Getting Started with the Yocto Linux BSP for Polarfire SoC FPGA Icicle Kit

Getting Started Guide PolarFire SoC FPGA Icicle Kit

Last month I received Microchip PolarFire SoC FPGA Icicle development kit that features PolarFire SoC FPGA with a Penta–core 64-bit RISC-V CPU subsystem and an FPGA with 254K LE, and booted it into the pre-installed Linux operating systems based on OpenEmbedded. Today, I’ll show how to get started with the Yocto BSP and run the EEMBC CoreMark benchmark, and I’ll check out the FPGA with Libero SoC Design Suite in a couple of weeks. Operating Systems supported by PolarFire SoC FPGA My initial idea was to focus this part of the review on Linux on RISC-V status, checking some system information, running some benchmarks (e.g. SBC-Bench), compiling the Linux kernel, and installing services like a LEMP stack (Linux, Nginx (pronounced Engine-X), MySQL, PHP) which could be used for WordPress hosting for instance. But then I looked at the operating systems supported with Microchip PolarFire SoC FPGA. There’s a Yocto Linux […]

Pocket P.C. devkits ship, U-blox GNSS module replaced by SIMCom SIM33ELA

Popcorn Computer Shipping

The Pocket P.C. (aka Popcorn Computer) is a handheld Linux computer based on Allwinner A64 with 2GB RAM, 32GB storage, a 4.95-inch Full HD display, and a QWERTY keyboard that was introduced in 2019, and reminds me of PocketCHIP from a few years also with an Allwinner processor, a display, a keyboard, and a battery. The initial plan was to start shipping the device by May 2020, and there are been delays for reasons we’ll explain below, but the good news is that Source Parts has just announced the developer units had been shipped. So what happened exactly, besides the COVID-19 pandemic, government lockdowns, and supply chain disruptions? Source Parts first encountered issues with the quality of PCBs delivered by the manufacturer, which ended up with them having to switch to a new manufacturer. Getting the display to work was also a challenge, and Icenowy, a developer involved with linux-sunxi […]

ArmSoM CM5 - Raspberry Pi CM4 alternative with Rockchip RK3576 SoC

Fairphone 4 repairable Android smartphone comes with a 5-year warranty

Fairphone 4

The Fairphone is a socially responsible repairable, modular Android smartphone that aims to last longer than most other phones. The latest iteration is the Fairphone 4, which follows the Fairphone 3 released in August 2019. The Fairphone 4 runs Android 11 on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G octa-core processor coupled with up to 8GB RAM, 256GB of storage, and a 6.3-inch Full HD+ display. The smartphone comes with a 5-year warranty by default, and software updates are guaranteed until at least 2025. Fairphone 4 specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G (SM7225) octa-core Kryo 570 processor with 2x Cortex-A77 cores @ 2.2GHz, 6x Cortex-A55 cores @ 1.8GHz, Adreno 619 GPU System Memory & Storage options 6GB RAM, 128GB internal storeage, MicroSD card socket up to 2TB 8GB RAM, 256GB internal storage, MicroSD card socket up to 2TB Display – 6.3-inch Full HD+ (2340×1080) IPS touchscreen display with Gorilla Glass 5 Cameras Primary […]

Open-source Allwinner V3 ISP driver to enable blob-free camera support in mainline Linux

Allwinner V3 ISP Linux driver

Bootlin has just submitted the first patchset for the Allwinner V3 image signal processor (ISP) driver in mainline Linux which should pave the way for a completely open-source, blob-free camera support in Linux using V4L2. There are several blocks in an SoC for camera support including a camera input interface such as MIPI CSI 2 and an ISP to process the raw data into a usable image. Add to this the need to implement the code for sensors, and there’s quite a lot of work to get it all working. Allwinner SDK comes with several binary blobs, aka closed-source binary, but Bootlin is working on making those obsolete, having first worked on Allwinner A31, V3s/V3/S3, and A83T MIPI CSI-2 support for the camera interface driver in the V4L2 framework (and Rockchip PX30, RK1808, RK3128 and RK3288 processors), as well as implemented support for Omnivision OV8865 and OV5648 image sensors earlier […]

