Ronetix SAMA5D3x-CM System-on-Modules Powered by Atmel SAMA5D3 eMPUs

Earlier this month, Atmel launched SAMA5D3 Cortex A5 embedded processor family, and Ronetix recently unveiled CPU modules based on the platform. SAMA5D3x-CM are SODIMM SoM based on SAMA5D3 series processor with 512MB DDR2, 256MB NAND Flash, 4MB SPI Flash, and Gigabit Ethernet. The key features of the modules are as follows: MCU – AT91SAMA5D3x series, 536 MHz ARM Cortex-A5 @ 1.2V (SAMA5D31, SAMA5D33, SAMA5D34 or SAMA5D35) System Memory – 512 MB DDR2 SDRAM, 32-bit Storage: 256 MB NAND Flash 16 MB NOR Flash (optional) 4 MiB Atmel SPI Flash One Wire 1024-bits EEPROM and 64-bits ROM Connectivity – 10/100/1000 MBit/s Ethernet Dimensions – 67.6x40mm (SO-DIMM 200 JEDEC MO-274 module) Temperature range – 0° +70°C or -40° to +85° C SAMA5D3-CM boards support Linux 3.6.9 and Android 4.0. Those are actually the modules used in Atmel SAMA5D3 evaluation kits, so Linux and Android support, starter kits, as well as documentation (except […]

Freescale Unveils Kinetis KL02, an Ultra Small (1.9×2.0mm) ARM Cortex M0+ Microcontroller

Freescale Semiconductor introduced the Kinetis KL02, the world’s smallest ARM MCU, at Embedded World 2013. KL02 is an ARM Cortex M0+ micro-controller designed to address the miniaturization needs of the Internet of things, and its size (1.9×2.0mm) makes it suitable for applications such as ingestible healthcare sensing, portable consumer devices, remote sensing nodes, and wearable devices.   Kinetis KL02 MCU features include: 48 MHz ARM Cortex-M0+ core, 1.71-3.6V operation Bit manipulation engine for faster, more code-efficient handling of peripheral registers 32 KB flash memory, 4 KB RAM High-speed 12-bit analog-to-digital converter High-speed analog comparator Low-power UART, SPI, 2x IICI2C Powerful timers for a broad range of applications including motor control Power Efficiency – 15.9 CM/mA (Coremark 1.0) -40 °C to +85 °C operation The MCU is manufactured using chip-scale package (CSP) technology that allows to connect the die directly to the solder ball interconnects and, in turn, to the printed […]

Wandboard Dual Unboxing and Quick Start Guide

I’ve just received Wanboard Dual development board together with an enclosure, and Wi-Fi antenna. This board is powered by Freescale i.MX6 Duallite Cortex A9 processor, and comes with 1GB RAM, HDMI output and Ethernet. There’s also a version based on Freescale i.MX6 Solo with 512 MB RAM. You can refer to my earlier post for more detailed specifications. I’ll start by showing some unboxing pictures of the board, and write a quick start guide (casing assembly, Ubuntu & Android boot, and development). I also planned to run some benchmarks and test videos, as according to a poll on Wandboard website many people want to use it as a media player, but I’ll do that a bit later since the current Android image is not up to the task yet. Wandboard Dual Unboxing The package I received contained 3 boxes: one for Wandboard Dual board, one for the enclosure, and one for […]

Phytec India Unveils “Open Board-AM335x” Development Kit

PHYTEC has launched the Open Board-AM335x development kit in order to support Linux and Android development on Texas Instruments AM335x Sitara ARM Processors in India. The Open Board-AM335x is comprised of a baseboard and phyCORE-AM335x SoM, and comes with 512 MB DDR3 SDRAM, 512 MB NAND Flash, and optionally, 8 MB SPI Flash. The baseboard is open source hardware as schematics and Gerber/BOM are freely available. Here are the key features of Phytec Open Board-AM335x: SoM – PhyCore-AM335x with ARM Cortex-A8 processors @ 720 MHz (AM3352, AM3354, AM3356, AM3357, AM3358 and AM3359) System Memory – 512 MB DDR3 RAM Storage – 512 MB NAND + SD Card slot + 8 MB SPI NOR Flash (Optional) + 32 KB EEPROM (Optional) Serial – 1x UART (RS232) + 4x UART (TTL) USB – 1x USB Host + 1x USB OTG Connectivity – 1x 10/100/1G Ethernet Audio –  WM8974 Codec Display Interfaces – 24 bpp TTL […]

