Banana Pi BPI-R4 Wifi 7 router board with MediaTek MT7988A (Filogic 880),4G RAM and 8G eMMC

[sinovoip (bpi team)]

Banana Pi BPI-R4 Router board with MediaTek MT7988A (Filogic 880) quad-core ARM Corex-A73 design ,4GB DDR4 RAM,8GB eMMC,128MB SPI-NAND flash onboard, also have 2x 10Gbe SFP, 4x Gbe network port,with USB3.2 port,M.2 support 4G/5G/NVME SSD.2x miniPCIe slots with PCIe3.0 2lane interface for Wi-Fi 7 NIC (Network Interface Card). It is a very high performance open source router development board.

Mediatek Filogic 880. the 36Gbps Wi-Fi 7 access point/router/gateway platform delivers the fastest and most reliable connection experience

The MediaTek MT7988A is a world-Leading network processing platform for high-performance and reliable networking experiences,both in wired and wireless applications. The MT7988A comprises a rich connection interface sets include 4 Gigabit Ethernet ports. 2 US下GMII interfaces. 4 PCIe Interfaces,and 2 USB 3.2 en1 Ports

the MT7988A further enables seamless Wi-Fi 7 tri-band,2.4 GHz.5 GHz and 6 GHz,connectivity,with its Wi-Fi 7 companion chip that features 320-MHz bandwidth,4096-QAM ,MLO,MRU,and AFC.

To answer the need of fast-evolving tunneling applications,the MT7988A comes with MediaTek Tunnel offload processor System(TOPS),which facilitates the processing of a wide range of tunneling protocols.The MT7988A optimizes networking performance with exquistitely tuned ISA of MediaTek TOPS,and is dedicated to lifting networking offloading performance to premium level.

Key Features

• MediaTek MT7988A (Filogic 880) quad-core Arm Corex-A73,1.8GHz processor
• 4GB DDR4
• 8GB eMMC flash
• 128MB SPI-NAND Flash
• Micro SD card slot
• 2x 10Gbe SFP slot (option 1x 10Gbe SFP and 1x SOC embedded 2.5Gbe PHY)
• 4x Gbe network port
• 1x USB3.2 slot
• 1x M.2 KEY-B slot with USB3.2 interface for 5G
• 1x M.2 KEY-M slot with PCIe3.0 1lane interface for NVME SSD
• 2x miniPCIe slots with PCIe3.0 2lane interface for Wi-Fi 7 NIC (Network Interface Card)
• 26 PIN GPIO Header for expanding application

BPI-R4 hardware interface:

Banana Pi BPI-R4 wifi7 module use MediaTek MT7996+MT7995+MT7977A+MT7977B chip design.

BPI-Wifi7 module interface:

1x10G SFP + 1x 2.5G ethreal port with PoE support version：

Banana Pi BPI-R4 Wifi 7 Router with MTK MT7988 ,test OpenWRT

Banana Pi BPI-R4 Wifi 7 Router with MTK MT7988 ,test OpenWRT

Online Wiki documents , will keep update:

https://wiki.banana-pi.org/Banana_Pi_BPI-R4

[graphine]

MediaTek Tunnel offload processor System(TOPS)

Board looks good, is this tunnel based on EIP-197B?

I know it can do full protocol offload for macsec-ipsec and other but no public firmware available. The mini firmware in linux is very limited.

[ElSergio]

When and where to buy??

[deul]

Looking forward to it though I wish you switched the PH-3PIN fan header to a standard PC style 4 Pin header.

[frank-w]

Problem is not only the jack. There are a few 5v pwm fans and many 12v pwm fans so voltage should be at least switchable and 5v should have also 5v pwm level. 3pin socket on r3 has 5v supply but 3v3 pwm signal. Jack is also rotated so that 5v is yellow cable and pwm is red wire on my standard jst cables.

[blackJMYNTRN (The Black Jimmy Neutron)]

carrier aggregation 3x or no?

[DeadMeat (Alex R.)]

4GB DDR4

2x 10Gbe SFP slot

@sinovoip

Is it still possible to replace the soldered-in EMMC with the soclet like on a pic to make it replaceable?

As for me it’s a better option.

Thank You!

[dgel27 (Dmitry Gelfond)]

Hi, If it still possible, please:

1. Add pci lanes to M2. key B interface
2. Remove components(capacitors, SIM slots) and check clearenace under the modem (the Telit modem, maybe others) have components on bottom side.
3. Create wide clearance around M2. key B socket (look at MeiG and Cinterion 5G modems)
4. Route additional USB type C connector from M. 2 interface for modem debug port (QXDM, MTK, UNISOC debug tools)
5. If possible, add SMA connectors to edge of board, that can be connected with RF cables from the 5G modem.

And I waiting to order it for use as 5G modems testing in our 5G labs.

Thanks, Dmitry

[ericwoud (Eric W.)]

Can it be powered by the USB-C connector with PD?

Does it use the FUSB302 like some other boards? There is a lot of trouble using this one.

[huangya (Tony)]

I’m also very interested and want to know when to buy and the price.

[simon]

Hi,Frank, Thank you for the suggestion, if possible, it will be improved in the next version

[simon]

The standard board supports one USB3.0 M.2 4G/5G and two USB2.0 miniPCIe 4G modules.

It can also be customized to support two miniPCIe 5G modules of USB3.0. Of course, because the USB3.0 and PCIe interfaces are co-pad, there will be no PCIe3.0 2lane function after the modification.

In addition, minipcie’s wi-fi 7 NIC and 4G are optional.

[simon]

The reliability of this kind of module is not as good as that directly soldered on the board.

If you want to increase the capacity, maybe you can insert NVME SSD. eMMC is used for storage systems and general applications.

[simon]

Hi, Dmitry.

Thank you very much for your suggestions.

We have considered these in the first version of the design, but because the board is not big enough, we put the components under the module, and according to the test results, some more components may be added. In addition, it is almost impossible to add USB typeC and SMA connectors.

However, it is recommended that if you want to test 5G modems, you can plug it into the M.2 KEY-M through an adapter board. We have reserved the fourth USB3.0 port of the USB-HUB to KEY-M(non-standard)

[simon]

It can be powered with PD, using CH224K.

[sinovoip (bpi team)]

Banana Pi BPI-R4 wifi7 module use MediaTek MT7996+MT7995+MT7977A+MT7977B chip design.

[Karol_Bizewski]

According to block diagram of BPI-R4, M.2 key B connector for 5G has USB3 and PCIe . Is that correct?

If yes, than cheaper 5G modules could be used, like FM350-G or T99W175 that uses PCIe intead of USB.

BPI-R4-Main-Block.pdf

[simon]

USB3.0 on M.2 KEY-B is combo with PCIE_1L_0

[frank-w]

Can you publish full shematic? Have you added coupling capacitors on the tx lines of pcie on all slots (known problem on other boards)?