CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

June 3, 2022 by Ian W MORRISON (Linuxium) - 24 Comments

MeLE Quieter3Q Review – Ultra-thin fanless mini PC tested with Windows 11, Ubuntu 22.04

MeLE has released a new and updated version of the Quieter mini PC called the Quieter3Q. Like before, it is a passive mini PC but now features the latest low-powered Intel Celeron Jasper Lake CPU and an upgraded PCIe 3.0 x2 M.2 2280 NVMe SSD slot. MeLE has kindly sent one for review and I’ve looked at performance running both Windows and Ubuntu and connecting an eGPU. MeLE Quieter3Q Hardware Overview The MeLE Quieter3Q is physically the same as before consisting of a 131 x 81 x 18.3mm (5.16 x 3.19 x 0.72 inches) rectangular plastic case with a metal base plate. The top half of the case is finely grooved to mimic the fins of a heat spreader but is made of plastic rather than metal to allow reception to the WiFi antennas as one is directly connected to it. As a passively cooled mini PC, it uses Intel’s […]

June 3, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Armbian 22.05 release adds support for Orange Pi R1 Plus LTS, Radxa Zero & Rock 3A, DevTerm A06

The latest release of Armbian, version 22.05, is now out with hundreds of Linux kernel and user space-related bug fixes, a focus on stabilizing existing platforms, while still adding four new boards with Orange Pi R1 Plus LTS (RK3328), Radxa Zero (Amlogic S905Y2), Radxa Rock 3A (RK3568), and DevTerm A06 (RK3399). The community also added two new maintainers for ESPRESSObin and Radxa Rock Pi 4 (Model A) SBCs which should mean the images for those boards will be tested more regularly and potential issues fixed more quickly. You may want to read the more detailed changelog to see if any changes may impact the board(s) you are using. The new Armbian 22.05 release succeeds Armbian 22.02 outed on February 28, 2022. If you’d like to upgrade simply run those two commands on your existing installation:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

1 2	sudo apt update sudo apt upgrade

For new installation, browse the list of supported boards, select the Debian/Ubuntu image you’d […]

June 3, 2022June 7, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Nokia 1680 phone gets new PCB with MIPS SoC, runs mainline Linux

Reimu NotMoe has designed the “Notkia” PCB based on Ingenic X1000E MIPS processor with 64MB built-in RAM and following the exact same dimensions as the PCB found in Nokia 168x phones (1680, 1681, 1682), and allowing the phone to run mainline Linux. The board also comes with 32MB NOR flash, a 4GB SLC NAND flash, and supports LoRa, 2.4 GHz WiFi, Bluetooth, and GNSS connectivity, but no cellular modem. Combining Nokia 168x phone with Notkia PCBA creates a phone with the following specifications: SoC – Ingenic X1000E single-core XBurst MIPS processor @ 1.0 GHz (2200+ CoreMark) with 64MB RAM Storage – 32MB NOR flash + 4GB SLC NAND flash Display – 2.0-inch 240×320 IPS LCD, 3/4 visible (Replaces the original 128×160 TFT screen in the phone) Camera – 5MP camera with auto focus (only available in the Nokia 1680 case) Audio – Yamaha MA-3 (YMU762) music synthesizer and regular I2S […]

June 2, 2022June 2, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

ZeroKey Quantum RTLS enables indoor location with millimeter-level accuracy

Zerokey Quantum RTLS anchor trackable device

ZeroKey’s Quantum RTLS is a 3D real-time location system (RTLS) for millimeter-level accuracy designed for the real-time monitoring of assets and people to optimize workflows in the manufacturing, supply chain, and logistics industries. The company claims that with time and location data, the solution provides the “highest level of accuracy and actionable analytics through its Spatial Intelligence Platform, giving customers 4D operational intelligence that truly delivers on the promise of Industry 4.0”, and the “hyper accuracy of Quantum RTLS empowers companies to solve problems that have never been solved before in industrial environments”. Quantum RTLS works with PoE anchors placed in fixed locations and trackable devices attached to mobile assets. That looks very much like FiRa UWB to me, except with higher accuracy, but at no point, ZeroKey talk about Ultra Wide Band on their website, and instead the technology is based on ultrasonics, and communication between the gateway and […]

