Raspberry Pi 5 PCIe HAT+ board features gigabit Ethernet, 4G LTE (mini PCIe), two USB 3.2 ports

Waveshare has recently introduced the PCIe to MiniPCIe GbE USB3.2 HAT+ for Raspberry Pi 5 adding gigabit Ethernet, a mini PCIe socket for 4G LTE, and two USB 3.2 Gen1 ports to the popular Arm single board computer. The HAT+ is compatible with IM7600G-H-PCIE/EG25-G-mPCIe series 4G LTE modules with 4G/3G/2G global band and GNSS positioning. Additionally, it has a gigabit Ethernet with an onboard RJ45 port, two USB 3.2 Gen1 ports, an onboard power monitoring chip, and EEPROM. All these features make this HAT useful for applications such as industrial routers, home gateways, set-top boxes, industrial laptops, industrial PDAs, and much more. We have previously written about many different types of HATs for the Raspberry Pi 5 designed by Waveshare including the Waveshare UPS HAT (E), the Waveshare PoE HAT (G), the Waveshare PCIe to USB 3.2 HAT+, and many other products. Feel free to check those out if you […]

Pineboards adds four more Raspberry Pi 5 PCIe HAT+ boards with PCIe x4 slot, mPCIe socket, Coral Dual Edge TPU support, and audio ports

Pineboards, previously known as PineBerry, has launched four new Raspberry Pi HAT+ with a PCIe interface: the Hat uPCIty Lite, HatDrive! Piano, Hat mPCIe, and Hat Ai! Dual. The Polish company decided to change the name from Pineberry to Pineboards since the “berry” name implied they were manufacturing single-board computers, while Pineboards, not to be confused with Pine64 boards, apparently does not :). Nevertheless, let’s have a look at the four new HAT+ boards. Hat uPCIty Lite – PCIe x4 slot and ATX power supply Specifications: Supported SBCs – Raspberry Pi 5 and other SBCs with a compatible 16-pin PCIe FPC connector and form factor PCIe 16-pin PCIe FPC connector (input) PCIe X4 slot (output) to connect PCIe cards such as NVIDIA or AMD graphics cards; Note: only PCIe x1 Gen2 and Gen3 are supported Misc – 12V and PWR LEDs Power Supply 12V/8A via ATX power connector 12V/8A via […]

ArmSoM CM5 - Raspberry Pi CM4 alternative with Rockchip RK3576 SoC

Quartz64 Zero – A customizable, cost-optimized Rockchip RK3566T SBC with Raspberry Pi PCIe connector

The Quartz64 Zero is a thinner, cheaper version of the Quartz64 Model B with a Rockchip RK3566T quad-core Cortex-A55 SoC clocked at 1.6 GHz, 1GB LPDDR4, and HDMI and USB ports. The Quartz64 Zero has almost the same design as the Quartz64 with footprints for optional components (more on that later). Two noticeable differences are the presence of the 20-pin PCIe connector compatible with the one found on the Raspberry Pi 5 instead of a mini PCIe socket, and WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.4 support instead of just WiFi 5/Bluetooth 5.0. Quartz64 Zero specifications (changes highlighted in bold and strikethrough when items have been removed): SoC – Rockchip RK3566T CPU – Quad-core Cortex-A55 processor up to 1.6 GHz GPU – Arm Mali-G52 GPU supporting OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0/3.2, OpenCL 2.0, Vulkan 1.1 NPU – 0.8 TOPS NPU for AI acceleration (Unclear whether it’s present, not listed in the specs) System Memory […]

N-Fuse PoE HAT for the Raspberry Pi 5 also includes mini PCIe or M.2 Key-M/E/B sockets

N-Fuse has designed a PoE HAT for the Raspberry Pi 5 SBC that also serves as a PCIe expansion board thanks to either a mini PCIe socket or an M.2 Key-M, Key-B, or Key-E socket supporting 2230, 2242, or 3042 modules such as SSDs, AI accelerators, or wireless modules. The SBCPoE RPi5 HAT complies with the latest 802.3bt standard delivering up to 25W with active cooling or 15W with passive cooling. The HAT board still allows users to make use of the 40-pin Raspberry Pi 5 header thanks to a 40-pin Raspberry Pi interposition header. SBCPoE RPi5 HAT specifications: Power Supply IEEE 802.3af/at/bt compliant Overload protection 25W power delivery with active cooling, 15W without active cooling Output current up to 5A 5V output via optional 2.54mm pin header High efficiency (> 85%) enabled by active MOSFET bridge rectifier Short-Circuit Duration – infinity PCIe expansion (one or the other) Mini PCIe […]

