CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

February 17, 2023February 17, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Purism Lapdock kit converts the Librem 5 Linux smartphone into a laptop

Purism has just announced the Lapdock kit to turn their Librem 5 Linux smartphone into a laptop with a 13.3-inch touchscreen display thanks to the NexDock 360 laptop dock. I was a big believer in mobile desktop convergence around 10 years ago, expected to be soon able to use my phone as a computer or laptop with a dock, and it looked like it might have become a reality when Canonical launched the Ubuntu Edge smartphone crowdfunding campaign in 2013. But it turns out demand was not sufficient, and Canonical eventually ended their convergence efforts focusing on profitable IoT and cloud segments instead. But that does not mean there isn’t a niche market and Purism’s Lapdock kit addresses it to some extent. The Lapdock kit is comprised of three parts namely the NexDock 360 laptop dock, a magnetic mount to attach the Librem 5 to the side of the NexDock […]

February 17, 2023February 17, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Armv9 Cortex-A715/A510 processor targets mainstream 5G smartphones

Manufactured with a 4nm processor, the MediaTek Dimensity 7200 is an octa-core Armv9 processor designed for mainstream smartphones. with two Cortex-A715 cores, six Cortex-A510 cores, a Mali-G610 MC4 GPU, as well as 5G, WiFi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity. So far, I had only seen Armv9 SoCs with a mix of Cortex-A510 “LITTLE” cores, Cortex-A710/A715 “big” core, and Cortex-X2 or Cortex-X3 “flagship cores” as found in the Dimensity 9200 processor, but the Dimensity 7200 is one of the first Armv9 processors – one other being the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 – without a Cortex-X core in order to provide a more affordable solution. MediaTek Dimensity 7200 specifications: CPU 2x Arm Cortex-A715 up to 2.8GHz 6x Arm Cortex-A510 2MB L3 cache GPU – Arm Mali-G610 MC4 with MediaTek HyperEngine 5.0 APU – MediaTek APU 650 AI accelerator DPU/VPU – MediaTek MiraVision 765 engine for display and 4K HDR video decoding/encoding Memory […]

February 16, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Raspberry Pi 400 powers dual-display retro-gaming console

“Block after Block” has designed a dual-display tabletop retro-gaming console using plywood edge grain and a Raspberry Pi 400 keyboard PC that allows players to physically face each other during a fight or other gameplay. While there’s a galore of projects based on Raspberry Pi SBCs, the Raspberry Pi 400 keyboard PC is more like a consumer product due to its form factor, but Block after Block integrated the PC into its own retro-gaming console which involved a lot of woodworking skills and installing RetroPie on the Pi 400 device. This DIY project mostly involves spending time in a workshop cutting wood, and once you’re done with this part, it should be pretty straightforward. The following items are required for the project: A Raspberry Pi 400 keyboard PC Two monitors (second-hand monitors will do) An HDMI splitter to mirror the output from the Pi 400 along with a micro HDMI […]

February 16, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Control 8 relays with the Raspberry Pi Pico using PicoRelay8 or Pico-Relay-B

Waveshare Pico Relay B with Raspberry Pi Pico board

8086 Consultancy’s PicoRelay8 is a baseboard for the Raspberry Pi Pico (W) board equipped with eight 28V DC / 10A Normally Open relays that be used for all sorts of automation projects, while Waveshare Pico-Relay-B also supports eight relays with both DC and AC loads and comes with some extra features. PicoRelay8 PicoRelay8 board specifications: Supported MCU board – Raspberry Pi Pico or Pi Pico W, and it may also work with “mostly” compatible boards such as the Banana Pi BPI-Pico-RP2040 or BPI-PicoW-S3, WeAct RP2040, and others as long as all GPIO used on the PicoRelay8 are exposed on the same pins. Relays 8x HF3FF/005-1HST relays rated for 28V DC/10A, as well as 10A/250V AC and 15A/125V AC, but the board is not designed to get power from the mains (safety-wise), so it’s only really suitable for DC loads Each relay has a 2-pin terminal block attached to it. GPIO […]

