CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

March 17, 2023March 20, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Synaptics SYN4382 SoC supports Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, and 802.15.4 connectivity

Synaptics SYN4382 is a triple combo SoC with Wi-Fi 5/6E, Bluetooth 5.3, and IEEE 802.15.4 (Zigbee/Thread/Matter) radios, and manufactured with a 16nm process to lower power consumption for IoT and multimedia applications. The chip can deliver up to 1,200 Mbps WiFi throughput, supports dual-band (RSDB) 2.4 and 5 or 6/6E GHz operation to combine the links at different frequencies, as well as features such as LE Audio for multiple concurrent audio streams in a multi-device environment. Synaptics SYN4382 key features: Wireless Triband 2×2 Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) with 1200 Mbps throughput, RSDB, and support for legacy 802.11a/b/g/n/ac WiFi Bluetooth 5.3 with LE Audio, Channel Sounding (HADM = High Accuracy Distance Measurement) for accurate positioning 802.15.4 radio for Thread and Zigbee Matter interoperability Smart Co-Ex for coexistence in the 2.4 GHz band Multipoint external coexistence interface for LTE, GPS On-chip power amplifiers (PAs) and low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) with support for external PAs […]

March 17, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

System76 Meerkat Alder Lake Linux mini PC ships with Ubuntu 22.04 or Pop!_OS 22.04

Most mini PCs ship with Windows, or no OS at all for barebone models, but Linux-hardware specialist System76 offers the Meerkat mini PC with either Pop!_OS 22.04 or Ubuntu 22.04 with a choice of processors from the 12th Gen Alder Lake, 11th Gen Tiger Lake, or 10th Gen Comet Lake families. All models support up to 64GB RAM, M.2 NVMe SSD storage, and are equipped with four HDMI/DisplayPort video outputs, Ethernet, and USB ports. There’s also a Tall version of the Meerkat that adds a 2.5-inch SATA bat, and the Alder Lake models, called Meer7, specifically supports the more recent USB4 and 2.5GbE interfaces. System76 Meerkat “Meer7” (Alder Lake) specifications: Alder Lake P-Series SoC (one or the other) Intel Core i3-1220P 10-core/12-thread (2P+8E) processor clocked at up to 4.4 GHz with 12 MB cache, 64EU Intel HD graphics; TDP: 28W Intel Core i5-1240P 12-core/16-thread (4P+8E) processor clocked at up to […]

ArmSoM CM5 Raspberry Pi CM4 alternative with Rockchip RK3576 SoC

March 16, 2023March 17, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments

SONOFF MINIR4 review – A Tiny WiFi Smart Switch tested with eWelink app/web, and R5 controller

In this post, we’ll review the SONOFF Mini Extreme, also known as MINIR4, WiFi smart switch based on ESP32 wireless MCU by installing it into a wall-mounted light switch box and controlling it with both the eWelink mobile app for Android and the SONOFF R5 scene controller. SONOFF MINIR4 Installation We’ve already gone through the specifications, unboxing, and teardown in the announcement, so I’ll get straight to the installation part. Note this review was done with a light switch “box” (about 11x6cm) in Thailand, so your mileage may vary. The first challenge is that contrary to the similarly-sized SONOFF ZBMINI Extreme Zigbee switch, the MINIR4 WiFi switch requires a neutral cable, and most lights in Thailand are wired without a neutral wire, so I had to get the neutral wire from the outlet switch box underneath. When I call those “boxes” there are really holes in the wall here… Wiring […]

March 16, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Renesas introduces 100 MHz RA4E2 and 200 MHz RA6E2 Arm Cortex-M33 MCUs for wearables, sensors, appliances

Renesas Electronics has added two new groups to its 32-bit RA family of microcontrollers (MCUs) with the 100 MHz RA4E2 and 200 MHz RA6E2 Arm Cortex-M33 microcontrollers designed for “high-performance applications” in small packages such as sensing, gaming, wearables, and appliances. The new microcontrollers are equipped with 40 KB SRAM, 128 KB or 256 KB flash, and integrate various on-chip interfaces such as CAN FD, USB, QSPI, SSI, and I3C interfaces to offer an easy upgrade path for products based on other members of the Renesas RA Family. Renesas RA4E2 MCU group Both the RA4E2 and the RA6E2 are the most cost-effective microcontroller groups of the RA family with integrated CAN FD, with the RA4E2 group especially well-suited to cost-sensitive applications and other systems requiring relatively high performance, low power consumption, and/or small package size. RA4E2 key features: CPU – Arm Cortex-M33 core with TrustZone @ up to 100 MHz […]

