The NXP RW612 is an Arm Cortex-M33 SoC with three radios, namely WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, and 802.15.4 for Thread and Matter connectivity. It also has a small sibling called the RW610 without the 802.15.4 radio. I first came across RW61x chips, when Debashis wrote about the Trimension SR250 UWB chip mentioning it can work with “host processors like NXP’s i.MX, RW61x, and MCX families”. I initially thought it was a typo for the iW612 tri-radio solution introduced in 2022, and the RW612 is indeed similar, but it’s a complete wireless microcontroller/SoC with an Arm Cortex-M33 application core so it can be used independently as a host instead of a companion chip. NXP RW612 and RW610 specifications: MCU sub-system Core – 260 MHz Arm Cortex-M33 with TrustZone-M Memory On-chip 1.2 MB SRAM PSRAM interface for memory expansion Storage – Quad FlexSPI Flash XIP with on-the-fly decryption Peripheral interfaces Up to […]
OpenWrt One WiFi 6 router with Filogic 820 SoC launched for $89
The “OpenWrt One/AP-24.XY” is a Filogic 820-based WiFi 6 router board manufactured by Banana Pi whose software is directly managed by OpenWrt developers with assistance from MediaTek. The router was first announced in January 2024, and developer samples became available sometime in April with some early units auctioned away at the OpenWrt Summit which took place in Cyprus on May 18-19. The good news is that the OpenWrt One is now available to anyone on Aliexpress for $89 including a metal enclosure, a PoE module, three antennas, and a power supply. Here’s a reminder of the OpenWrt One router specifications: SoC – MediaTek MT7981B (Filogic 820) dual-core Cortex-A53 processor @ 1.3 GHz System Memory – 1GB DDR4 Storage 128 MB SPI NAND flash for U-boot and Linux 4 MB SPI NOR flash for write-protected (by default) recovery bootloader (reflashing can be enabled with a jumper) Two types of flash devices […]
Microchip PIC64GX is a quad-core 64-bit RISC-V microprocessor for real-time processing
Microchip has introduced its first 64-bit RISC-V microprocessor family with the PIC64GX pin-to-pin compatible with the company’s PolarFire SoC FPGA devices and designed for edge designs for the industrial, automotive, communications, IoT, aerospace, and defense segments. The PIC6GX MPU supports asymmetric multiprocessing (AMP) to run Linux, real-time operating systems, and bare metal in a single processor cluster with secure boot capabilities. The company further claims the PIC64GX MPU is “the first RISC-V multi-core solution that is AMP capable for mixed-criticality systems”. The first member of the PIC64GX RISC-V family is the PIC64GX1000 microprocessor. Microchip PIC64GX1000 specifications: CPU Quad-core SiFive U54 64-bit five-stage, single-issue, in-order pipeline RISC-V (RV64GC) processor at up to 625 MHz with AMP and deterministic latencies, PMP and MMU units Single-core SiFive E51 64-bit RISC-V (RV64IMAC) monitor processor core at up to 625 MHZ with PMP unit Cache L1 memory subsystem with Single-Error Correct, Double-Error Detect (SECDED) Flexible […]
Microchip PIC32CK 32-bit Arm Cortex-M33 MCU combines Hardware Security Module with Arm TrustZone for IoT cybersecurity compliance
Microchip PIC32CK is a new family of 32-bit Arm Cortex-M33 microcontrollers clocked up to 120 MHz with Arm Trustzone and an optional integrated Hardware Security Module (HSM) that can help companies meet the cybersecurity requirements for consumer IoT devices and critical infrastructure mandated in the US, Europe, and other countries. Two sub-families are available with the PIC32CK GC and PICK32CK SG with the latter integrating the HSM, and the company claims it is the first 32-bit device on the market that combines an HSM with TrustZone technology for optional security. The PIC32CK is also said to support ISO 26262 functional safety and ISO/SAE 21434 cybersecurity standards. Microchip PIC32CK specifications: MCU core – Arm Cortex-M33 clocked at up to 120 MHz with 4KB combined instruction and data cache, TrustZone security Memory and Storage 128KB, 256KB, or 512KB SRAM 512KB, 1MB, or 2MB flash 128KB boot flash memory 64KB of configuration flash […]
