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

November 19, 2015August 28, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 26 Comments

Amlogic S905 vs Rockchip RK3368 Benchmarks Comparison

The first Amlogic S905 TV boxes have started to ship, and I received Videostrong K1 Plus a few days ago, but due to some issues with Google Play Store, I’ve decided to postpone the review. In the meantime, I’ve side-loaded popular benchmark apps including Antutu, Vellamo, and 3Dmarks to the device to compare it to its main 64-bit ARM competitor: Rockchip RK3368. I used benchmark results from Beelink i68 review and compared them to K1 Plus, both devices running Android 5.1. A ratio greater than 1 (green) mean S905 is better, while a ratio lower than 1 (red) means RK3368 fares better. Amlogic S905 Rockchip RK3368 Ratio CPU Quad core Cortex A53 @ 2.02 GHz* Octa core Cortex A53 @ 1.2GHz GPU ARM Mali-450MP PowerVR G6110 Antutu 5.x Overall 28,027 34,171 0.82 Multitask 4,260 4,041 1.05 Runtime 2,721 2,949 0.92 RAM Ops 1,960 2,346 0.84 RAM Speed 2,420 2,601 0.93 […]

November 19, 2015November 19, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 50 Comments

Amlogic S905 Source Code Published – Linux, U-Boot, Mali-450 GPU and Other Drivers

Amlogic has an open linux website where they regurlarly release GPL source code, and with Amlogic S905 devices coming to market, they’ve released a few tarballs at the beginning of the month including Linux 3.14 source code, U-boot source code, and Mali-450MP GPU kernel source code (obviously not userspace), as well as some other drivers for WiFi, NAND flash, PMU, TVIN, etc… Let’s get to the download links: Linux 3.14.29 source code U-boot 2015.01 GPU drivers for ARM Mali-450MP Broadcom and Realtek Wifi drivers and firmware (November 4, 2015) can be found @ http://openlinux.amlogic.com:8000/download/ARM/wifi/. Other kernel modules (November 4, 2015) @ http://openlinux.amlogic.com:8000/download/ARM/modules/. I quickly tried to build the Linux source. If you’ve never build a 64-bit ARM kernel or app before, you’ll fist need to install the toolchain. I installed the one provided with Ubuntu 14.04:

sudo apt-get install gcc-aarch64-linux-gnu

1	sudo apt-get install gcc-aarch64-linux-gnu

Now extract the tarball and enter the source directory:

tar xvf arm-src-kernel-2015-11-04-9e845bea41.tar.gz 
cd arm-src-kernel-2015-11-04-9e845bea41

1 2	tar xvf arm-src-kernel-2015-11-04-9e845bea41.tar.gz cd arm-src-kernel-2015-11-04-9e845bea41

At first I […]

November 18, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

RedBear Duo is a Breadboard-friendly Wi-Fi + BLE IoT Board Based on Ampak AP6212 Module (Crowdfunding)

I’ve taken apart lots of TV boxes and together with Realtek, Ampak are by far the most popular wireless modules to provide WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity in those devices. One startup decided to use Ampak AP6212 module, also found in NanoPi 2 board, to create a breadboard-friendly IoT board with Bluetooth 4.0 and 802.11b/g/n connectivity. Redboard Duo has been designed with the same form factor as many other IoT boards such as NodeMCU or Spark Photon, and features the following: Ampak AP6212 module: STMicroelectronics STM32F205 ARM Cortex-M3 @120MHz, 128 KB SRAM and 1MB Flash Broadcom BCM43438 Wi-Fi 802.11n (2.4GHz only) + Bluetooth 4.1 (Dual Mode) combo chip Storage – On-board 16 Mbit (2 MB) SPI Flash Integrated chip antenna with the option to connect external antenna Expansion – Headers with 18 I/O pins Misc – RGB status LED Dimensions – 20.5mm x 39mm The company also made a small baseboard called RBLink with […]

November 18, 2015December 27, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

MX HD23 Allwinner H3 Android Mini PC Includes an HD Camera

When Android TV boxes started to take off around 2013, a few model would include a camera and sit on top of the TV such as MK818. However I’ve seen less model in that form factor since then, until I came across MX HD23 Android TV Box powered by Allwinner H3 quad core processor and featuring a HD webcam for videoconferencing. Beside the camera, MX HD23 specifications are pretty standard: SoC – Allwinner H3 quad core ARM Cortex A7 @ 1.2 GHz with quad core Mali-400MP2 @ 600 MHz System Memory – 1 GB DDR3 Storage – 8 GB eMMC + micro SD slot up to 32GB Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi Video Output – HDMI up to 4K2K @ 30Hz, 3.5mm AV jack Audio Output – HDMI, and 3.5mm stereo audio jack Camera – 2.0 MP front-facing camera with two microphones (up to 5 meter range) and swivel arm. […]

