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

November 2, 2023November 2, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 19 Comments

Rockchip roadmap reveals RK3576 and RK3506 IoT processors, Linux 6.1 SDK

The Rockchip RK3588 processor may remain the most powerful processor from the company for a while as an updated Rockchip IoT processor roadmap reveals the new RK3576 octa-core SoC and RK3506 tri-core Cortex-A7 chip, as well as a Linux 6.1 SDK to be released in Q4 2023. With the limited information we have, the Rockchip RK3576 looks to be a cost-down version of the RK3588 processor with eight cores, a 6 TOPS NPU, a 4K video codec, as well as PCIe and USB-C interfaces. Strangely the Rockchip RK3582 that should serve a similar purpose is not showing up in the roadmap. [Update: The RK3576 is indeed a lower-cost SoC but features four Cortex-A72 and four Cortex-A53 cores instead as per the comparison table reproduced below: That also means we now have the RK3576 specifications (some obtained from another document too): CPU Octa-core Arm processor with 4x Cortex-A72 cores at 2.2 […]

November 2, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Alibaba T-Head TH1520 user manuals released

Further Alibaba T-Head TH1520 quad-core RISC-V processor documentation has been released with nine user manuals covering video and audio processing, peripheral interfaces, memory interfaces, system registers, and the built-in NPU for video acceleration. We first noted the TH1520 RISC-V SoC in the expensive web3-focused ROMA laptop in October 2022, but since then there have been some very interesting developments with the release of Sipeed’s Lichee Pi 4A SBC and various other platforms based on the LM4A system-on-module plus the BeagleBoard.org’s BeagleV Ahead. Both boards also have preliminary support in mainline Linux with the Lichee Pi 4A making it to Linux 6.5, and the BeagleV Ahead was added to the just-released Linux 6.6 kernel. However I had not noticed documentation for the processor was not released publicly until now as both Sipeed and Beagleboard.org have now made available nine user manuals in English, and the Sipeed link has the Chinese versions […]

November 1, 2023November 1, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

$15 Olimex RT1010-Py board runs MicroPython on 500 MHz NXP i.MX RT1011 Cortex-M7 MCU

Olimex RT1010-Py is a small development board powered by a 500 MHz NXP i.MX RT1011 Cortex-M7 MCU designed to run MicroPython and about four times faster than the Raspberry Pi Pico. The board comes with two 20-pin GPIO headers exposing various interfaces such as SPI and I2C, a microSD card slot for storage, two buttons, and a USB-C Type port for power and programming. The RT1010-Py also includes a 12-pin fUEXT connector to connect Olimex’s UEXT modules via a flat cable. Olimex RT1010-Py specifications: SoC – NXP iMX RT1011 crossover microcontroller with an Arm Cortex-M7 clocked at 500 MHz and 128KB SRAM/TCM Storage – 2MB SPI Flash, microSD card slot USB – 1x USB 2.0 OTG Type-C port Expansion 2x 20-pin headers with up to 15x GPIO, 3x UART, 2x SPI, 2x I2C, 1x I2S, 4x PWM. 5x analog input fUEXT connector (12-pin flat cable 0.5 mm step connector) with […]

November 1, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

RAKwireless Blues.ONE LoRaWAN, LTE-M and NB-IoT devkit ships with Blues NoteCard including a 500MB data plan

RAKwireless Blues.ONE is a LoRaWAN IoT development kit that also supports LTE-M and NB-IoT cellular connectivity through the Blues NoteCard which comes with 10 years and an upgradeable 500MB cellular data plan. The devkit relies on the WisBlock modular IoT prototyping system with the RAK13102 WisBlock Blues Notecarrier, the Blues NoteCard, a WisBlock Base Board, and a WisBlock Core module. It can be used to prototype or develop IoT devices for industrial automation and asset-tracking applications. Blues.ONE specifications: RAK4631 WisBlock Core Module SoC – Nordic nRF52840 Arm Cortex-M4F microcontroller @ 64 MHz with 1 MB Flash, 256 KB RAM, Bluetooth Low Energy 5.0 protocol stack LoRaWAN – Semtech SX1262 LoRa Transceiver with LoRaWAN 1.0.2 protocol stack (supports Class A & C), global coverage support: RU864, IN865, EU868, US915, AU915, KR920, AS923 RAK19007 WisBlock Base Board 4x Sensor Slots 1x IO Slot 1x USB Type C connector Rechargeable battery connector Solar […]