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

Texas Instruments MSPM0 Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontrollers sell for 39 cents and up

Texas Instruments has just introduced its low-cost MSPM0 Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller portfolio comprised of the MSPM0L series with a 32 MHz CPU, up to 64 kB of flash, and 4 kB SRAM, and the MSPM0G series with an 80 MHz CPU, up to 128 kB of flash and 32 kB SRAM. Texas Instruments MSPM0L MSPM0L1306 key features: CPU – Arm 32-bit Cortex-M0+ core @ up to 32 MHz Memory – Up to 4KB SRAM Storage – Up to 64KB flash Digital peripherals 3-channel DMA controller 4x 16-bit general-purpose timers, each with two capture/compare registers supporting low-power operation in STANDBY mode, supporting a total of 8 PWM channels Windowed watchdog timer Analog peripherals 12-bit 1.45-Msps analog-to-digital converter (ADC) with up to 10 total external channels Configurable 1.4-V or 2.5-V internal ADC voltage reference (VREF) 2x zero-drift, zero-crossover chopper operational amplifiers (OPA) 1x general-purpose amplifier (GPAMP) 1x high-speed comparator (COMP) with 8-bit […]

March 16, 2023March 16, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 26 Comments

ROCK 3C SBC – A $39+ Raspberry Pi 3 lookalike with Rockchip RK3566-T AI SoC, M.2 NVMe SSD support

Radxa ROCK 3C, also called ROCK 3 Model C, is a Rockchip RK3566-T Arm SBC with up to 8GB RAM and WiFi 5. It mostly follows the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B form factor, but also adds an M.2 PCIe socket for NVMe SSDs. The single board computer also comes with a MicroSD card slot and eMMC flash module socket to boot the OS, a 4Kp60 capable HDMI 2.0 port, a MIPI DSI connector, a MIPI CSI camera connector, a 3.5mm jack with microphone, four USB ports, Gigabit Ethernet, and a 40-pin color-coded GPIO header. ROCK 3C specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3566-T quad-core Cortex-A55 processor @ 1.6 GHz with Arm Mali-G52 GPU, 0.8 TOPS NPU (AI accelerator) System Memory – 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB LPDDR4 2112MT/s Storage MicroSD card slot eMMC module socket M.2 Key-M PCIe socket for 2230 NVMe SSD Video Output HDMI 2.0 up to 4Kp60 2-lane […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs abd SoMs

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

$700 Netgear RS700 WiFi 7 router supports up to 19Gbps (combined) speed

Netgear “Nighthawk” RS700 is the first WiFi 7 (802.11be) router from the company, with the tri-band router being rated “BE19000” meaning it can deliver a combined ~19Gbps link rate using all three bands. The router is based on the Broadcom BCM67263 Arm processor and with that kind of wireless bandwidth it comes with two 10GbE ports one WAN port to connect to the internet, and one LAN port to connect to the local networks plus four extra Gigabit Ethernet ports, and a USB 3.0 port for network storage. Netgear RS700 specifications: SoC – Broadcom BCM67263 quad-core WiFi 7 processor @ 2.6 GHz System Memory – 1GB RAM Storage – 512MB NAND flash for OS Networking 802.11be WiFi 7 WiFi Coverage – Up to 325 square meters Speed – Up to ~19Gbps combined 2.4GHz BE – 4×4 (Tx/Rx) 4096-QAM 20/40MHz, up to 1.4Gbps 5GHz BE – 4×4 (Tx/Rx) 4096-QAM 20/40/80/160MHz, up […]

March 15, 2023March 15, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

MNT Pocket Reform open-source 7-inch modular laptop launched on Crowd Supply

The MNT Pocket Reform, a smaller version of the MNT Reform laptop, with a 7-inch display has just launched on Crowd Supply with an NXP i.MX8M Plus system-on-module, but also compatible with an NXP Layerscape LS1028A module, Raspberry Pi CM4, Pine64 SOQuartz, and an AMD Kintex-7 FGPA module. The open-source modular laptop also comes with a 128GB eMMC flash, 8GB RAM, WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity on-module, an optional 1TB NVMe SSD, a backlit 60-key mechanical keyboard with an optical trackball and four buttons, a micro HDMI port to connect an external display, a few USB ports, and Ethernet through an ix industrial connector. MNT Pocket Reform specifications: SoM – Boundary Devices Nitrogem8M Plus system-on-module with SoC – NXP i.MX 8M Plus quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 @ 1.8GHz with Cortex-M7 real-time core, Vivante GC7000UL GPU, 2.3 TOPS NPU with open drivers, H.264/H.265 Video Decoder with open drivers (Hantro), and HiFi4 […]

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