CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

November 25, 2022November 25, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Sony ALT1350 5G cellular IoT chip supports NTN connectivity, integrates sub-GHz and 2.4GHz radios

Sony ALT1350 is a new ultra-low-power 5G LPWA LTE-M/NB-IoT chip that supports Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) for satellite connectivity and also integrates sub-GHz and 2.4 GHz radios for short-range communication and improved efficiency. The chip is comprised of an Arm Cortex-M4 microcontroller core as well as an Arm Cortex-M0+ always-on core for sensors and will be upgradable to 3GPP Release 17 to support higher bitrates for Cat-M1 (eMTC) and Cat-NB2 (NB-IoT). It also implements GNSS, cellular and wifi-based location, supports AI acceleration, and embeds a secure element for secure communication. Sony ALT1350 specifications: MCU cores Arm cortex-M4 with 1MB NVRAM and 752KB RAM Arm Cortex-M0+ low power always-on sensing hub Memory & Storage I/F – Quad SPI flash and PSRAM Wireless Cellular 3GPP Release 15, future proof to support 3GPP up to 17 through SW upgrade CAT-M1: Up to 588 Kbps in DL, and 1119 Kbps in uplink (up to 1.2mbps […]

November 24, 2022November 24, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Optimize your thermal design with code_saturne open-source CFD software

code_saturn open source CFD software heatsink

code_saturne is a free, open-source computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software developed primarily by EDF that can be useful to check and optimize the thermal design of your projects. From time to time, we come across hardware platforms that do not perform to their best due to overheating leading to CPU throttling, and over time it may also impact the lifetime of the device. I’ve heard about computational fluid dynamics (CFD) before, but I always assumed the software was prohibitively expensive and Formula 1 even has a cost cap for CFD testing. But it turns out there’s an open-source program to do just that: code_saturne. As a utility company, EDF designed the software to simulate the flows around and inside the buildings, pipes, and pumps used in power plants, but Lukas Henkel found out he could also use the free and open-source code_saturne program for analyzing the air currents caused by […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM

November 24, 2022November 28, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Innodisk EXMU-X261 FPGA Machine Vision Platform is based on AMD Xilinx Kria K26 SoM

Innodisk, better known for its embedded storage and memory chips, had announced its intention to turn to the AI market earlier and started with the launch of USB camera modules last month, but the company has gone a step (or two, or three) further with the introduction of the EXMU-X261 FPGA machine vision platform. The EXMU-X261 is powered by an AMD Xilink Kria K26 system-on-module and features HDMI 1.4 video output, Gigabit Ethernet, four USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports for the cameras and other peripherals, as well as two M.2 sockets and a terminal block for expansion. EXMU-X261 specifications: System-on-module – AMD Xilinx Kria K26 FPGA module powered by a Zynq UltraScale+ XCK26 FPGA MPSoC with a quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor, up to 250 thousand logic cells, and a H.264/265 video encoder/decoder Storage – MicroSD card socket Video Output – HDMI 1.4 port Networking – Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port USB […]

November 23, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC gets upstream Linux support

Qualcomm unveiled the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile platform just a few days ago, but Linaro has just announced that Linux was already upstreamed to the premium mobile SoC featuring a 3.2 GHz Arm Cortex-X3 “Prime” core, four performance cores at up to 2.8 GHz, and three Efficiency cores clocked at up to 2.0 GHz. Most of the work was done by Linaro Engineers Abel Vesa and Neil Armstrong with initial support posted on November 16th on the Linux kernel mailing list, and with the set of patches released so far, it is even possible to boot a minimal AOSP image on a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 development kit shown below which should be manufactured by Lantronix, if history is any guide. The following features are enabled in mainline Linux for the Qualcomm 8 Gen 2 processor, codenamed SM8550: Qualcomm Kryo CPUs with DVFS and Power Control support System – […]

November 23, 2022June 11, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

EsPiFF board combines ESP32 module with RP2040 MCU in the Raspberry Pi 4 form factor (Crowdfunding)

