CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

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

MutantW V1 – An open-source ESP32 smartwatch designed with Autodesk Fusion 360 and EAGLE

Rahmanshaber is known for its DIY Raspberry Pi handheld PCs such as MutantC v4, but MutantW V1 is a completely different device as an ESP32-based DIY open-source smartwatch that he designed with Autodesk Fusion 360 and EAGLE. The smartwatch is equipped with a 1.7-inch IPS LCD display (non-touch), two hardware buttons, a NeoPixel RGB LED, a vibration motor, as being powered by an ESP32 SoC offers both 2.4GHz WiFi 4 Bluetooth LE connectivity. MutantW V1 specifications: WIreless module – A.i. Thinker ESP32-S WiFi and Bluetooth module with ESP32 dual-core processor @ 240MHz with 520KB SRAM, 4MB SPI flash Display – 1.69-inch SPI IPS LCD display (ST7789 driver) with 280 x 240 resolution, scratch-resistant front glass. Note: no touchscreen Programming – Via 4-pin charging cable or OTA firmware upgrade Misc – 2x programmable buttons, NeoPixel RGB LED, vibration motor Battery – 3.7V/200mAh LiPo battery likely good for one or two days; […]

February 8, 2022March 18, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

CLEAR is an open-source FPGA ASIC provided by Efabless’ chipIgnite

Open-source SoC designs are available to run on FPGA hardware, but few make it to silicon due to the costs involved. That’s why a couple of years ago the Google SkyWater PDK (process design kit) was released together with an offer to manufacture up to 100 pieces for free to selected designs in collaboration with Efabless. Efabless chipIgnite is an evolution of that offer with $9,750 being enough funds to manufacture 100 QFN or 300 WCSP parts, or alternatively 1,000 parts for $20 each ($20,000). Based on the company’s Caravel template SoC and the openFPGA generator framework, CLEAR open-source FPGA ASIC design is meant to promote and demonstrate the chipIgnite “paid IC creation” solution. You can participate by joining a group buying campaign on GroupGets to get a development board based on CLEAR for $74.99 plus shipping. CLEAR open-source FPGA ASIC features: FPGA – Small 8×8 (64) CLB eFPGA CPU […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM

February 8, 2022February 9, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments

Intel to invest $1 billion in foundry innovation, becomes RISC-V International member

Intel has just announced a $1 billion fund to support companies bringing innovations and new technologies to the foundry ecosystem. The company says the fund will prioritize investments in “capabilities that accelerate foundry customers’ time to market – spanning intellectual property (IP), software tools, innovative chip architectures, and advanced packaging technologies.” What’s interesting is that it does not only cover x86 architecture but also Arm and RISC-V, with a focus on the latter, as Intel has just become a Premier member of RISC-V International, and partnered with several companies offering RISC-V solutions including Andes Technology, Esperanto Technologies, SiFive, and Ventana Micro Systems. Intel’s Open Chiplet Platform Part of the investment will go to the Open Chiplet Platform offering a modular approach to chip design through chiplets with each block/chiplet customized for a particular function. This will allow designers to select the best IP and process technologies for a particular SoC. […]

February 7, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

Add four PCIe x1 slots to Raspberry Pi CM4 IO with Waveshare PCIe-Packet-Switch-4P board

The 1-lane PCIe Gen 2 interface in Broadcom BCM2711 processor is exposed in Raspberry Pi CM4, and most carrier boards are exploiting the interface including the official Raspberry Pi Compute Module IO carrier board. But if you ever wanted to connect multiple PCIe cards to the CM4 IO board, Waveshare has got you covered with the PCIe-Packet-Switch-4P that provides four PCIe x1 slots through an ASMedia ASM1184e PCIe switch. PCIe-Packet-Switch-4P expansion board specifications: Compatible with Raspberry Pi Compute module 4 IO board 4x PCIe Gen 2 x1 expansion slots, compatible with PCIe Gen 1 x1 ASM1184e PCIe switch taking 1x PCIe x1 Gen2 upstream port to 4x PCIe x1 Gen2 downstream ports; no driver required, plug and play Power Supply 12V via PCIe interface or 12V via DC jack (or even 5V see warnings below) Dimensions – 82 x 39 mm There are some interesting warnings in the Chinese […]

February 7, 2022June 5, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

CHUWI LarkBox X mini PC is powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 3700U mobile processor

