CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

March 18, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

1.51-inch transparent OLED display works over GDI or SPI interface

We’ve seen transparent, see-through displays at least since 2010 for retail applications, and over the years, these types of transparent displays or variants have made it to consumer devices like smartwatches and notch-free smartphones. But I don’t think I had ever seen transparent displays for the maker market, and DFRobot Fermion is 1.51-inch transparent OLED display with 128×64 resolution that is connected to the host MCU via SPI or GDI (General Display Interface) interface. Fermion specifications: 1.51-inch transparent OLED display with blue pixels based on SSD1309 driver Resolution – 128×64 (transparent part: 128×56) Display interface – 8-bit 68xx/80xx Parallel, 3-/4-wire SPI, I2C Adapter Interface – SPI, GDI Operating Voltage – 3.3V Dimensions Screen Size – 41.92 x 27.08mm Display Area – 35.05 x 15.32 mm Pixel Pitch – 0.274 x 0.274mm Pixel Size – 0.254 x 0.254mm Adapter Size – 18 x 28mm/0.71 x 1.10inch Temperature Range – -40~70°C There […]

March 18, 2022March 23, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

LOLIN C3 Mini ESP32-C3 board is compatible with Wemos D1 Mini shields

Wemos LOLIN C3 Mini board is powered by Espressif ESP32-C3 WiFi and BLE RISC-V microcontroller and follows the company’s earlier Wemos D1 Mini (ESP8266) and LOLIN S2 Mini (ESP32-S2) form factor for compatibility with the original stackable Wemos D1 shields. The tiny board comes with 4MB flash embedded in the ESP32-C3 chip, a USB Type-C connector, reset and user buttons, as well as sixteen through holes for GPIOs, VBUS, 3.3V, and ground signals. LOLIN C3 Mini V1.0.0 specifications: SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-C3FH4 single-core 32-bit RISC-V (RV32IMC) microcontroller up to 160 MHz with 400 KB SRAM, 4MB Flash Connectivity – 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE (in SoC) Expansion headers – 2x 8-pin headers with up to 12x GPIO, ADC, I2C, SPI, UART (3.3V I/O voltage) USB – 1x Type-C USB for 5V power and programming Misc – Reset button and button 0 also used to enter Device […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM

March 18, 2022March 18, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Bluetooth battery tester also serves as DC programmable load

While it’s possible to quickly check a battery with a multimeter, the DL24MP-150W Bluetooth battery tester and DC programmable load allows testing of all sorts of batteries from a 18650 battery to a lead-acid car battery, monitoring of multiple parameters with voltage, current, power, capacity, temperature, and more, and simulating a discharge. You can visualize the parameters on the integrated color display, or through Bluetooth connectivity, check out the parameters and history in an Android smartphone or a PC running Windows. The program also shows additional parameters like estimated CO2 emissions and electricity charge, plus export of parameters to a spreadsheet for further analysis. DL24MP-150W Bluetooth battery tester specifications: Test voltage – 2 to 200V Current: 0.2~20A Discharge power – Up to 150 W Sensor – Temperature sensor Adapter boards Charging board with DC jack, mini USB, micro USB, and USB Type-C port Battery test board for 18650, 26650, 14505 […]

March 17, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

OK3568-C SBC provides dual GbE, WiFi 5, 4G/5G connectivity, multiple display interfaces

Taking a break from the recent RK3588 news, let’s check out a board based on Rockchip RK3568 quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 processor with the Forlinx OK3568-C single board computer equipped with up to 8GB RAM and 64 GB storage. The board is comprised of the company’s FET3568-C system-on-module and OK3568-C carrier board offering multiple display interfaces, plenty of connectivity options with dual Gigabit Ethernet, WiFI 5, Bluetooth 5.0, as well as optional 4G or 5G cellular connectivity, and PCIe slots. OK3568-C specifications: FET3568-C SoM SoC – Rockchip RK3568 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor @ up to 2.0 GHz with Mali-G52-2EE GPU supporting OpenGL ES 1.1, 2.0, 3.2, Vulkan 1.0,1.1, OpenCL 2.0, 1 TOPS NPU, 4K H.264, H.265, VP9 VPU System Memory – 2GB (default), 4GB, or /8GB DDR4 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash 4x 80-pin board-to-board connectors with I/Os and power signals Supply Voltage – DC5V Dimensions – 70 x 45mm Temperature range […]

