Storage

The Pyra has a range of options for data storage. these are:

• Two full-size SDXC card slots (externally accessible)
• One microSDXC card slot (behind battery)
• One SIM card slot (behind battery)
• Internal eMMC solid-state memory (capacity TBA)
• Two USB 2.0 host ports
• One microUSB 3.0 otg (host-slave) port (can be used for charging)
• One external eSATA port (via adaptor)

It should be noted that although the eSATA support is only via an active adaptor which plugs into a USB port, this is not a USB-to-eSATA adaptor. The additional pins that would normally be taken up with USB3.0 signalling have been used for SATA signals. This allows far higher transfer rates than would be possible over USB. In addition, should a SOC become available in future with a second USB3.0 interface, it could be routed through the existing connector to provide a dedicated USB3.0 host port.

The microSDXC card and internal eMMC use the same interface to the SOC, but controlled by a software-managed switch, allowing both to be accessed near-simultaneously, albeit with a decrease in throughput.

There is also a second microUSB port. This is not a general-purpose USB port (as a result of limitations of the SOC) but can be used in two ways:

• Charging the Pyra while the primary microUSB port is in host mode.
• Monitoring the Pyra using another computer (Serial output from the Pyra's processor, via a built-in Serial-USB translator, with the Pyra as USB slave)

Sample of official charging solution