Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft), Author at CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

December 29, 2023December 30, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 19 Comments

Sipeed Longan Pi3H – A Raspberry Pi Zero-sized board with gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 6, HDMI, and USB ports

Sipeed Longan Pi3H is a Raspberry Pi Zero-sized single board computer (SBC) powered by an Allwinner H618 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor and equipped with full-size connectors namely an HDMI 2.0 video output, two USB 2.0 Type-A ports, and a gigabit Ethernet RJ45 jack. It also offers WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity, features the usual 40-pin GPIO header found in Pi Zero boards and relies on a USB OTG Type-C port for power. Its design is unusual for a board of that size, not only because of the full-size ports, but also because it’s comprised of a carrier board and a replaceable LM3H CPU module with the Allwinner H618 SoC, RAM, and eMMC flash. Sipeed Longan Pi3H specifications: SoC – Allwinner H618 CPU – Quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1.5GHz with 1MB L2 cache GPU – Arm Mali-G31 MP2 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 1.0/2.0/3.2, OpenCL 2.0, Vulkan […]

December 29, 2023December 29, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Radxa CM3S Rockchip RK3566 SODIMM system-on-module supports up to 8GB RAM, 128GB flash, wireless module

Radxa CM3S (Compute Module 3 SODIMM), also called the ROCK3 Compute Module SODIMM, is a system-on-module with a 200-pin SO-DIMM edge connector powered by a Rockchip RK3566 processor with up to 8GB RAM, 128GB eMMC flash, and an optional wireless module with WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 4.2. It follows the company’s CM3 module with Raspberry Pi CM4 form factor based on the same Rockchip RK3566 SoC, but in a more compact SO-DIMM form factor with a 200-pin edge connector that’s compatible with the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3/3+, but not compatible with NVIDIA’s Jetson Nano, Xavier NX, and Orin NX 260-pin SO-DIMM modules, and you’d need to wait for the upcoming Radxa NX5 instead… Radxa CM3S specifications can be found below along with the ones for the Radxa CM3 and Rockchip RK3568-based Radxa CM3I system-on-modules. Note that some of the specifications differ depending on where you look on the Radxa […]

December 28, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

$44 5G M.2 to Ethernet and USB “converter” takes M.2 5G PCIe modules

Waveshare “5G M.2 to Gigabit Ethernet converter, 5G M.2 to USB3 converter” is a single device designed to easily and cheaply add 5G connectivity to a LAN through a gigabit Ethernet port or to a specific host like a PC or a Raspberry Pi SBC through a USB 3.1 Type-C port. The 5G M.2 to Ethernet and USB converter is flexible as by default it does not ship with a 5G module, but features an M.2 Key-B socket for 5G 3042 or 3052 modules allowing it to meet the requirements of a specific location. 5G M.2 to Ethernet and USB converter key features and specifications: Cellular M.2 Key B socket for 3042/3052 5G modules from SIMCom (SIM82XX), Quectel (RM5XX), and Fibocom (FM160XX) Onboard standard SIM card slot 4x 5G omnidirectional high-gain antennas Ethernet – Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port using RealTek RTL8125 controller USB – USB 3.1 Type-C port for connection […]

December 28, 2023March 8, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Review of Blackview MP80 (Processor N97) mini PC with Windows 11 Pro

Blackview MP80 is a tiny pocket-sized mini PC powered by either an Intel Alder Lake-N Processor N95 or Processor N97 CPU with 16GB LPDDR5 RAM and a 512GB M.2 SSD preloaded with Windows 11 Pro. We’ve already reviewed the Blackview MP80 (N95) mini PC a few months ago, but the company has now sent us the Processor N97 model for review. Both models look identical with the same ports including three HDMI 2.0 video outputs, three USB ports, and two gigabit Ethernet ports, plus a Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 4.2 wireless module. The mini PCs are also actively cooled, and the only obvious differences are the processor (Intel N95 vs N97) and the color of the enclosure. We usually do a three-part review with the first one listing the specs, and going through an unboxing and a teardown, but for the Blackview MP80 (N97) review we will do those and […]

