Digi Introduces XBee3 IoT Modules with New Micro Form Factor, RF and Cellular IoT Connectivity

Digi International has just announced the Digi XBee3 series of RF modules and cellular IoT modules. The modules will be available in the existing Digi XBee SMT amd through-hole form factor, as well as a new micro form factor (19×13 mm) that’s about a third of the size of the original XBee RF module. The RF modules will first come with ZigBee 3.0 and IEEE 802.15 support, but Bluetooth LE will be available through a firmware update later on, and WiFi and DigiMesh version will be brought to markets too. The first cellular module supports LTE Cat.1, but the company will eventually launch NB-IoT and eMTC (LTE Cat M) versions for Europe and the US respectively. Some of the shared key capabilities listed by the company: Over-the-air (OTA) changes to devices in the field for bug fixes and new features Dynamically reconfigurable, based upon situation Establish business rules to aggregate, store, […]

UltraZed-EG SoM and Starter Kit Feature Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ ZU3EG MPSoC

Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ Arm Cortex A53 + FPGA MPSoCs were announced in 2015, with actual products launched in early 2017 such as AXIOM development board or Trenz Electronic TE0808 UltraSOM+ system-on-module which are based on the ZU9EG model, and cost several thousand dollars. Recently, I wrote about Mycroft Mark II smart speaker based on a “quad core Xilinx processor”, and initially I assumed it was an Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoCs since those are the only Xilinx “quad core processors” I know of, but now I think it must be an unannounced part, since the company can’t provide the exact part number, and the price would be too low. Nevertheless, this lead me to check out if there was any lower cost boards based Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC with four Arm Cortex A53 cores, and ZU2EG is the entry-level part that matches this description. I could not find a ZU2EG development board, […]

Ericsson Unveils 5G Radio Dot for Better 5G Indoor Coverage

5G cellular technology is coming sometimes in 2019, before ramping up in 2020 in several countries. The new 3GPP standard will allow maximum bandwidth up to 10 Gigabit per second, and we’ve already seen announcements such as Snapdragon X50 5G Modem which will be able to reach up to 5 Gbps download speeds. 5G apparently works at either high bands starting at 28 GHz and up to 60 GHz, which means 5G signal might have a really hard time penetrating through walls or other obstacles, or at mid bands between 3.5 and 5 GHz which will still be a challenge compared to 4G LTE operating between 600 MHz and 3.5 GHz. That means that signal from outdoor base station won’t be able to penetrate in all building, so 5G indoor small cells will be necessary for good indoor coverage. Ericsson has already unveiled their own small cells with 5G radio […]

Intel Compute Cards Review – Windows 10 and Ubuntu 17.04 on CD1C64GK, CD1P64GK and CD1M3128MK

The Intel Compute Stick revolutionized the mini PC market through the introduction of x86 based processors making Windows available as an OS option. However, for Intel the biggest target market turned out to be business rather than consumer with digital signage being a key user. As a result Intel have responded with the introduction of the Intel Compute Card. So far they have released four versions of card: and they they differ from compute sticks by no longer being standalone mini PCs but dependent on a dock or host device. The card itself is relatively small with a footprint slightly larger than a standard credit card: and is distinguished by the back being printed with details about the card including the model: The lack of emphasis on the consumer market is also evident in the rather unobtrusive plain packaging: On the end that inserts into the dock or host device […]

Mycroft Mark II Smart Speaker / Voice Assistant Works with Open Source Software (Crowdfunding)

Smart speakers have gain a lot of traction over the last few years, but many of the solutions are based on Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa voice services, with both companies likely tracking your voice searches the same way they track your online searches to provide a “personalized experience” and sell you products or server ads that match your interests. If you don’t like being tracked that way, a solution is to use an open source voice assistant such as Mycroft, and install it on a Linux computer, Raspberry Pi 3 board, or Android device. The company also introduced Mark I reference hardware platform based on Raspberry Pi 2 in 2015, and while all those hardware options should be fine for the technically inclined, but not really suited to the typical end user, and AFAIK they all lack a microphone array for better hot word detection. So Mycroft has come […]

Imagination PowerVR Series8XT GT8540 GPU Can Drive up to Six 4K Screens, Supports Hardware Virtualization

Imagination Technologies introduces PowerVR Furian architecture last year with improved performance, power and density, as well as dual cluster PowerVR Series8XT GT8525 GPU based on the new architecture, and targeting high-end smartphones, virtual reality and automotive products. The company has now introduced a quad cluster Furian GPU called PowerVR Series8XT GT8540 that can simultaneously drive up to six 4K screens at 60fps thanks to an 80% fillrate density improvement, and supports virtualization providing separation of services and applications. The new GPU mostly targets the automotive market with some new cars now requiring multiple screen support with high resolution displays for cluster, Head-Up Display (HUD) and infotainment. Hardware virtualization is equally important for automotive application, as you’ll want to separate safety-critical code, from infotainment applications for example, so if the latter crashes, the safety-critical code can still run unhindered. Each would run on separate shaders processing unit, with up to 8 […]

Logic Supply Introduces ML350 Customizable Fanless Industrial Computer Based on Intel Apollo Lake Processor

Fanless-Apollo-Lake-Industrial-Computer

Logic Supply has just unveiled their latest industrial grade computer with ML350 model that features an Intel Celeron or Pentium Apollo Lake processor, with up to 8GB RAM, two DisplayPorts, up to two Gigabit Ethernet ports, mPCIe and mSATA expansion slots and more. The mini PC is customizable, so when you order you can configure it match your exact requirements, for example you can select the amount of RAM (4GB or 8GB), storage up to 2TB mSATA SSDs, wireless connectivity (WiFI, Bluetooth, 4G), mounting options, and other hardware options. The company can also change the color of the front and back panels and add your own logo though their Rapid Branding program.Logic Supply ML350 (ML350G-10) specifications: SoC (one of the other) Intel Celeron N3350 dual core processor @ 1.10 / 2.40 GHz with Intel HD graphics 500 Intel Pentium N4200 quad core processor @ 1.10 / 2.50 GHz with Intel […]

Building a Compact Digital TV Transmitter with Raspberry Pi Zero, Pi Camera, and LimeSDR Mini USB SDR Board

There are few affordable standalone systems that allow you to transmit video over the air, and back in 2016, I had the chance to check out V-Bridge Muses-β MPEG-2/-4 encoder and DTV modular taking HDMI or composite video input. It was easy to use and worked fine, but it would still cost close to $600, and might have been a little smaller. Evariste Okcestbon has now created its own digital TV transmitter prototype, combining LimeSDR Mini USB SDR board with Raspberry Pi Zero board, and instead of supporting external input from HDMI or AV ports, he used an official Pi camera for video, and was able to transmit the video over a 1.2 GHz connection to a Raspberry Pi 2 with an RTL-SDR dongle, with the Pi 2 board also taking care of displaying the video signal.   The full flow of transmission can be summarized as follows: Video from […]

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