SparkFun RTK EVK is a fully-enclosed GNSS platform designed for fixed or mobile high-precision positioning and navigation applications with centimeter accuracy thanks to RTK (real-time kinematic) technology implemented with modules from u-blox. About two months ago, Sparkfun introduced the RTK Torch waterproof GNSS surveyor with Unicore UM980 GNSS module with RTK support, ESP32 for WiFi/Bluetooth, and an STM32WLE5C LoRa SoC. The SparkFun RTK EVK (evaluation kit) may drop LoRa connectivity, but it’s a more versatile platform with WiFi, Bluetooth, Ethernet, and LTE Cat 1 cellular connectivity, besides support for L1 + L2 RTK GNSS with L-Band correction. Sparkfun RTK EVK specifications: GNSS Receiver – u-blox ZED-F9P Concurrent reception of GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and BeiDou Receives both L1C/A and L2C bands 184-channel u-blox F9 engine Time to First Fix: 25s (cold), 2s (hot) Max Navigation Rate: 20Hz / 25Hz depending on mode Horizontal Position Accuracy: 2.5m without RTK; 0.010m with RTK […]
Alif Semi Ensemble E1C is an entry-level Cortex-M55 MCU with a 46 GOPS Ethos-U55 AI/ML accelerator
Alif Semi Ensemble E1C is an entry-level addition to the company’s Ensemble Cortex-A32M35 processors and microcontrollers with Ethos-U55 microNPUs that targets the very edge with a 160 MHz Cortex-M55 microcontroller and a 46 GOPS Ethos-U55 NPU. The Ensemble E1C is virtually the same as the E1 microcontroller but with less memory (2MB SRAM) and storage (up to 1.9MB non-volatile MRAM), and offered in more compact packages with 64, 90, or 120 pins as small as 3.9 x 3.9mm. Alif Semi Ensemble E1C specifications: CPU – Arm Cortex-M55 core up to 160 MHz with Helium Vector Processing Extension, 16KB Instruction and Data caches, Armv8.1-M ISA with Arm TrustZone; 4.37 CoreMark/MHz GPU – Optional D/AVE 2D Graphics Processing Unit MicroNPU – 1x Arm Ethos-U55 Neural Processing Unit with 128 MAC; up to 46 GOPS On-chip application memory Up to 1.9 MB MRAM Non-Volatile Memory Up to 2MB Zero Wait-State SRAM with optional […]
Cavli C17QS Cat 1.bis cellular IoT and GNSS module offers more memory, global support, a new FreeRTOS SDK
Cavli Wireless C17QS is a Cat 1.bis cellular IoT and GNSS module that builds up on the Qualcomm QCX216-powered C16QS Cat 1.bis Cellular IoT module introduced last year, with more memory (2MB RAM) and storage (8MB flash), a wider range of LTE bands, multi-band (L1 and L5) GNSS, and a new FreeRTOS SDK for more flexibility compared to the C16QS. The Cavli C17QS Cat 1bis module is designed around a Qualcomm QCX217 Arm Cortex-M3 microcontroller clocked at up to 306MHz clock speed and running FreeRTOS real-time operating system. The module features a range of interfaces including UART, USB 2.0, USIM, SWD, ADCs, I2S, I2C, SPI, and GPIO pins. The new module is pin-to-pin compatible with the C16QS module for easier design upgrades. Cavli C17QS specifications: Wireless IC – Qualcomm QCX217 Arm Cortex-M3 @ 306 MHz, cellular modem-RF Memory – 2MB RAM Storage – 8 MB flash Cellular connectivity LTE CAT […]
ECS “LIVA Mini Box QC710 Desktop” Windows 10 mini PC goes for $99.99 (Promo)
ECS LIVA Mini Box QC710 Desktop powered by a Qualcomm Arm mini PC-looking developer kit was launched in 2021 for $219, and the company is now apparently getting rid of stocks and selling the remaining Snapdragon 7c devices for $99.99 on Stack Social. The system features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c (SC7180) octa-core Cortex-A76/A55 SoC, 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC flash, HDMI output, 10/100Mbps Ethernet and WiFi 5, and several USB ports. As a reminder, here are the ECS LIVA Mini Box QC710 Desktop specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Compute Platform (SC7180) with octa-core Qualcomm Kryo 468 (2x Cortex-A76, 6x Cortex-A55) CPU @ up to 2.4 GHz, Adreno 618 GPU System Memory – 4GB Storage – 64GB eMMC flash, MicroSD card socket Video & audio output – 1x HDMI port Networking 10/100M Ethernet WiFi 5 and Bluetooth USB 1x USB 3.2 Gen1 (5 Gbps) Type-A port 1x USB 2.0 Type-A port […]
