Texas Instruments AM5746ABZXEA

Overview

AM5746ABZXEA from Texas Instruments is a high-performance Sitara™ Arm® applications processor featuring dual Cortex®-A15 CPUs, two C66x DSP cores, 2.5MB on-chip L3 RAM, dual DDR3/DDR3L EMIFs supporting up to DDR3-1333, and integrated PRU-ICSS for industrial communication. It delivers deterministic real-time control alongside rich multimedia processing, targeting industrial HMIs, programmable logic controllers, and edge analytics gateways.

For engineers reviewing the AM5746ABZXEA datasheet, AM5746ABZXEA pinout, AM5746ABZXEA application, or AM5746ABZXEA equivalent, key selection considerations include its lack of HDMI, EVE, IVA-HD, SGX544 GPU, and BB2D hardware acceleration-features present in AM5749/AM5748 but explicitly omitted in AM5746 per TI's Device Comparison table-making it optimized for cost-sensitive, non-video industrial control applications requiring robust connectivity and secure boot.

Technical Context

The AM5746ABZXEA implements a heterogeneous compute architecture with tightly coupled Arm A15 cores handling OS and application layers, while C66x DSPs execute signal-intensive algorithms such as motor control or protocol stack offload. Its dual PRU-ICSS subsystems provide deterministic real-time I/O and industrial Ethernet protocol support (e.g., EtherCAT, Profinet) without CPU intervention.

Security is enforced via hardware root-of-trust, customer-programmable OTP keys, and Arm TrustZone®-based TEE with firewall isolation, DMA path protection, and secure watchdog/timer resources-features confirmed available on all AM574x devices including AM5746 per the SPRS982H datasheet Section 1.3.

Key Specifications

Pinout & Package

AM5746ABZXEA uses a 760-ball FCBGA (ABZ) package with 23.0 mm × 23.0 mm body size and 0.8-mm pitch. Pin configuration follows TI's ABZ ball map (SPRS982H Figure 4-1), with 760 terminations including power, ground, signal, and NC balls. Non-connected balls are explicitly listed (e.g., AF7, AE4, AB26, W3, etc.).

Key Features

Applications

Equivalent & Alternatives

The following parts are listed as comparable options for similar industrial processor applications.

Compared with AM5748ABZXEA, AM5746ABZXEA removes display and vision acceleration blocks to reduce cost and power, while retaining identical industrial connectivity and security features; versus AM5728ABZXEA, it adds deterministic PRU-ICSS, dual-A15, and dual-Gigabit Ethernet-critical for high-integrity control systems.

Availability

AM5746ABZXEA is available at Aetrix Electronics and suitable for industrial PLC controllers, smart HMI gateways, energy management controllers, and railway signaling interfaces requiring stable component supply across extended product lifecycles.

Supply support for AM5746ABZXEA includes scheduled delivery planning, volume procurement assistance, BOM continuity management, traceable sourcing, and lifecycle availability coordination for OEM customers, industrial embedded developers, connected-device designers, and electronics production programs.

Manufacturer

Texas Instruments is a global semiconductor company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, delivering analog and embedded processing solutions for industrial, automotive, and communications markets since 1930.

The AM574x Sitara™ processor family was designed specifically for high-performance industrial applications demanding real-time determinism, functional safety, and secure connectivity-positioning AM5746ABZXEA as the cost-optimized variant for headless control without video processing.

FAQ

Does AM5746ABZXEA support HDMI or video output capabilities?

No, AM5746ABZXEA does not support HDMI or any display output functionality. According to TI's official Device Comparison table (SPRS982H Table 3-1), VOUT1, VOUT2, VOUT3, and HDMI are explicitly marked "Not Supported" for AM5746. This omission distinguishes AM5746ABZXEA from AM5748/AM5749 and confirms its role as a headless industrial processor optimized for control and connectivity rather than multimedia rendering.

What security features are implemented in AM5746ABZXEA?

AM5746ABZXEA includes hardware-enforced secure boot with customer-programmable OTP keys, Arm TrustZone®-based Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) with firewall isolation, secure DMA paths, cryptographic acceleration for AES-128/192/256, SHA2-256/384/512, and a true random number generator. All these security features are confirmed available on every AM574x device, including AM5746ABZXEA, per Section 1.3 of the SPRS982H datasheet.

How many PRU-ICSS subsystems does AM5746ABZXEA integrate?

AM5746ABZXEA integrates two fully independent Programmable Real-Time Unit and Industrial Communication Subsystem (PRU-ICSS) modules, as confirmed in both the Features section (Section 1.1) and Device Comparison table (Table 3-1) of the SPRS982H datasheet. These enable deterministic real-time I/O, industrial Ethernet protocol stacks (e.g., EtherCAT, Profinet), and custom bit-banged interfaces without CPU involvement.

Is AM5746ABZXEA pin-compatible with AM5748ABZXEA or AM5749ABZXEA?

Yes, AM5746ABZXEA is pin-compatible with AM5748ABZXEA and AM5749ABZXEA. All three devices use the identical 760-ball FCBGA (ABZ) package with 23.0 mm × 23.0 mm body size and 0.8-mm pitch, as documented in the Device Information table (Section 1.3) and Mechanical, Packaging, and Orderable Information chapter (Section 9) of SPRS982H. This allows drop-in replacement in designs where display or vision features are unused.

What is the maximum DDR3 speed supported by AM5746ABZXEA?

AM5746ABZXEA supports DDR3/DDR3L memory speeds up to DDR3-1333 (667 MHz clock, 1333 MT/s data rate) on both EMIF1 and EMIF2, as specified in Section 1.1 Features and Table 5-6 (Maximum Supported Frequency) of the SPRS982H datasheet. ECC is supported only on EMIF1, consistent with TI's silicon revision 1.0 implementation.