CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

April 15, 2022April 15, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

ESP USB Bridge project converts ESP32-S2 or ESP32-S3 into a USB to UART/JTAG chip

Espressif’s ESP USB Bridge is a project based on the ESP-IDF that leverages ESP32-S2 or ESP32-S3 USB interface to use the board as a USB to UART or USB to JTAG debug board. It can serve as a substitute for USB to TTL debug boards based on CH340 or CP2104 for instance, be used with OpenOCD in JTAG bridge mode, and also flash UF2 firmware file to the target board. As just mentioned, there are three main use cases: Serial bridge mode with a terminal program or a firmware flashing tool like esptool. In that case, it just works like your typical USB to TTL debug board JTAG bridge mode for JTAG debugging with OpenOCD, and if the target board is based on ESP32, you can use openocd-esp32 project Mass storage device where the board can be accessed by a file manager on the host computer. One of the specific […]

April 14, 2022September 22, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Semtech LR1120 enables global asset tracking with multi-band LoRa, WiFi, and GNSS

Semtech LoRa Edge LR1120 is an ultra-low-power multi-band chip designed for global geolocation and asset tracking applications including direct satellite-connected Internet of Things (IoT) applications in supply chain management and logistics. Not only does the LR1120 features the usual sub-GHz LoRa radio found in most other chips from the company, but also comes with 2.4GHz LoRa and SATCOM S-Band support for satellite, as well as a GNNS radio compatible with GPS and Beidou, and a WiFi radio for indoor positioning (but no WiFi RTT/802.11mc support). Semtech LR1120 key features and specifications: Low-power high-sensitivity LoRa/(G)FSK half-duplex RF transceiver Worldwide ISM frequency bands support in the range 150 – 960MHz (Sub-GHz) and 2.4GHz, as well as 1.9-2.1GHz (S-Band) Low Noise Figure RX front-end High power PA path +22dBm in the Sub-GHz band Up to +11.5dBm in the 2.4GHz band LR-FHSS modulator Integrated PA regulator supply selector to simplify dual power +15/+22dBm with […]

ArmSoM CM5 Raspberry Pi CM4 alternative with Rockchip RK3576 SoC

April 14, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

ameriDroid introduces $20 aluminum case for ODROID-N2+ SBC

You may know ameriDroid as a reseller of single board computers and accessories, but the US company has now designed and manufactured its first accessory with an aluminum case for ODROID-N2+ SBC. ameriDroid says the design of their enclosure is based on the metallic blue case found in the Home Assistant Blue gateway also powered by ODROID-N2+ board, and everything was 100% designed and manufactured by ameriDroid in the United States, specifically in Kentucky and California for the R&D, while the factory is located in Ohio. The enclosure has mostly been designed for industrial application, think of a factory floor for instance, so it may not be the prettiest. The company even explains that it is made of unpainted, unfinished aluminum with potentially some minor surface marks from the manufacturing process, but that it could be polished or painted for a better finish. It ships as a kit with an […]

April 14, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Getting started with Maker Nano RP2040 using CircuitPython: Blinky, RGB LED, and Piezo Buzzer

CNXSoft: This getting started guide was initially posted in Thai language by Suthinee Kerdkaew, and I’ve just translated her work into English with some minor edits. As discussed in an earlier article, Maker Nano RP2040 is a board following the Arduino Nano form factor, but with a more powerful Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller. The board also comes with plenty of LEDs, as well as two RGB LEDs, and a piezo buzzer for audio output. Mr. Jean-Luc Aufranc has just given me a Maker Nano RP2040 board received from Cytron for review. I’ve never used a board before, so it’s my first experience, and in this article, I’ll try to program Maker Nano RP2040 with CircuitPython with three demos: a blinky sample, changing the color of the RGB LEDs, and playing a melody through the piezo buzzer. Let’s see if I can do it. Let’s get started. I first downloaded the […]

April 13, 2022April 13, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Nordic Semi nRF52840 Bluetooth 5.2 LE module achieves over 10 km range

