CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

May 12, 2022May 12, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 43 Comments

NanoPi R5S router SBC/gateway with 2x 2.5GbE, 1x Gigabit Ethernet, M.2 NVMe storage coming soon

FriendlyELEC’s family of NanoPi router SBCs and gateways will soon be extended with the NanoPi R5S board equipped with a Rockchip RK3568 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor, and providing three Ethernet ports (2x 2.5Gbps, 1x 1 Gbps), plus support for M.2 NVMe SSD storage. The company has not published any information publicly, but a post on Weibo social network reveals additional details with the single board computer being equipped with 2GB LPDDR4X, 8GB eMMC flash, two USB 3.0 ports, HDMI video output, and more. NanoPi R5S preliminary specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3568B2 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor @ up to 2.0 GHz with Arm Mali-G52 MP2 GPU, 0.8 TOPS AI accelerator (RK3568B2 comes in a “plastic package” instead of the “metal-can type package” found on RK3568, but the features are the same) System Memory – 2GB LPDDR4 Storage 8GB eMMC flash for OS Key M socket for M.2 2280 NVMe SSD support Optional SPI […]

May 11, 2022May 11, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Nordic Semi launches the nRF5340 Audio DK for Bluetooth LE Audio development

Nordic Semiconductor nRF5340 Audio DK is a Bluetooth LE audio development kit that enables better audio quality with LC3 codec, longer playtime, and new features such as Multi-Stream Audio and and Broadcast Audio. Equipped with the nRF5340 dual-core Cortex-M33 SoC, nPM1100 PMIC, and Cirrus Logic’s CS47L63 Audio DSP, the kit can be configured as a True Wireless Stereo (TWS) earbud, an LE Audio USB dongle, an enterprise headset, or a broadcast receiver. nRF5340 Audio DK specifications: WiSoC – Nordic Semi nRF5340 dual-core Arm Cortex-M33 multi-protocol microcontroller with support for Bluetooth 5.3 LE, Bluetooth mesh, NFC, Thread, Zigbee, 802.15.4, ANT, and 2.4 GHz proprietary; 1 MB flash and 512 KB of RAM for the 128 MHz application core, and 256 KB Flash and 64 KB RAM for the 64 MHz network core. Storage – MicroSD card holder Audio Cirrus Logic Audio DSP CS47L63 3.5mm mono headphone jack, 3.5mm stereo analog Line IN […]

ArmSoM CM5 Raspberry Pi CM4 alternative with Rockchip RK3576 SoC

May 11, 2022May 11, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 17 Comments

Compact fanless firewall appliance offers 6x 2.5GbE ports for $230 and up

KingNovy has introduced a small fanless firewall appliance powered by an Intel Celeron J4125 Gemini Lake Refresh processor, equipped with six 2.5GbE ports through Intel i225-V Rev 3 Ethernet controllers, and selling for as low as $230 for the barebone model. The system supports up to 32GB RAM, mSATA and 2.5-inch SATA storage, features HDMI output and four USB 3.0/2.0 ports, plus an RJ45 console port, and is said to work with pfSense 2.5.x, OPNsense 22.1, OpenWrt, ROS7, ESXI, Proxmox, CentOS, and more. Specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron J4125 quad-core Gemini Lake Refresh processor @ 2.0 / 2.7 GHz (Turbo) / 2.4 GHz (Turbo all cores) with Intel UHD Graphics 600 @ 250/750 MHz; 10W TDP System Memory – Dual-channel Memory DDR4 (2400MHz) supporting up to 32GB RAM in total Storage – 1x mSATA socket, 2.5-inch SATA bay for SSD or HDD Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K […]

May 11, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

MIPS unveils RISC-V eVocore P8700 and I8500 multiprocessor IP cores

MIPS is dead, right? Well, there’s now very little done on the architecture itself, MIPS (the company) has decided to switch to RISC-V architecture, and unveiled the eVocore product lineup currently comprised of the eVocore P8700 and I8500 multiprocessor IP cores. The 64-bit cores are scalable from single-core multi-thread to a single cluster with multiple cores, and up to a multi-cluster, and target high-performance, real-time compute applications such as networking, data centers, and automotive. The eVocore P8700 comes with a 16-stage deep pipeline with multi-issue Out-of-Order (OOO) execution and multi-threading. MIPS claims it has single-threaded performance greater than what is currently available in other RISC-V CPU IP offerings, but did not provide any numbers. It will likely be used in the cloud and high-end servers as it can scale up to 64 clusters, 512 cores and 1,024 harts/threads. P8700 highlights: Multi-issue superscalar Out of Order (OOO) with Multi-threading 16-stage pipeline […]