M5Stack TOUGH – A weatherproof ESP32 Industrial IoT controller

M5Stack TOUGH weatherproof ESP32 display

M5Stack has launched several ESP32 WiFi & BLuetooth IoT controllers with an integrated display such as M5Stack Core2. The latest model, M5Stack TOUGH, is a little different as it is rugged and waterproof/weatherproof with a UV resistant enclosure sealed with o-ring, and offering waterproof M12 connectors. With protection against solid objects, dust, sand, dirt, and water drops, as well as variety of installation options such as screw mount, rolled strip, magnetic and adhesive back, the M5Stack TOUGH is suitable for more demanding environments from kitchens to factory floors, and outdoor data acquisition. M5Stack TOUGH specifications: SoC – Espressif ESP32-D0WDQ6-V3 dual-core processor @ 240 MHz with 520 KB, 2.4 GHz WiFi, and dual-mode Bluetooth Extra RAM – 8MB PSRAM Storage – 16MB Flash, MicroSD card slot up to 16GB Display – 2-inch color LCD with multi-touch capacitive screen, 320×240 resolution, 853nit brightness; ILI9342C display driver and CHSC6540 chip Audio – NS4168 […]

ODROID-N2+ SBC gets Ubuntu 21.10, Chromium OS with Panfrost open-source GPU driver

ODROID-N2+ running Ubuntu 21.10 with Panfrost

Panfrost open-source driver for Arm Mali Bifrost and Midgard GPUs has come a long way, and Hardkernel’s ODROID-N2+ board now supports Ubuntu 21.10 and Chromium OS with 3D graphics acceleration through the Panfrost driver. As a reminder, ODROID-N2+ is a single board computer powered by an Amlogic S922X Rev.C processor clocked at 2.4GHz with an Arm Mali-G52 GPU, with up to 4GB RAM, and which comes with HDMI 2.0, Gigabit Ethernet, four USB 3.0 ports, plus a GPIO header. ODROID-N2+ with Ubuntu 21.10 + Panfrost Ubuntu 21.10 Impish Indiri is supposed to be released on October 14, 2021 together with Gnome 40, but Hardkernel released a development version as early as August, with Linux 5.14 and Panfrost GPU acceleration as you can see from the screenshot above. The Ubuntu 21.10 image for ODROID-N2+ and the earlier ODROID-N2 SBC cannot be found in the Wiki just yet, but should be there […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs

Fujitsu introduces Wirepas Massive USB dongle for location tracking, IoT mesh networking

Fujitsu Wirepas Massive USB Dongle

I was first introduced to Wirepas Massive mesh networking a few days ago when I covered Solidrun Solidsense N8 IoT Compact Wirepas Massive gateway comprised of an NXP i.MX 8M Nano processor running Linux and a module based on Nordic Semi nRF52832 wireless MCU handling Wirepas Massive through its 2.4 GHz radio. It turns out there’s an easy way to add the new mesh networking technology to existing gateways: USB dongles. Fujitsu has launched the FWM8BLZ09x Wirepas Massive USB dongle family, based on the more recent nRF52833 SoC, with Anchor, Tag, and Sink models. Fujitsu FWM8BLZ09x specifications: USB Dongle Types Anchor – FWM8BLZ09P Tag – FWM8BLZ09T Sink – FWM8BLZ09S Wireless MCU – Nordic Semi nRF52833-CJAA Cortex-M4 microcontroller @ 64 MHz with  8 KB RAM, 512 KB Flash, 2.4 GHz radio Connectivity Wirepas Massive mesh networking Transmit power – +8dBm max. Carrier frequency – 2,400MHz to 2,483.5MHz Modulation – GFSK Symbol rate […]

Nicla Sense ME – Arduino PRO meets Bosch SensorTech’s motion and environmental sensors

Arduino NICLA SENSE ME

Arduino is going full steam ahead with its Arduino PRO family of boards for industrial applications. After the announcement of the Portenta H7 Lite board earlier this month, the company has now introduced the Arduino Nicla Sense ME designed in collaboration with Bosch Sensortec. The Nicla Sense ME (Motion & Environment) board comes with a range of Bosch Sensortec sensors notably a 9DoF smart motion sensor and a 4DoF environmental sensor with AI capabilities, and targets industrial IoT applications either for research projects, rapid prototyping, or commercial products. Arduino Nicla Sense ME specifications: MCU – Nordic Semi nRF52832 Cortex-M4 microcontroller @ 64 MHz with 512KB Flash, 64KB RAM, Bluetooth 4.2/5.0 LE connectivity (via U-blox ANNA B112 module) Storage – 2MB SPI flash for storage; 2MB QSPI dedicated for BHI260AP Sensors BHI260AP motion sensor system with integrated AI, “Fuser 2” 32-bit Synopsys DesignWare ARC EM4 core with RISC FPU BMM150 magnetometer […]

Boardcon Rockchip and Allwinner SoM and SBC products