Nordic Semi nRF54H20 is a 320 MHz multiprotocol wireless SoC with several Arm Cortex-M33 and RISC-V cores, support for Bluetooth 5.4 and greater with features like LE Audio and Bluetooth mesh, as well as Thread, Matter, and so on. It is the first part of the fourth generation nRF54 family manufactured with a 22nm process, and its application processor doubles the processing power (2x CoreMark) of the Arm Cortex-M33 application core in the nRF5340 SoC and embeds up to 2MB flash, 1MB SRAM. nRF54H20 preliminary specifications and highlights: CPU Application core – Arm Cortex-M33 @ up to 320 MHz with 2 MB Flash + 1MB SRAM Network core – Arm Cortex-M33 Several RISC-V cores (for low power?) Wireless Bluetooth 5.4 LE with direction-finding, Bluetooth mesh, LE audio, etc… 802.15.4 radio for Thread, Matter -100 dBm RX sensitivity @ 1 Mbps for Bluetooth LE Up to 10 dBm TX power New […]
Cytron CM4 Maker Board review – Part 2: NVMe SSD, RTC, Buzzer, Grove modules, ChatGPT…
We’ve already checked out Cytron’s CM4 Maker Board kit with a Raspberry Pi CM4 system-on-module and booted the system with the included 32GB “MAKERDISK” Class 10 microSD card preloaded Raspberry Pi OS in the first part of the review. For the second part of the CM4 Maker review, I’ve mostly used the 128GB NVMe SSD provided by the company and played with other features of the board including the RTC, the buzzer, some Seeed Studio grove modules, and even got help from ChatGPT for one of the Python programs I used. Booting Cytron CM4 Maker Board with the “MAKERDISK” NVMe SSD I connected several Grove modules with GPIO and I2C interfaces, a Raspberry Pi Camera Module 3, an Ethernet cable, two RF dongles for a wireless keyboard and mouse, an HDMI cable to a monitor, and finally inserted the provided 5V/3.5A USB-C power adapter. The MAKERDISK SSD comes with Raspberry […]
AMD Alveo MA35D media accelerator transcodes up to 32 1080p60 AV1 streams in real-time
AMD Alveo MA35D media accelerator PCIe card is based on a 5nm ASIC capable of transcoding up to 32 Full HD (1080p60) AV1 streams in real-time and designed for low-latency, high-volume interactive streaming applications such as watch parties, live shopping, online auctions, and social streaming. AMD says the Alveo MA35D utilizes a purpose-built VPU to accelerate the entire video pipeline, and the ASIC can also handle up to 8x 4Kp60, or 4x 8Kp30 AV1 streams per card. H.264 and H.265 codecs are also supported, and the company claims its “next-generation AV1 transcoder engines” deliver up to a 52% reduction in bitrate at the same video quality against “an open source x264 veryfast SW model”. AMD Alveo MA350 highlights: Auxiliary CPU – 2x 64-bit quad-core RISC-V to perform control and board management tasks AI Processor – 22 TOPS per card for AI-enabled “smart streaming” for video quality optimization Memory – 16GB […]
PiEEG shield for Raspberry Pi enables brain computer interfaces (Crowdfunding)
PiEEG is an open-source hardware Raspberry Pi shield that measures electroencephalography (EEG), electromyography (EMG), and electrocardiography (ECG) bio-signals and provides a brain-computer interface to applications or robots for gaming, entertainment, sports, health, etc… Ildar Rakhmatulin, a Research Associate at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, is passionate about open-source brain-computer interfaces and first created the IronBCI project based on ADS1299 and STM32 and published a research paper entitled “Low-cost brain computer interface for everyday use” about his work. But cost increases related to the semiconductors shortage of recent years meant the price for his “low-cost” project shot up to over $1,000. So he went back to the drawing board and created the PiEEG shield for Raspberry Pi now available on Crowd Supply. PiEEG shield specifications: ADC – Texas Instruments ADS1299 Analog-to-Digital Converter for biopotential measurements Supported SBCs – Raspberry Pi 3 or 4, and boards with the same 40-pin GPIO header. Host […]
SOPHON BM1684/BM1684X Edge AI computer delivers up to 32 TOPS, decodes up to 32 Full HD videos simultaneously
