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) - 1 Comment on MINIX NEO Z300-0dB fanless mini PC features Intel Core i3-N300 8-core CPU

MINIX NEO Z300-0dB fanless mini PC features Intel Core i3-N300 8-core CPU

MINIX NEO Z300-0dB

MINIX NEO Z300-0dB is a fanless mini PC powered by an Intel Core i3-N300 octa-core Alder Lake-N CPU with 16GB DDR4 and up to a 512GB NVMe SSD. It built upon the MINIX NEO Z100-0dB that we reviewed with both Windows 11 and Ubuntu 22.04 and performed well albeit not quite as fast as some actively-cooled models. The NEO Z300-0dB brings a faster Core i3-N300 octa-core processor and from what I can see from the specs below, the other features remain the same. MINIX NEO Z300-0dB specifications: SoC – Intel Core i3-N300 octa-core Alder Lake-N processor @ up to 3.8 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 32EU Intel UHD Graphics; TDP: 7W System Memory – 4GB, 8GB, or 16GB DDDR4-3200 SO-DIMM memory, upgradable to 32GB Storage 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB M.2 SSD (PCIe Gen3 x4), upgradable up to 4TB (compatible with SATA SSD too) MicroSD card slot Video Output 2x HDMI […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Intel Processor N50 or N97 touch Panel PCs feature 7-inch or 10-inch TFT color display

Intel Processor N50 or N97 touch Panel PCs feature 7-inch or 10-inch TFT color display

Intel N50 or N97 Panel PC 10-inch display

AAEON ACP-2106 and ACP-2076 are two fanless touch panel PCs powered by an Intel N50 or N97 Alder Lake-N processor with respectively 10-inch (1280 x 800) and 7-inch (1024×600) color TFT LCD displays with capacitive multi-touch support. Both models share the same key specifications with support for up to 32GB DDR5 SO-DIMM memory and a mPCIe socket for storage. They feature an HDMI 1.4 for dual display configuration for kiosks or other similar applications, two 2.5GbE ports, M.2 sockets for WiFi and 4G LTE/5G cellular connectivity, and more. AAEON ACP-2106 and ACP-2076 specifications: Alder Lake-N SoC (one or the other) Intel Processor N50 dual-core processor up to 3.4 GHz with 6MB cache, 16EU Intel UHD Graphics; TDP: 6W Intel Processor N97 quad-core processor up to 3.6 GHz with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel UHD Graphics; TDP: 12W Note: Turbo Mode is disabled by default. If enabling it, please ensure the system […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments on NXP RW612 Arm Cortex-M33 Wireless MCU offers Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, and 802.15.4 radios

NXP RW612 Arm Cortex-M33 Wireless MCU offers Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, and 802.15.4 radios

NXP RW61X Block Diagram

The NXP RW612 is an Arm Cortex-M33 SoC with three radios, namely WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, and 802.15.4 for Thread and Matter connectivity. It also has a small sibling called the RW610 without the 802.15.4 radio. I first came across RW61x chips, when Debashis wrote about the Trimension SR250 UWB chip mentioning it can work with “host processors like NXP’s i.MX, RW61x, and MCX families”. I initially thought it was a typo for the iW612 tri-radio solution introduced in 2022, and the RW612 is indeed similar, but it’s a complete wireless microcontroller/SoC with an Arm Cortex-M33 application core so it can be used independently as a host instead of a companion chip. NXP RW612 and RW610 specifications: MCU sub-system Core – 260 MHz Arm Cortex-M33 with TrustZone-M Memory On-chip 1.2 MB SRAM PSRAM interface for memory expansion Storage – Quad FlexSPI Flash XIP with on-the-fly decryption Peripheral interfaces Up to […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments on DigiPort is an HDMI computer dongle powered by a Raspberry Pi CM4 (Crowdfunding)

DigiPort is an HDMI computer dongle powered by a Raspberry Pi CM4 (Crowdfunding)