The EsPiFF board may look like a Raspberry Pi 4 Linux SBC but it is equipped with an ESP32-WROVER WiFi and Bluetooth module together with a Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller that acts as a co-processor. The goal here is to provide a Raspberry Pi 4 replacement for applications that require higher reliability and even 24/7 operation without necessarily needing the processing power and multimedia capabilities of the Broadcom BCM2711 Arm processor found in the Pi or the versatility of a Linux operating system. EsPiFF board specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-WROVER module with dual-core ESP32-D0WDQ6 microcontroller with 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 and Bluetooth, 8 MB PSRAM and 16 MB flash Co-processor – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ microcontroller @ up to 133 MHz with 16MB flash used to emulate the Raspberry Pi’s GPIOs on the 40-pin header Additional storage 2 KB of fast FRAM for permanent storage of process data. (faster […]

November 23, 2022 by Leo Zachary - No Comments

Allwinner T3 automotive-grade processor powers industrial-grade SoM

Allwinner T3 is a quad-core Cortex-A7 automotive-grade processor that supports a wide industrial temperature range of -40°C to +85°C. After comparing the specifications of Allwinner T3, I think it is the same as Allwinner A40i, as Allwinner has different business units and the T-series is for the automotive-grade market, while the A-series has historically been for the tablet market, but is now also used in the industrial-grade market. Tronlong SOM-TLT3 and SOM-TLT3-B are Allwinner T3 system-on-modules (SoM) of Allwinner T3. Both modules have basically the same specifications but the SOM-TLT3 comes with castellated holes for soldering to the carrier board, while the SOM-TLT3-B features board-to-board connectors. Tronlong SOM-TLT3 / SOM-TLT3-B specifications: CPU – Allwinner T3 quad-core Arm Cortex-A7 @ 1.2 GHz with 32KB L1 I-cache + 32KB L1 D-cache, 512KB L2 cache. GPU – Arm Mali-400 MP2 with support for OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0, Open VG 1.1 Memory – 1/2GByte DDR3 […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025

November 22, 2022November 23, 2022 by Karl Johnson - 7 Comments

Creality CR-Scan Lizard Review – An easy-to-use 3D scanner

Hey, Karl here, and today we are going to review Creality’s CR-Scan Lizard. This device is a 3D scanner that uses the structured light process to 3D scan. Instead of visible light, it uses non-visible light. I have no idea where lizards come into play but here we are. I have been waiting for quite some time for a lower-cost consumer 3D scanner. I attempted a DIY structured light scanner a long time ago, with some success…..but the time it took was unacceptable. It took me hours to set up perfectly and many more cleaning up point clouds and aligning even for a small scan. Leading me to give up on the project. I search around the Internet periodically but have never found a good working DIY solution. I am glad we are starting to see some relatively good cheapish scanners come out in the past year. Creality CR-Scan Lizard […]

November 22, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Bedrock V3000 Basic fanless industrial computer is powered by an AMD Ryzen Embedded V3000 processor

SolidRun Bedrock V3000 Basic is an industrial fanless computer based on the new AMD Ryzen Embedded V3000 Zen3 processor family designed for storage and networking applications. More specifically, the embedded computer is based on the AMD Ryzen Embedded V3C48 octa-core/sixteen-thread processor with up to 64 GB DDR5 memory, support for up to three M.2 key-M 2280 NVMe SSDs, and impressive network connectivity options with two SFP+ cages capable of 10 Gbps speeds, four 2.5GbE RJ45 ports, and optional support for WiFi 6, 4G and/o 5G cellular connectivity. Bedrock V3000 Basic specifications: SoC – AMD Ryzen Embedded V3000 family with up to 8C/16T Zen3+ cores @ up to 3.8 GHz; TDP: Up to 45W System Memory – Quad-channel DDR5-4800 up to 64 GB ECC / non-ECC via 2x SODIMM socket. The RAM is conduction-cooled Storage 1x M.2 key-M 2280 NVMe PCIe Gen4 x 4 socket, conduction-cooled, with optional power-loss protection 2x […]