Firefly EC-A1684JD4 FD and EC-A1684XJD4 FD are nearly identical Edge AI embedded computers based on respectively SOPHON BM1684 and BM1684X Arm AI SoC delivering up to 32 TOPS of AI inference, and capable of decoding up to 32 H.265/H.264 Full HD videos simultaneously for video analytics applications. The BM1684(X) SoCs are equipped with eight Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 2.3 GHz to run Linux, and the systems come with up to 16GB RAM, 128GB flash, two Gigabit Ethernet ports to receive the video streams, one HDMI output up to 1080p30 for monitoring, as well as RS232 and RS485 DB9 connectors, and a few USB ports. Firefly EC-A1684JD4 FD and EC-A1684XJD4 FD specifications: SoC – SOPHGO SOPHON BM1684/BM1684X CPU – Octa-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 2.3GHz TPU BM1684 64 NPU arithmetic units with each NPU containing 16 EU arithmetic units, or 1,024 EU in total Up to 17.6 TOPS (INT8), […]
Cincoze P1201 – A slim Atom x6000E Elkhart Lake PC for embedded and panel PC applications with a CDS connector
Cincoze P1201 is a slim embedded computer based on an Atom x6000E Elkhart Lake processor and mostly designed for panel PC applications thanks to the company’s patented CDS (Convertible Display System) connector that allows the mini PC to slide into the back of a display for easy installation. Equipped with up to 32GB RAM, SATA and/or mSATA storage, the P1201 can also be used for generic embedded and industrial applications thanks to DisplayPort and VGA video interfaces, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, optional wireless modules for WiFi, Bluetooth, and cellular, terminal blocks for RS232, RS485, and digital I/Os, as well as support for a wide supply voltage up 48V, and a -40°C to 70°C operating temperature range. Cincoze P1201 specifications: Elkhart Lake SoC (one or the other) Intel Atom x6425E quad-core processor @ 2.00 GHz / 3.0 GHz with 1.5MB cache, 32 EU UHD graphics; 12W TDP Intel Atom x6211E dual-core […]
Arylic BK501/651 bookshelf speakers integrate high-end AMT tweeters (Sponsored)
Arylic is better known for its connected audio devices such as the Arylic A50+ wireless amplifier or S50 Pro+ wireless stereo pre-amplifier, but the company has now launched its first passive speakers with the Arylic BK501 and BK651 bookshelf speakers that integrate high-end Heil AMT (Air Motion Transformer) tweeters. The BK501 is a pair of 5-inch speakers with 80W peak power, while the BK651 is a pair of 6.5-inch stereo speakers delivering up to 100W peak power. The specifications table below shows how both models compare. Both speakers support Treble up to 40kHz to feel detailed treble clarity and brightness, 180° wide soundstage, feature a fiberglass mid-woofer and received FSC Environmental Certification. Both designs include an MDF (medium-density fiberboard) cabinet with 15mm thick walls for the KB501 and 18mm thick walls for the BK651. Arylic says the Heil AMT tweeter found in its speakers uses a folded Kapton ribbon diaphragm […]
Rockchip RK3588 embedded PCs support PoE, 4G LTE, 10GbE, 2.5-inch SATA HDD, and more
Mekotronics R58X-Pro and R58X-HDD Rockchip RK3588 embedded PCs are updates to the company’s earlier R58X and R58X-4G mini PCs with features such as built-in PoE module, 4G LTE module, optional 10GbE M.2 PCIe 3.0 module, and a microSD card slot. The R58X-HDD also adds a 2.5-inch SATA bay for HDD or SSD, and the R58X-Pro implements a volume knob and a front panel display. Both R58X-Pro and R58X-HDD embedded PCs still come with up to 16GB RAM, 128GB eMMC flash, support dual 8K video output through HDMI and DisplayPort outputs, feature one HDMI 2.0 video input, two GbE ports, RS485 and RS232 interfaces, a few USB ports and more. Mekotronics R58X-Pro/R58X-HDD specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3588 octa-core processor with four Cortex-A76 cores @ 2.4 GHz, four Cortex-A55 cores @ 1.8 GHz, an Arm Mali-G610 MP4 GPU, a 6TOPS NPU, 8K 10-bit decoder, 8K encoder System Memory – 4GB, 8GB, or […]