HDMI computer dongle Raspberry Pi CM4

Shivam Goyal, going under the Geeky Tronics name, has developed the DigiPort HDMI computer dongle powered by a Raspberry Pi CM4 system-on-module and designed to be connected directly to the back of an HDMI or through an HDMI cable. Since it does not support MHL, the DigiPort also needs a USB-C power source. You can add a keyboard and a mouse through its two USB 2.0 ports or via Bluetooth and network connectivity is managed through WiFi 5 making it a portable computer ready to use out of the box. DigiPort specifications: Supported System-on-Module – Raspberry Pi CM4 SoC – Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 processor @ 1.5 GHz System Memory – 1GB to 8GB LPDDR4-3200 SDRAM Storage – 0GB (CM4 Lite), or 8GB to 32GB eMMC flash Wireless – Dual-band WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 Storage – MicroSD card for OS when using a CM4 Lite module Video Output – […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments on Upcoming Rockchip RK3688 Armv9.3 AIoT processor to feature a 16 TOPS NPU, UFS 4.0 interface

Upcoming Rockchip RK3688 Armv9.3 AIoT processor to feature a 16 TOPS NPU, UFS 4.0 interface

Rockchip RK3688 Armv9.3 processor

Rockchip has unveiled the RK3688 AIoT SoC with Armv9.3 Cortex-A7xx cores delivering up to 250K DMIPS (RK3588 delivers 93K DMIPS), a 1 TFLOPS GPU, and a 16 TOPS NPU. The new processor succeeds the Rockchip RK3588 octa-core Cortex-A76/A55 first announced in 2019, and also features a 128-bit LPDDR4/4x/5 memory interface, and a UFS 4.0 storage interface. That’s about all we know about the RK3688 right now, but we can also deduct it’s probably based on a new, yet-to-be-announced Arm Cortex-A7xx core, possibly named Cortex-A730 or Cortex-A735, because no Arm cores have been announced with the Armv9.3 architectures. The Arm Cortex-A725 CPU core unveiled last May still relies on Armv9.2, and I’d expect new Arm cores to be introduced within the next few months unless Rockchip made a mistake in the presentation slide above. Two other platforms were also announced at the same time starting with a new entry-level/mid-range RK35XX octa-core […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on Quartz64 Zero – A customizable, cost-optimized Rockchip RK3566T SBC with Raspberry Pi PCIe connector

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

Quartz64 Zero

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 […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments on Olimex RVPC is a one Euro RISC-V computer kit with VGA and PS/2 connectors

Olimex RVPC is a one Euro RISC-V computer kit with VGA and PS/2 connectors

One Euro RISC-V computer

Olimex RVPC is one Euro RISC-V computer powered by a WCH CH32V003 RISC-V microcontroller and equipped with a VGA port for video output and a PS/2 connector to connect a keyboard. You won’t be able to do much with this device as an end-user, but it does not matter since the RVPC open-source hardware board mostly targets the education market and is offered as a kit to be soldered to lower the selling price and to serve as a soldering learning kit. Olimex RVPC specifications: MCU – WCH CH32V003 32-bit RISC-V2A microcontroller up to 48 MHz with 2KB SRAM, 16KB flash (SOP8 package with 6x GPIOs) Video Output – VGA connector (3x GPIO used for Vsync, HSync, and RGB) Keyboard port – PS/2 connector (2x GPIO used) Programmer port – 2-pin header for CH32V003 programming through a board such as ESP32-S2-DevKit-LiPo-USB Misc – Buzzer (1x GPIO) and Red power LED […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 39 Comments on OpenWrt One WiFi 6 router with Filogic 820 SoC launched for $89

OpenWrt One WiFi 6 router with Filogic 820 SoC launched for $89

OpenWrt One Router

The “OpenWrt One/AP-24.XY” is a Filogic 820-based WiFi 6 router board manufactured by Banana Pi whose software is directly managed by OpenWrt developers with assistance from MediaTek. The router was first announced in January 2024, and developer samples became available sometime in April with some early units auctioned away at the OpenWrt Summit which took place in Cyprus on May 18-19. The good news is that the OpenWrt One is now available to anyone on Aliexpress for $89 including a metal enclosure, a PoE module, three antennas, and a power supply. Here’s a reminder of the OpenWrt One router specifications: SoC – MediaTek MT7981B (Filogic 820) dual-core Cortex-A53 processor @ 1.3 GHz System Memory – 1GB DDR4 Storage 128 MB SPI NAND flash for U-boot and Linux 4 MB SPI NOR flash for write-protected (by default) recovery bootloader (reflashing can be enabled with a jumper) Two types of flash devices […]

EmbeddedTS embedded systems design