Linux 6.0 release – Main changes, Arm, RISC-V, and MIPS architectures

Linux 6.0 Release

Linux 6.0 has just been released by Linus Torvalds: So, as is hopefully clear to everybody, the major version number change is more about me running out of fingers and toes than it is about any big fundamental changes. But of course there’s a lot of various changes in 6.0 – we’ve got over 15k non-merge commits in there in total, after all, and as such 6.0 is one of the bigger releases at least in numbers of commits in a while. The shortlog of changes below is only the last week since 6.0-rc7. A little bit of everything, although the diffstat is dominated by drm (mostly amd new chip support) and networking drivers. And this obviously means that tomorrow I’ll open the merge window for 6.1. Which – unlike 6.0 – has a number of fairly core new things lined up. But for now, please do give this most […]

Nuvoton NuMicro MA35D1 Arm Cortex-A35/M4 microprocessor to power Linux edge IIoT gateways

NuMake-HMI-MA35D1-S1

Novoton NuMicro MA35D1 microprocessor features two Arm Cortex-A35 cores, one Arm Cortex-M4 real-time core, and two Ethernet interfaces for Linux-based edge IIoT gateway. The SoC also is offered in variants supporting external DDR memory or integrated up to 512MB RAM, 154 or 208 GPIOs, and an optional “Enhanced ADC”. The MA35D1 also comes with a TFT interface for up to 1920×1080 displays, several hardware security features, and the company says the microprocessor facilitates Tiny AI/ML for edge computing despite not integrating an AI accelerator. Nuvoton NuMicro MA35D1 key features and specifications: CPU sub-system 2x Cortex-A35 cores running at up to 800 MHz Cortex-M4 real-time core at up to 180 MHz Memory sub-system On-chip 384 KB SRAM (Cortex-A35 256 KB + Cortex-M4 128 KB) Multi-Chip Package (MCP) DDR up to 512MB External DDR interface for MA35D16A087C SKU Storage Quad SPI NAND Flash Controller Secure Digital Host Controller (SDHC) Display and Video […]

Geniatech unveils SMARC 2.1 compliant Rockchip RK3568 system-on-module

Rockchip RK3568 SMARC system-on-module

We’ve seen Rockchip RK3568 system-on-modules before, but the Geniatech SOM-3568-SMARC core board is the first to comply with the SMARC 2.1 standard with a 314-pin MXM connector exposing the many I/Os from the quad-core Cortex-A55 processor. The module comes with up to 8GB RAM, 128GB eMMC flash, integrates a WiFi and Bluetooth module as well as two Gigabit Ethernet transceivers, and is designed to be used in advanced NVRs, cloud terminals, industrial automation, IoT applications, digital signage, and more. Geniatech SOM-3568-SMARC specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3568 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor @ 2.0 GHz with Arm Mali-G52 2EE GPU with support for OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0/3.2, OpenCL 2.0, Vulkan 1.1, 1 TOPS NPU for AI acceleration, 4Kp60 H.265/H.264/VP9 video decoding, and 1080p100 H.265/H.264 video encoding; 22nm process System Memory – 2GB, 4GB or 8GB DDR4 Storage – 32GB, 64GB, or 128GB eMMC 5.1 flash Networking 2x RTL8211F Gigabit Ethernet PHY WT6354 wireless module […]

AMD launches Ryzen Embedded V3000 Zen3 processors for storage and networking applications

AMD Ryzen Embedded V3000

AMD has just launched the Ryzen Embedded V3000 family of processors with four to eight Zen3 cores, a DDR5 memory interface, twenty PCIe Gen4 lanes, and two 10GbE interfaces that make it ideal for storage and networking applications, especially since there’s no GPU at all. The new embedded processors succeed the Ryzen Embedded V2000 Zen2 family introduced two years ago, and the Ryzen V1000 processors in 2018. For some reason, AMD decided to compare the new V3000 processors against the latter and claims up to 124% greater CPU performance, 50% improved memory transfer rate, twice the number of CPU cores, and improved I/O connectivity. There are five Ryzen Embedded V3000 SKUs at launch with the V3C48, V3C44, V3C18I, V3C16, and V3C14 whose key differences can be found in the table below. The AMD Ryzen Embedded V3C18I “industrial” processor also works in sub-zero temperatures for automotive and industrial applications. Shared specifications […]

Banana Pi BPI-M2 Ultra SBC is now offered with Allwinner A40i industrial-grade processor

