Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments on AntSDR E200 – Gigabit Ethernet connected SDR with Xilinx Zynq SoC FPGA supports 70 MHz – 6 GHz range (Crowdfunding)

AntSDR E200 – Gigabit Ethernet connected SDR with Xilinx Zynq SoC FPGA supports 70 MHz – 6 GHz range (Crowdfunding)

AntSDR E200 SDR board

We’ve just written about the uSDR M.2 SDR module on Crowd Supply, but it turns out the crowdfunding platform is hosting another SDR (Software-Defined Radio) project with the AntSDR E200 board equipped with an AMD Embedded Zynq 7020 SoC FPGA and an Analog Devices AD9363 or AD9361 RF chipset, and providing Gigabit Ethernet connectivity to the host. The board can operate in the 70 MHz – 6 GHz range with the AD9361 chipset, and the 325 MHz – 3.8 GHz range with the AD9363, supports 2×2 MIMO with two SMA antenna connectors and two U.FL connectors, and also features expansion interfaces for GPIOs. AntSDR E200 specifications: SoC FPGA – AMD Embedded/Xilinx Zynq 7020 dual-core Arm Cortex-A9 processor and FPGA with 85K logic cells, 4.9Mb Block RAM, 220 DSP slices System Memory – 512MB DDR3 Storage – 256 Mbit QSPI flash for firmware; microSD card slot (bottom side) RF Chipset – […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments on WeAct launches $6 ESP32-C6 development board, ESP-IDF 5.1 framework released

WeAct launches $6 ESP32-C6 development board, ESP-IDF 5.1 framework released

WeAct ESP32-C6 development board

As expected, Espressif has just released the ESP-IDF 5.1 framework with ESP32-C6 and ESP32-H2 support, so more ESP32-C6 boards should become available, and after Olimex ESP32-C6-EVB launched earlier this week, we’ve noticed WeAct had introduced a low-cost ESP32-C6 development board that sells for just $6.43 plus shipping a few weeks ago. WeAct ESP32-C6 board The WeAct board offers 2.4 GHz WiFi 6, Bluetooth LE 5.0., and Zigbee/Thread connectivity through the ESP32-C6-WROOM-1 module, two USB-C ports, two 16-pin headers for GPIOs, and if it looks familiar, it’s because it closely follows the design of the official ESP32-C6-DevKitC-1 development kit, albeit with some small modifications. WeAct ESP32-C6 board specifications: Wireless module  – ESP32-C6-WROOM-1 with ESP32-C6 single-core 32-bit RISC-V clocked up to 160 MHz, with 320KB ROM, 512KB SRAM, low-power RISC-V core @ up to 20 MHz Wireless – 2.4 GHz WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.0 LE, 802.15.4 radio for Zigbee 3.0 and Thread. […]

Khadas Edge2 Arm mini PC
Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments on Firefly’s Rockchip RK3588 SBCs are now available with 32GB RAM

Firefly’s Rockchip RK3588 SBCs are now available with 32GB RAM

ROC-RK3588-PC 32GB RAM

The Rockchip RK3588 datasheet clearly states the processor supports up to 32 GB RAM, and many vendors claimed their board supports up to 32GB RAM at launch, but none were to be found once you accessed a shop, and the maximum was 16GB RAM so far, likely due to availability and the high price of of the two 16GB RAM chips needed to get 32GB of RAM. But Firefly has now discreetly started to sell boards with 32GB RAM including the ROC-RK3588-PC, ROC-RK3588S-PC, and ITX-3358J mini-ITX motherboard. I’ve just noticed I never covered the former, so I’ll have a closer look at it today. Firefly ROC-RK3588S-PC specifications: SoM – Core-3588J system-on-module SoC – Rockchip RK3588 octa-core processor with 4x Cortex-A76 cores @ up to 2.4 GHz, four Cortex-A55 cores, Arm Mali-G610 MP4 quad-core GPU with OpenGL ES3.2 / OpenCL 2.2 / Vulkan 1.1 support, 6 TOPS NPU, and an 8Kp60 […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments on ESP32-S3 board features 2.8-inch display, Blackberry-like keyboard, and optional LoRaWAN connectivity

ESP32-S3 board features 2.8-inch display, Blackberry-like keyboard, and optional LoRaWAN connectivity

LILYGO T-Deck

LILYGO T-Deck is a development kit with an ESP32-S3 WiFi and BLE module, a 2.8-inch display with touchscreen support, a Blackberry-like keyboard based on ESP32-S3, and optional LoRaWAN connectivity through an SX1262 LoRa module. It looks ideal for text-based messaging, but the devkit also includes two microphones and a speaker so audio communication must be possible. Other features include a MicroSD card slot, a Grove connector (UART) for expansion, and support for a LiPo battery with USB charging. LILYGO T-Deck specifications: ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 wireless module SoC –  ESP32-S3FN16R8 dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller @ up to 240 MHz with 2.4 GHz 802.11n WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE connectivity Memory – 8MB PSRAM Storage – 16MB SPI flash PCB antenna Storage – MicroSD card slot Display – 2.8-inch IPS display with 320×240 resolution; ST7789 SPI display controller Audio – Built-in speaker using MAX98357A amplifier, 2x MEMS microphones Wireless 2.4 GHz 802.11n WiFi […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments on $26 WiFi 6 router board features Triductor TR6560 & TR5220 chips