CHUWI LarkBox X is an affordable mini PC based on a 15W AMD Ryzen 7 3700U mobile processor coupled with 8GB of RAM, a 256GB NVMe SSD, dual Gigabit Ethernet, 4K video output, and more. Contrary to the earlier Celeron-based LarkBox and LarkBox Pro palm-sized mini PCs, the LarkBox X comes with a larger form factor providing additional ports and possibly better cooling for the more performant AMD processor. LarkBox X specifications: SoC – AMD Ryzen 7 3700U quad-core/eight-thread processor @ 2.30GHz / 4.0GHz (Turbo) with Radeon RX Vega 10 Graphics; 15W TDP System Memory – 8GB DDR4, dual channels via 2x 260-pin DDR4 SO-DIMMs (upgradeable up to 32GB RAM) Storage – 256GB NVMe M.2 2280 SSD (PCIe 3.0) upgradable up to 2TB Video Output 1x HDMI 2.0 up to 4Kp60 1x DisplayPort up to 4Kp60 1x USB Type -C up to 4Kp30 with DisplayPort Alt. mode Three independent displays […]

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

Qualcomm IPQ8076A WiFi 6E access point offers dual 10GbE, supports PoE++

Lanner LWR-X8460 is an enterprise-grade 12-stream, tri-band Wi-Fi 6E access point powered by Qualcomm IPQ8076A quad-core Cortex-A53 processor also equipped with two 10GbE multi-speed ports, and four additional Gigabit Ethernet ports. The access point also supports IEEE 802.3bt standard for the PoE++ power delivery, Bluetooth 5.1 for IoT management, and its features set makes it suitable for remote video conferencing, telehealth, distance learning, public safety monitoring, IoT applications, as well as general connectivity in any crowded and dense Wi-Fi environments. Lanner LWR-X8460 specifications: WiSoC – Qualcomm IPQ8076A Hawkeye quad-core Cortex-A53 processor @ 2.2GHz part of the Networking Pro 1200 Platform System Memory – 1GB DDR4 Storage – 8MB NOR flash, 256MB NAND flash Networking Wi-Fi Standards – IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax Peak PHY Rates – 2.4GHz: 1147 Mbps; 5GHz: 2402 Mbps; 6GHz: 4804 Mbps 12x antennas 2.4GHz: Peak gain 3.6dBi, Internal 4×4, Omnidirectional 5GHz: Peak gain 5.7dBi, Internal 4×4, Omnidirectional 6GHz: […]

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

February 6, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Review of GL.inet GL-S10 BLE to MQTT gateway with MQTT X open-source client

I started the review of GL.inet GL-S10 BLE to MQTT gateway in December by doing an unboxing and a teardown of the ESP32 gateway and BLE beacon provided. I’ve now had to play with the device and recommended app and software, and it took longer than expected since I encountered several issues during testing, most of which should now be resolved with new firmware, and documentation will be updated very soon. I mostly followed the steps from the detailed user manual for this review. The first time I did was to install the GL-S10 Tool App for Android, then power the gateway while pressing its button to enter pairing mode and soon enough the gateway was detected. Note you should probably not share the MAC address of your devices as there’s no security by default, and anybody would be able to access the information with the tools we’ll use below. […]

February 5, 2022February 5, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Lantronix G520 cellular gateways target industrial communication, cybersecurity, and transportation

Lantronix G520-series 4G LTE Cat 4 and 5G cellular gateways are designed to address challenges in Industry 4.0, security, and transportation markets with three/four separate gateways all based on an unnamed ARM926EJ-S-based CPU running at 600 MHz that’s most likely Microchip SAM9X60 processor introduced in 2020. All gateways are from the same base with variation for specific markets: G526 Industrial Gateway with LTE Cat 4 Ethernet, Serial, I/O, Fieldbus conversion, and other industrial protocols G527/G528 Security Gateway with LTE Cat 13 or 5G, built-in cryptographic secure element and PSE-PoE G528 Transportation Gateway (coming soon) with LTE Cat 4, GNSS, accelerometer, CAN Bus reading, and other tracking features Lantronix G520-series specifications: SoC – ARM926EJ-S-based processor running at 600 MHz with 32 KB instruction cache and 32KB data cache System Memory – 256MB DDR2 SDRAM Storage – 8MB SPI flash for OS, 256MB parallel NAND flash, MicroSD slot, or USB flash drive […]