Specifications
Product
Nexalta Guardian NXG0042AI
SoC
Qualcomm IPQ9574 quad-core Arm Cortex-A73 @ 2.2 GHz
System Memory
2 GB DDR4
Storage
8 GB eMMC flash, 64 MB NOR flash
WAN Fabric
25 Gbps WAN fabric on the XWR A1 main board
Module Bays
2× 260-pin SO-DIMM sockets
Module Option 1
Turing RK1 (Rockchip RK3588, 6 TOPS NPU, 16/32 GB RAM, 64 GB eMMC)
Module Option 2
NVIDIA Jetson SO-DIMM modules
Module Option 3
2027 eight-core Cortex-A72 module with 32 TOPS NPU (32 GB RAM)
10GbE
10 Gbps LAN/WAN on RJ45 or M12-X, plus SFP+ transceiver slot, gas discharge tube protection
2.5GbE
2× 2.5 Gbps LAN/WAN on RJ45 or M12-X, one with SFP+ slot, gas discharge tube protection
Wi-Fi
Up to 3× concurrent 4×4 MIMO 802.11be (Wi-Fi 7) / 802.11ax radios, up to five WiFi radios total
mSATA
Slot S1: single mSATA on USB 3.2 Gen1; Slot S2: dual mSATA for software RAID 0/1
M.2 NVMe
Optional NVMe SSD via M.2 PCIe socket per module slot
Video
HDMI 2.1 eARC shared between SoM1/SoM2, selected via BMC
USB
Slot1 USB 2.0 Type-A, Slot2 USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A
Module Power
5 V or 9 V selectable per slot via BMC
Management MCUs
Three MCUs for BMC, power management and cryptography
Connectivity
Starlink support
Cooling
Multi-fan active cooling
Overview
The Nexalta Guardian NXG0042AI is a networking and IoT gateway built around the Qualcomm IPQ9574, a quad-core Cortex-A73 at 2.2 GHz. It is not a router that happens to have a compute slot: it is a 25 Gbps WAN fabric with two 260-pin SO-DIMM module bays, so the AI capability is a module choice rather than a fixed part of the board — a Turing RK1 with the Rockchip RK3588 and its 6 TOPS NPU today, an NVIDIA Jetson SO-DIMM module, or a planned 2027 eight-core Cortex-A72 module with a 32 TOPS NPU.
The networking side is where the design is unusually thorough. The 10 Gbps LAN/WAN port and the two 2.5 Gbps LAN/WAN ports are each available on RJ45, on M12-X connectors, or on SFP+ cages, and every one of them carries gas discharge tube protection — the surge suppression you need when a data line leaves a building or runs up a mast. Wi-Fi 7 is supported across up to five concurrent radios in up to three 4×4 MIMO 802.11be chains.
Storage is split between the board and the modules: an M.2 PCIe socket per module slot for NVMe, plus a single mSATA port on slot S1 and dual mSATA on slot S2 so the two sides can be software-RAIDed 0 or 1. Three dedicated MCUs handle baseboard management, power sequencing and cryptography, the BMC also arbitrates per-slot voltage (5 V or 9 V) and the shared HDMI 2.1 eARC output, and Starlink connectivity is supported for remote deployments.
Key Benefits
Modular AI rather than fixed silicon. Two SO-DIMM bays take Turing RK1, NVIDIA Jetson modules or the planned 32 TOPS 2027 module, so the gateway's AI capability can be upgraded in the field. Surge-protected multi-rate WAN. 10GbE and 2.5GbE, each on RJ45, M12-X or SFP+, with gas discharge tube protection on every path. Wi-Fi 7 with up to five radios. Up to three concurrent 4×4 MIMO 802.11be chains for dense multi-tenant coverage. Redundant local storage. Dual mSATA on slot S2 supports software RAID 0/1 without an add-in card.
Applications
Industrial and outdoor networking gateways, edge AI inference at the network edge, smart-city and utility pole installations, multi-tenant and hospitality Wi-Fi, ruggedised vehicular and marine networks, remote sites with Starlink backhaul, secure network segmentation with on-box cryptography.
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