March 17, 2022March 17, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

CM4-IO-POE-4G-Box – A Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 box for industrial IoT applications

While the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 is basically unobtanium, companies keep introducing products based on the Arm system-on-module, and Waveshare CM4-IO-POE-4G-Box is a complete system designed for industrial IoT applications with CAN Bus, RS232 and RS485 interfaces, Ethernet with PoE support, plus optional support for 2G to 5G cellular connectivity. The CM4-IO-POE-4G-Box is based on the “Compute Module 4 PoE 4G” carrier board which itself appears to be an update to the company’s earlier “Compute Module PoE 4G” carrier board for the Raspberry Pi CM3 module. CM4-IO-POE-4G-Box / Compute Module 4 PoE 4GB board specifications: Support SoM – All variants of Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 Storage – MicroSD card socket used for Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 Lite (without eMMC) Display 2x HDMI ports up to 4Kp30 (I suppose even 4Kp60) 2x 15-pin MIPI DSI connectors + openings in the enclosure for flat cables Camera – 2x internal […]

March 17, 2022February 25, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Rockchip RK3588 TRM, Android 12 firmware & SDK released

Firefly ITX-3588J mini-ITX motherboard powered by Rockchip RK3588 processor was introduced at the beginning of the month, and now the company has started selling samples for the Core-3588J system-on-module and taken the opportunity to release the Rockchip RK3588 TRM (technical reference manual), Android 12 firmware, and the SDK. Firefly Core-3588J module Before we check out the new documentation and Android software development kit, let’s have a quick look at Firefly Core-3588J module specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3588 octa-core processor with four Arm Cortex-A76 cores @ up to 2.4 GHz, four Arm Cortex-A55 cores, Arm Mali-G610 MP4 quad-core GPU with support for OpenGL ES3.2, OpenCL 2.2, Vulkan1.1, 6 TOPS NPU, 48MP ISP, 8Kp60 video decoding, 8Kp30 video encoding System Memory – 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, or 32GB LPDDR4/LPDDR4x/LPDDR5 memory Storage – 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, or 128GB eMMC flash 314-pin MXM 3.0 edge connector for peripherals interfaces including HDMI 2.1 outputs, HDMI 2.0 […]

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

March 16, 2022March 16, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

E-Ink Digital Paper Tablet is about the size of an A4 or US Letter paper

While there’s now a bunch of devices with an e-paper display, be it tablets or eReaders, it’s harder to find a model that is about the size of A4 (297 x 210mm) or US letter (279 x 216mm) papers. E-Ink Digitial Paper Tablet solves this issue with an NXP i.MX 8M Mini-powered Android 9 tablet offering a 13.3-inch display (301.1 x 222.8mm), as well as a smaller 10.1-inch display, for business applications. Both digital paper tablets feature E-Ink Carta 1250 screen technology with a higher contrast ratio and faster refresh rate, come with a digital pen supported by Wacom’s battery-free EMR technology, and are said to last about three weeks per charge for light usage. E-ink digital paper tablet specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX 8M mini quad-core Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1.8GHz Storage – 32 GB eMMC flash including 24GB for user data, or enough for about 10,000 typical […]

March 16, 2022October 5, 2022 by Ray - 37 Comments

1-Stream IPTV streaming software offers an alternative to Xtream Codes

1-Stream is an IPTV streaming platform with smart load balancing that allows providers to scale their service and integrates geo-location to ensure content delivery from the closest available server for quicker load times and less buffering. One popular professional IPTV platform used to be Xteam Codes for which I wrote a detailed four-part review but they started having trouble on September 18, 2019 with Xtream Codes IPTV Panels having a legal dispute related due to piracy, despite not providing any streams, and it seems they may never come back online, as their latest update contesting the claims date from January 2021. A lot has happened during these two and a half years in the IPTV scene with many alternatives, most of them with another similar name but based on almost the same old, PHP-based vulnerable platform found in the former Xtream Codes Panel version 2.9.3, which could never provide good […]