February 16, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Snapdragon X75 modem brings 5G Advanced to smartphones, IoT, and FWA routers

Qualcomm Snapdragon X75 is the latest 5G Modem-RF System from the company bringing 5G Advanced connectivity to smartphones, PCs, industrial IoT, vehicles, and 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) routers. 5G is getting more confusing than ever, as after just having launched a 5G NR-Light modem for smartwatches, industrial IoT, and XR glasses, Qualcomm introduced the first “5G Advanced” modem with the Snapdragon X75 targetting a wide range of applications that benefit from the improvements in speed, coverage, mobility, power efficiency, etc… made possible by the 5G NR Release 18. Snapdragon X75 key features and specifications: Cellular Technology – 5G NR, LTE, LAA, WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, GSM/ Edge, CBRS, Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS), EN-DC, NR-DC, mmWave, sub-6 GHz 5G Spectrum – mmWave-sub6 aggregation, sub-6 carrier aggregation (FDD-TDD, FDD-FDD, TDD-TDD), FDD-TDD support for uplink-CA, Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) 5G Modes – FDD, TDD, SA (standalone), NSA (non-standalone) Up to 10CC aggregation in mmWave, […]

February 15, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 18 Comments

Install a server in your house, get free hot water!

Heata, which began as an innovation project with British Gas, is a UK company that connects a server to your hot water cylinder and provides hot water to the house master for free up to 4.8 kWh per day, and at least 2.5 kWh as per contractual obligations. Companies spend millions of dollars to cool the servers hosted in their data centers and most of that heat is completely wasted. So Heata decided to create a win-win solution that lowers their cooling cost and provides free hot water to whoever has their server installed in their house. The installation process is said to be tested and approved by British Gas so you don’t lose your hot water cylinder warranty, and the heat transfer mechanism is patented as well under the UK patent GB2576035. A technician would come to cut the insulation and attach a thermal bridge to the cylinder. The […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs

February 15, 2023February 15, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

2.5Gbps SFP to RJ45 Ethernet adapter sells for $25 shipped

Banana Pi has started selling an inexpensive 2.5Gbps SFP to RJ45 adapter for their Banana Pi BPI-R3 WiFi 6 router board that goes for $17.89 plus shipping ($25 shipped here) on Aliexpress. The BPI-R3 router includes five Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 ports as well as two 2.5GbE SFP cages, but since not everybody has equipment that takes SFP cables, they used to sell it with a $30 TP-Link adapter. The company now appears to have found a cheaper model marked “SFP-2.5G-T” module that works with their board. It’s designed to be inserted into one of the 2.5GbE SFP cages and provide a more common 2.5GbE RJ45 port to the user. There’s very little information about the module except its designed with an up to 100-meter cable, and the serial number BT2211010016 only points to Banana Pi’s Wiki. But I don’t think the company designed its own adapter and found another Wiki […]

February 15, 2023February 16, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments

USB Cereal is an open-source hardware USB-C debugging & development tool (Crowdfunding)

0xDA LLC’s USB Cereal is an open-source hardware development tool with three USB-C ports designed to simplify the testing, development, debugging, and manufacturing of devices with USB Type-C ports. Initially originated at Google, the USB Cereal project has gone through multiple revisions to optimize its quality and lower the BoM cost, and the device can be used for all sorts of USB Type-C debugging using a UART serial communication with the host device through the USB-C sideband use (SBU) pins typically reserved for device-specific applications. USB Cereal specifications: USB Type-C ports 2x USB-C ports for passthrough between the host and device under test (DUT) Note: the DUT port is on the side with a single USB Type-C connector No orientation detection has been implemented to keep the design as simple and inexpensive as possible 1x USB-C port for capture support to 3 Mbps connected through FTDI FT232RNQ USB to TTL […]