With open ISAs like RISC-V, it’s become easier – provided you have the skills – to develop or customize your own SoC using RTL files, compile it with EDA tools, and run the resulting bitstream on an FPGA. But if you ever wanted to get an actual chip that would become more complex, as you’d need to request a process design kit (PDK) from a foundry, and pay for the manufacturing cost, which amounts to at least several thousand dollars for older process nodes. But the FOSSi (Free and Open Source Silicon) Foundation has good news with Tim Ansell of Google announcing the SkyWater PDK, the first manufacturable, open-source process design kit. There are other open-source PDKs, but they aren’t manufacturable and/or only support older 0.35/0.5 micron nodes. The SkyWater PDK allows you to produce chips with the SkyWater foundry in the 130nm node. That’s a big improvement since you […]
QuickFeather Board is Powered by QuickLogic EOS S3 Cortex-M4F MCU with embedded FPGA (Crowdfunding)
Yesterday, I wrote about what I felt what a pretty unique board: Evo M51 board following Adafruit Feather form factor, and equipped with an Atmel SAMD51 Cortex-M4F MCU and an Intel MAX 10 FPGA. But less than 24 hours later, I’ve come across another Adafruit Feather-sized Cortex-M4F board with FPGA fabric. But instead of using a two-chip solution, QuickLogic QuickFeather board leverages the company’s EOS S3 SoC with a low-power Cortex-M4F core and embedded FPGA fabric. QuickFeather board QuickFeather specifications: SoC – QuickLogic EOS S3 with Arm Cortex-M4F Microcontroller @ up to 80 MHz and 512 Kb SRAM, plus an embedded FPGA (eFPGA) with 2400 effective logic cells and 64Kb RAM Storage – 16Mbit SPI NOR flash USB – Micro USB port with data signals tied to eFPGA programmable logic Sensors – Accelerometer, pressure sensor, built-in PDM microphone Expansion I/Os – Breadboard-compatible 0.1″ (2.54 mm) pitch headers including 20 Feather-defined […]
Fraunhofer HHI H.266/Versatile Video Coding (VVC) Halves the Data Requirements of H.265
There’s a lot of hype around AV1 royalty-free video codec since it has backing from large companies, better characteristics than H.265 or VP9, and is already used by YouTube and Netflix. AV1 hardware decoders are also found in new processors like Amlogic S905X4 or Mediatek Dimensity 1000+. But we previously noted that H.266, aka VCC (Versatile Video Coding), was in the works, and Fraunhofer HHI has just announced the release and official adoption of the H.266/Versatile Video Coding (VVC) video compression standard. H.266 standard offers improved compression, which reduces data requirements by around 50% compared to the previous H.265/HEVC standard at the same visual quality. In practical terms, a 10GB H.265 video now only needs 5GB with H.266 video codec saving both storage and bandwidth. The standard can be used to transmit and store commonly used video resolutions from SD to HD up to 4K and 8K and also supports […]
Advantech UNO-220 is an Industrial RS232/RS485 Gateway Kit for Raspberry Pi 4
While Raspberry Pi SBCs are mostly designed for the education market, they find their way in various devices, even in the industrial market with products such as ModBerry M500 industrial computer, Compulab IOT-GATE-RPi industrial IoT computer, BB-400 Neuron Edge industrial controller, and many others. All those offer RS-232 and RS-485 ports besides other interfaces typically found in industrial applications like isolated inputs, CAN buses, and more. There’s now yet another option with Advantech UNO-200 industrial gateway kit for Raspberry Pi 4 board with RS232/RS485 header and RTC battery. Advantech UNO-220 specifications: Compatible SBC – Raspberry Pi 4 Model B with dual micro HDMI outputs, audio jack, as well as USB and Ethernet ports accessible through the enclosure I/O Interfaces GPIO – Input (GPI) 0-3: VIH: 2~5V VIL: 0 ~ 0.8V; Output (GPO) 0-3: 0 ~ 5V Serial Ports – 5-pin terminal block for RS232/485, automatic direction control, 300 ~ 115.2kbps […]
