bluetooth News - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

February 5, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Ceva-Waves Links200 IP supports Bluetooth LE High Data Throughput (HDT) up to 7.5 Mbps, 802.15.4 for Zigbee, Thread and Matter

Ceva has recently unveiled the Ceva-Waves Links200 multi-protocol platform IP with support for Bluetooth LE High Data Throughput (HDT) technology up to 7.5 Mbps and IEEE 802.15.4 for Zigbee, Thread, and Matter designed for TSMC’s low-power 12nm process. Released in 2016, Bluetooth 5 upgraded Low Energy implementation with four times the range and twice the speed of Bluetooth 4.0 LE transmission which meant up to 2 Mbps over BLE, and even the latest Bluetooth 6.0 specification does not change that. There’s just a new LE 2M 2BT physical layer for Bluetooth Channel Sounding. So I was intrigued when the press release of the Links200 further read: Addressing the rising market demand for faster, more efficient Bluetooth connectivity, particularly for low-power audio and latency-sensitive IoT applications, the breakthrough High Data Throughput mode more than doubles the speed of traditional Bluetooth, delivering a data rate of up to 7.5 Mbps. For this […]

January 31, 2025January 31, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Silicon Labs unveils low-cost BG22L BLE 5.4 and BG24L BLE 6.0 SoCs

Silicon Labs has unveiled the BG22L and BG24L SoCs for low-cost, ultra-low-power Bluetooth LE connectivity. These are Lite versions of the company’s BG22 and BG24 SoC families introduced in 2020 and 2022 respectively. The 38.4 MHz Silabs BG22L Arm Cortex-M33 SoC targets high-volume, cost-sensitive Bluetooth 5.4 applications like asset tracking tags and small appliances. In comparison, the 78 MHz BG24L Cortex-M33 SoC offers an affordable entry-level solution with AI/ML acceleration and Bluetooth 6.0 Channel Sounding to locate items or implement access control in crowded areas such as warehouses and multi-family housing. Since the specs for the BG22L and BG24L are similar to the ones for the BG22 and BG24 chips I won’t reproduce those here, and instead highlights the main features and cost-saving measures. Silicon Labs BG22L Bluetooth LE 5.4 SoC Silicon Labs BG22L highlights: MCU – Arm Cortex-M33 @ 38.4 MHz with DSP and FPU (BG22 is clocked at […]

January 24, 2025January 24, 2025 by Debashis Das - 1 Comment

Waveshare ESL color e-paper displays support Bluetooth & NFC, offer 5-year battery life, cloud management

Waveshare recently launched a series of dot matrix ESL color e-paper displays with Bluetooth and NFC connectivity designed for various IoT, retail, industrial, and similar applications. These Electronic Shelf Label (ESL) displays can be updated through a wireless base station that enables device management using Waveshare’s cloud platform. The displays come with a 1,200mAh coin cell battery which according to Waveshare can last approximately 5 years and support four colors: red, yellow, black, and white. With a wide 178° viewing angle and housed in a durable ABS plastic case, they are ideal for applications such as price tags, shelf labels, asset tracking, and conference name tags. Waveshare ESL color e-paper displays specifications Display technology – E-Paper (Electrophoretic) Display colors – Red, Yellow, Black, White Display sizes – 2.13″, 2.66″, 2.9″, 3.5″ (Dot Matrix) Resolution / Pixel density / Display area 2.13″ – 250 × 122 pixels / 130 DPI / 48.55 × […]

January 22, 2025 by Debashis Das - No Comments

u-blox RUBY-W2 is a family of Wi-Fi 7 automotive-grade modules for infotainment and telematics applications

RUBY W2 series Automotive Wi Fi 7 modules

u-blox has recently released the RUBY-W2 series (RUBY-W273-05A and RUBY-W295-05A) of automotive Wi-Fi 7 modules designed for advanced infotainment and telematics applications. These modules support tri-band Wi-Fi 7 and dual-mode Bluetooth 5.4, with up to Gbps (PHY) of throughput, supporting simultaneous use cases for in-car hotspots, Apple CarPlay, and multi-client video streaming. Key features of this module include Multi-Link Operation (MLO) with Dual Band Simultaneous (DBS) and High Band Simultaneous (HBS) modes, 2×2 MU-MIMO, Bluetooth LE Audio, long-range Bluetooth, security with WPA2/3, and secure boot. The modules are based on Qualcomm’s QCA6787AQ or QCA6797AQ automotive chipsets and connect to the host via PCIe for Wi-Fi and UART/PCM for Bluetooth. RUBY-W2 specifications: Chipset Qualcomm QCA6787AQ for RUBY-W273 Qualcomm QCA6797AQ for RUBY-W295) Wireless Tri-band Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) RUBY-W273 – Dual Band Simultaneous (DBS) (2.4 GHz + 5/6 GHz) RUBY-W295 – High Band Simultaneous (HBS), any two bands (2.4, 5, or 6 […]