November 1, 2023November 28, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

GEEKOM Mini IT13 Core i9 mini PC review – Part 1: Specs, unboxing, teardown, and first boot

GEEKOM Mini IT13 is a powerful 13th gen Raptor Lake mini PC that was unveiled last August with either an Intel Core i9-13900H, Core i7-13700H, or Core i5-13500H processor, up to 32GB RAM, 2TB NVMe, and interfaces such as HDMI 2.0, USB4, 2.5GbE, and so on. The company has sent us a review sample of the Mini IT13 mini PC equipped with a Core-i9 14-core processor, 32GB RAM, and a 2TB NVMe SSD. We’ll start the review with an unboxing, a teardown to check the hardware design and upgradability of the device, and quickly try out to boot the system with the pre-installed Windows 11 Pro. But let’s go through the specifications before that. GEEKOM Mini IT13 specifications SoC – Intel Core i9-13900H 13th Gen Raptor Lake processor with 14 cores, 20 threads up to 5.40 GHz, 24MB Cache, Iris Xe graphics; TDP: 45W System Memory – Dual-channel DDR4-3200 SODIMM, […]

October 31, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Renesas RA8M1 is the world’s first Arm Cortex-M85 microcontroller

Renesas RA8M1 Arm Cortex-M85 microcontroller

Renesas RA8M1 is an up to 480 MHz Arm Cortex-M85 microcontroller with Arm Helium technology to improve DSP and machine learning performance on Cortex-M microcontrollers, and delivering up to 6.39 CoreMark/MHz performance using EEMBC’s CoreMark, or over 3,000 CoreMark at 480 MHz. The Arm Cortex-M85 core was first unveiled in April 2022 as a faster Cortex-M7 alternative and new Arm Helium technology that delivers machine learning performance similar to Cortex-M55 application processor. We had some teases about the upcoming Renesas Cortex-M85 in the last year, but the world’s first Cortex-M85 microcontroller is finally here. Renesas RA8M1 key features and specifications: MCU core – Arm Cortex-M85 clocked at 240 to 480 MHz with Helium MVE (M-Profile Vector Extension) with 32KB I/D Caches and 12KB Data Flash Memory & Storage 1MB SRAM with TCM 1MB to 2MB Flash memory External memory interfaces (CS/SDRAM) Camera – 16-bit Capture Engine Unit (CEU) interface Communication […]

October 31, 2023October 31, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite SoC benchmarks in Windows and Linux

Snapdragon X Elite reference laptop 23W vs 80W

Qualcomm unveiled the 4.3 GHz 12-core Snapdragon X Elite processor for laptops last week since some bold claims about the performance and efficiency. The company has now released benchmarks for the processor verified by third parties such as Anandtech and Notebookcheck showing the new Snapdragon processor performance is quite amazing with the Arm processor indeed matching Apple, Intel, and AMD high-end chips. What’s more is that the new SoC was tested in both Windows and Linux (using Geekbench 6.2), so in hindsight, I was wrong to say the Snapdragon X Lite would be a Windows-only processor when only seeing the DX12 listed in the specifications… Before we look into the benchmark results, we should note that Qualcomm provided two versions of the Snapdragon X Elite laptop prototype both using active cooling: “demo config A” high-performance system configured to run at an 80W TDP, and a low-power, thinner “demo config B” […]

October 31, 2023November 5, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Raspberry Pi 5 Kit Review – Part 1: Unboxing, Assembly and First Boot

Raspberry Pi 5 Kit Review Raspberry Pi OS boot

I’m quite late on that one, but after an extended holiday, I’m now ready to review the Raspberry Pi 5 the company sent me last month. I’ll do so with the latest Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm based on Debian 12 and CNX Software’s “tropical reviews” are usually more demanding than most others due to the higher ambient temperature (usually around 28°C in my room) in Thailand. But since Raspberry Pi did not just send the Raspberry Pi 5, but a full kit with keyboard, mouse, enclosure, and more, I’ll start with a post mostly looking at the hardware with an unboxing, assembly, plus a quick try at Debian 12 on the new SBC. Raspberry Pi 5 Kit Unboxing Besides the Raspberry Pi 5 itself, the package included the active cooler (heatsink + fan), a microSD card preloaded with a pre-release Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm image, a USB-PD power supply, a […]