December 27, 2023August 28, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

LILYGO T4-S3 board combines 2.41-inch AMOLED touchscreen display with ESP32-S3R8 microcontroller

LILYGO T4-S3 is yet another ESP32-S3 board with an integrated display, but the main difference here is the 2.41-inch AMOLED touchscreen display with brighter colors than typical TFT displays. It’s actually not the first ESP32-S3 board with an AMOLED display from LILYGO as we previously covered the T-Track and T-Display-S3 AMOLED boards from the company, but the new T4-S3 has a larger 2.41-inch display with touchscreen function and an aspect ratio that may make it more suitable for a wider range of HMI applications. LILYGO T4-S3 specifications: SoC – Espressif ESP32-S3R8 CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller up to 240 MHz with vector instructions for AI acceleration Memory – 8MB PSRAM Wireless – WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE + Mesh connectivity Storage – 16MB SPI flash, MicroSD card socket Display – 2.41-inch RGB AMOLED touchscreen display with 600×450 resolution (QSPI controller) with 800cd/m2 brightness, 36.2 x 48.96mm active […]

December 27, 2023December 27, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

TTS-20 Pro laser engraver review

TwoTrees TTS-20 Pro 20W is a compact, lightweight laser engraver that can be used with wood, plastic, leather, and metal. It can either be used for businesses that want to start producing items or schools that want students to learn how to create pieces, whether it’s cutting work or various engraving, the TTS-20 Pro 20W laser engraving machine is easy to use and safe. TTS-20 Pro laser engraver specifications The TTS-20 Pro laser engraver features a large lightweight aluminum frame with a working area of 418 x 418 mm (external dimensions: 695 x 620 x 125 mm). It comes with a 20 Watts laser module with a 0.08 mm accuracy and supports up to 30,000 mm/min engraving speed. The controller supports either a USB connection to a host computer or engraving from a file on a microSD card. The laser engraver also ships with air assist which will deliver cleaner […]

December 26, 2023January 27, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

GL.iNet GL-MT6000 “Flint 2” WiFi 6 router review – Part 1: Unboxing, teardown, and first try

GL.iNet Flint 2 (also known as GL-MT6000) is a new WiFi 6 AX6000 router based on MediaTek MT7986 (Filogic 830) Arm SoC running of fork OpenWrt 23.05 and claims up of up tup to 900 Mbps VPN speed using WireGuard. The company sent us a review sample of the Flint 2 router, and since we’ve already listed the specifications, we’ll focus the first part of the review on an unboxing, teardown, and a first quick try, before testing some of the features, including the VPN speed, and comparing it to the Xiaomi Mi AX6000 router I own in the second part of the review in a few weeks. GL.iNet GL-MT6000 unboxing The package shows the model number Flint 2 / GL-MT6000 and key features such as the AX6000 WiFi 6, dual 2.5GbE, multi-WAN support, dual Ethernet WAN, OpenWrt, and VPN. The package features the router itself with its four antennas, […]

December 23, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

EDATEC ED-IPC3020 – A fanless Raspberry Pi 5 industrial computer with an M.2 NVMe SSD, RS485/RS232 interfaces

EDATEC ED-IPC3020 Raspberry Pi 5 industrial computer

EDATEC ED-IPC3020 is a fanless industrial computer based on the Raspberry Pi 5 SBC with support for an M.2 NVMe SSD up to 2260 in size, RS232 and RS485 serial ports, and stereo audio input and output jacks. The Raspberry Pi 5 single board computer could already support an M.2 NVMe SSD thanks to add-on boards such as the PineBerry Pi HatDrive and Pimoroni NVMe Base, but with the ED-IPC3020 we have a complete Raspberry Pi 5-powered computer with M.2 NVMe storage. EDATEC ED-IPC3020 specifications: SBC – Raspberry Pi 5 Model B SoC – Broadcom BCM2712 quad-core Arm Cortex-A76 processor clocked up to 2.4 GHz, VideoCore VI GPU, 4Kp60 H.265 decoder Memory – 4GB and 8GB LPDDR4X-4267 SDRAM are optional Storage – MicroSD card slot for the OS Video Output – 2x micro HDMI ports up to 4Kp60 Networking Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port with optional PoE support Dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi […]