ble News - Page 52 of 63 - CNX Software

April 14, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

EEMBC IoT-Connect is a Family of Benchmarks Designed To Test the Power Efficiency of IoT Devices

EEMBC, the Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium, has been providing benchmarks for embedded systems since 1996, including ULPBench helping to rank micro-controllers by their power efficiency. But with the Internet of Things gaining traction, it’s important to test more than just the MCU core’s power efficiency, and having a benchmark taking sensors and connectivity into account would be useful. That’s exactly what EEMC IoT-Connect benchmark family aims for with the three main characteristics: Provides flexibility to accommodate various communication protocols (e.g. Bluetooth, Thread, LoRa, WiFi) Portable to work with any vendor’s microcontroller and radio-module products Compatible with EEMBC ULPBench and EEMBC IoT-Secure benchmarks The first benchmark of the family is IoTMark-BLE connectivity profile that supports Bluetooth (LE) MCUs. The benchmark requires fixed payload size, frequency of transmission, and transmit power, and performs a complete sequence of event ranging from sensor reading, to BLE notifications, and command write and CRC. The IoT-Connect […]

April 7, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Hornbill ESP32 Development Boards Come with an Optional IP67 Rated Enclosure (Crowdfunding)

While there are plenty of ESP32 development boards, and prices have recently plummeted, getting a case for your project can still be a problem especially if you plan to use it outdoor, as you need to protect your hardware from rain and dust. Hornbill project offers two ESP-WROOM-32 based boards, a prototype board, and an IP67 certified case that could be useful for outdoor use. Hornbill ESP32 Development Boards Let’s start by checking the boards available starting with ” Hornbill ESP32 Dev” board with the following specs: ESP-WROOM-32 module with WiFi, Bluetooth LE, FCC, CE, IC, MIC (Telec), KCC, and NCC certifications I/O headers 2x 19-pin headers with GPIOs, I2C, UART, SPI, ADC, DAC, touch interface, VN/VP, 5V, 3.3V and GND Breadboard-friendly Debug – Built-in CP21XX USB-to-serial Power Supply – 5V via micro USB port, battery header + single cell LiPo charger Dimensions – TBD ESP32 Minima is also based […]

April 6, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

UDOO BLU and BLU SENSE IoT Modules Integrate Bluetooth LE, Zigbee, and 6LOWPAN Connectivity

UDOO is known for their Linux boards based on NXP and Intel processors for makers and the education market such as UDOO NEO or UDOO x86, but the company has now developed UDOO BLU and BLU SENSE battery powered modules based on Texas Instruments CC2650 ARM Cortex M3 microcontroller, both with Bluetooth LE, Zigbee, and 6LOWPAN connectivity, and the SENSE model adds some extra sensors. UDOO BLU and BLU SENSE specifications: Wireless MCU – Texas Instruments CC2650 ARM Cortex M3 MCU @ 48 MHz with 128KB flash, 8KB SRAM with 2.4 GHz radio Connectivity – Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), ZigBee, 6LoWPAN Sensors (BLU SENSE only) – NXP FX0S8700CQ accelerometer & magnetometer sensor, NXP FXAS21002C gyroscope & temperature sensor Expansion 1x 5-pin sensors Snap-In I2C connector for UDOO Bricks 2x 10-pin headers with 8x Digital GPIOs, 6x ADCs, 1x I2C, 1x SPI, 1x UART Misc – 3x User Configurable LEDs (Red, […]

April 4, 2017April 4, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

New Espressif ESP32 Single and Dual Core Processors in 5x5mm Package, Optional Embedded Flash Coming Soon

Espressif ESP32 was launched last year as a dual core Tensila processor with WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, relying on external flash for storage, and packaged into a QFN48 6x6mm package. Espressif recently updated ESP32 datasheet, and the guys at ESP32net noticed three new versions of the processor with a QFN48 5x5mm package, one version including 2 MBytes embedded flash, and another version with a single core. The three new versions of ESP32 all come with the same WiFi 802.11b/g/n ad Bluetooth 4.0 LE connectivity and a QFN 5×5: ESP32-D0WD dual core processor without embedded flash ESP32-D2WD dual core processor with 16 Mbit embedded flash ESP32-S0WD single core processor without embedded flash ESP32-D0WD different with ESP32-D0WDQ6 is only the smaller package, while ESP32-D2WD brings 2MB embedded flash too possibly lowering the price of current solution with external flash, and ESP32-S0WD might be closer to ESP8266 price thanks to its single core, […]

March 31, 2017April 3, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Is NodeMCU ESP-32S Board Now Selling for $8.50 Shipped?

ESP32 SoC with WiFi and Bluetooth launched last September for around $3, followed soon after by ESP32 modules for $7, and a few weeks later, easier to use ESP32 development boards were introduced, but sold for around $20 likely due a mismatch between supply and demand. That’s not overly expensive, but in a world of $4 ESP8266 boards and $10 Raspberry Pi Zero W with Linux, WiFi and Bluetooth, it may feel that way. But today, I noticed DealExtreme sold GeekWorm ESP32 board with ESP-WROOM-32 module for just $11.64 shipped. That’s good progress, but surely Aliexpress must now have cheaper options, and sure enough, I could find NodeMCU ESP-32S board (now confirmed NOT to be an official NodeMCU devkit) sold for $6.95 + shipping, which brought the price up to about $8.50. NodeMCU ESP-32S specifications: Wireless Module – ESP-WROOM-32 with Espressig ESP32 dual core processor with 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and […]

March 30, 2017May 13, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 67 Comments

Orange Pi 2G-IoT ARM Linux Development Board with 2G/GSM Support is Up for Sale for $9.90

Orange Pi 2G-IoT was unveiled at the start of the year as an ultra cheap ($10) Linux development board with 2G cellular connectivity. The board has just launched for $9.90 + shipping on Aliexpress. Orange Pi 2G-IoT specifications have changed a little since the initial announced as WiFi is confirmed to be supported: SoC – RDA Micro 8810PL ARM Cortex A5 processor @ up to 1.0 GHz with 2Gbit (256 MB) on-chip LPDDR2 RAM, 4Gbit (512 MB) on-chip SLC NAND flash , 256KB L2 cache, Vivante GC860 3D GPU, and GSM/GPRS/EDGE Modem (Download datasheet) External Storage – micro SD slot Display I/F – LCD connector up to qHD resolution Video – Decoding up to 1080p30, encoding up to 1080p30 H.264 Audio I/F – 3.5mm audio +FM jack, built-in microphone? Connectivity – WiFi 802.11 b/g/n + Bluetooth 2.1/EDR module (RDA5991), and 2G GSM/GPRS/EDGE module with SIM card slot Camera – MIPI […]

March 10, 2017March 10, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

Macchina M2 is an Open Source Hardware OBD-II Development Platform for Your Car (Crowdfunding)

ODB-II Bluetooth adapter and head-up displays to monitor and diagnose your car have been around for a while. I actually got two models to use with a Toyota Avanza and Torque Lite app, but never managed to make it work with my phone. Macchina M2 board is doing much of the same thing and more, as it is open source hardware, and supports more communications protocols including GPS, WiFi, 3G/LTE, BLE, and Ethernet using XBEE boards. Macchina M2 specifications: MCU – Atmel SAM3X8E ARM Cortex M3 processor @ 84 MHz (also used on Arduino DUE) with 96 KB SRAM, 512KB flash Storage – micro SD card socket, 32KB EEPROM via I2C USB – 1x micro USB port (USB device or host mode) Wireless XBee Socket – For Bluetooth LE, WiFi, GSM, 3G, LTE, I/Os 6x automotive level I/O pins to control 12V devices (Examples: relays, fans, lights, etc) OR act […]

March 9, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

New 96Boards IoT Edition Boards Showcased at Linaro Connect 2017: BlueSky IE and WRTNode IE

Linaro Connect Budapest 2017 is taking place this week in Hungary, and during George Grey – Linaro CEO – keynote, he provided a status updates for the Linaro group, addressed some of Linaro’s criticisms from members and the community, and unveiled two upcoming boards compliant with 96Boards IoT edition both running Zephyr OS, and adding to BLE Carbon board announced last year. The first board is BlueSky IE board with the following key specifications: SoC – RDA Micro RDA5981A ARM Cortex-M4 Wireless MCU with 64KB ROM, and 32KB cache System Memory – 485KB SRAM. It’s unclear if that’s only the on-chip SRAM, and there’s also some external PSRAM added. Storage – 8Mb NOR flash 802.11 b / g / n HT20 / 40 mode Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n WiFi with support for HT20 / 40 modes Crypto security hardware The second board is WRTnode IE: SoC – Mediatek MT7697 ARM […]