CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

December 26, 2021February 4, 2022 by Ian W MORRISON (Linuxium) - 4 Comments

Beelink GTi11 review – Part 2: Ubuntu 20.04 on an Intel Core i5-1135G7 mini PC

Previously I reviewed Beelink’s new GTi11 Intel Tiger Lake mini PC running Windows 11, so in this part, I will cover Ubuntu 20.04. Hardware Recap The GTi11 is a 168 x 120 x 39mm (6.61 x 4.72 x 1.54 inches) actively cooled mini PC and the review model has an i5-1135G7 Intel Tiger Lake quad-core 8-thread 2.50 GHz Core processor boosting to 4.20 GHz with Intel’s Xe Graphics. The review model also includes a 500GB M.2 2280 NVMe PCIe Gen 3.0 SSD drive initially with Windows 10 Pro installed but now successfully upgraded to Windows 11 Pro, two sticks of 8GB DDR4 3200 MHz memory, a soldered WiFi 6 (or 802.11ax) Intel AX201 chip and dual 2.5Gb Ethernet ports. The specifications list four of the USB ports as 3.0 so I retested them on Ubuntu using a Samsung 980 PRO PCle 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD housed in an ‘USB to […]

December 24, 2021June 4, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 37 Comments

$35 Orange Pi 3 LTS SBC comes with 2GB RAM, 8GB flash, AW859A WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 module

Orange Pi 3 LTS is a cost-down, more compact version of Orange Pi 3 SBC launched in 2019 with Allwinner H6 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor, Gigabit Ethernet, four USB 3.0 ports, and mPCIe socket with a PCIe x1 Gen2 lane. AFAICR, the latter never really worked well due to a botched implementation in the SoC. The new slimmed-down Orange Pi 3 LTS is sized like a business card, loses the mostly useless mPCIe socket from the original board, comes with 2GB LPDDR3 RAM (no more 1GB RAM option), a lower number of USB ports, USB Type-C power input, and an Allwinner AW859A WiFi and Bluetooth module replaces the Ampak AP6256 module from the original board. Orange Pi 3 LTS specifications: SoC – Allwinner H6 quad-core Cortex A53 processor clocked at up to 1.8 GHz with Arm Mali-T720MP2 GPU supporting OpenGL ES 3.1/3.0/2.0/1.1, DirectX 11 System Memory – 2GB LPDDR3 (before 1GB […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM

December 24, 2021December 24, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Newt 2.7-inch wireless display offers high refresh rate with SHARP’s Memory-in-Pixel (MiP) technology (Crowdfunding)

Newt is a battery-powered, always-on, ESP32-S2 wireless display with a 2.7-inch display leveraging SHARP’s Memory-in-Pixel (MiP) technology to provide an experience similar to E-Ink displays but with a much faster refresh rate. The wireless display can connect to the Internet to retrieve weather, calendars, sports scores, to-do lists, quotes, and whatever you’d like. Since it is powered by an ESP32-S2 microcontroller you can program with the ESP-IDF framework, Arduino, MicroPython, or CircuitPython. Newt display specifications: WiFi module – Espressif ESP32-S2-WROVER module with ESP32-S2 single-core Xtensa LX7 processor @ 240 MHz with 4 MB flash and 2 MB PSRAM Display – 2.7-inch, 240 x 400 pixel SHARP MiP LCD with “high-contrast, high-resolution, low-latency content with ultra-low power consumption”, reflective mode to eliminate the need for a backlight. USB – 1x USB Type-C port for programming, power, and charging Expansion – I2C Qwiik connector Misc Micro Crystal RV-3028-C7 RTC (45nA power consumption) […]

December 24, 2021December 27, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 24 Comments

Manufacturing samples of Xassette-Asterisk open-source hardware board

We covered Xassette-Asterisk open source-hardware Allwinner D1s RISC-V Linux SBC last October. But it will most likely never be mass-manufactured since SdtElectronics, the designer, has no resources and time for production. So I thought I should give it a try, and I managed to get 10 boards manufactured and assembled. Time for a little disclaimer. While the post is not sponsored in the sense I did not get paid for it, NextPCB agreed to cover all costs, aka sponsor, and manufacture ten boards. Today, I’ll report my experience manufacturing an open-source hardware board, but I had no time to check whether any of the boards worked. Manufacturing timeline Since I did not want to go through the whole process of ordering the PCB, purchasing the components, and soldering each board individually, I opted for NextPCB’s PCB manufacturing and assembly services. Here’s the detailed timeline: November 9 – Ordered 10 boards […]

December 23, 2021December 23, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

(Some) TP-Link routers enable hidden networks by default. Is that an issue?