Renesas RA2A2 Arm Cortex-M23 microcontroller offers high-resolution 24-bit ADC, up to 512KB dual-bank flash
Renesas Electronics RA2A2 Arm Cortex-M23 microcontroller (MCU) group offers a 7-channel high-resolution 24-bit Sigma-Delta ADC, as well as dual-bank flash and bank swap function for an easier implementation of firmware over-the-air (FOTA) updates. The 48MHz MCU also comes with 48KB SRAM, up to 512KB code flash, various interfaces, and safety and security features that make it suitable for smart energy management, building automation, medical devices, consumer electronics, and other IoT applications that can benefit from high-resolution analog inputs and firmware updates. Renesas RA2A2 specifications: MCU core – Arm Cortex-M23 Armv8-M core clocked at up to 48 MHz Arm Memory Protection Unit (Arm MPU) with 8 regions Memory 48 KB SRAM Memory Protection Units (MPU) Memory Mirror Function (MMF) Storage Up to 512 KB code flash memory in dual bank (256 KB × 2 banks); bank swap support 8 KB data flash memory (100,000 program/erase (P/E) cycles) Peripheral interfaces Segment LCD […]
CORE-V MCU Devkit features open-source 32-bit RISC-V core, Amazon AWS IoT connectivity, Mikrobus expansion, VGA camera
The CORE-V MCU DevKit is an open-source hardware board based on the CORE-V microcontroller featuring the open-source OpenHW CV32E40P0 RISC-V MCU core and a Quicklogic ArticPro 2 eFPGA. The board offers wireless connectivity to Amazon AWS through an ESP32-C3 AWS IoT ExpressLink module, a MikroBus connector for expansion, a VGA camera module, JTAG and serial debugging, as well as a temperature sensor and a few buttons. The development kit can be powered by its USB Type-C port (5V) or a DC jack taking 5V to 18V DC. CORE-V MCU devkit specifications: Microcontroller – CORE-V MCU OpenHW CV32E40P RISC-V processor core (in-order 4-stage RISC-V RV32IMFCXpulp CPU based on RI5CY from PULP-Platform) with 512KB SRAM, boot ROM Quicklogic ArticPro 2 eFPGA Storage – 4MB QSPI flash Wireless – Espressif AWS IoT ExpressLink Module for AWS IoT cloud interconnect Camera – Himax HM01B0 ultra-low-power QVGA (320×240) CMOS image sensor as found in the […]
Tiny RASynBoard combines Renesas RA6M4 MCU with Syntiant NDP120 ML accelerator, WiFi & BLE module, and some sensors
Avnet RASynBoard is a tiny board that packs a lot of features in a 30x25mm form factor with a Renesas RA6M4 Cortex-M33 microcontroller, a Syntiant NDP120 Neural Decision Processor, a Renesas (Previously Dialog Semi) DA16600 Wi-Fi 4 & Bluetooth 5.1 combo module, and a 6-axis inertial measurement unit (IMU) and digital microphone from TDK. The RASynBoard is offered as part of an EVK with the Core Board described above plus an IO board with headers, a Pmod connector, a MikroE Shuttle Click header, a microSD card slot for storage, and a built-in debugger, plus two buttons and an RGB LED. RASynBoard specifications: Main microcontroller – Renesas RA6M4 Arm Cortex-M33 microcontroller @ 200 MHz with 1 MB flash memory, 256 KB SRAM ML accelerator – Syntiant NDP120 Neural Engine based on Syntiant Core 2 Deep Neural Network, Arm Cortex M0 and HiFi 3 DSP Wireless module – Renesas DA16600 2.4 […]
MaaXBoard 8ULP SBC leverages NXP i.MX 8ULP Cortex-A35/M33 SoC for Edge audio and HMI applications
Avnet MaaxBoard 8ULP will be one of the first single board computers (SBC) based on the new NXP i.MX 8ULP Cortex-A35/M33 processor designed for Edge audio and HMI applications, and featuring NXP’s EdgeLock for device-to-cloud security. The board will come with 2GB RAM, 32GB eMMC flash, a MIPI DSI display connector, a MIPI CSI camera connector, Fast Ethernet and WiFi 5 connectivity, a digital microphone, and a 3.5mm stereo audio jack, and provide expansion capabilities via a 40-pin header for Raspberry Pi HATs and a 16-pin Shuttle Click header for MikroE Click add-on boards. MaaXBoard 8ULP SBC specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX 8ULP processor with 2x Arm Cortex-A35 core @ 1.0 GHz, 1x Arm Cortex-M33 real-time core @ 216 MHz, 1x HiFi 4 audio DSP @ 600 MHz, 1x Fusion DSP @ 200 MHz for low-power voice and sensor hub processing, as well as 2D and 3D GPUs and 768 […]