CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

October 19, 2024October 20, 2024 by Sayantan Nandy - No Comments

DALI2 expansion module for ESP32-C6-Pico and ESP32-S3-Pico boards facilitates Smart Lighting integration

Waveshare has recently launched the Pico-DALI2 expansion module for ESP32-Pico series boards designed to enable DALI communication for customized control of multiple lighting groups. It is compatible with development boards such as the ESP32-C6-Pico and ESP32-S3-Pico and includes a DALI communication screw terminal for connecting external DALI devices. DALI (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface) is a standardized protocol used for lighting control in building automation systems. The latest version of the DALI2 protocol is better than the old one in that it offers enhanced interoperability, additional features like multi-master configurations, and better energy management capabilities. DALI2 devices can communicate bidirectionally, meaning controllers can send commands and also receive status feedback from lighting devices, allowing for more complex automation and diagnostics. We can get more information about DALI from Wikipedia. We have previously seen the uses of DALI in Texas Instruments MSPM0 Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontrollers as an interface and in Acme CM3-Home […]

October 18, 2024October 18, 2024 by Debashis Das - No Comments

AAEON FWS-2290 Intel N97 network appliance targets UTM and VPN applications

AAEON has recently released the FWS-2290, an Intel N97 network appliance. This is not quite the first network appliance launched by the Taiwanese company. Back in 2018, they launched the AAEON FWS-2360 designed for wireless gateway, SD-WAN, IPS, WAN Optimization, NFV, and vCPE applications. In 2020, they followed up with the FWS-2275 rugged network appliance for Secure industrial IoT networks, and then, in 2021, they introduced the FWS-2280 Elkhart Lake network appliance designed for UTM (Unified Threat Management), firewall, SD-WAN (Software-defined Wide Area Network), VPN, and other applications. Compared to all the previous network appliances the new FWS-2290 features a newer generation and more powerful Intel Alder Lake-N processor, faster DDR5 memory, 2.5GbE Ethernet compared to GbE Ethernet on the previous models, an M.2 slot for storage, and to top it all off the device is now more compact than the previous ones. AAEON FWS-2290 network appliance specification SoC Intel […]

ArmSoM CM5 - Raspberry Pi CM4 alternative with Rockchip RK3576 SoC

October 18, 2024 by Tomisin Olujinmi - 22 Comments

Spectra is a customizable, JavaScript ESP32-S3 and nRF52832 smartwatch (Crowdfunding)

Spectra is a JavaScript-based hackable smartwatch based on the ESP32-S3 WiFi and Bluetooth microcontroller that aims to offer the quality of high-end consumer smartwatches with the repairability of a maker-targeted device. The Spectra smartwatch combines the ESP32-S3 microcontroller with a Nordic Semi nRF52832 co-processor to optimize the battery life. The ESP32-S3 is maxed out with 8MB of RAM and 32MB of external flash memory, and the microSD card slot in the watch supports up to a 512GB memory card. It shares a similar concept with the Bangle.js and the Bangle.js 2 customizable smartwatches. According to the maker, Spectra is not bound to be fully open-source, since the project uses “external proprietary code [they] aren’t allowed to share.” They plan to publish Arduino libraries and hardware design files, but there is no live GitHub repository yet. Other hackable smartwatches include the TinyWatch S3, the ZSWatch, and the Sensor Watch Pro. Spectra […]

October 18, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

KAGA FEI ES4L15BA1 is an ultra-small Bluetooth LE 6.0 and 802.15.4 module based on Nordic nRF54L15 SoC

Japanese company KAGA FEI has recently unveiled the incredibly small ES5L15BA1 Bluetooth LE 6.0 and 802.15.4 module based on Nordic Semi nRF54L15 ultra-low-power Cortex-M33 wireless MCU. We had previously covered the u-Blox NORA-B2 which I already found pretty small at 14.3 x 10.4 x 1.9mm, but the ES5L15BA1 module goes a step further measuring just 8.55 x 3.25 x 1.00 mm with an integrated antenna which could make it the world’s smallest Bluetooth LE module. KAGA FEI ES4L15BA1 specifications: SoC – Nordic Semiconductor nRF54L15 MCU cores Arm Cortex-M33 with Arm TrustZone @ 128MHz RISC-V coprocessor for software-defined peripheral Memory – 256KB SRAM Storage – 1.5MB non-volatile memory Wireless Bluetooth 6.0 Data rates – 2Mbps, 1Mbps, 500kbps, 125kbps Features AoA / AoD Channel Sounding 802.15.4 radio for Thread / Zigbee / Matter Nordic Proprietary 2.4 GHz protocol up to 4 Mbps Frequency – 2402 to 2480 MHz +8dBm output power Antenna […]