January 16, 2025January 16, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

FlipMods Combo is a 3-in-1 Flipper Zero expansion module with ESP32, GPS, and CC1101 modules

ESP32 GPS CC1101 3-in-1 expansion Flipper Zero

Sacred Labs’ FlipMods Combo is a 3-in-1 expansion module for the Flipper Zero that combines an ESP32 WiFi and Bluetooth SoC, Texas Instruments CC1101 Sub-GHz wireless microcontroller, and an unnamed GPS module. The expansion module is housed in a neat 3D-printed case and features a built-in GPS antenna, external WiFI/Bluetooth & Sub-Ghz antennas, as well as a switch to send the GPS data to the ESP32 chip or the Flipper Zero. The ESP32 module is preloaded with the Marauder firmware also used in the ESP32 Marauder Pocket Unit and Mayhem v2 for Flipper Zero for penetration testing with Wi-Fi scanning, de-authentication attacks, packet sniffing, and more. FlipMods Combo specifications: Wireless modules ESP32-WROOM-32UE for WiFi and Bluetooth; external SMA antenna (long) Texas Instruments CC1011 for 315, 433, 868, and 915MHz ISM bands; external SMA antenna (short) GPS module with internal antenna Storage – MicroSD card slot up to 32GB USB – […]

January 7, 2025January 6, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

FOSDEM 2025 schedule – Embedded, Open Hardware, RISC-V, Edge AI, and more

FOSDEM 2025 will take place on February 1-2 with over 8000 developers meeting in Brussels to discuss open-source software & hardware projects. The free-to-attend (and participate) “Free and Open Source Software Developers’ European Meeting” grows every year, and in 2025 there will be 968 speakers, 930 events, and 74 tracks. Like every year since FOSDEM 2015 which had (only) 551 events, I’ll create a virtual schedule with sessions most relevant to the topics covered on CNX Software from the “Embedded, Mobile and Automotive” and “Open Hardware and CAD/CAM” devrooms, but also other devrooms including “RISC-V”, “FOSS Mobile Devices”, “Low-level AI Engineering and Hacking”, among others. FOSDEM 2025 Day 1 – Saturday 1 10:30 – 11:10 – RISC-V Hardware – Where are we? by Emil Renner Berthing I’ll talk about the current landscape of available RISC-V hardware powerful enough to run Linux and hopefully give a better overview of what to […]

January 6, 2025January 5, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

KTC A32Q8 Review – A 32-inch 4K Smart Monitor running Google TV

KTC A32Q8 is a 32-inch 4K UHD monitor running Google TV and supporting up to 3840×2160 resolution with a refresh rate of 60Hz. The monitor takes HDMI 2.1, Display1.4, or USB-C video input, comes with two 5W speakers, supports Dolby Audio and HDR, and offers WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity as well as USB 2.0 ports. A voice remote control is also included for Google TV control and configuration. In this review, we will look at the specifications, go through an unboxing, and test the various features of the KTC A32Q8 Smart Monitor. KTC A32Q8 Smart Monitor specifications Screen Size – 31.5-inch Resolution – 3840×2160 (Ultra HD) Visible area – 697 x 392 mm Panel Type – VA (Vertical Alignment) Aspect Ratio – 16:9 (Widescreen) Refresh Rate – 60Hz Response Time (GtG) – Not specified Brightness 250 cd/m² Brightness (HDR) 250 cd/m² Contrast Ratio 3000:1 (static) Colors 1.07 billion (8-bit + […]

January 2, 2025January 3, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

ESP32-C61-DevKitC-1 development board features ESP32-C61 low-cost WiFi 6 and Bluetooth LE 5.0 SoC

The ESP32-C61-DevKitC-1 is a development board based on the upcoming ESP32-C61 low-cost WiFi 6 and Bluetooth LE 5.0 SoC that was first unveiled in January 2024, and offered with two USB-C ports, two buttons, an RGB LED, and GPIO headers. In my 2024 year in review report, I noted that Espressif would likely launch the ESP32-C5 dual-band WiFi 6 SoC in 2025, but I completely forgot about the ESP32-C61 which is basically a cost-down version of the ESP32-C6. I’ve now noticed the documentation of the ESP32-C61-DevKitC-1 development board and ESP32-C61-WROOM-1 module is now available, so we have more details about those and the ESP32-C61 itself, so let’s have a closer look. ESP32-C61-DevKitC-1 specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-C61-WROOM-1 SoC – ESP32-C61HR2 CPU – Single 32-bit RISC-V core clocked up to 120MHz Memory – 320KB SRAM, 2MB PSRAM Storage – 256KB ROM Wireless – WiFi 6 and Bluetooth LE 5.0 Storage – […]