Infineon Hexagon Application Kit (XMC4500 Enterprise Edition) Overview and Quick Start Guide

A few months ago, Infineon sent me XMC4500 Relax Lite Kit for review, and I wrote a short Getting Started Guide about this 10 Euros Cortex M4 devkit. This month, I’ve received another XMC4500 kit with more features and expansion abilities: XMC4500 Enterprise Edition which is one of their Hexagon Application Kit. I received two packages: CPU Board XMC4500 General Purpose (CPU_45A-V2) with accessories (55 Euros) – This is what you get when you order to Basic Kit. J-Link Lite Cortex-M Debugger (40 Euros) Let’s open the packages and see what’s inside. In the first package, we’ve got XMC4500 CPU board, a pin extension board that can be used on any of the 3 extension connectors of the CPU board to access the signals easily, and a microUSB to USB cable for power. The JLink debugger comes with a 10-pin ribbon cable, and a microUSB to USB cable to connect to the […]

$299 Microsemi SmartFusion2 Starter Kit (Cortex M3 + FPGA)

Microsemi SmartFusion2 SoC family combines an ARM Cortex-M3 Core @ 166 Mhz and FPGA Fabric with up to 12M Gates, and comes with up to 512 KB eNVM and 64 KB eSRAM, 1 CAN A & B interface, 1 GbE port, 1 USB 2.0 OTG, and diverse serial interface. Last year I received Emcraft SmartFusion Starter Kit using the first generation of the starter kit, and Microsemi (previously known as Actel) and Emcraft Systems have recently announced the second generation with the SmartFusion2 Starter Kit. The main hardware features include: SmartFusion2 SoC FPGA in FG896 package (M2S050T-FG896ES) with 256KB eNVM, 64KB SRAM,  and 48,672 logic modules. JTAG interface for programming of the SmartFusion2 device 10/100 Ethernet interface and RJ-45 connector USB OTG interface and mini-USB connector USB based Wi-Fi Module 64MB LPDDR, 16MB SPI flash User push-button connected to GPIO on the SOM Two user-controlled LEDs connected to GPIO on […]

Atmel Introduces SAMA5D3 Cortex A5 Embedded MPUs and Evaluation Kits

Atmel has recently announced the Atmel SAMA5D3 series, a family of high performance, low-power microprocessor units (MPUs) based on ARM Cortex-A5 core. The SAMA5D3 series is designed for embedded applications in the industrial space, including factory and building automation, smart grid, medical and handheld terminals, as well as consumer applications such as smart watches, outdoor GPS, and DECT phones. SAMA5D3 family has the following characteristics: ARM Cortex-A5 core up to 536MHz (850DMIPS). Floating point unit (FPU) with up to 3 times the performance of Cortex A8 FPU. 166MHz bus speed delivering up to 1328MB/s bandwidth. Power consumption: <200mW in active mode at 536MHz with all peripherals activated 0.5mW in low-power mode with SRAM, registers retention and <0.5ms wake-up time ~1.2µA in backup mode with RTC running Connectivity: Dual Ethernet and dual CAN ports (Only one model has both) Gigabit Ethernet MAC with IEEE1588 and 10/100 MAC Two CAN controllers 3x […]

Texas Instruments HG3352 Home Automation & Energy Gateway Reference Design

Texas Instruments has recently announced HG3352 Home Gateway Reference Design that can connect to home energy systems, or/and home automation systems. This reference design, powered by TI Sitara AM3352 Cortex A8 processor, supports ZigBee, Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth, and Ethernet connectivity to allow developers to create home gateways that can interface with multiple systems, products and applications within a smart home. Here are the key features and benefits of TI HG3352 Home Gateway Reference Design: SoC – TI Sitara’s AM3352 ARM Cortex-A8 processor running Linux OS System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 2GB NAND Flash memory Connectivity: Single ZigBee device (CC2530) supports ZigBee Home Automation and ZigBee Smart Energy standards. WiLink 8.0 solution supports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Bluetooth low energy in a single chip. 6-channel power management integrated circuit (TPS650250) with dynamic voltage scaling provides high power efficiency. Expansion headers give developers flexibility to support power line communications (PLC) and […]

UP 7000 x86 SBC