Author: Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on Firefly AIO-3562JQ – A Rockchip RK3562 SBC for industrial applications with isolated I/Os, RS485, RS232, and more

Firefly AIO-3562JQ – A Rockchip RK3562 SBC for industrial applications with isolated I/Os, RS485, RS232, and more

Firefly AIO-3562JQ SBC

Firefly AIO-3562JQ is an industrial SBC built around the company’s iCore-3562JQ system-on-module with a Rockchip RK3562(J) processor, designed to operate in the -40 to +85°C temperature range, and equipped with a 24-pin isolated terminal block with digital inputs and outputs (relays), RS485, RS232, CAN Bus, and UART. The board ships with up to 8GB RAM and 64GB eMMC flash and features a MIPI DSI interface, two MIPI CSI camera connectors, microphone and speaker connectors, two Ethernet ports, several USB interfaces, and more. Firefly AIO-3562JQ specifications: SoM – Firefly iCore-3562JQ SoC – Rockchip RK3562J CPU – Quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1.2 GHz (against 2.0 GHz for the Rockchip RK3562) GPU – Arm Mali-G52 EE with support for OpenGL ES 3.2, Vulkan 1.1, OpenCL 2.0 AI accelerator – None listed in the specs (Rockchip RK3562 comes with a 1 TOPS NPU) VPU – 4Kp30 H.364, H.264, VP9 video decoding, […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Cincoze DV-1100 is a rugged embedded computer with Raptor Lake or Alder Lake SoC for industrial and railway applications

Cincoze DV-1100 is a rugged embedded computer with Raptor Lake or Alder Lake SoC for industrial and railway applications

Cincoze DV-1100 Rugged Embedded Computer

Cincoze DV-1100 is a rugged embedded computer powered by a choice of Intel 13th Gen Raptor Lake or 12th Gen Alder Lake S Series embedded processors with up to 32GB DDR5 DO-DIMM memory, various NVMe and SATA storage options, up to three display interfaces, 2.5GbE and GbE networking, optional WiFi, Bluetooth, 4G LTE, and/or 5G wireless connectivity, six USB ports for expansion, and more. The system is housed in a fanless enclosure made of extruded aluminum with heavy-duty metal that’s good enough for 35W processors, but an additional fan kit is required for 65W processors. As a rugged embedded system designed for industrial environments, the Cincoze DV-1000 takes 9 to 48V DC input, integrates two RS232/RS422/RS485 COM ports, complies with the MIL-STD-810H shock and vibration standard plus various other industrial and railways standards, and can operate in a wide  -40°C to 70°C temperature range. Cincoze DV-1100 specifications: SoC (multiple options) […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments on Tiny XIAO ESP32C6 WiFi, BLE, and 802.15.4 IoT board offers up to 16 GPIO pins

Tiny XIAO ESP32C6 WiFi, BLE, and 802.15.4 IoT board offers up to 16 GPIO pins

XIAO ESP32C6 board

Seeed Studio has added yet another member to their XIAO board family with the XIAO ESP32C6 powered by an ESP32-C6 WiFi 6, Bluetooth LE 5, and 802.15.4 (Thread/Zigbee) RISC-V microcontroller and offering up to 16 GPIOs (headers + pads) in a tiny 21 x 17.5 mm form factor that’s smaller than a typical stamp and makes it one of the smallest ESP32-C6 boards around. The company started the XIAO family with the Seeeduino XIAO (Microchip SAMD21G18) in 2020, and since then they’ve made several other variants with different processors including the XIAO RP2040, XIAO ESP32C3, and XIAO ESP32S3. The XIAO ESP32C6 is the latest (10th) iteration of the board and the first to support WiFi 6, BLE, and 802.15.4 wireless connectivity. XIAO ESP32C6 specifications: Wireless MCU –  Espressif Systems ESP32-C6 CPU Single-core 32-bit RISC-V clocked up to 160 MHz Low-power RISC-V core @ up to 20 MHz Memory – 512KB […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 27 Comments on Snapdragon Dev Kit for Windows features Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite Arm SoC for AI PC application development

Snapdragon Dev Kit for Windows features Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite Arm SoC for AI PC application development

Snapdragon Dev Kit for Windows

Qualcomm Snapdragon Dev Kit for Windows is a mini PC-looking development platform based on the Snapdragon X Elite 12-core Arm processor with up to 75 AI TOPS of performance designed to help developers natively port apps to the Elite X SoC and develop new AI applications besides the Copilot+ AI PC features developed internally by Microsoft. Although it’s slightly bigger, the external design looks similar to the Windows Dev Kit 2023 with a  Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 compute platform, but internally, the new devkit features the much more powerful 4.3 GHz X Elite 12-core 64-bit Armv8 Oryon processor coupled with 32GB LPDDR5x RAM and 512GB NVMe SSD, and offering a range of ports and features such as USB4 and WiFi 7. Snapdragon Dev Kit for Windows (2024) specifications: SoC – Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-00-1DE) CPU – 12-core 64-bit Armv8 Oryon processor clocked at up to 3.8 GHz, or 4.3 […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on de next-TGU8-EZBOX tiny Tiger Lake mini PC is offered with fanless or active-cooling options