There are plenty of security issues with many routers including firmware that is seldom upgraded, opened (telnet) port with the default password, and the list could go on. But Jahed Ahmed recently wrote about an issue I had not heard of before: his TP-Link router shows two hidden networks in 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands that he only discovered after running WiFi Analyzer on his phone. He did not enable those networks, so that was the default configuration from the firmware. That could potentially pose a security risk, contributes to WiFi spam, and Jahed also mentions a waste of energy although the extra power consumption is probably limited, even when scaled to millions of users. So why is TP-Link doing this? Apparently for their OneMesh mesh wireless network system and device including range and powerline extenders that users may want to use. Other users have been reporting this issue […]

December 23, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Dual 10GbE router supports WiFi 6 (AX3600)

We’ve just written about a Qualcomm IPQ8072A SBC/reference design with two 10GbE ports and WiFi 6 that’s good for companies wanting to design their own system, but if you’re looking for a dual 10GbE router there are already options, notably QNAP QHora-310W sold for $329 on Amazon. But another dual 10GbE router with WiFi 6 was brought to my attention from a company I had never heard of. Acelink BR-6889AX is a WiFi 6 “AX3600 4T4R 10GE Router” based on Qualcomm IPQ8072A processor that’s suitable for the connected home and office networks including WFH use cases. Acelink BR-6889AX specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Hawkeye IPQ8072A quad-core Cortex A53 @ 2.2GHz with dual-core multi-threaded network accelerator, In-line security engine System Memory – 512 MB DDR3 (2x 256MB) Storage – 4MB SPI NOR flash, 128MB NAND flash Networking Wired 2x 100/1,000/2,500/5,000/10,000Mbps BASE-T Ethernet (RJ45) ports with Link/Act, Speed LED 3x 10/100/1,000Mbps BASE-T Ethernet […]

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

December 23, 2021December 23, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

HUENIT modular robot arm takes 3D printer, laser engraver, suction, AI camera modules (Crowdfunding)

Most robot arms are designed to carry and manipulate payloads, but HUENIT modular robot arm is much more versatile as besides a traditional suction module, the robot supports modules such as a 3D printer, laser engraver, pen holder for drawings, and a creator module for let people designed their own. The robot arm can hold payloads of up to 750 grams, have a reach of up to 39 cm without module, supports WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, and can also optionally be fitted with a 2MP AI camera module based on Kendryte K210 RISC-V processor with built-in AI accelerators. HUENIT specifications: Robot arm 4-axis Payload up to 750 grams Reach – 390mm without module Repeatability – 0.05mm Precision – 0.1mm Speed – Up to 500mm/s Storage – MicroSD card slot USB – 1x USB-C port Wireless – WiFI and Bluetooth Misc – UART, external stepper Power Supply – 24V DC input, […]

December 22, 2021December 23, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

MYIR introduces i.MX 8M Plus module and devkit with AI/ML capabilities

There are already plenty of i.MX 8M Plus systems-on-module, but here’s one more courtesy of MYIR Tech with MYC-JX8MPQ i.MX 8M Plus module with as well as MYD-JX8MPQ development board for evaluating the solution. The module is especially well suited to applications leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) with the NXP Cortex-A53/M7 integrating a 2.3 TOPS Neural Processing Unit (NPU). The module comes with up to 6GB LPDDR4, 128GB eMMC flash, 32MB QSPI flash, a PMIC for power management, as well as a 314-pin MXM 3.0 connector exposing the I/Os from the processor. MYC-JX8MPQ module specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX 8M Plus (MIMX8ML8CVNKZAB) quad-core Cortex-A53 processor @ 1.6 GHz, real-time Arm Cortex-M7 co-processor @ 800 MHz, 2.3 TOPS AI accelerator, 2D/3D GPU, HiFi4 Audio DSP, and 1080p VPU System Memory – 3GB LPDDR4 (option up to 6GB) Storage – 8GB eMMC flash (option up to 128GB), 32MB QSPI […]