BACnet MS/TP or proprietary building protocols to legacy devices, while the integrated LCDC drives a wall-mounted touch panel up to 1920x1080. Combined with -40 C to +105 C industrial temperature and low power envelope, the SoC is well suited to controller boards installed in mechanical rooms without climate control. The dual Cortex-A7 cores at 800 MHz give plenty of headroom for WebHMI servers (Node-RED, Mosquitto) running concurrently with the automation stack.
Recommended
Small-Form-Factor NAS / Print Server
For compact NAS or print-server appliances, the LS1021AXE7HNB delivers two SATA 3.0 ports (6 Gbps each) supporting RAID-0/1 with a software stack, plus a USB 3.0 port for external backup drives or printers. The dual GbE vTSEC can be bonded or split between LAN and WAN, providing link aggregation and traffic prioritization through TSN features. At 800 MHz dual-core the SoC sustains ~200 MB/s sequential reads from a mirrored pair of SATA SSDs, sufficient for small-office and home-office file serving. The integrated SEC engine offloads encrypted-share workloads (SMB3, NFSv4 with Kerberos) without choking the cores.
Recommended
Industrial HMI Panel with TSN
The integrated LCDC can drive TFT panels up to 1920x1080, removing the need for a separate graphics controller and reducing BOM cost for industrial HMI panels. Pair the SoC with an LVDS bridge (TI SN65DSI83) for LVDS panels, and a touch controller for capacitive input. The dual Cortex-A7 cores run a WebHMI (Chromium kiosk mode, Qt WebEngine) while the vTSEC Ethernet and TSN features guarantee deterministic communication with PLCs and drives on the factory floor. The -40 C to +105 C rating supports outdoor and unheated cabinet installations.
Recommended
Edge Computing Appliance
The LS1021AXE7HNB's combination of Cortex-A7 dual cores at 800 MHz, hardware-accelerated crypto (SEC 5.x), and PCIe 2.0 lanes for AI accelerators (e.g., Coral M.2, Hailo-8) makes it an effective edge node for light inferencing alongside protocol processing. The USB 3.0 port supports cameras or sensors for vision pipelines, while SATA 3.0 enables local data buffering before cloud upload. Running lightweight container runtimes (Docker, containerd) on Yocto Linux is well within the SoC's compute envelope, and the SEC engine handles TLS 1.3 for secure telemetry offload. Industrial temperature and ECC-protected DDR3L ensure reliability in unattended deployments.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for LS1021AXE7HNB — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | LS1021AXN7HNB | LS1020AXN7HNB | LS1022AXN7HNB | LS1021AXE7HQB | LS1021AXN7KQB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | NXP Semiconductors | NXP Semiconductors | NXP Semiconductors | NXP Semiconductors | NXP Semiconductors | NXP Semiconductors |
| Package | 525-FCPBGA (19x19) | 525-FCPBGA (19x19) - same | 525-FCPBGA (19x19) - same | 525-FCPBGA (19x19) - same | 525-FCPBGA (19x19) - same | 525-FCPBGA (19x19) - same |
| CPU Cores | Dual Cortex-A7 @ 800 MHz | Dual Cortex-A7 @ 800 MHz | Single Cortex-A7 @ 800 MHz | Dual Cortex-A7 @ 1.0 GHz | Dual Cortex-A7 @ 800 MHz | Dual Cortex-A7 @ 800 MHz |
| SEC Cryptographic Offload | Yes (SEC 5.x, enabled) | No (standard SKU) | No | No (standard SKU) | Yes (SEC 5.x) | No |
| Operating Temperature | -40 C to +105 C | -40 C to +105 C | -40 C to +105 C | -40 C to +105 C | 0 C to +85 C (commercial) | 0 C to +85 C (commercial) |
| Memory Interface | DDR3L / DDR4 with ECC, 1600 MT/s | DDR3L / DDR4 with ECC, 1600 MT/s | DDR3L / DDR4 with ECC, 1600 MT/s | DDR3L / DDR4 with ECC, 1600 MT/s | DDR3L / DDR4 with ECC, 1600 MT/s | DDR3L / DDR4 with ECC, 1600 MT/s |
| Ethernet MACs | 2x 10/100/1000 (vTSEC, TSN) | 2x 10/100/1000 (vTSEC, TSN) | 2x 10/100/1000 (vTSEC) | 2x 10/100/1000 (vTSEC, TSN) | 2x 10/100/1000 (vTSEC, TSN) | 2x 10/100/1000 (vTSEC, TSN) |
| USB / SATA | 1x USB 3.0 + 1x USB 2.0 / 2x SATA 3.0 | 1x USB 3.0 + 1x USB 2.0 / 2x SATA 3.0 | 1x USB 3.0 + 1x USB 2.0 / 2x SATA 3.0 | 1x USB 3.0 + 1x USB 2.0 / 2x SATA 3.0 | 1x USB 3.0 + 1x USB 2.0 / 2x SATA 3.0 | 1x USB 3.0 + 1x USB 2.0 / 2x SATA 3.0 |
| Approximate Unit Price (qty 1, USD) | 57.92 | ~55.00 | ~48.00 | ~62.00 | ~55.00 | ~50.00 |
Key Differentiators
- Pin- and software-compatible with LS1020A and LS1022A (vs LS1020AXN7HNB)
- Integrated SEC 5.x cryptographic offload (vs LS1021AXN7HNB (standard, non-security SKU))
- Industrial temperature grade (-40 C to +105 C) (vs LS1021AXE7HQB (commercial 0 C to +85 C))
- Integrated LCDC and triple PCIe + SATA 3 (vs Generic Cortex-A7 MPU without integrated peripherals)
Design Notes
The 525-FCPBGA package on a 0.8 mm pitch demands a minimum 4-layer PCB stack-up with continuous reference planes under the DDR routing region. Matched 50 ohm single-ended impedance (100 ohm differential for Ethernet SERDES) per the NXP hardware design guide is mandatory. Place the DDR3L/DDR4 byte-lane routing within 25 mm of the SoC with matched trace lengths to avoid timing violations, and avoid vias on the DDR clock pair.
At typical industrial gateway workloads (about 60% CPU, 2x GbE, 1x SATA active), the LS1021AXE7HNB dissipates around 4-7 W. With proper PCB layout - at least 4 thermal vias under the exposed BGA die pad and a 4-layer board with solid ground pour - the junction-to-ambient thermal resistance keeps Tj below +105 C in still air. A small clip-on heatsink is recommended for sealed enclosures without forced airflow.
Power sequencing of the LS1021AXE7HNB rails (DVDD, AVDD, SVDD, USB VBUS) must respect the order described in the NXP reference design to avoid latch-up. Use TPS54331 buck converters for high-current core rails and TPS7A4701 LDOs for the low-noise AVDD rail. Decoupling: 0.1 uF X7R plus 10 uF ceramic at every power pin, with bulk tantalum or polymer capacitors placed near the package corners.
Common pitfalls: (1) Forgetting to configure the boot strapping resistors for QSPI vs SD/eMMC boot; (2) Enabling SEC crypto without provisioning the secure-boot fuses, which bricks the device until fused; (3) Using non-ECC DDR3L, which silently disables the ECC feature; (5) Treat silicon revision 2.0 errata as mandatory review items - especially the DDR training workaround and the PCIe hot-plug behavior fix.
Compliance Information
RoHS and REACH compliance stated by NXP product page. Not AEC-Q100 qualified (automotive MPU category typically uses LS1021A variants under different part numbers). Lead-free (Pb-free) reflow compatible per JEDEC J-STD-020 MSL-3.
