Linux 6.3 release – Notable changes, Arm, RISC-V and MIPS architectures

Linux 6.3 release

Linux Torvalds has just announced the release of Linux 6.3 on the Linux Kernel Mailing List (LKML): It’s been a calm release this time around, and the last week was really no different. So here we are, right on schedule, with the 6.3 release out and ready for your enjoyment. That doesn’t mean that something nasty couldn’t have been lurking all these weeks, of course, but let’s just take things at face value and hope it all means that everything is fine, and it really was a nice controlled release cycle. It happens. This also obviously means the merge window for 6.4 will open tomorrow. I already have two dozen pull requests waiting for me to start doing my pulls, and I appreciate it. I expect I’ll have even more when I wake up tomorrow. But in the meantime, let’s enjoy (and test) the 6.3 release. As always, the shortlog […]

Maxtang ALN-10 – An Alder Lake-N mini-ITX motherboard for industrial applications

Maxtang ALN-10

Maxtang ALN-10 is an upcoming mini-ITX motherboard based on Alder Lake-N processors from the Processor N50 up to the Core i3-N305 SoC and specifically targetting industrial applications with a -20 to +60°C temperature range, six RS232/RS485 serial ports, and 12V to 19V DC input among other features. Since the latest Alder Lake N-Series processors were announced, we’ve seen a range of mini PCs based on the new series, some laptops, as well as a camera devkit and one single board computer, but so far no actual motherboards. Maxtang ALN-10 changes that with the industrial mini-ITX motherboard soon expected to launch for B2B customers. Maxtang ALN-10 specifications: Alder Lake-N SoC (one or the other) Intel Core i3-N305 octa-core processor up to 3.8 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 32EU Intel UHD graphics; TDP: 15W (Active cooling) Intel Core i3-N300 octa-core processor up to 3.8 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 32EU Intel UHD […]

100ASK-V853-Pro – A feature-rich Allwinner V853 board designed for AI vision applications

100ASK V853 Pro

The 100ASK-V853-Pro board is a development kit consisting of an Allwinner V853 system-on-module board (SoM) and a feature-rich carrier board with a large number of interfaces. Allwinner V853 supports up to 1TOPS of NPU computing power and is mainly for AI vision application development. The core board contains a DDR and eMMC as well as a PMU chip (AXP2101) and is connected to the carrier board through a board-to-board connector. All the functional resources of the V853 are drawn out through the carrier board. The carrier board comes with 2-channels CSI camera interfaces as well as RGB and MIPI DSI display interfaces. Although 1 TOPS of AI computing power is not outstanding, the NPU can still be used to accelerate AI vision applications at the edge. The board also comes with four USB 2.0 ports (two Type-A, two Type-C), an 100Mbps Ethernet port, a 22-pin header for expansion, and five […]

AAEON BOXER-8224AI – An NVIDIA Jetson Nano AI Edge embedded system for drones

BOXER 8224AI board AI Edge NVIDIA Jetson Nano embedded system

AAEON BOXER-8224AI is a thin and lightweight AI edge embedded system solution based on NVIDIA Jetson Nano system-on-module and designed for drones, or other space-constrained applications such as robotics. AAEON BOXER products are usually Embedded Box PCs with an enclosure, but the BOXER-8224AI is quite different as it’s a compact and 22mm thin board with MIPI CSI interfaces designed to add computer vision capability to unmanned areal vehicles (UAV), as well as several wafers for dual GbE, USB, and other I/Os. BOXER-8224AI specifications: AI Accelerator – NVIDIA Jetson Nano CPU – Arm Cortex-A57 quad-core processor System Memory – 4GB LPDDR4 Storage Device – 16GB eMMC 5.1 flash Dimensions – 70 x 45 mm Storage – microSD slot Display Interface – 1x Mini HDMI 2.0 port Camera interface – 2x MIPI CSI connectors Networking 2x Gigabit Ethernet via wafer connector (1x NVIDIA, 1x Intel i210) Optional WiFi, Bluetooth, and/or cellular connectivity […]

