Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments on Mediatek Helio P20 Octa-core Cortex A53 SoC is Manufactured with 16nm Process, Supports LPDDR4X Memory

Mediatek Helio P20 Octa-core Cortex A53 SoC is Manufactured with 16nm Process, Supports LPDDR4X Memory

Mediatek has gotten used to releasing many different processors, often with one slight differences such as support for different screen resolutions, but the company’s latest Helio P20 octa-core Cortex-A53 processor, despite looking pretty similar to Helio P10 (MT6755) and X10 (MT6795), does confirm lower process nodes are now available in entry-level to mid range parts since it’s manufactured using a 16nm process, and the application processor also supports up to 6GB LPDDR4X memory which drops the voltage from 1.1V to 0.6V for even lower power consumption. LPDDR4X is said to provide 70% more bandwidth and 50% lower power consumption compared to LPDDR3. MediaTek Helio P20 (LP4) specifications: CPU – 8x ARM Cortex-A53 @ up to 2.3GHz GPU – Mali-T880MP2 @ 900MHz Memory – Up to 2 x LPDDR4X 1600MHz (up to 6GB) + 1x LPDDR3 933Mhz (up to 4GB) Storage – eMMC 5.1 flash Display IF – 2x MIPI DSI […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments on Canonical Introduces SoDeRa Software Defined Radio Solution for Base Stations and IoT Gateways

Canonical Introduces SoDeRa Software Defined Radio Solution for Base Stations and IoT Gateways

Canonical and Lime Micro have jointly announced SoDeRa low-cost software defined radio (SDR) which can be programmed to support any type of wireless standard including UMTS, LTE, LoRa, Bluetooth, Zigbee, RFID, Digital Broadcasting, and more, and aiming at helping operators reducing costs & complexity, while speeding up time to market and providing greater flexibility. The kit will include a board with the following specifications: FPGA – Altera Cyclone IV EP4CE40F23 Altera FPGA (compatible with EP4CE30F23) System Memory – 256 MB DDR2 SDRAM RF Lime Microsystems LMS7002M Transceiver with continuous Frequency range of 100 kHz – 3.8 GHz 4 x TxOut and 6 x RxIn U.FL connectors for RF cables Power Output (CW): up to 6.5 dBm Wi-Fi, 2G, 3G, LTE, any other air interfaces USB – 1x micro USB3 via CYUSB3014-BZXC Cypress Microcontroller  for control, data transfer and power Misc – Status LEDs, RGB LEDs, 4x switches Dimensions –  100 mm x […]

ArmSoM CM5 - Raspberry Pi CM4 alternative with Rockchip RK3576 SoC
Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on Hexiwear is an Open Source Wearable Development Kit Expandable with Add-on Boards (Crowdfunding)

Hexiwear is an Open Source Wearable Development Kit Expandable with Add-on Boards (Crowdfunding)

MikroElektronika has designed Hexiwear, a wearable development kit that you can wear and hack as a smartwatch thanks to an (optionally) included wristband, or use a an IoT development kit thanks to its docking station taking up to three “Click” boards among a choice of over 180 modules. . Hexiwear hardware specifications: MCU – NXP Kinetis K64x ARM Cortex-M4 MCU @ 120 MHz with 1MB Flash and 256KB SRAM Storage – 8 MB Flash memory Display – 1.1” full color OLED display with capacitive touch Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.0 LE and 802.15.4 via NXP Kinetis KW4x Cortex-M0+ wireless MCU Sensors -3D accelerometer and magnetometer (NXP FXOS8700CQ), 3-Axis gyroscope (NXP FXAS21002), pressure sensor (NXP MPL3115A2R1), light-to-digital converter, humidity and temperature sensor, heart-rate sensor (HRM) USB – micro USB cable for power and charging Misc – RGB LED, haptic feedback engine, docking connector Battery – 190 mAh 2C Li-Po battery; 600 mA […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments on Makibes F69 IP68 Smartwatch & Fitness Tracker is Designed for Swimming

Makibes F69 IP68 Smartwatch & Fitness Tracker is Designed for Swimming

The market is flooded with wearables such as smartwatches and fitness trackers that all track activities (walking/running) with more or less accuracy, and while some offer good IP67 or IP68 ingress protection rating, or even better 5ATM rating, allowing them to be used in water, I have not found many that can actually track swimming patterns, especially among the cheaper ones. But that’s exactly what Makibes F69 sports smartwatch promises. Makibes F69 specifications: MCU/Memory/Storage – TBD Display – 1″ round capacity touchscreen display, 128×128 resolution, always on Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.0 LE Sensors – 3-axis accelerometer and gyroscope, heart rate monitor Battery – 180 mAh charged via magnetic dock good for 6 days in power saving mode, 4 days in “healthy” hear rate mode, and 30 hours using the HRM in sports mode. Dimensions – 38 x38 x 10 mm (stainless steel case, silicon band) Weight – 34 grams IP […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on Boundary Devices Nitrogen7 Single Board Computer is Powered by NXP i.MX7 Processor

