Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 1-2. (continued)
Hardware
Features
Comments
Storage
SD/MMC/SDIO
Card slot
Peripherals
8 × GPIO
UART
I2C bus
100 kHz
SPI bus
Two chip selects, +3.3 V, +5 V, ground
Power source
5 V via micro-USB
Which Model?
One of the questions that naturally follows a model feature comparison is why the Model
A? Why wouldn't everyone just buy Model B?
Power consumption is one deciding factor. If your application is battery powered,
perhaps a data-gathering node in a remote location, then power consumption becomes
a critical factor. If the unit is supplemented by solar power, the Model A's power
requirements are more easily satisfied.
Cost is another advantage. When an Arduino/AVR class of application is being
considered, the added capability of the Pi running Linux, complete with a file system on
SD, makes it irresistible. Especially at the model A price of $25.
Unit cost may be critical to students in developing countries. Networking can be
sacrificed, if it still permits the student to learn on the cheaper Model A. If network capability
is needed later, even temporarily, a USB network adapter can be attached or borrowed.
The main advantage of the Model B is its networking capability. Networking today
is so often taken for granted. Yet it remains a powerful way to integrate a larger system
of components. The project outlined in Chapter 8 of Experimenting with Raspberry Pi
(Apress, 2014) demonstrates how powerful ØMQ (ZeroMQ) can be in bringing separate
nodes together.
 
 
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