Arm introduced the Platform Security Architecture (PSA) back in 2017 to make Internet of Things (IoT) chips more secure. Since then we’ve seen many PSA certified products such as Silicon Labs’ EFR32FG23 (FG23) and EFR32ZG23 (ZG23) Cortex-M33 microcontrollers with PSA Level 3 certification. But as announced in 2017, PSA is architecture-agnostic, and the security architecture has gone beyond just certifying Arm microcontrollers, as shown by Espressif Systems who just announced that the ESP32-C6 RISC-V wireless microcontroller was now PSA Level 2 certified. The ESP32-C3 RISC-V MCU also achieved PSA certification earlier, but at the lower Level 1. The PSA-L2 certification was mostly made possible thanks to the ESP-TEE (Trusted Execution Environment) firmware that provides hardware-enforced isolation to enhance security for operations such as cryptographic key management, secure boot verification, and firmware updates. Espressif also reminded us of ESP32-C6’s hardware security features in the announcement: Physical Memory Protection (PMP) and Access […]
Seeed Studio launches Wi-Fi HaLow mini PCIe module for Raspberry Pi, add-on board for XIAO boards
Seeed Studio has launched two 900 MHz WiFi HaLow modules for long-range, low-power communication based on Quectel FGH100M-H: the Wio-WM6180 Wi-Fi HaLow mini-PCIe module designed to be installed in hardware such as OpenWrt routers or even Raspberry Pi SBCs, and the Wi-Fi HaLow module for Seeed Studio XIAO designed to take XIAO boards with Espressif, Raspberry Pi, or Nordic Semi microcontrollers. These solutions can be useful for Smart Home devices, industrial automation, Smart City infrastructure, Smart Agriculture, and environmental monitoring systems. The most typical use cases are WiFi HaLow cameras with up to one kilometer range. Wio-WM6180 Wi-Fi HaLow mini-PCIe Module Specifications: Quectel FGH100M-H Wi-Fi HaLow module compliant with IEEE 802.11ah standard. Chipset – Morse Micro MM6108 Wi-Fi Frequency Band – 902–928 MHz Operating mode – Access Point (AP) or Station (STA) Modulation – OFDM, BPSK, QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM Data Rate – Up to 32.5Mbps link rate Range – Up […]
Home Assistant 2025.3 released with dashboard view headers, tile card improvements, better SmartThings integration
The popular Home Assistant has gotten an update with version 2025.3 that brings dashboard view headers, several tile card improvements, better map clustering, streamed responses from LLMs, and improved SmartThings integrations. Let’s have a look at some of the improvements starting with dashboard view headers which allow users to add a title and welcoming text to dashboards using Markdown and templates. You can also add badges next to the headers. Home Assistant 2025.3 also brings plenty of improvements to tile cards: Adding a circular background around tiles that perform actions, and leaving the ones that just show extra information without a circle Features of a tile card can now be positioned inline in the tile card (e.g. on/off button) New features: switch toggle, counter toggle (to increase, decrease, or reset a counter entity), animations when hovering over atile card Editor improvements for ease of use The new version of Home […]
STMicro STM32WBA6 2.4 GHz wireless MCU gets up to 2MB flash, 512KB SRAM, USB OTG, and more
STMicro had two announcements yesterday. I’ve already covered the launch of the ultra-low-power STM32U3 microcontroller family, so today, I’ll check the new 100 MHz STM32WBA6 Cortex-M33 wireless MCU family with 2.4GHz radios for Bluetooth LE 6.0, Zigbee, Thread, and Matter designed for wearables, smart home devices, remote weather sensors, and more. The STM32WBA6 is an evolution of the STM32WBA family introduced last year, especially of the STM32WBA54 and STM32WBA55 with many of the same features SESIP (Security Evaluation Standard for IoT Platforms) Level 3 security certification, but gets more memory and flash with up to 512KB of SRAM and up to 2MB of flash. The new STM32WBA6 family also gains a High-Speed USB OTG interface and extra digital interfaces such as three SPI ports, four I2C ports, three USARTs, and one LPUART. STMicro STM32WBA6 key features and specifications: MCU core – Arm Cortex-M33 at 100MHz with FPU and DSP Memory […]