Fanstel BT840XE Bluetooth LE 10 km range

Fanstel BT840XE is an nRF52840 Bluetooth 5.2 LE module with a power amplifier designed for transmission at over 4500 meters, and some deployments with two BT840XE modules and 0Dbi antennas even reach over 10 km. At home, I can use my Bluetooth headset about 6 to 8 meters from my phone before the audio starts cutting, and most Bluetooth devices have an advertised 10-meter range, although Bluetooth class 2 devices could transmit up to 100 meters away. But with Bluetooth 5, the wireless standard improvement meant it was not possible to get four times the range, and/or some further extended the range of their hardware with a power amplifier as we’ve seen with the RFCat N32 board a few years ago. Last week, I got contacted by a company called RF Star about a Texas Instruments CC2652P multi-protocol mobile with PA (power amplifier) that could achieve a range of 500 […]

April 13, 2022April 18, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Arduino releases secure bootloader based on MCUboot

Arduino has released a new bootloader based on MCUBoot to increase the range of features and firmware safety of Arduino products, with the first release targetting STM32H7 based Arduino Portenta and Nicla Vision boards from the Arduino Pro family. The release focuses on Arduino Mbed OS-based boards, but MCUboot is OS agnostic, and should also work with Zephyr, Nuttx, and Apache mynewt. The company has also made sure that the transition is easy and reused the existing OTA firmware upgrade process in place on Arduino boards. MCUboot Arduino highlights: Signed and encrypted updates – MCUboot has support for encrypting/decrypting images on-the-fly while upgrading. It will also check if the computed signature is matching the one embedded in the image before booting a sketch. Confirm or revert updates – After an update, the new Sketch can update the content of the flash at runtime to mark itself as OK. If everything […]

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

April 13, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Broadcom unveils WiFi 7 chips for access points and clients

BCM4916 WiFi 7 access point with bcm27263 and bcm6726

We first noticed the new WiFi 7 (802.11be) standard in January 2022 with MediaTek demonstrating Filogic 802.11be processors, and later Qualcomm introduced the FastConnect 7800 WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3 solution for wireless clients, but we had not seen anything for WiFi 7 access points yet. Broadcom has now announced four WiFi 7 chips for access points with the BCM67263, BCM6726, BCM43740, and BCM43720 up to 11.5 Gbps PHY rate, plus the BCM4398 Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5 combo chip for mobile handsets with up to 6.05 Gbps PHY rate. We’ve not quite at the theoretical 40+ Gbps PHY rate for WiFi 7, but those solutions will more than double the speed of existing Wi-Fi 6/6E solutions, while simultaneously delivering lower latency and extending range. The BCM67263 and BCM6726 chips are designed for the residential Wi-Fi 7 access point market with the following key features: Support for 4 streams of […]

April 12, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

RAKwireless adds more Wisduo and Wisblock modules, launches WisToolBox configuration tool for IoT devices

RAKwireless have launched several Wisduo wireless modules, a dozen of Wisblock modules for IoT prototyping, updated WisDM, WisGateOS, and RUI3 software, and introduced WisToolBox mobile/desktop configuration tool for IoT devices as part of their spring launch 2022 even entitled “Empowering the Innovators: Making IoT your own”. Three new Wisduo modules RAK3172-SIP WisDuo SIP based on STM32WLE5 Wireless SoC with LoRa connectivity. Compared to the original RAK3172, it offers more IO pins, integrates a TCXO, and comes in a smaller size. The module supports LoRa P2P and complies with Class A, B, & C of LoRaWAN 1.0.3 specifications. Cost: $5.99. WisDuo RAK3272-SiP – That’s a breakout board for the RAK3172-SiP System-in-a-Package module for LoRaWAN and allows easy access to all pins via 2.54mm pitch headers. RAK4630 WisDuo Stamp Module – This module supports both LoRa/LoRaWAN and BLE 5.0, and comes with RUI V3 (RUI3) firmware. It can be deployed as an […]