Snapdragon Dev Kit for Windows features Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite Arm SoC for AI PC application development
Qualcomm Snapdragon Dev Kit for Windows is a mini PC-looking development platform based on the Snapdragon X Elite 12-core Arm processor with up to 75 AI TOPS of performance designed to help developers natively port apps to the Elite X SoC and develop new AI applications besides the Copilot+ AI PC features developed internally by Microsoft. Although it’s slightly bigger, the external design looks similar to the Windows Dev Kit 2023 with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 compute platform, but internally, the new devkit features the much more powerful 4.3 GHz X Elite 12-core 64-bit Armv8 Oryon processor coupled with 32GB LPDDR5x RAM and 512GB NVMe SSD, and offering a range of ports and features such as USB4 and WiFi 7. Snapdragon Dev Kit for Windows (2024) specifications: SoC – Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-00-1DE) CPU – 12-core 64-bit Armv8 Oryon processor clocked at up to 3.8 GHz, or 4.3 […]
NetBurner SOMRT1061 – A stamp-sized dual Ethernet SoM powered by NXP’s i.MX RT1061 crossover processor
The NetBurner SOMRT1061 is a System-on-Module (SoM) that comes in a very compact stamp-sized footprint that measures just 25.4mm x 25.4mm, yet boasts a rugged design and 67 usable GPIO pins with edge connectors. These features make this SoM ideal for a wide range of medical, industrial, and robotics applications. The SoM is built around the NXP’s i.MX RT1061 Arm Cortex M7 SoC, and features 1MB of internal SRAM, 32MB of external RAM, and 8MB of flash storage. It also features dual 10/100M Ethernet with PTP, an on-die temperature sensor, three FlexIO modules, two USB OTG 2.0 controllers, I2C, SPI, ADC, SD Card, CAN, UART, and many more. NetBurner SOMRT1061 System-on-Module (SOM) Specifications SoC – NXP i.MX RT1061 Arm Cortex-M7 @ 528MHz. Memory 1MB SRAM on the processor 32MB of external RAM Storage Flash – 1MB boot, 8MB application SDHC – Flash card interface Ethernet Up to two 10/100 Ethernet […]
NXP i.MX 95 SMARC 2.1 system-on-modules – ADLINK LEC-IMX95 and iWave iW-RainboW-G61M
Several companies have unveiled SMARC 2.1 compliant system-on-modules powered by the NXP i.MX 95 AI SoC, and today we’ll look at the ADLINK LEC-IMX95 and iWave Systems iW-RainboW-G61M and related development/evaluation kits. The NXP i.MX 95 SoC was first unveiled at CES 2023 with up to six Cortex-A55 application cores, a Cortex-M33 real-time core, and a low-power Cortex-M7 core, as well as an eIQ Neutron NPU for machine learning applications. Since then a few companies have unveiled evaluation kits and system-on-modules such as the Toradex Titan evaluation kit or the Variscite DART-MX95 SoM, but none of those were compliant with a SoM standard, but at least two SMARC 2.1 system-on-modules equipped with the NXP i.MX 95 processor have been introduced. ADLINK LEC-IMX95 Specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX 95 CPU Up to 6x Arm Cortex-A55 application cores clocked at 2.0 GHz with 32K I-cache and D-cache, 64KB L2 cache, and 512KB […]
Axelera Metis PCIe Arm AI evaluation kit combines Firefly ITX-3588J mini-ITX motherboard with 214 TOPS Metis AIPU PCIe card
Axelera has announced the general availability of several Metis PCIe AI Evaluation Kits that combine the company’s 214 TOPS Metis AIPU PCIe card with x86 platforms such as Dell 3460XE workstation and Lenovo ThinkStation P360 Ultra computers, Advantech MIC-770v3 or ARC-3534 industrial PCs, or the Firefly ITX-3588J mini-ITX motherboard powered by a Rockchip RK3588 octa-core Cortex-A76/A55 SoC. We’ll look into detail about the latter in this post. When Axelera introduced the Metis Axelera M.2 AI accelerator module in January 2023 I was both impressed and doubtful of the performance claims of the company since packing a 214 TOPS Metis AIPU in a power-limited M.2 module seemed like a challenge. But it was hard to check independently since the devkits were not available yet although the company only started their early-access program in August last year. Now, anybody with an 899 Euros and up budget can try out their larger Metis […]