Zant – An open-source Zig SDK for neural network deployment on microcontrollers
Zant is an open-source, cross-platform SDK written in Zig and designed to simplify deploying Neural Networks (NN) on microcontrollers. It comprises a suite of tools to import, optimize, and deploy NNs to low-end hardware. The developers behind the project developed Zant (formerly known as Zig-ant) after noticing many microcontrollers lacked robust deep learning libraries, and made sure it would be on various platforms such as ARM Cortex-M or RISC-V microcontrollers, or even x86 targets. Contrary to platforms like Edge Impulse that focus on network creation, Zant is about deployment and outputs a static, highly optimized library ready to be integrated into any existing work stack. Zant highlights: Optimized Performance – Supports quantization, pruning, and hardware acceleration techniques such as SIMD and GPU offloading. Low memory footprint – Zant employs memory pooling, static allocation, and buffer optimization to work on resources-constrained targets. Ease of Integration: With a modular design, clear APIs, […]
LincStation N2 and S1 6-bay HDD/SSD NAS systems ship with Intel N100/N97 CPU, UnRaid OS (Crowdfunding)
LincPlus LincStation N2 and S1 are two 6-bay NAS systems taking SATA or SSD drives based on Intel Processor N100 or N97 CPU, and running UnRaid OS Linux distribution by default. The LincStation N2 features an Intel N100 CPU coupled with 16GB LPDDR5 and 128GB eMMC flash, two SATA bays for 2.5-inch drives, four M.2 2280 NVMe SSD slots, and 10GbE networking. The LinStation S1 has a larger design with an Intel N97 CPU, 8GB DDR5 (SO-DIMM, upgradeable), 64GB flash, four SATA bays for 3.5-inch drives, two M.2 2280 NVMe SSD slots, and two 2.5GbE ports. Both models also come with USB ports for expansion. LincStation N2 NAS Specifications: SoC – Intel Processor N100 quad-core processor up to 3.4 GHz with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel UHD Graphics Gen 12 @ 750 MHz; TDP: 6W System Memory – 16GB LPDDR5 (soldered on mainboard) Storage 128GB eMMC flash 2-bay SATA3.0 slots for […]
Rockchip RK3588 4K video encoder features four SDI inputs, four SDI loop outputs
Mekotronics R58-4×4 3U is yet another device based on Rockchip RK3588 from the company, but this product is a 4K video encoder with four SDI inputs, and four SDI loop outputs mirroring the SDI inputs. SDI (Serial Digital Interface) inputs are used for transmitting uncompressed, unencrypted digital video signals and typically found in professional video production and broadcasting environments. The SDI interface can also be found in security cameras like the MOKOSE SHD50-2.8-12MM and I can also see it used in cameras designed for live streaming on YouTube, or other services. The main advantages of SDI over interfaces like USB, HDMI, or Ethernet, are that it can use longer cables up to 300 meters, offers better signal integrity, and has near zero latency. Compatibility for professional camera equipment is another advantage. Let’s look at the Mekotronics R58-4×4 3U specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3588 octa-core processor with CPU – 4x CortexA76 […]
STMicro STM32U3 ultra-low-power Cortex-M33 MCU achieves 117 Coremark/mW in active mode, consumes 1.6 µA in stop mode
STMicro STM32U3 is a new family of Arm Cortex-M33 microcontrollers clocked at up to 96 MHz with ultra-low-power consumption designed for utility meters, healthcare devices such as glucose meters and insulin pumps, and industrial sensors. The company says the STM32U3 MCU family is a “market leader in terms of efficiency” with 117 Coremark/mW in active mode, and consumes 1.6µA in stop mode. The Coremark/mW score means the STM32U3 offers almost twice the efficiency of the STM32U5 series, and five times that of the STM32L4 series. Other highlights include up to 1MB of dual-bank flash, 256kB of SRAM, and various interfaces like MIPI I3C, SAI audio, 12-bit ADC, etc… STMicro STM32U3 key features and specifications: MCU Core 32-bit Arm Cortex-M33 CPU @ 96 MHz with TrustZone and FPU Performance 1.5 DMIPS/MHz (Dhrystone 2.1) 387 CoreMark (4.09 CoreMark/MHz) 500 ULPMark-CP 117 ULPMark-CM 202000 SecureMark-TLS ART Accelerator with DSP instructions Memory/Storage 256 KB […]