DEBIX Model A – A Raspberry Pi-inspired NXP i.MX 8M Plus SBC for AI applications

NXP i.MX 8M Raspberry Pi SBC

DEBIX Model A is a single board computer powered by an NXP i.MX 8M Plus quad-core Cortex-A53 processor with a 2.3 TOPS AI accelerator in a form factor that combines Raspberry Pi 4 and 3 Model B designs. The SBC comes with up to 6GB RAM, a microSD card slot, an optional eMMC flash of up to 128GB capacity, HDMI 2.0a, LVDS, and MIPI DSI display interfaces, a MIPI CSI camera interface, Gigabit Ethernet and WiFi 5 connectivity, plus a 40-pin GPIO expansion header. DEBIX Model A specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX 8M Plus quad-core Cortex-A53 @ up to 1.6 GHz (industrial) or 1.8 GHz (commercial), with Arm Cortex-M7 @ up to 800 MHz, Vivante GC7000UL 3D GPU, Vivante GC520L 2D GPU, 2.3 TOPS NPU System  Memory – 2GB LPDDR4 (4GB/6GB optional) Storage – Default: Micro SD card; optional 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, or 128GB eMMC flash Video Output HDMI […]

What is PVTM? Or why your Rockchip RK3588 CPU may not reach 2.4 GHz

Rockchip PVTM

While the Rockchip RK3588 processor is advertised as reaching 2.4 GHz, not all RK3588 chips may achieve this frequency. The keyword is PVTM (Process-Voltage-Temperature Monitor), and we’ll try to explain why it does, and why some of the RK3588 processors may only be clocked at about 2.3 GHz, while others will run fine at 2.4 GHz. This all started with Rock 5B SBC debug party, where we noticed our boards did not reach the same frequency. Willy Tarreau noted the “pvtm” value was different between our boards: Willy’s board: (Cortex-A76 cluster 1 @ 2,304 MHz, cluster 2 @ 2,352 MHz)

CNXSoft board (Cortex-A76 cluster 1 @ 2,304 MHz, cluster 2 @ 2,304 MHz) :

Thomas Kaiser (tkaiser) board: (Cortex-A76 cluster 1 @ 2,400 MHz, cluster 2 @ 2,400 MHz)

For reference, CPU 0 to 3 are Cortex-A55 cores, CPU 4-5 are two Cortex-A76 cores (cluster 1), and […]

ASRock Industrial iEPF-9010S/iEP-9010E Edge AIoT platforms feature Alder Lake S CPU, up to 128GB RAM

ASRock Industrial iEPF-9010S & iEP-9010E Alder Lake S Edge AIoT platform

ASRock Industrial has released the iEPF-9010S and iEP-9010E high-end, rugged Edge AIoT platforms powered by 12th Gen Intel Alder Lake S processors, equipped with up to 128GB RAM, 4G LTE, 5G, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity, and real-time TSN/TCC networking. The I/O rich embedded computers are designed for highly demanding workloads and mission-critical industrial applications such as factory automation, machine automation, robotic control, AI-enabled AOI (automated optical inspection), autonomous vehicles, smart cities, and more. The ASRock iEPF-9010S Expandable AIoT Edge platforms come with the following specifications: SoC – Intel 12th Gen Core, Pentium or Celeron “Alder Lake S” hybrid processor with up to 16 cores and 24 threads, Intel Xe or UHD Graphics fitting in an LGA 1700 socket Chipset iEPF-9010S-EY4 model – Intel R680E iEPF-9012S-EY4 model – Intel H610 System Memory iEPF-9010S-EY4 model – 4x 260-pin SO-DIMM DDR4 3200MHz up to 128GB (32 GB per SO-DIMM) iEPF-9012S-EY4 model – […]

UP 4000 SBC is a Raspberry Pi lookalike with an Intel Apollo Lake processor

UP 4000 SBC

AAEON has unveiled the UP 4000 single board computer with a form factor and ports arrangement similar to Raspberry Pi 2/3, but powered by a choice of x86 processors, namely the Intel Atom E3900 series, Celeron N3350, or Pentium N4200 all parts of the Apollo Lake family. The first UP Board was introduced in 2015 as a device offering an x86 alternative to the Raspberry Pi 2 with an Intel Atom x5-Z8300/Z8350 “Cherry Trail” processor, but later “UP bridge the gap” boards from the company used larger “Squared” (85.6 x 90 mm) or “Xtreme” (122 x 120 mm) form factors. The UP 4000 SBC brings us back to the original business card form factor but with a boost in performance and various specifications improvements. UP 4000 vs UP Board specifications   AAEON says the new board is able to deliver 30% faster CPU performance and twice the 3D graphics performance […]

