m.2

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 29 Comments on Khadas VIM3 Amlogic S922X Board to Support M.2 NVMe SSD, WiFi 5, and Bluetooth 5 Connectivity

Khadas VIM3 Amlogic S922X Board to Support M.2 NVMe SSD, WiFi 5, and Bluetooth 5 Connectivity

Khadas VIM3

Ever since the Amlogic S922X powered ODROID-N2 SBC launched last March, I keep reading praise for the processor and board which both deliver great performance at a relatively low price. Hardkernel was the only company that sold such a board so far, but this is about to change with some competition coming from Shenzhen Wesion with their upcoming Khadas VIM3 board that includes 2 to 4GB RAM, 16 to 32GB eMMC flash storage, a wireless module, support for M.2 NVMe SSD, and more. Even though more are planned in the future, two Khadas VIM3 models have been announced so far – Basic and Pro – with the following preliminary specifications: SoC – Amlogic S922X hexa-core processor with 4x Arm Cortex-A73 and 2x Cortex A53 cores, Arm Mali-G52 MP4 GPU, built-in Cortex-M4 core for “always-on” processing MCU – STMicro STM8S003 with Programmable EEPROM for power management, customizations, and boot media configuration […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on Intel Optane memory H10 M.2 Card Combines Optane Memory with QLC NAND Flash

Intel Optane memory H10 M.2 Card Combines Optane Memory with QLC NAND Flash

Optane Memory H10

Nearly exactly two years ago, Intel announced the first commercial Optane memory M.2 cards that provide excellent random read/write performance, and can greatly boost boot times and app loading times. That means you need to insert an extra card in your system, and for compact laptops, or mini PCs the extra socket is simply not there due to lack of space. To solve this issue, Intel has just announced Optane Memory H10 M.2 card that combines Optane Memory high IOPS with the lower cost and higher capacity associated with QLC NAND flash since it combines both technologies into a single card. In the press release, Intel explains 8th Generation Intel Core U-series mobile platforms featuring Intel Optane memory H10 will become available through OEMs this quarter, and provide the following benefits:everyday users will be able to: Launch documents up to 2 times faster while multitasking. Launch games 60% faster while […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments on Intel Launches WiFi 6 AX200 M.2 Wireless Card

Intel Launches WiFi 6 AX200 M.2 Wireless Card

Intel AX200 WiFi 6 M.2 Card

WiFi 6 (aka 802.11ax) can deliver up to 10 Gbps in theory, and provides better handling of high density scenario in train stations, conferences, etc… We’ve seen it implemented in some routers and smartphones, but most laptops don’t support the new WiFi standard, so in order to solve this little issue, Intel has now launched AX200 M.2 WiFi 6 card in the M.2 2230 and M.2 1216 form-factors. Intel AX200 works in the 2.4GHz band up to 574 Mbps, and in the 5.0 GHz band up to 2.4 Gbps. The “Cyclone Peak” card works with both USB and PCIe signals, support 2×2 MU-MIMO, and also supports Bluetooth 5.0. Drivers are/will be available for Windows 10 64-bit, Google Chrome OS, and Linux via the “IWLWIFI” driver. Pricing for the cards is said to be $10 and $17, but I could not find it listed anywhere just yet. A few more details […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on Aller Artix-7 FPGA Board with M.2 Interface Fits into a Laptop

Aller Artix-7 FPGA Board with M.2 Interface Fits into a Laptop

Aller FPGA board

A few days ago, we wrote about Nitefury M.2 card equipped with a Xilinx Artix-7 FPGA, and which you can connect to any laptop, board, a computer with a spare M.2 socket. It turns out Numato Lab has done something similar with the Aller board, specifically designed for development and integration of FPGA based accelerated features into other larger designs, and provided in a standard 2280 M.2 form factor M-key slot. Aller FPGA M.2 card key features & specifications: FPGA- Xilinx Artix-7 FPGA (XC7A100T-1FGG484C) with 101,440 Logic cells, ~126K Flip-flops, ~600KiB Block RAM, and 240 DSP slices System Memory – 2Gbit DDR3 (MT41J128M16JT-125:KTR) Storage – On-board 1Gb QSPI flash memory for FPGA configuration Host Interface – 4 lane PCIe Gen1 (2.5GT/s) via M.2 Connector Interface, M-Key Debugging – JTAG header for programming and debugging Security – 1x Trusted Platform Module (AT97SC3205) Misc – 100 MHZ CMOS oscillator, 1x RGB LED […]