CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

February 20, 2024February 24, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

GEEKOM A7 review – Part 2: Windows 11 Pro tested in a compact AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS mini PC

GEEKOM A7 Ryzen 9 7940HS mini PC review Windows 11 Pro

We previously had a look at the hardware of the GEEKOM A7 with an unboxing and a teardown of the powerful AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS mini PC with 32GB DDR5, a 2TB NVMe SSD, four 4K-capable video outputs, and high-speed interfaces such as USB4 and 2.5GbE, as well as WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 wireless connectivity. We’ve now had time to test it with Windows 11 Pro in detail, so in the second part of the GEEKOM A7 review, we’ll report our experience with the mini PC including a software overview, features testing, various benchmarks, networking and storage performance testing, fan noise, power consumption, and more. Software overview and features testing The System->About window confirms the GEEKOM A7 mini PC is powered by an AMD Ryzen 9 7840HS processor with Radeon 780M graphics with 32GB RAM and runs Windows 11 Pro 23H2 build 22631.2861. That also means we only had […]

February 20, 2024February 19, 2024 by Debashis Das - 3 Comments

Waveshare ESP32-S3 4G dev boards feature LTE Cat-1, 2G, and camera support

Waveshare has recently launched two new ESP32-S3 4G dev boards – the ESP32-S3-SIM7670G-4G and the ESP32-S3-A7670E-4G. These boards support 4G LTE Cat-1, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GNSS, and come with an OV2640 camera, and a battery holder for a 18650 battery. The main difference between the two is that the A7670E module also supports 2G GSM/GPRS/EDGE at 900/1800MHz while the SIM7670G module does not. The board has two rows of I/Os including GPIO, I2C, SPI, ADC, and USB 2.0. It also has a USB-C port for power and programming, a slot for a MicroSD card, and an option to connect an external speaker. There’s a USB switching IC and DIP switch for easily connecting the module to a PC for internet or debugging. Waveshare ESP32-S3 4G Dev Boards Specification: Communication module A7670E 4G – A7670E Cat-1 4G module supporting 4G Cat-1 + 2G networking, GNSS positioning, telephone calls, and SMS. SIM7670G […]

ArmSoM CM5 - Raspberry Pi CM4 alternative with Rockchip RK3576 SoC

February 19, 2024February 19, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Esp32_oscilloscope Arduino firmware turns your ESP32 board into a web-based oscilloscope

Arduino ESP32 Web-based WiFi oscilloscope

Bojan Jurca’s “Esp32_oscilloscope” is an open-source Arduino sketch that can transform an ESP32 board into a web-based oscilloscope that works over WiFi. We had also written about the Scoppy project to turn the Raspberry Pi Pico W into a 2-channel oscilloscope, but there’s no reason the more powerful ESP32-series microcontroller could not be used for the same purpose, and Bojan’s Esp32_oscilloscope project does just that and works with ESP32, ESP32-S2, ESP32-S3 and ESP32-C3 boards using the I2S interface for fast data sampling. The project was initially designed to demonstrate the multitasking abilities of the ESP32 microcontroller with Arduino, but this evolved into an ESP32 oscilloscope firmware. It works both with output/PWM and input signals, digital (0 or 1) and analog (0 to 4095) signals, and the web interface shows up to 736 samples per screen although the sampling rate may not be completely constant all the time. To install it […]

February 19, 2024 by Tomisin Olujinmi - 1 Comment

Microchip announces the PolarFire SoC Discovery Kit, a low-cost devkit for Linux and real-time applications

The SoC Discovery Kit is the latest addition to Microchip’s list of development kits for the PolarFire series. The series is the first SoC FPGA family powered by a deterministic, coherent RISC-V CPU cluster. They provide low power consumption, thermal efficiency, and defense-grade security for smart, networked systems. They also support a deterministic L2 memory system for Linux and real-time applications. Microchip launched the Icicle Kit for the PolarFire SoC in 2020 and it was followed by the Video and Imaging Kit which was intended for mid-bandwidth imaging and video applications. Now, Microchip has announced the Discovery Kit which is billed as a low-cost alternative to the Icicle. The Discovery Kit retains the full range of features needed for testing concepts quickly, developing firmware applications, and programming/debugging user code. According to Microchip, the kit will bring “a low-cost RISC-V and FPGA development for learning and rapid innovation” to new and […]