Boundary Devices Nitrogen7 Single Board Computer is Powered by NXP i.MX7 Processor

While several system-on-modules based on Freescale/NXP i.MX7 processor have been announced such as Compulab CL-SOM-iMX7, or TechNexion PICO-IMX7-EMMC, I had not seen many single board computers or development boards based on the new processor, apart from Freescale i.MX7 96Boards by Arrow Electronics which was scheduled for Q4 2015, but has yet to launch. Boundary Devices Nitrogen7 board is another option that’s available now (in limited quantities) with NXP i.MX7 Cortex A7+Cortex M4 processor, 1GB RAM, 4 to 64GB eMMC, wired and wireless connectivity, and expansion headers. Nitrogen7 board specifications: SoC – Freescale i.MX7 single or dual ARM Cortex-A7 processor @ up to 1GHz + ARM Cortex-M4 MCU + 2D graphics engine System Memory – 1GB DDR3L Storage – 4GB eMMC flash (expandable to 64GB), 2MB Serial NOR Flash, SD card slot Connectivity – 1x 10/100/1Gb Ethernet, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1 (TiWi-BLE combo module) Display – 24-bit RGB (via expansion […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on ARM Unveils Ultra-efficient Cortex-A32 32-bit Processor Based on ARMv8 Architecture

ARM Unveils Ultra-efficient Cortex-A32 32-bit Processor Based on ARMv8 Architecture

So far you could safely equate 64-bit ARM processors with ARMv8 architecture. Not anymore. A few months after introducing Cortex A35 low power ARMv8 64-bit processor, ARM has now announced Cortex-A32 processor, even more power efficient, support ARMv8-A architecture, and designed for 32-bit embedded and IoT applications. Key features of Cortex-A32 cores: Architecture – ARMv8-A (AArch32) Multicore – 1-4x SMP within a single processor cluster, and multiple coherent SMP processor clusters through ARM AMBA 4 ACE, AXI 4 or AMBA 5 CHI technology ISA Support A32+T32 with full backward compatibility with ARMv7-A ARM TrustZone security technology ARM NEON Advanced SIMD DSP & SIMD extensions VFPv4 Floating point Hardware virtualization support Debug & Trace – ARM CoreSight DK-A32 So they’ve got rid of AArch64 instruction set out of ARMv8 architecture in order to improve power efficiency, while keeping the 100 new instructions part of Aarch32 to improve performance, and keeping ARMv7-A […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs
Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 17 Comments on Raspberry Pi Zero Board is Back in Stock at Pimoroni

Raspberry Pi Zero Board is Back in Stock at Pimoroni

Raspberry Pi Zero has been quite popular when it launched due to its $5 price tag, excluding shipping and taxes. It’s been too popular actually, as manufacturing could not keep pace with demand, and resellers soon had to show it as Out of Stock, or simply decided to complete pull out the product page such as Element 14. The supply tightness has lasted a few weeks, and recently I showed on GearBest for $19.10 including shipping, but it’s now out of stock, and the company expects to get more boards mid March… This also led to a website called whereismypizero.com which automatically tracks stock on some of the main distributors, namely Element14, Adafruit,  The PiHut, Pimoroni, and Raspberry Pi Swag. The good news is that it is back on Pimoroni, where you can get a Raspberry Pi Zero board for 4.25 GBP ($6), unless you live outside of Europe, and […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 24 Comments on More Details about Rockchip RK3399 Cortex A72 SoC: 4K H.264/H.265/VP9, USB 3.0, PCIe, and DisplayPort

More Details about Rockchip RK3399 Cortex A72 SoC: 4K H.264/H.265/VP9, USB 3.0, PCIe, and DisplayPort

We already knew Rockchip RK3399 was going to be a powerful processor with two Cortex A72 cores clocked at up to 2.0GHz, and four Cortex A53 cores teamed with a Mali-T860MP4 GPU. The processor was also said to support 4K H.265 video decoding up to 60 fps, HDMI 2.0 video output, and Gigabit Ethernet. But the company is now at Mobile World Congress 2016, and has disclosed more details. Some of the newly introduced features include: Multi-media 4K @ 60fps 10-bit H.265/H.264/VP9 video decoder 1080p video encoding with H.264 or VP8 Display HDMI 2.0 with HDCP 1.4/2.2 DisplayPort 1.2 and eDP 1.3 with PSR (Panel Self Refresh) Dual channel MIPI-DSI Camera – 8MP ISP, dual channel MIPI-CSI2 External Interfaces 2x USB 3.0 ports with type-C support PCIe 2.1, 4 lanes, 5Gbps per lane 8 channels TX/RX audio for playback and record Embedded low power MCU for other applications (power control?) […]

Boardcon Rockchip RK3588S SBC with 8K, WiFI 6, 4G LTE, NVME SSD, HDMI 2.1...