November 18, 2015November 18, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Kondor AX FPGA + ARM Networking Board Targets Base Stations, IoT Gateways and IP Cameras

Mikro Project, a company based in Zagreb, Croatia, has recently introduced Kondor AX “Advanced System Development Board” combining Freescale i.MX6Solo processor with Lattice ECP5 FPGA, and targeting “low power applications at the network edge including HetNet (Heterogeneous Networks), Small Cells, Industrial IoT gateways and IP Cameras.” Kondor AX development board specifications: Category Lattice ECP5 LFE5UM-85F-BG756 FPGA Freescale i.MX6 Solo SoC Description 84.000 LUTs 207 Block RAMs 156 18×18 Multipliers 365 IO pins 4 SERDES channels (In/out) 400 MHz LPDDR3 Memory Support 4 PLLs, 4 DLLs ARM Cortex A9 @ 1 GHz 512 KB L2 cache GPU 3D – Vivante GC880 Video Decode: 1080p30 + D1 Video Encode: 1080p30 H.264 BP/ Dual 720p encode Programming options On-board USB JTAG interface 10-pin JTAG header Using i.MX6 processor Memory & Storage 512MB LPDDR3-1600 800 MHz Clock Rate 1x 32-bit channel 512 MB 32-bit DDR3 64Mbit SPI Flash 8GB eMMC Micro SD Card Connectivity […]

November 18, 2015November 19, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Lenkeng HDMI PowerLine Extender Brings one HDMI Signal to Many Displays over Electrical Cables

Shenzhen Lenkeng Technology is a company specializing in video converters, splitters, and extender products. One of their latest product is LKV380Pro HDbitT HDMI over powerline extender that allows to carry one HDMI signal from a source to up to 4 displays through existing electrical cabling. Some of the features and specifications listed for LKV380Pro transmitters and receivers: Technology – HDMI over power line with HDbitT technology Video I/O – 1x HDMI 1.3 / HDCP 1.2 output, transmitter also includes an HDMI loop out. Resolution – 480i/p, 576i/p, 720p50/60, 1080i50/60, and 1080p50/60 Range – 1080p video transmission up to 300 meters One transmitter supports to 4 receivers simultaneously IR pass back function (20 to 60 kHz IR devices) with IR output on transmitter, and IR input on receivers. Security – AES encryption Power Supply – 100~240V AC Dimensions – 150 x 92.7 x 25 mm Weight – Tx: 330 grams, Rx: […]

November 17, 2015November 17, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

ASUS Chromebit CS10 Chrome OS TV Stick Launched for $85

Soon after Google and various partners announced Rockchip RK3288-C based Chromebooks in March of this year, Asus teased us with a Chrome OS stick called Chromebit to sell for less than $100, and also based on Rockchip RK3288 processor. After a few months wait, the company has now launched Chromebit CS10 for just $85. Chromebit CS10 have basically stayed the same: SoC – Rockchip RK3288-C quad core Cortex A17 processor with ARM Mali-T764 GPU. System Memory – 2 GB DDR3L Storage – 16 GB eMMC Video Output – HDMI Connectivity – Dual band Wi-Fi 802.11 2×2 (MIMO) a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0 USB – 1x USB 2.0 host port, 1x micro USB OTG port Power – 5V via micro USB port Dimensions – 123 x 31 x 17 mm Weight – 75 grams The Chrome OS stick is fanless, but the company warns to use it with “reasonable ambient airflow and temperatures […]

November 17, 2015November 17, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Compulab Unveils CL-SOM-iMX7 Freescale i.MX7 System-on-Module and SBC-iMX7 Single Board Computer

After a few years of speculations and developments about i.MX7 and i.MX8 processors, Freescale announced Freescale i.MX7 family this summer. The new processors are based on one or two Cortex A7 cores coupled with a Cortex-M4 MCU for real-time tasks, and are a low power alternative to Freescale i.MX6 processors. But so far I had only seen a few announcements such Toradex i.MX7 SoM or Freescale 96Boards, without any product actually shipping, and Compulab claims to the first to market with a Freescale i.MX7 system-on-module, namely their CL-SOM-iMX7 SoM which will ship in quantities in early January 2016. CL-SOM-iMX7 system-on-module specifications: SoC Freescale i.MX 7Solo single core Cortex-A7 @ 800MHz with NEON SIMD and VFPv4 + ARM Cortex-M4 @ 200Mhz Freescale i.MX 7Dual dual core Cortex-A7 @ 1GHz with NEON SIMD and VFPv4 + ARM Cortex-M4 @ 200Mhz System Memory – 256MB to 2GB DDR3L-1066 Storage – 128MB – 1GB […]