PCIe to 5G HAT+ for Raspberry Pi 5 takes SIMCom and Quectel 5G modules

Waveshare PCIe to 5G/4G/3G HAT+ for Raspberry Pi 5 is a PCIe Gen 2 x1 to M.2 HAT+ designed to take 5G modules from SIMCom and Quectel and a Nano SIM card. The kit ships with a 4-in-1 PCB antenna, associated cables, a heatsink, a 4cm 16-pin PCIe FPC cable, a 40-pin female header, and a fixture set for mounting. We had previously written about the SixFab 5G HAT for the Raspberry Pi 5 with a Quectel RM502Q-AE M.2 module, but this specific kit still relies on the USB 3.0 interface. The Waveshare kit is the first 5G kit using the PCIe interface from the Raspberry Pi 5 interface and it is offered with Quectel RM502Q-AE, RM530N-GL, RM520N-GL, or SIMCom SIM8262E-M2, SIM8262A-M2 M.2 3042/3052 modules. Waveshare PCIe to 5G HAT+ specifications: M.2 Key B socket for 3042/3052 5G modules with PCIe interface 16-pin PCIe FPC connector directly connected to the […]

Radxa ROCK 5C (Lite) SBC features Rockchip RK3588S2 or RK3582 SoC, WiFi 6, Raspberry Pi PCIe FFC connector

First came the ROCK 5B pico-ITX SBC, then the Raspberry Pi 4-sized ROCK 5A board, and now Radxa has launched the Radxa ROCK 5C and 5C Lite single board computers powered by respectively Rockchip RK3588S2 octa-core and RK3582 hexa/octa-core “Lottery” processors. The ROCK 5C (Lite) design is very similar to the ROCK 5A, but there are some notable differences. First, it replaces the two micro HDMI ports with a single HDMI port, then it removes the Key M socket for M.2 wireless modules to make place for a built-in WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.4 module plus a Raspberry Pi PCIe FFC connector, and finally, the ROCK 5C does not support an SPI flash module anymore. The specifications of the ROCK 5C and ROCK 5 Lite SBC can be found in the table below. Both processors are new, so let’s have a look. First, how does RK3588S2 differ from RK3588S? They […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs

Testing Cytron MAKERDISK M.2 NVMe SSDs on Raspberry Pi 5 with GEEKWORM X1001 and Waveshare M.2 PCIe HAT+

Cytron has sent us a few of their MAKERDISK NVMe SSDs preloaded with Raspberry Pi OS so that we can test them on a Raspberry Pi 5 SBC, either with a GEEKWORM X1001 or Waveshare M.2 PCIe HAT+ add-on boards both of which were also provided by the company. Ever since the first M.2 PCIe HATs for the Raspberry Pi 5 were released, we knew Raspberry Pi Limited was working on its own model, and based on some Twitter/X “rumors” (with photos) the launch of the official M.2 HAT+ should be just around the corner. So it’s the perfect timing to test some SSDs on the Raspberry Pi 5 even though I’ve yet to get the official HAT+ Cytron “MAKERDISK” package unboxing The Malaysian company sent me a kit with everything I needed to get started, minus the Raspberry Pi 5 I already owned. This includes 128GB or 256GB NVMe […]

Waveshare PCIe to USB 3.2 HAT+ adds four USB ports to Raspberry Pi 5

Waveshare ‘PCIe to USB 3.2 HAT+’ is an expansion hat that adds four USB 3.2 ports to the Raspberry Pi 5. The HAT+ features real-time power status monitoring and software-controlled USB power management, along with an onboard EEPROM for storing HAT ID and product data. The HAT is mounted on top of the Raspberry Pi cooler and has an airflow vent to help keep the Pi cool. This new module leverages the HAT+ standard to add 4 additional USB 3.2 ports to the Raspberry Pi 5. Previously, boards like PineBerry Pi HAT+, Geekworm X1003/X1004, and Mcuzone MPW7 have used the HAT+ standard for various attachments, such as converting the Pi 5’s PCIe into an NVMe SSD adapter, enabling access to Google’s TPU, or adding a PCIe x16 socket. Waveshare  PCIe to USB 3.2 HAT+ Specifications PCIe x1 Gen2 mode Only supports Raspberry Pi 5 Model B. Equipped with VL805 original […]

Boardcon Rockchip and Allwinner SoM and SBC products