February 19, 2024February 19, 2024 by Debashis Das - No Comments

SparkFun launches MicroMod Single Pair Ethernet kit for easier 10BASE-T1L experimentation

The SparkFun MicroMod Single Pair Ethernet Kit utilizes the ADIN1110 transceiver for 10BASE-T1L communication, enabling long-distance connectivity over a single twisted pair cable. Things get easier as SparkFun has designed the module to be compatible with the MicroMod ecosystem, which allows for testing connections between industrial devices over long distances, up to 1,700 meters. The standout feature of this board is its ADIN1110 transceiver, which supports 10BASE-T1L Ethernet. This technology uses a single twisted pair for lightweight, long-distance data transmission, achieving speeds up to 10Mbps by the 802.3cg IEEE standard, all without delivering power over the cable. SparkFun MicroMod Single Pair Ethernet Kit Specification: 2x SparkFun MicroMod Single Pair Ethernet Function boards 10BASE-T1L IEEE Standard 802.3cg-2019 Compliant Transceiver Single-pair Ethernet transmission at speeds up to 10Mbps 1km transmission distance (1.7km max cable reach) Supply Voltage of 1.8V or 3.3V 2.4V transmission amplitude Integrated MAC connects via SPI – Supports 16 MAC addresses Supports both […]

February 18, 2024March 2, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Beelink SEi12 i7-12650H mini PC review – Part 2: Windows 11 Pro

Beelink SEi12 i7-12650H mini PC review Windows 11 Pro

We’ve already listed the specs and done an unboxing and teardown for the Beelink SEi12 i7-12650H Mini PC powered by a 10-core Intel Core i7-12650H processor with 32GB DDR4 and a 500GB M.2 SSD preloaded with Windows 11 Pro. In the second part of the review, we will test the Beelink SEi12 i7-12650H with the Windows 11 Pro operating system in detail with a software overview and feature testing, benchmarks, networking and storage testing, thermal efficiency, fan noise, and power consumption. Since we also reviewed the GEEKOM Mini IT12 with the same processor last month, we’ll try to compare both in this review and list the pros and cons for each system. Software overview and features testing The System->About menu confirms that we have a “SEi” Mini PC powered by a 12th Gen 1.5 GHz (base frequency) Intel Core i7-12650H processor and 32GB of RAM, running Windows 11 Pro operating […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs

February 17, 2024February 17, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Android 15 Developer Preview released – What’s New?

Google has just released the first Android 15 Developer Preview with some improvements related to privacy and security, the addition of the partial screen sharing feature, camera and audio improvements, and some new performance optimization that developers can leverage when running games or other demanding applications. User privacy and security in Android 15 Android 15 features the latest version of the Privacy Sandbox on Android to improve user privacy while enabling personalized advertising experiences for mobile apps, the Heatlth Connect by Android adds support for new data types related to fitness, nutrition, and more, and the File integrity manager implement new APIs making use of the fs-verity feature that was added to the Linux 5.4 kernel so that files can be protected by custom cryptographic signatures. Partial screen sharing is a completely new feature in Android 15 that allows users to share or record an app window rather than the […]

February 16, 2024February 16, 2024 by Debashis Das - No Comments

Avnet MSC C10M-ALN – A COM Express Type 10 Mini Module with Intel Alder Lake-N CPU, LPDDR5 memory

Avnet MSC C10M-ALN is a COM Express Type 10 module powered by the Alder Lake-N family of processors including the Intel Core i3, Intel Atom x7000E, and Intel Processor N-Series. The design allows for easy adaptation of applications between various Intel CPU models, ensuring compatibility across different performance and power needs. The module supports up to 16GB LPDDR5 memory with optional In-Band Error Correcting Code(IBECC), eMMC 5.1 storage, and features an Intel i226 2.5GbE controller. It can handle up to two 4K displays through DDI and eDP video outputs, ten USB ports including USB 3.2 Gen 2, and four PCI Express Gen 3 x1 slots for expanded connectivity options. Avnet MSC C10M-ALN Com Express Module Specification: Alder Lake-N SoC (one or the other) Intel Core i3-N305, eight-core, 1.0GHz/1.8GHz, 32EU Intel UHD Graphics, 9/15W, PUC (PC Client Use Conditions) Intel Atom x7425E, four-core, 1.5GHz, 24EU Intel UHD Graphics, TCC, 12W, EUC […]