Espressif ESP32 SoC is gaining traction right now as prices have come down, and there’s still an on-going fight among LPWAN standards with LoRaWAN being fairly popular in Europe. Whitecat, a group of engineers from several companies based in Citilab, Barcelona, Spain, has designed a board that combines both ESP32 and a LoRA transceiver, bringing an alternative to Pycom LoPy board, but instead of running MicroPython, they have developed Lua-RTOS. Whitecat ESP32 N1 hardware specifications: SoC – Espressif ESP32 dual-core Tensilica LX6 microprocessor @ up to 240MHz with 520kB internal SRAM Storage – 4MB flash memory Connectivity LoRa WAN transceiver working in the 868 (EU) MHz / 915 (USA) MHz with on-board antenna, and u.FL connector for external antenna Integrated 802.11b/g/n WiFi transceiver with on-board antenna, and u.FL connector for external antenna Integrated dual-mode Bluetooth (classic and BLE) I/O Headers – 2x 16-pin with SPI, I2C, I2S, SDIO, UART, CAN, […]
MatchX LoRaWAN Solution Supports up to 65,535 Sensor Nodes per Gateway
MatchX is a startup with offices in Chicago, Shenzhen, and Berlin, that provides a complete LoRaWAN solution with their MatchBox gateway based on SX1301 concentrator and Mediatek MT7628N processor, as well as MatchStick, MatchModule, and MatchCore sensors with up to 65,535 of those connecting to a single gateway. MatchBox LoRaWAN/WiFi/GPRS/GPS Gateway MatchBox specifications: Processor – Mediatek MT7628AN MIPS WiSoC @ up to 580 MHz System Memory – 128MB DDR2 RAM Storage – 16MB FLASH Connectivity LoRa – Semtech SX1301 + 2x SX1257@+27dbm Output Power; 470/868/915Mhz frequency range, -146dBm sensitivity 10/100M Ethernet 802.11n 2×2 WiFi @ 300 MHz Optional GPRS via SIM800H, 85.6 kbps (downlink/uplink) + micro SIM card slot GPS via UBlox Max 7C Antennas – 2x u.FL antennas for WiFi, u.FL or chip antenna for LoRa, GPS and GPRS modules USB – 1x USB 2.0 port, 1x USB type C exposing 4 or 6 GPIOs and UART Misc – […]
EEMBC IoT-Connect is a Family of Benchmarks Designed To Test the Power Efficiency of IoT Devices
EEMBC, the Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium, has been providing benchmarks for embedded systems since 1996, including ULPBench helping to rank micro-controllers by their power efficiency. But with the Internet of Things gaining traction, it’s important to test more than just the MCU core’s power efficiency, and having a benchmark taking sensors and connectivity into account would be useful. That’s exactly what EEMC IoT-Connect benchmark family aims for with the three main characteristics: Provides flexibility to accommodate various communication protocols (e.g. Bluetooth, Thread, LoRa, WiFi) Portable to work with any vendor’s microcontroller and radio-module products Compatible with EEMBC ULPBench and EEMBC IoT-Secure benchmarks The first benchmark of the family is IoTMark-BLE connectivity profile that supports Bluetooth (LE) MCUs. The benchmark requires fixed payload size, frequency of transmission, and transmit power, and performs a complete sequence of event ranging from sensor reading, to BLE notifications, and command write and CRC. The IoT-Connect […]
$6 LicheePi Zero ARM Board Runs Linux 4.10, Supports Lots of Add-On Boards (Crowdfunding)
We’ve already covered LicheePi One board powered by Allwinner A13 processor, but it was not for sale out of China, and the developers are now back with LicheePi Zero board/module, slightly bigger than an SD card, featuring Allwinner V3s processor, and offered for as low as $6, or $8 with WiFi via an Indiegogo campaign. LicheePi Zero specifications: SoC – Allwinner V3s ARM Cortex A7 processor @ up to 1.2 GHz with an ARM Mali-400 GPU, 512Mbit (64MB) DDR2 on-chip Storage – micro SD card slot, SPI flash (not 100% clear if it will be populated when shipped to backers) Display – FPC40 RGB Connector with support for 800×480 RGB LCD Audio – Audio codec USB – micro USB OTG port Expansion 2x 15 headers with 2.54mm pitch, breadboard friendly with GPIOs, 2x UART, 1x SPI, 2x I2C,ADC, 1x PWM 2x 30 half-holes with 1.27mm pitch with OTG USB,MIPI CSI,EPHY,RGB […]