May 10, 2022May 11, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Mini keyboards launched with ESP32-C3 or Raspberry Pi RP2040 MCU

Tiny Keyboards Raspberry Pi RP2040 or ESP32-C3

Last week, when I saw LilyGO T-Keyboard based on ESP32-C3, I didn’t think much of it and did not expect many people to be interested, so I skipped it. But earlier today I also noticed Solder Party launched a very similar-looking product – the BB Q20 Keyboard with Trackpad – based on Raspberry Pi RP2040 MCU. So after all, it might be worthwhile to look into those mini keyboards for makers. LilyGO T-keyboard Hardware specifications: SoC – ESP32-C3 single-core RISC-V processor with Wi-Fi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE connectivity Display – 0.99-inch TFT color LCD QWERTY keyboard Battery – 400mAh built-it battery Power Supply – 5V via USB port Dimensions – 6.9 x 5.3 x 1.7 cm The company promotes it as a mini Bluetooth keyboard for iOS and Android smartphones, as well as Windows machines, but also has plans to make it work with their T-Echo LoRa messaging hardware. […]

May 10, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Retro-style computer features 5-inch round display, Framework laptop motherboard

Ubuntu 22.04 retro computer round display

After completing a DIY Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W handheld PC earlier this year, Penk Chen has designed another, rather odd but cool-looking, DIY computer. The “Mainboard Terminal” is a retro-style computer with a round display powered by the mainboard found in Framework modular laptop. The computer has been tested to work with Ubuntu 22.04 out of the box with just a few configuration tweaks for the display, but other operating systems should also work considering the mainboard is based on an Intel Core i5-1135G7, i7-1165G7, or i7-1185G7 Tiger Lake processor. There are four main off-the-shelf electronics components: Framework laptop mainboard ($399 and up) OLKB Preonic Keyboard MX Kit V3 key ($140) 5-inch round LCD with 1080×1080 resolution plus its HDMI adapter board (550 RMB = about $82) So most of the work consisted in designing the enclosure, and Penk released the STL design files on Github under an MIT […]

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

May 10, 2022May 10, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 27 Comments

You can now buy Khadas VIM4 SBC for $199.90

Khadas VIM4 single board computer was first unveiled last October with Amlogic A311D2 octa-core Cortex-A73/A53 processor, 8GB LPDDR4X, but it’s only been launched today, and you can now buy the Khadas VIM4 board for right under $200. It is an upgrade to Khadas VIM3 Pro launched with Amlogiv A311D hexa-core processor a few years ago, and our testing in Android 11 revealed the main benefit may be the upgrade GPU that delivered a 67% boost in 3DMark, but CPU multi-core performance and memory bandwidth will also see some benefits over Amlogic A311D, even against in overclocked systems like ODROID N2+. Here’s a reminder of Khadas VIM4 specifications: SoC – Amlogic A311D2 octa-core processor with 4x Arm Cortex-A73 cores @ up to 2.2 GHz and 4x Cortex A53 cores @ up to 2.0 GHz, Arm Mali-G52 MP(8EE) GPU, (Note: no NPU at this time) System Memory – 8GB LPDDR4X @ 2016 […]

May 9, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Bee Motion ESP32-S2 PIR motion sensor offers GPIOs, over a year of battery life

Smart Bee Designs’ Bee Motion is an ESP32-S2 board with a PIR motion sensor, some GPIOs for expansion, and promising over a year of battery life under the right circumstances. If the name “Bee Motion” rings a bell, it’s because we covered the Bee Motion Mini board last month with an ESP32-C3 processor and a PIR sensor, but no USB port for programming and no expansion ability. It was just designed to be used as a battery-powered wireless PIR motion sensor. The Bee Motion expands the use cases of the solution, although it only features WiFi connectivity, and loses Bluetooth LE. Bee Motion specifications: Wireless module – Espressif ESP32-S2-MINI-1 module with Espressif ESP32-S2FH4 single-core 32-bit LX7 microcontroller @ up to 240 MHz, RISC-V ultra-low-power co-processor, 320 kB SRAM, 128kB ROM, 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 connectivity, 4MB flash, PCB antenna PIR sensor – Passive infrared motion sensor with dome lens, 5-meter […]