CutiePi Raspberry Pi CM3+ Lite based Tablet Launched on Kickstarter
Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3+ Lite based CutiePi open-source tablet has been in the making for well over a year, and the company has made enough progress to launch a Kickstarter campaign with the Raspberry Pi tablet offered for $169 and up. CutiePi specifications: SoM – Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3+ Lite with Broadcom BCM2837 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor and 1GB RAM Storage – MicroSD card slot Display – 8-inch 5-point multi-touch display with 1280×800 resolution Video Output – Micro HDMI Audio – 2W 8Ohm speaker Camera – 5MP front-facing camera Connectivity – WLAN 802.11 b/g/n WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 4.0 (RTL8723BS) USB – 1x USB type-A port Expansion – 6x GPIO pins Sensor – Gyroscope Misc – Handle that doubles as a stand Battery – 5,000 mAh Li-Po battery Power Supply – 5V via USB Type-C port; STM32 MCU handles power management and battery level monitoring Dimensions – 213 x […]
Aegis Secure WiFi Smart Deadbolt Works with Android/iOS Phones (Crowdfunding)
We previously wrote about smart lock systems that allow you to open your door with the help of your smartphone. Products covered including Xiaomi Sherlock M1 that only works with specific doors/locks, and K1 smart lock box that stores your keys in a rugged box meaning it works with all door mechanisms, but it does not seem particularly secure to me. BOSMA Aegis Bluetooth & WiFi smart deadbolt looks to potentially a more secure solution as it should work with any door, and complements your main lock which you may want to use when you are not at home for longer periods of time. Aegis smart deadbolt specifications: Connectivity – Built-in Bluetooth; WiFi via a WiFi connector shipped with Aegis Voice Assitant Integration – Google Home and Amazon Alexa Optional BOSMA Sentry smart doorbell with Storage – Up to 128GB via MicroSD card slot; cloud storage Video – 1080p video […]
SC-10 SHARK is a Faster 3D Printer with Optional Laser Engraving, Bicolor, and Auto-leveling (Crowdfunding)
Printing a 3D model usually takes hours, if not days, so anything that can speed up the printing time while keeping the same quality should be welcomed. LOTMAXX SC-10 SHARK 3D printer promises to reduce the standard print time by up to 30%. How did they exactly make a faster 3D printer? Thanks to “Aeolus Heat Dissipation system” (AHDS) with four fans to cool the nozzle and “S Move System” (SMS) helping the motors travel at a high speed. The printer also happens to be a multifunction printer with support for laser engraving and bicolor printing. SC-10 SHARK launched on Kickstarter several weeks ago and raised over $200,000 US from around 620 backers with 12 days to go. SC-10 SHARK 3D printer key features & specifications: Molding technology – FDM Print Speed – Up to 200mm/s; normal speed: 45-90mm/s Printing Accuracy – +/-0.1mm Layer thickness – 0.1 to 0.4 mm […]
CHUWI LarkBox, the World’s Smallest 4K Mini PC, Launched on Indiegogo for $149 and Up
CHUWI LarkBox would just be like many other Intel Gemini Lake mini PCs with an Intel Celeron J4115 Gemini Lake Refresh processor, 6GB RAM, 128GB Storage, as well as the usual HDMI 2.0 ports and USB ports if it were not for its size: 61 x 61 x 43 mm, making it the world’s smallest 4K mini PC. The company sent drips of news to the press in the last couple of months, but it’s getting real as the tiny mini PC has now launched on Indiegogo with rewards starting at $155. CHUWI LarkBox (preliminary) specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron J4115 quad-core Gemini Lake Refresh processor @ 1.8 / 2.5 GHz (Turbo) with Intel UHD Graphics 600; 10W TDP System Memory – 6GB LPDDR4 Storage – 128GB eMMC 5.1 flash, M.2 2244 socket for SATA SSD, MicroSD card slot Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60 Hz […]