STMicro Introduces STM32 LoRaWAN Discovery Board & I-NUCLEO-LWAN2 STM32 LoRa Expansion Board
STMicroelectronics and Mouser have launched two new products with LoRa connectivity: STM32 LoRaWAN Discovery Board with an STM32L072 ARM Cortex M0+ MCU and Semtech SX1276 transceiver, and I-NUCLEO-LRWAN1 STM32 LoRa expansion board for STM32 Nucleo boards with an STM32L052 MCU and Semtech SX1272 radio transceiver. STM32 LoRaWAN Discovery Board B-L072Z-LRWAN1 STM32L0 Discovery kit LoRa specifications: LoRa Module – Murata CMWX1ZZABZ-091 with MCU – STM32L072CZ ARM Cortex -M0+ MCU @ 32 MHz with 192 KB Flash memory, 20 KB RAM, 20 KB EEPROM SX1276 transceiver supporting LoRa, FSK, GFSK, MSK, GMSK and OOK modulations Antennas – SMA and U.FL RF interface connectors, 50 Ohm SMA RF antenna Debugging – On-board ST-LINK/V2-1 supporting USB re-enumeration capability Expansion – Arduino Uno V3 connectors Misc – 7x LEDs, 2x push-buttons (user and reset) Power supply – Via USB bus or external VIN/3.3 V supply voltage or batteries; 3xAAA-type-battery holder for standalone operation (on the […]
Dragino OLG01 Outdoor Single Channel LoRa Gateway Runs OpenWrt, Supports Passive PoE
Dragino Technology, a Shenzhen based startup focusing on the Internet of Things, had already designed LoRa shields & Hats for Arduino & Raspberry Pi boards which can be useful for LoRa nodes, but the company has now launched Dragino OLG01 LoRa gateway running OpenWrt that communicates with nodes over LoRa, and to the cloud using WiFi, Ethernet, or 3G/4G. Dragino OLG01 specifications: WiSoC – Atheros AR9331 MIPS processor @ 400MHz System Memory – 64MB RAM Storage – 16MB flash MCU – Atmel ATMega328P AVR MCU with 32KB flash, 2KB SRAM Connectivity 802.11 b/g/n WiFi with antenna 2x 10/100M Ethernet with support for passive PoE Optional 3G/4G module connected to internal USB socket (TBC) Semtech SX1276/78 LoRa wireless module + SMA connector (antenna not provided) up to 5~10 km range USB – 1x USB 2.0 host port Power Supply – 12V DC power jack or PoE Three models are offered with […]
Barionet 1000 DIN Rail Programmable I/O Controller Runs OpenWrt
Barix, a Swiss company specializing IP- based communications and control technology, has introduced a new Barionet programmable I/O controller with Barionet 1000, the first model of the company to run Linux, and in this case OpenWrt, and to offer WiFi and USB connectivity. Barionet 1000 specifications: Processor – Undisclosed System Memory – 64MB RAM Storage – 16MB flash Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n; IPv4 & IPv6 support. USB – 2x USB Host Ports Serial – 1x DB9 RS-232 serial port User programmable I/Os 2x relay outputs (30 VDC max, 5 A) 4x open collector digital outputs (4 x 24 VDC, 0.3 A) 8x contact closure inputs (0 – 15 V), including 4x 12-bit analog inputs (0 – 15 V) 1-wire interface for 18DS20 temperature sensor Misc – 11 LED status indicators Power Supply – 9 to 30V DC (2.5 Watts max) Dimensions – 103mm x 85mm x 31mm; […]
433/868/915 MHz LoRa Modules Are Now Selling for $6 and Up
Market forecasts for the Internet of Things promise billions of connected device in the years to come, but this won’t happen when LPWAN connector sensors cost $50 or more, so prices will have to come down. I’ve been told that one company is working on a WiFi + LoRa module that’s going to sell for $5 to $6 sometimes in 2017, but in the meantime, it’s possible to get some LoRa modules for less than $10, albeit limited to 433 MHz frequency not the more common 868 MHz (EU) and 915 MHz (US), thanks to products such as AI-Thinker Ra-02 module. Ra-02 specifications: Chipset – Semtech SX1278 low power long range transceiver Radio 433MHz frequency (420 to 450 MHz range) +20dBm – 10mW constant RF output vs. V supply; up to 300 kbps bitrate Supports FSK, GFSK, MSK, GMSK, LoRa and OOK Modulation Mode 127dB RSSI wave range. I/Os – […]