Is there an Android PCI card?

Question

Does anyone know of a PCI card suitable for Android development?

I find the emulator unusably slow (Linux 64-bit, quad-core, 8GB RAM), and a card I could hide in my desktop would be nice. I know there are USB options out there, but that means yet more kit I need to find a shelf for... or suitably chasis-mount a USB board

The reasons for doing wanting this, the reasons are:

1. QEMU ARM emulation is unusably slow for me
2. A phone won't allow me to test against multiple Android versions
3. A phone won't allow me to test against multiple Android display resolutions
4. Not an issue for me, but in a classroom environment, a PCI card inside a PC has distinct advantages over multiple phones.

If there isn't a card that already has Android-specific capabilities, then I would be happy with an generic ARM card with shared memory. A graphics co-processor would be useful, but not essential.

I'm happy with my reasons for wanting to do this, and happy to write any driver code I need.

Thanks in advance,

Phil Lello

Answer 1

I didn't try this solution myself (yet) but here is what I would do if in the same situation:

Buy a BeagleBoard or a Panda Board which are small (and low cost) ARM boards (3" x 3" for the BeagleBoard) and, as someone else suggested, hide it inside your PC and hook it using an internal USB connector on your motherboard. Both will let you run Android.

Answer 2

I don't know of any PCI boards that are in the market right now. Your best chance is probably just getting one of those USB based boards.