Banana BPI-M2 Ultra Allwinner A40i SBC

The Allwinner A40i and A60i industrial-grade quad-core and hexa-core Cortex-A7 processors were first introduced in 2018 with support for the wide -40°C to +85°C industrial temperature range, but so far I had not noticed any hardware making use of either processor. But Banana Pi is now offering the Banana Pi BPI-M2 Ultra SBC, which they launched in 2016 with the Allwinner R40 quad-core Cortex-A7 SoC, with the pin-to-pin and software-compatible Allwinner A40i industrial-grade processor. Banana Pi BPI-M2 Ultra specifications: SoC – Allwinner A40i quad-core Arm Cortex-A7 processor with Arm Mali-400MP2 GPU @ 500 MHz, 1080p60 H.264, MPEG-4, MPEG-1/2 video decoder, H.264 1080p45 video encoder System Memory – 2GB DDR3 SDRAM Storage – 8GB eMMC flash, SATA interface, microSD card slot Video Output HDMI 1.4 port up to 1080p60 4-lane MIPI DSI display connector, or RGB, or LVDS Audio I/O – 3.5mm headphone jack, digital audio output via HDMI, built-in microphone […]

UP 4000 x86 SBC review – Part 1: Unboxing and first boot

UP 4000 SBC review

AAEON UP 4000 is a compact Apollo Lake single board computer that’s about the size of a business card or a Raspberry Pi designed for automation, robotics, digital signage, and other space-constrained applications that may benefit from an x86 processor. The company already published some Phoronix benchmarks comparing the UP 4000 SBC against Raspberry Pi 4, NVIDIA Jetson Nano, and the original UP board, but since nothing beats third-party evaluation, AAEON sent a review sample to CNX Software for additional testing. UP 4000 SBC unboxing There are several variants of the board, and I received the UP-APL03X7F-A10-0464 SKU with 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC flash, and an Intel Atom x7-E3950 quad-core processor. The package includes the board together with a multilingual safety manual that explains you should not immerse the board underwater and should avoid walking on it :). A 12V/5A power supply was also included separately. The power cord was […]

AAEON ARES-500AI embedded box PC features 22 TOPS Huawei Atlas 200 AI accelerator module

AAEON ARES-500AI embedded PC Huawei Atlas 200 AI module

ARES-500AI is another embedded box PC from AAEON, but instead of the usual Intel or NVIDIA Jetson accelerators, it integrates a Huawei Atlas 200 AI accelerator module based on the Ascent 310 chip delivering up to 22 TOPS of AI performance and is designed for the Chinese market. The Linux computer supports up to 8GB RAM, SSD and MicroSD storage, and is equipped with four Gigabit Ethernet ports, some USB 3.0 ports, but somehow no video output port. Designed for industrial computer vision applications, the system supports a wide 9V to 36V power input.   ARES-500AI Specifications: AI module –  Huawei Atlas 200 based on Ascend 310 with 22/16/8 TOPS INT8, 11/8/4 TFLOPS FP16 System Memory – 4GB or 8GB LPDDR4X Storage – SSD and microSD card sockets Video decoding H.265 & H.264 up to 16 channels @ 1080p30, up to 2 channels @ 4Kp60 JPEG decoding up to 1080p […]

OnLogic IGN800 Industrial Raspberry Pi Edge Gateway runs Ignition Edge software

OnLogic IGN800 Ignition Edge Software

OnLogic IGN800 is an industrial edge gateway based on the Raspberry Pi CM4 module pre-loaded with the Ignition Edge HMI, SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition), MES, and IIoT software platform from Inductive Automation. The hardware is not exactly new, as the Onlogic IGN800 is simply the OnLogic Factor 201 industrial PC introduced earlier this year, but that ships with Ignition Edge in order to provide a cost-effective solution for automation projects. OnLogic IGN800 specifications: SoM – Raspberry Pi CM4 with Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Arm Cortex-A72 processor @ up to 1.5 GHz, up to 8GB LPDDR4 RAM, up to 32GB eMMC flash Additional storage – Optional M.2 SATA SSD (See Expansion section) Video Output – HDMI port up to 4Kp60 Networking 2x Gigabit Ethernet LAN (Optional PoE PD Input) via Realtek RTL8153 controller Optional WiFi/Bluetooth module on Raspberry Pi CM4 module + 3x antenna holes Optional 4G LTE wireless module […]

UP 7000 x86 SBC