CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

July 11, 2023August 24, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

VOIPAC iMX8M Industrial Development Kit Review – Part 1: Specs, Unboxing, and first boot

VOIPAC iMX8M Industrial Development Kit comes with an NXP i.MX 8M module with up to 4GB LPDDR4 and 32GB eMMC flash, and an optional wireless module, as well as a features-rich carrier board. The company sent us the “iMX8M Industrial Pro” version for review with 2GB RAM, 16GB eMMC flash, and a WiFi and Bluetooth module. In the first part of the review, we’ll go through the specifications, do an unboxing, and give the board a quick try, before looking more into the software in the second part. VOIPAC iMX8M Industrial Development Kit specifications System-on-module iMX8M Industrial Max SoC – NXP i.MX 8M Quad @ 1.5 GHz System Memory – 4GB LPDDR4-3733 DRAM (1.866GHz) Storage – 32GB eMMC flash, 1 Mbit EEPROM Networking – Gigabit Ethernet PHY, wireless module with WiFi & Bluetooth PCIe (on module) Display – 2x LVDS Analog Audio iMX8M Industrial Pro SoC – NXP i.MX 8M […]

July 11, 2023July 10, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

bitswrt NHX53X2 WiFi 7 system-on-module features Qualcomm IPQ5332 SoC

bitswrt NHX53X2 is a WiFi 7 system-on-module (SoC) powered by a Qualcomm IPQ5332 quad-core Cortex-A53 SoC and equipped with the QCN6274 commercial grade WiFi 7 chipset. The IPQ5332 processor looks to be the little brother of the IPQ9574 quad-core Arm Cortex-A73 processor found in the AL02 WiFi 7 reference router board from Qualcomm. The module comes with up to 3GB RAM, 1GB NAND flash, and exposes plenty of I/Os with multiple 2.5GbE interfaces, 10GbE, PCIe Gen 3.0, USB 3.0, GPIOs, and more. bitswrt NHX53X2-V01 specifications: SoC – Qualcomm IPQ5332 quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 at 1.5 GHz WiFi 7 chipset – Qualcomm QCN6274 NPU – 12-threaded network processing unit (NPU) Ubi32 @ 1.5 GHz (likely part of Qualcomm IPQ5332, but public info is sparse) System Memory – 1GB (option up to 3GB) 16/32-bit DDR4 at 2133 MT/s Storage – 8MB NOR flash, 128MB (option up to 1GB) NAND flash, 128Kbit EEPROM WLAN […]

ArmSoM CM5 - Raspberry Pi CM4 alternative with Rockchip RK3576 SoC

July 10, 2023July 10, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

UniHiker review – A Linux-based STEM education platform with IoT and AI support, Micro:bit edge connector

DFRobot’s UniHiker is a STEM educational platform that was originally launched in China, but now UniHiker is now available worldwide through the DFRobot shop. The company has sent us a UniHiker sample for review, so let’s unpack the kit and learn how to use the UniHiker platform. The main component of the kit is the Linux-powered UniHiker board which features a 2.8-inch resistive touchscreen display and a BBC Micro:bit edge connector, so we can use expansion boards for the Micro:bit board. Let’s start unboxing it together. UniHiker unboxing DFRobot sent us the UniHiker platform by DHL. The package is a familiar-looking DFRobot box in orange color and comes with a plastic box to safely store the UniHiker board and accessories after use. The plastic box contains another plastic box with the board, some 3-pin and 4-pin cables for Gravity ports, and a USB Type-C cable. The UniHiker is like a […]

July 10, 2023July 13, 2023 by Sponsored Post - 3 Comments

GEEKOM MiniAir 11 mini PC with Celeron N5095 CPU, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD sells for $124 (Sponsored)

GEEKOM has a very interesting Summer promotion for its MiniAir 11 mini PC powered by an Intel Celeron N5095 Jasper Lake processor with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SATA SSD which they sell for just $124 with the coupon code summer5air. The mini PC offers HDMI 1.4 and mini DisplayPort video outputs, Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity, three USB 3.2 ports, and two USB-C ports for data only, as well as the less common full-sized SD card reader. GEEKOM MiniAir 11 specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron N5095 quad-core Jasper Lake processor @ 2.0GHz / 2.9GHz (Turbo) with 4MB cache, 16EU Intel UHD Graphics; 15W TDP System Memory – Dual-channel 8GB DDR4 upgradeable up to 32GB Storage – 256GB M.2 2280 SATA SSD upgradeable to 1TB NVMe or SATA SSD, full-size SD card reader (USB 2.0) Video Output – 1x HDMI 1.4 port, 1x mini DisplayPort Audio […]