June 2, 2022January 23, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 65 Comments

NanoPi R5S router review – Part 1: Unboxing, OpenWrt, and iperf3 benchmarking

FriendlyElec has just launched the NanoPi R5S mini router powered by a Rockchip RK3568 processor, and the company kindly sent me two samples for review. In the first part of the review, I’ll check out the device itself, the internal design, the preinstalled OpenWrt, and run some networking benchmarks with iperf3. NanoPi R5S unboxing The router comes fully assembled together with a 3M sheet with 6 rubber feet, which, as we’ll see below, are not really necessary. A microSD card socket can be found on one of the sides, while the rear panel comes with a USB-C port for power, a WiFi antenna hole (which can also be used to run cables for GPIO. UART console, etc…), two 2.5GbE RJ45 LAN ports, a Gigabit Ethernet WAN port, and HDMI video output. We’ll find a Mask button for firmware flashing on the other side, and the front panel features four […]

June 2, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

FastRhino R68s router offers 4GB RAM, dual 2.5GbE, dual Gigabit Ethernet for $80 (in China)

Rockchip RK3568-powered NanoPi R5S router has gotten a direct competitor courtesy of FastRhino R68s with the same processor, but more memory up to 4GB RAM, two 2.5GbE ports, and two Gigabit Ethernet ports (or one extra compared to R5S), and two USB 3.0 ports. FastRhino R68s is purely a router in the traditional sense, and you don’t get an HDMI port acting as a display interface or an M.2 NVMe socket to add extra storage as found in NanoPi R5S. The plastic enclosure used with R68s will not be able to cool the Rockchip RK3568 as well as the metal enclosure of the FriendlyElec device, but there are plenty of ventilation holes so that may be sufficient. FastRhino R68s specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3568 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor @ up to 2.0 GHz with Arm Mali-G52 MP2 GPU, 0.8 TOPS AI accelerator, 4Kp60 H.265/H.264/VP9 video decoder, 1080p60 H.264/H.265 video encoder System […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs

June 1, 2022November 29, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

PICO-V2K4 – A Pico-ITX board with AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 processor

AAEON PICO-V2K4 is a Pico-ITX board powered by an AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 processor with up to 8 cores, AMD Radeon graphics, which should make it the world’s smallest Ryzen V2000 SBC on the market. The board comes with up to 32GB soldered-on memory and a 64GB NVMe flash, supports for SATA and M.2 NVMe storage, dual Gigabit Ethernet, up to four 4K display interfaces, four serial ports, and more. Use cases range from medical imaging (x-ray and MRI scan analysis) to casino gaming machines, and industrial automation. AAEON PICO-V2K4 specifications: AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 processor (one or the other) Ryzen V2718 octa-core/16-thread processor @ up to 1.7-4.15 GHz (Turbo) with Radeon RX Vega 7 GPU; TDP: 10-25W Ryzen V2516 hexa-core/12-thread processor @ up to 2.1-3.95 GHz (Turbo) with Radeon RX Vega 6 GPU; TDP: 10-25W System Memory – Up to 32GB LPDDR4x 3733 MHz Storage Up to 64GB on-board […]

June 1, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Quartz64 Model B SBC with 4GB RAM is now available for $59.99

While it may be hard to buy a Raspberry Pi these days, there are various alternatives with the Raspberry Pi 3/4 form factor, including Pine64’s Quartz64 Model B SBC powered by a Rockchip RK3566 processor that has just launched for $59.99 with 4GB RAM. The Quartz64 Model B is a smaller version of the Quartz64 Model A launched earlier this year, that comes with HDMI 2.0a and MIPI DSI display interfaces, a MIPI CSI camera interface, Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0, as well as several USB 2.0/3.0 ports, and of course, a 40-pin Raspberry Pi compatible GPIO header. Quartz64 Model B specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3566 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor up to 1.8 GHz with Arm Mali-G52 GPU supporting OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0/3.2, OpenCL 2.0, Vulkan 1.1, 0.8 TOPS NPU for AI acceleration System Memory – 4GB LPDDR4 Storage 128 Mbit SPI Flash optional eMMC module from 16GB up to […]