$26 WiFi 6 router board features Triductor TR6560 & TR5220 chips

Banana Pi BPI WiFi 6 board

Banana Pi BPI-Wifi 6 is an ultra-low-cost WiFi 6 router board with five Gigabit Ethernet ports based on Triductor Technology TR6560 dual-core Cortex-A9 router SoC and TR5220 WiFi 6 chipset and that sells for just $26.32 plus shipping on Aliexpress, or $39.99 as part of a kit with the board, four antennas, and a 12V power supply. The board is equipped with 512MB RAM and a 128MB SPI flash for OpenWrt, comes with four antenna connectors for WiFi, and can also take an optional 12V PoE module for power instead of relying on a 12V power adapter via a DC jack. Banana Pi BPI-WiFi 6 board specifications: SoC – Triductor TR6560 dual-core Arm Cortex-A9 processor @ 1.2 GHz with LSW (Line-Card Switching) and hardware NAT up to 5 Gbps WiFi chipset – Triductor TR5220 WiFi 6 chipset System Memory – 512 MB DDR3 Storage – 128MB SPI NAND flash Networking […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 25 Comments on 64-core RISC-V motherboard and workstation enable native RISC-V development (Crowdfunding)

64-core RISC-V motherboard and workstation enable native RISC-V development (Crowdfunding)

64-core RISC-V motherboard

There’s now a microATX motherboard and workstation for native RISC-V development based on the SOPHON SG2042 64-core RISC-V C920 processor with up to 128GB DDR4 memory, various SATA and M.2 NVMe interfaces for storage, three PCIe x16 slot for expansion and more. I remember a few years ago, there was a lot of talk about making a workstation for native Arm development instead of relying on x86 machines, cross-compilation, and emulation. So we got hardware like the HoneyComb LX2K, Ampere eMAG, and more recently the ADLINK Ampere Altra Dev Kit to achieve this goal. The RISC-V ecosystem is now getting something similar thanks to the Milk-V Pioneer microATX motherboard and the Pioneer Box that provides a complete 64-core RISC-V workstation with DIMM memory, SATA and NVMe storage, a graphics card, 10GbE networking, a 350W power supply, and more. Pioneer board specifications: SoC – Sophgo SOPHON SG2042 64-core RISC-V processor (T-Head […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs
Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments on Popcorn Computer PopStick – A $29 USB Linux computer powered by an Allwinner F1C200s ARM9 processor

Popcorn Computer PopStick – A $29 USB Linux computer powered by an Allwinner F1C200s ARM9 processor

PopStick USB Linux computer

Popcorn Computer’s Popstick may look like a USB flash drive, but it’s actually a USB computer running Linux on an Allwinner F1C200s ARM9 processor with 64MB RAM on-chip. The PopStick support USB gadget mode so it can appear as all sort of USB devices such as a scriptable USB Keyboard and Mouse, a mass storage device, or even an Ethernet-connected computer using USB Ethernet which you can access with SSH. PopStick specifications: SoC – Allwinner F1C200s ARM926EJ-S (ARMv5TE) processor @ 533 MHz with 64 MB Embedded DDR1 Storage 128 MB SPI NAND Flash for OS Micro SD Card Slot Both storage devices are bootable USB 1x USB Type-A connector with support for USB Gadget mode, so the board can be seen as a USB Ethernet, Serial, Mass Storage, HID (keyboard/mouse), etc… 1x micro USB connector for serial Console Power Supply – 5V via USB Type-A port Dimensions – N/A If […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on Qualcomm IPQ9574 “AL02” router board support WiFi 7 modules, 10GbE networking

Qualcomm IPQ9574 “AL02” router board support WiFi 7 modules, 10GbE networking

Wallys DR9574 WiFi 7 board

The recent Linux 6.4 release included initial support for the AL02 WiFi 7 router board powered by a Qualcomm IPQ9574 quad-core Cortex-A73 processor part of the Qualcomm Networking Pro 1620 platform with the board featuring 2GB DDR4 RAM and 256MB NAND flash. A couple of weeks ago, I was contacted by Wallystech about their DR9574 WiFi 7 board based on the IPQ9574 processor, but I ended up not writing about it due to the lack of information and low-quality photos. But it turns out it’s actually the Qualcomm AL02 reference board that’s also provided by Compex. Both companies are world-leading in the sense they offer low-quality and blurry pictures in a way that’s unmatched in the industry, but we do have some specifications, so let’s have a closer look. AL02 / DR9574 board specifications: SoC – Qualcomm IPQ9574 quad-core Arm Cortex-A73 processor @ 2.2GHz processor System Memory – 2GB DDR4 […]

Boardcon Rockchip and Allwinner SoM and SBC products