July 10, 2023July 13, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

LicheePi 4A RISC-V SBC gets 16GB/128GB version, metal enclosure, 10.1-inch display, and more accessories

LicheePi 4A quad-core RISC-V SBC is now available with 16GB RAM and 128GB eMMC flash, and Sipeed has also introduced various accessories such as a metal enclosure, a 10.1-inch touchscreen display, a PoE module, and a camera module. The Lichee Pi 4A board was first unveiled in December 2022, before the beta version launched in May 2023 with 8GB RAM and 8GB flash. Since then Sipeed also started selling an 8GB/32GB model, and now a new version of the T-Head TH1520-powered single board computer is now available with 16GB LPDDR4X and 128GB eMMC flash for $179 plus shipping. LicheePi 4A SBC While pricing is quite different, the LicheePi 4A was launched as a RISC-V alternative to the Raspberry Pi 4 SBC, so here are the specifications of the two boards side-by-side. Sipeed currently provides a Debian image based on Linux 5.10 and built with Yocto, but Linux mainline support is […]

July 9, 2023September 17, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Rockchip RK3568 Android mini PC supports PoE (Power over Ethernet)

QINTAIX QY8 is yet another Rockchip RK3568 mini PC running Android 11 whose main differentiating feature is the ability to take power from a 5V power supply or PoE (Power over Ethernet) via its Gigabit Ethernet port. The system comes with up to 8GB RAM, up to 64GB eMMC flash, offers HDMI 2.1 and composite video output, an audio jack, optical S/PDIF, WiFi 6 wireless connectivity, a few USB 3.0/2.0 ports, as well as an RTC with a backup battery for time-keeping. QINTAIX QY8 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3568 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor @ up to 2.0 GHz with Arm Mali-G52 2EE GPU with support for OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0/3.2, OpenCL 2.0, Vulkan 1.1, 1.0 TOPS NPU for AI acceleration, 4Kp60 H.265/H.264/VP9 video decoding, and 1080p60 H.265/H.264 video encoding System Memory – 4GB or 8GB LPDDR4 Storage 32GB or 64GB eMMC flash MicroSD card socket Video Output – HDMI 2.1 port up […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs

July 8, 2023August 18, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Quansheng UV-K5 multiband radio gets experimental firmware to work in the 18 MHz – 1300 MHz bands

Quansheng UV-K5, an inexpensive walkie-talkie/multiband radio that works in the 50 MHz to 600 MHz bands, has gotten an experimental firmware from the community that expands the range to 18 MHz to 1300 MHz, the maximum limits of the Beken BK4819 chip it is based on. The device is popular enough in the ham radio community that an unofficial blog has been created for it. The author explains that UV-K5 is better than other typical Chinese radios with “intuitive controls although the naming is a bit cryptic, and a nice crisp display”. He goes on to explain how to flash the firmware and reminds users they do this at their own risk in case they brick the device or break any regulations. The Quansheng UV-K5 supports the following bands with the stock firmware: F1: 50.0000-76.0000MHz (RX only) F2: 108-.0000-135.9750MHz (RX only) F3: 136.0000-173.9750MHz (TX and RX both) F4: 174.0000-349.9750MHz (RX […]

July 7, 2023July 7, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Nuvoton MUG51 8-bit 8051 microcontroller is made for battery-free devices

8-bit microcontrollers are here to stay despite the rise of 32-bit microcontrollers. Renesas introduced the RL78/G15 entry-level 8-bit microcontroller in a tiny 3x3mm package at the beginning of the year, and now Nuvoton has just unveiled the MUG51 8-bit 8051 microcontroller with a long-term production commitment. The MUG51 is specially designed for battery-free devices such as passive stylus pens and RFID cards. The 8-bit microcontroller embeds 1 KB SRAM, 16KB flash plus 4KB flash for user program loader, various peripherals with up to 24x GPIOs with interrupt, I2C, SPI, UART, DMA, and so on, as well as various timers. Nuvoton MUG51 specifications: Core – 1T 8051-based core running up to 7.3728 MHz Memory/Storage 1 KB SRAM 16 KB Flash Up to 4 KB Flash for user program loader (LDROM) 128 bytes SPROM (Security Protection ROM) ISP/ICP/IAP programming Peripherals Up to 24x I/O with interrupt capability 2x UART (Tx/RX), 2x I2C, […]

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