ok, soo...
i've been following the updates to USB3 (10 gigabit speeds now with USB 3.1). in combination with:
* the development of both the tablet and the laptop not having room for an ethernet port * the development of lower-cost SoCs not really having ethernet * the fact that the ethernet components cost around $2 when the SoCs themselves are around $2 to $4
... i'm coming to the conclusion that Ethernet should be removed, and the 9 lines used to
* increase the USB3.0 allocation (4 wires) to USB 3.1 (8 wires) * this would leave 5 spare pins for GPIO. * at least two of those should be EINT-capable GPIOs
this would make it possible to redesign the tablet PCB to a more "standard" one - removing the need for the I2C GPIO chip for example.
if there are any products that need ethernet, it can be done as a USB2 or USB3 compliant external IC.
the IC3128 PCB can be reduced down to around a $12 BOM, the EOMA68-A20 PCB can be reduced by a further $2.50.
any thoughts or objections, much appreciated the input.
l.