EVerest is an open-source software stack for car charging stations

EVerest open source car charging station software

EVerest is a software project initiated by PIONIX GmbH, but now part of the Linux Foundation’s LFEnergy initiative, whose primary goal is to develop and maintain an open-source software stack for EV charging infrastructure. EVerest supports multiple standards and it will run on any device from AC home chargers to public DC charging stations. I noticed the EVerest project in an upcoming talk at the Embedded Open Source Summit 2023 entitled ” EVerest: Electric Vehicle Chargers With Open Hardware and Software” and whose abstract reads in part: You will learn how to build your own electric vehicle charger using open hardware designs in combination with the EVerest open-source software stack for EV charging infrastructure. Following a quick introduction to EV charging technology, with explanations of the standards, protocols, and complexities involved, the talk will go into a deep dive into how you can build your own AC charging station. Reference […]

BLIKVM open-source KVM over IP works with Raspberry Pi CM4, Raspberry Pi HAT, PCIe card, and soon Allwinner H616

BLIKVM Raspberry Pi KVM

BLIKVM is an open-source KVM over IP software that helps you manage servers or workstations remotely regardless of the health of the target system, and currently working with Raspberry Pi CM4 hardware, a Raspberry Pi HAT, or a PCIe board, and a new model based on MangoPi’s Allwinner H616 CPU module is coming soon. We’ve previously written about the Raspberry Pi-based PiKVM DIY project, followed by the PiKVM v3 Raspberry Pi HAT from the same project, and now I can see there’s a CM4-based PiKVM V4 that was on Kickstarter last month and raised over $800,000… You’d think this kind of system would be rather a niche market, but there’s even demand to have a similar open-source project called BLIKVM offering many of the same features since it’s based on PiKVM, except for the option to use a PCIE card fitted with a CM4 module. Highlights of the BLIKVM project: […]

ADLINK Ampere Altra Dev Kit features ATX motherboard with 32 to 80-core Arm COM-HPC CPU module

Ampere Altra Dev Kit AADK

ADLINK Ampere Altra Dev Kit is an “IoT prototyping kit” based on an ATX motherboard fitted with a COM-HPC-ALT Server Type Size E module powered by an Ampere Altra 32, 64, or 80-core Arm Neoverse N1 server processor, and supporting up to 768GB DDR4 memory. It’s basically the same hardware as found in the Ampere Altra Developer Platform (AADP), but without the tower and power supply, nor optional features like liquid cooling or 10GbE interfaces. Ampere Altra Dev Kit (AADK) specifications and content: Computer-on-Module – COM-HPC Server Type Size E Ampere Altra module with Ampere Altra 32 to 80-core 64-bit Arm Neoverse N1 processor up to 1.7/2.2/2.6 GHz (32/64/80 cores, TPD: 60W to 175W), up to 768 DDR4 ECC memory Mainboard – COM-HPC Server Base carrier board Storage – 2x M.2 slot for NVMe SSD Video – VGA port Audio – 3.5mm audio jack Networking – 1x Gigabit Ethernet Expansion […]

Indiedroid Nova is a Rockchip RK3588S SBC with full-body heatsink, fan, and a swappable eMMC flash

Indiedroid Nova SBC

Indiedroid Nova is another Rockchip RK3588S SBC with Raspberry Pi 4 form factor, up to 16GB RAM, with a heatsink that serves as a protective cover, fitted with a fan (if needed), and an optional swappable flash module up to 64GB capacity. The Nova board has basically the same port layout as the Raspberry Pi 4, except for one of the micro HDMI ports being replaced by a USB Type-C port with support for DisplayPort, so you’ll still get a Gigabit Ethernet port, WiFi 5 & Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity,  two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, MIPI CSI and DSI connectors, etc… Indiedroid Nova specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3588S CPU – Octa-core processor with 4x Cortex-A76 cores @ up to 2.2-2.4 GHz, 4x Cortex-A55 cores @ up to 1.8 GHz GPU –  Arm Mali-G610 GPU with OpenGL ES 3.2,  OpenCL 2.2, and Vulkan 1.2 support VPU – 8Kp60 video […]

EmbeddedTS embedded systems design