The Raspberry Pi Foundation has released new versions of its Compute Module (System on Module) series of SOMs that originally debuted in 2014.
The Compute Module boards are smaller than regular RPis. They are intended to make the Raspberry Pi's open source hardware a part of embedded systems, IoT, and automation devices.
The Compute Module 3, or simply CM3, is a hardware fork of the RPi 3, designed around the DDR2 SODIMM form factor to ensure ample slot availability. There are two variants of the latest Compute Module, the CM3 and CM3 Lite.
Both variants feature the same 1.2GHz BCM2837 processor and 1GB of RAM, boosting the charging process tenfold. The CM3 adds an additional 4GB of eMMC flash memory. In the case of the CM3 Lite, the SD card interface is facilitated via the module's pins, allowing the user to connect their memory choice.
Alongside these chips, the Raspberry Pi Foundation has also released the Compute Module IO Board V3, or CMIO3. It was released so you can use the CM3 as a regular RPi computer. The CMIO3, which features a DDR2 SODIMM slot, adds USB, microUSB, HDMI, and other connections.
The CMIO3 allows you to add a microSD card, but also access the eMMC flash memory on the CM3 chip standard. In addition to the CM3 and CM3 Lite, the CMIO3 is also compatible with the original CM.
You can get the Compute Module 3 for $30 and the Lite variant for $25 through partners RS Components and element14.