GEEKOM MiniAir 11 Review – A Jasper Lake Mini PC with plenty of ports

Geekom miniair-11 review

The GEEKOM MiniAir 11 is not just another mini PC powered by an Intel Jasper Lake N5095 processor but one that distinguishes itself by having a comprehensive range of ports. GEEKOM kindly sent a MiniAir 11 for review and I’ve looked at performance running both Windows 11 and Ubuntu 22.04. MiniAir 11 hardware overview The GEEKOM MiniAir 11 physically consists of a 117 x 112 x 34.2mm (4.61 x 4.41 x 1.35 inches) square plastic case. As an actively cooled mini PC, it uses Intel’s new 10 nm Jasper Lake N5095 processor which is a quad-core 4-thread 2.00 GHz Celeron processor boosting to 2.90 GHz with Intel’s UHD Graphics. The front panel has an illuminated power button, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a USB 3.2 Gen 2×1 port, and a Type-C USB 3.2 Gen 1×1 port.  It also includes a CIR (consumer infrared) port which supports remote control. The rear panel […]

Firefly ITX-3568JQ – A Mini-ITX motherboard with Rockchip RK3568 CPU

Rockchip RK3568 mini-ITX motherboard

Firefly ITX3588J mini-ITX motherboard with Rockchip RK3588 SoC now has a little sister/brother based on Rockchip RK3568 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor called ITX-3568JQ, and designed to power Arm PCs, cloud terminals, industrial controllers, edge computers, advanced NVR, NAS devices, and more. The motherboard supports up to 8GB RAM, 128GB eMMC flash, offers SATA storage, dual Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 6, optional 4G or 5G cellular connectivity, can handle up to three independent displays, and offers plenty of I/O options including an RS232/RS485 DB9 connector and a PCIe slot. Firefly ITX-3568JQ specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3568J quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 processor @ up to 2.0 GHz with Arm Mali-G52-2EE GPU with support for OpenGL ES 3.2, OpenCL 2.0, Vulkan 1.1, 1.0 TOPS NPU, 8MP ISP, 4Kp60 video decoding, 1080p60 H.265/H.264 video encoding System Memory – 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB LPDDR4 Storage 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, or 128GB eMMC flash 16MB SPI flash 1x […]

Texas Instruments AM6254 powered industrial SBC features dual GbE, CAN Bus, RS485, optional 4G/5G cellular networking

Texas Instruments Sitara AM6254 SBC

Texas Instruments Sitara AM623 and AM625 Arm Cortex-A53 AIoT processors were just introduced last month, but Forlinx has already introduced the OK6254-C SBC powered by the Sitara AM6254 quad-core processor with up to 2GB DDR4, and an 8GB eMMC flash. The board features two Gigabit Ethernet ports, CAN FD and RS485 interfaces, plus plenty of I/O headers, support for up to three displays via LVDS and parallel RGB interfaces, as well as optional support for 4G/5G cellular connectivity that makes it suitable for all sorts of industrial applications.   Forlinx OK6254-C specifications: FET625x-C SoM SoC – Texas Instruments AM6254 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor @ 1.4GHz with Cortex-M4F real-time core @ 400 MHz, Imagination AXE1-16M GPU @ 500MHz with OpenGL 3.x/2.0/1.1 + Extensions, and Vulkan 1.2 support; Single (AM6251) and dual-core (AM6252) modules are also available System Memory – 1GB (default) or 2GB DDR4-1600 Storage – 8GB eMMC flash 4x 80-pin board-to-board […]

ROCK 5B developer edition preview – Part 1: Unboxing and first boot to Debian 11

ROCK 5B Rockchip RK3588 SBC

Radxa ROCK5 Model B (aka ROCK 5B) is one of the most anticipated Rockchip RK3588 single board computers due to its features set and relatively affordable price. It was first showcased in January, but it’s taking a while as the Cortex-A76/A55 SoC is a complex beast. The good news is that the public launch is getting closer as Radxa sent “developer edition” samples to developers and enthusiasts for a “debug party”. I was one of the recipients so, in this post, I’ll have a closer look at the latest revision of the board, and give it a quick try first before going into more details in the second of this preview. ROCK5 Model B unboxing I received the 16GB RAM version which should be the same for all board part of the “developer edition batch. Developers are invited to submit reports to Radxa forums, and since those are public, anybody […]

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