de next-TGU8-EZBOX tiny Tiger Lake mini PC is offered with fanless or active-cooling options

de next TGU8-EZBOX

AAEON claims the de next-TGU8-EZBOX is the world’s smallest Edge PC with an embedded Intel Core CPU based on the de next-TGU8 SBC introduced in 2022 with an up to up to an Intel Core i7-1185G7E Tiger Lake SoC, 16GB LPDDR4, and M.2 NVMe storage. The de next-TGU8-EZBOX is offered either as a fanless mini PC measuring 95.5 x 69.5 x 42.5mm, or a slightly taller system (45.4mm) with an active cooler. The mini PC features an HDMI port, Gigabit Ethernet and 2.5GbE ports, and USB 3.0. ports making it suitable for edge computing, digital signage, and industrial use. de next-TGU8-EZBOX specifications: SoC Intel Core i7-1185G7E quad-core/octa-thread processor @ 1.80GHz / 4.40GHz with Intel UHD graphics; TDP: 15W (TPD up: 28W); cooler version only Intel Core i5-1145G7E quad-core/octa-thread processor @ 1.50GHz / 4.10GHz with Intel UHD graphics; TDP: 15W (TPD up: 28W); cooler version only Intel Core i3-1115G4E dual-core/quad-thread processor […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments on BreadboardOS firmware for the Raspberry Pi RP2040 features a Linux-like terminal

BreadboardOS firmware for the Raspberry Pi RP2040 features a Linux-like terminal

BreadboardOS Raspberry Pi Pico

Cavin McKinley’s BreadboardOS is an open-source firmware platform for the Raspberry Pi RP2040 MCU (for now) built around FreeRTOS and with a feature-packed CLI that reminds me of the Linux terminal.

The terminal implementation is based on a fork of the microshell project with some additional customization. It is organized into POSIX-style folders/files providing a familiar user interface for interacting with the hardware on the MCU.

BreadboardOS running on Raspberry Pi Pico board

BreadboardOS highlights:

FreeRTOS-based
Tools for checking system resources such as ps, top, free, and df commands
Interaction with chip I/O and serial buses from the terminal using commands such as cat and echo, for example, you can print the list of GPIOs with:

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Raspberry Pi Zero HAT compatible Quectel BG95-M3 Zero cellular IoT board runs QuecPython MicroPython firmware

Raspberry Pi Zero HAT compatible Quectel BG95-M3 Zero cellular IoT board runs QuecPython MicroPython firmware

Quectel BG95-M3 Zero SBC with QuecPython MicroPython firmware

Waveshare BG95-M3 Zero is a Raspberry Pi Zero-sized SBC based on Quectel BG95-M3 cellular IoT module with LTE Cat M1 (eMTC), LTE Cat NB2 (NB-IoT), and eGPRS connectivity as well as GNSS. The board supports Raspberry Pi HATs and ships with Quectel’s QuecPython MicroPython firmware for easier programming. We’ve previously covered various SBCs and Raspberry Pi HATs based on Quectel modules for cellular IoT and GNSS connectivity with the likes of Olimex NB-IoT-Devkit (with a BC66 module), S-2Connect Creo evaluation kit, Sixfab 5G Modem HAT, and others. Olimex BC66 board supports Arduino programming, but most of the other boards rely on a host processor. Waveshare’s BG95-M3 Zero is a standalone SBC offering compatibility with Raspberry Pi Zero (p)HATs, and Quectel also developed its own MicroPython firmware called QuecPython that works with several of their modules, including the BG95-M3. BG95-M3 Zero specifications: Cellular IoT Module – Quectel BG95-M3 CPU – Arm […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments on Matter 1.3 specification adds support for water and energy management, electric vehicle chargers, and various household appliances

Matter 1.3 specification adds support for water and energy management, electric vehicle chargers, and various household appliances

Matter 1.3 Specification

The Connectivity Standard Alliance (CSA) has just announced the release of the Matter 1.3 specification and SDK with energy reporting, support for water and energy management devices, electric vehicle chargers, several new “major appliances”, namely various kitchen appliances and laundry dryers, and various other features. As a reminder the Matter protocol was initially introduced several years ago under the name Project CHIP to improve the interoperability of Smart Home devices from various vendors, so for example, users could connect a Matter-compatible Philips Hue light bulb to a Samsung gateway, or a white-brand Matter sensor with Google Home, etc… Matter started to pick last year with several products launched, and Paisit notably reviewed the MINI Extreme Wi-Fi Smart Switch (MINIR4M), the first Matter device from SONOFF, last October. Matter 1.3 adds various new capabilities and devices. Matter 1.3 highlights: Support for Water and Energy Management Devices Energy Management – Matter 1.3 […]

UP 7000 x86 SBC