October 17, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Synaptics Veros SYN4383 and SYN43756(E) SoCs support tri-band WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3/5.4, and 802.15.4 connectivity

Synaptics Veros S0YN4383 and SYN43756(E)

Synaptic has unveiled the SYN4383 and SYN43756(E) high-performance “Veros” SoCs with tri-band Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3/5.4, and an optional 802.15.4 radio. The SYN4383 is an upgrade to SYN4382 SoC that supports 1,200 Mbps 2×2 MIMO Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.4, and 802.15.4 for Zigbee and Thread support. It supports real simultaneous dual-band (RSDB) operation and offers “greater system integration”. The SYN43756(E) is similar but lacks an 802.15.4 radio and RSDB support. SYN4383 “Triple Combo 3” Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.4, 802.15.4 SoC Synaptics Veros SYN4383 key features: Tri-band 2×2 MIMO Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) up to 1200 Mbps throughput, RSDB with 2.4 GHz radio and either 5 or 6 GHz radio, and support for legacy 802.11a/b/g/n/ac WiFi Bluetooth 5.4 (Bluetooth 6.0 compatible) with LE Audio, Channel Sounding for accurate positioning 802.15.4 radio for Thread and Zigbee Application-layer support for Matter-compliant security and interoperability Smart Co-Ex for WiFi/Bluetooth coexistence in the 2.4 GHz band […]

October 17, 2024 by Sayantan Nandy - 2 Comments

XIAO ESP32S3 for Meshtastic & LoRa devkit features Wio-SX1262 LoRa module

The “XIAO ESP32S3 for Meshtastic & LoRa” is an ESP32-S3 LoRa dev kit that combines an XIAO ESP32S3 board with the tiny Wio-SX1262 LoRa module connected through a board-to-board connector. This compact devkit supports LoRa (862-930MHz), Wi-Fi (2.4GHz), and Bluetooth 5.0 (BLE), with a 5km range for LoRa and a 100m+ range for Wi-Fi/BLE. The kit also has a USB Type-C interface, a built-in power management chip, and multiple I/O options such as IIC, UART, and GPIO. It supports external LoRa antennas and can be extended with XIAO expansion boards for more complex setups. These features make this device suitable for projects such as LoRaWAN gateways, IoT sensors, Meshtastic nodes or routers, and applications where space is limited. XIAO ESP32S3 for Meshtastic & LoRa specifications: SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32 with dual-core Xtensa LX7 microcontroller up to 240MHz Wireless Connectivity LoRaWAN via Semtech LX1262 Output Power – Up to +22 […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs

October 17, 2024 by Debashis Das - 7 Comments

$6 Cocket Nova CH552 development board features CH552G 8-bit MCU with an enhanced 8051 core

The Cocket Nova CH552 is a cheap and versatile development board built around the CH552G MCU with an enhanced 8051 core clocked at 24MHz. Designed for beginners and hobbyists, this board features easy USB Type-C programming, onboard LEDs and a Neopixel RGB, reset and boot buttons, and Qwiic/STEMMA QT connectors for easy expansion. Additionally, it gives access to 17 GPIOs, PWM, ADC, and touch button capabilities. These features along with low-cost and standard breadboard compatibility make this development board suitable for learning and experimentation. We have previously written about other products built around the CH552G/T microcontroller, namely a $10 Arduino-programmable keyboard and the Turing Smart Screen 3.5-inch USB Type-C information display. Users interested in inexpensive 8-bit MCU boards may also check out Electrodragon’s CH551 mini development board based on another MCU part of the CH55x family. Cocket Nova CH552 development board specifications: MCU – WCH CH552 8-bit Enhanced USB single-chip MCU […]

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

Kumquat – An Allwinner V3s embedded system board with isolated CAN, Ethernet and ESP32 for WiFi and Bluetooth

The Kumquat is an Allwinner V3s board designed for industrial automation, home automation, IoT projects, robotics, and embedded system development. The Allwinner V3s features ARM Cortex-A7 cores with 64MB DDR2 RAM and 8MB SPI flash storage. Connectivity options include Ethernet, USB-C, isolated CAN-FD, and WiFi/Bluetooth via an ESP32 module. Additionally, it has eight auto-detecting 12/24V IOs, four relays for controlling external devices, and a real-time clock with battery backup. The Kumquat runs on Buildroot Linux with a mainline kernel and can be programmed with various programming languages making it a great alternative to traditional PLCs. Kumquat board specification SoC – Allwinner V3s CPU – ARM Cortex-A7 @ up to 1.2 GHz Memory – Integrated 64MB DDR2 DRAM clocked at 400MHz @ 1.5 V Video engine Storage 8MB SPI Flash for bootloader and user code I2C EEPROM for MAC addresses and user data SDIO Connector for eMMC or SD card Connectivity […]

Boardcon Rockchip and Allwinner SoM and SBC products