Linux 6.3 release – Notable changes, Arm, RISC-V and MIPS architectures

Linux 6.3 release

Linux Torvalds has just announced the release of Linux 6.3 on the Linux Kernel Mailing List (LKML): It’s been a calm release this time around, and the last week was really no different. So here we are, right on schedule, with the 6.3 release out and ready for your enjoyment. That doesn’t mean that something nasty couldn’t have been lurking all these weeks, of course, but let’s just take things at face value and hope it all means that everything is fine, and it really was a nice controlled release cycle. It happens. This also obviously means the merge window for 6.4 will open tomorrow. I already have two dozen pull requests waiting for me to start doing my pulls, and I appreciate it. I expect I’ll have even more when I wake up tomorrow. But in the meantime, let’s enjoy (and test) the 6.3 release. As always, the shortlog […]

100ASK-V853-Pro – A feature-rich Allwinner V853 board designed for AI vision applications

100ASK V853 Pro

The 100ASK-V853-Pro board is a development kit consisting of an Allwinner V853 system-on-module board (SoM) and a feature-rich carrier board with a large number of interfaces. Allwinner V853 supports up to 1TOPS of NPU computing power and is mainly for AI vision application development. The core board contains a DDR and eMMC as well as a PMU chip (AXP2101) and is connected to the carrier board through a board-to-board connector. All the functional resources of the V853 are drawn out through the carrier board. The carrier board comes with 2-channels CSI camera interfaces as well as RGB and MIPI DSI display interfaces. Although 1 TOPS of AI computing power is not outstanding, the NPU can still be used to accelerate AI vision applications at the edge. The board also comes with four USB 2.0 ports (two Type-A, two Type-C), an 100Mbps Ethernet port, a 22-pin header for expansion, and five […]

ADLINK Ampere Altra Dev Kit features ATX motherboard with 32 to 80-core Arm COM-HPC CPU module

Ampere Altra Dev Kit AADK

ADLINK Ampere Altra Dev Kit is an “IoT prototyping kit” based on an ATX motherboard fitted with a COM-HPC-ALT Server Type Size E module powered by an Ampere Altra 32, 64, or 80-core Arm Neoverse N1 server processor, and supporting up to 768GB DDR4 memory. It’s basically the same hardware as found in the Ampere Altra Developer Platform (AADP), but without the tower and power supply, nor optional features like liquid cooling or 10GbE interfaces. Ampere Altra Dev Kit (AADK) specifications and content: Computer-on-Module – COM-HPC Server Type Size E Ampere Altra module with Ampere Altra 32 to 80-core 64-bit Arm Neoverse N1 processor up to 1.7/2.2/2.6 GHz (32/64/80 cores, TPD: 60W to 175W), up to 768 DDR4 ECC memory Mainboard – COM-HPC Server Base carrier board Storage – 2x M.2 slot for NVMe SSD Video – VGA port Audio – 3.5mm audio jack Networking – 1x Gigabit Ethernet Expansion […]

$7 DongshanPI-PicoW is a small Arm Linux board with SSW101B USB WiFi chip, four 12-pin headers

DongshanPi PicoW pinout digram

Based on its name, the DongshanPI-PicoW board/module aims to be an Arm Linux alternative to the Raspberry Pi Pico W with a SigmaStar SSD210 dual-core Cortex-A7 processor with 64MB RAM, an SSW101B USB WiFi 4 chip, plus a good amount of I/Os thanks to four 12-pin headers. The module also comes with a 128MB SPI flash to run Linux, takes 5V power input, and offers a display interface up to 1280×800, USB 2.0, audio interfaces, and more in a small 31×31 mm form factor with 48 through and castellated holes that should be easy to integrate into compact devices. DongshanPI-PicoW specifications: SoC – SigmaStar SSD210 dual-core Arm Cortex-A7 at up to 1.0GHz with FPU, NEON, MMU, DMA, 2D graphics accelerator, 64MB on-chip DDR2 RAM Storage – 128MB SPI NAND flash (Winbond W25N010) Connectivity – Sigmastart SSW101B 802.11b/g/n 2.4GHz 1T1R WiFi 4 module + u.FL antenna connector USB switch – Onsemi […]

Nordic Semi nRF54H20 Cortex-M33 + RISC-V wireless SoC supports Bluetooth 5.4, LE Audio, Bluetooth mesh, Thread, Matter, and more

nRF54H20

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 […]

NanoPi R6C review – Ubuntu 22.04, NVMe SSD, USB debug

NanoPi R6C Review Ubuntu 22.04

FriendlyElec has recently announced the NanoPi R6C mini PC that a variant of the Rockchip RK3588S powered NanoPi R6S mini PC and 2.5GbE router that we reviewed with FriendlyWrt/OpenWrt and Ubuntu 22.04 earlier this year, but with just one 2.5GbE and one GbE interface, a built-in M.2 NVMe SSD socket and USB-C Debug UART port for easy external access to the serial console. The company sent me a NanoPi R6C sample for review, but since we’ve already tested the similar NanoPi R6S extensively, I’ll write a single-post mini review this time around, checking out the hardware, and focusing on testing the new features such as the NVMe SSD and the USB debug port when running Ubuntu 22.04. NanoPi R6C unboxing As usual, the device came in a non-descript cardboard package with a few 3M rubber pads. The most obvious change compared to the NanoPi R6S is that all main ports […]

Renesas introduces 100 MHz RA4E2 and 200 MHz RA6E2 Arm Cortex-M33 MCUs for wearables, sensors, appliances

Renesas RA4E2 RA6E2

Renesas Electronics has added two new groups to its 32-bit RA family of microcontrollers (MCUs) with the 100 MHz RA4E2 and 200 MHz RA6E2 Arm Cortex-M33 microcontrollers designed for “high-performance applications” in small packages such as sensing, gaming, wearables, and appliances. The new microcontrollers are equipped with 40 KB SRAM, 128 KB or 256 KB flash, and integrate various on-chip interfaces such as CAN FD, USB, QSPI, SSI, and I3C interfaces to offer an easy upgrade path for products based on other members of the Renesas RA Family. Renesas RA4E2 MCU group Both the RA4E2 and the RA6E2 are the most cost-effective microcontroller groups of the RA family with integrated CAN FD,  with the RA4E2 group especially well-suited to cost-sensitive applications and other systems requiring relatively high performance, low power consumption, and/or small package size. RA4E2 key features: CPU – Arm Cortex-M33 core with TrustZone @ up to 100 MHz […]

ASUS unveils Tinker V RISC-V single board computer, Tinker board 3 SBC with Rockchip RK3568 SoC

ASUS Tinker V RISC-V SBC

ASUS IoT has added two new members to the Tinker board family with the Tinker V and Tinker Board 3 single board computers powered by respectively Renesas RZ/Five single-core RISC-V SoC and Rockchip RK3568 quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 processor. ASUS Tinker V RISC-V SBC Tinker V specifications: SoC – Renesas RZ/Five single core AndesCore AX45MP RISC-V processor clocked at 1.0 GHz System Memory – 1GB DDR4 Storage – MicroSD card slot, optional 16GB eMMC flash, optional SPI flash Networking – 2x Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 ports USB – 1x Micro USB port, 1x Micro USB (OTG) port Serial – 2x CAN Bus via 6-pin terminal block 2x COM RS232 via 5-pin terminal block Expansion – 20-pin GPIO header with up to 2x UART, 2x I2C, 4x GPIO, 2x ADC, 1x SPI, 3.3V, and GND Debugging – JTAG pin header Power Supply – 10 to 24V DC via 5.5/2.5 mm DC barrel jack […]

UP 7000 x86 SBC