CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

November 12, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Portwell COM Express Tiger Lake-H module supports 2.5GbE, PCIe Gen 4, 8K, up to 64GB DDR4

Portwell PCOM-B657VGL COM Express TIger Lake-H

Portwell PCOM-B657VGL joins other COM Express and COM HPC modules based on Intel Tiger Lake-H Xeon, Core, and Celeron embeddded processors such as ADLINK Express-TL and Congatec conga-HPC/cTLH. Just like its competitors, the Portwell COM Express Type 6 Basic module offers 8K video output, PCIe x16 Gen 4, up to 64GB DDR4, USB 3.2 Gen 2, and 2.5GbE networking for a wide range of higher-end embedded applications such as industrial automation, medical equipment, graphics-intensive applications, and artificial intelligence. Portwell PCOM-B657VGL specifications: SoC (one or the other) General Embedded Intel Celeron 6600HE dual-core processor @ 2.6GHz with 8MB L3 Cache, 16EU Intel UHD graphics, 35W TDP Intel Core i3-11100HE processor with 4 cores / 8 threads @ 2.4GHz (up to 4.4GHz in Turbo Boost) with 8MB L3 Cache, 16EU Intel UHD graphics, 45/35W cTDP Intel Core i5-11500HE processor with 6 cores / 12 threads @ 2.6GHz (up to 4.1GHz in Turbo […]

November 12, 2021November 12, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

GL.inet GL-S10 – A compact BLE to MQTT IoT Gateway

GL.inet is better known for its WiFi routers, but the company’s latest model, the GL-S10, can not be used as a WiFi access point, and instead, the ESP32 powered device acts as a BLE to MQTT IoT gateway over Ethernet or WiFi. The gateway will gather data from Bluetooth LE devices such as beacons, and be used in warehouses, shopping malls, airports, exhibition halls, tourist attractions, etc… for personnel management, asset management, environmental monitoring, indoor navigation, and more. GL.inet GL-S10 specifications: SoC – Espressif ESP32-D0WD dual-core processor with WiFi and BLE connectivity System Memory – 8MB RAM (PSRAM) Storage – 4MB NOR flash Connectivity 10/100M Ethernet port IEEE 802.11 b/g/n WiFi 4 @ 2.4 GHz up to 150 Mbps; station mode only Bluetooth 4.2 LE with GAP and GATT support, can act as GATT server or GATT client MQTT connectivity to the cloud Misc – 3x LEDs (Power, Internet. BLE), […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM

November 11, 2021March 27, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Amlogic T972 multimedia networking SBC supports 4K V-by-One displays

We’ve seen plenty of Amlogic S-series TV boxes and SBCs over the years, but Amlogic also manufacturer T-series SoCs designed for televisions. Since there are relatively few TV manufacturers compared to TV boxes or board manufacturers we seldom read about those. But a few years ago, we noticed a TV box based on Amlogic T962E quad-core Cortex-A53 processor offering both HDMI input and output ports, and now Shenzhen Tomao just informed me they were offering an Amlogic T972 multimedia network SBC for digital signage applications with multiple HDMI inputs and a V-By-One display interface with support for up to 4K resolutions. Amlogic T972 SBC specifications: SoC – Amlogic T972 (or T962X2) quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 processor @ 1.98 GHz with Arm Mali-G31 MP2  GPU with support for OpenGL ES 3.2, Vulkan 1.1 and OpenCL 2.0 System memory – 2GB or 4GB DDR4 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash, MicroSD card socket Display […]

November 11, 2021December 20, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Renesas RH850/U2B automotive SoC features RISC-V-based parallel co-processor

Renesas Electronics RH850/U2B is an automotive SoC designed for electronic control unit (ECU) with used for hybrid ICE and xEV traction inverter, high-end zone control, connected gateways, and vehicle motion applications. The processor includes up to eight 400MHz RH850 32-bit RISC performance cores with four of them in lockstep architecture for ASIL-D and ASIL-B compliance, as well as DR1000C RISC-V-based parallel co-processor (data flow processor) with vector extension (DFP) from NSITEXE designed to support “the fast execution of complex mathematical algorithms”. Renesas RH850/U2B key features & specifications: CPU cores – 400MHz speed for up to 8+4 (LockStep) RH850 G4MH CPUs Memory – Up to 5.1MB RAM on-chip Storage Up to 32MB Flash on-chip SFMA (Serial flash memory interface), eMMC interfaces for external storage Co-Processor – DR1000C RISC-V based MIMD high-performance embedded vector processor Embedded EMU3S (Embedded motor control unit), RDC3X (Position sensor interface), TSG3 (motor timer) for field-oriented traction motor […]

November 11, 2021November 11, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Giveaway Week 2021 winners announced!

Giveaway Week 2021 is now over, and I’m ready to announce the winners. This year, CNX Software was joined by Rakwireless and Shenzhen Xunlong Software, as I did not have enough hardware to send out. I also had planned to give away Crowbits Master Kit, but when I realized the ESP32 module had a battery, I would have had to ask $100 just for shipping, plus having the risk of messing things up, since I’ve never sent devices with batteries with the new regulations. Nevertheless, the void was filled thanks to the generosity of Rakwireless who offered a solar-powered LoRa GPS tracker, and Shenzhen Xunlong Software who proposed an Orange Pi R1 SBC with a plastic enclosure. Let’s go through the list of winners located in four continents with Europe, North America, Asia, and Oceania represented: NanoPi R2S gateway – Jason, CANADA WisBlock Kit 2 LoRa-based GPS Tracker with Solar […]

November 10, 2021November 10, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Raspberry Pi inspired Intel SBC supports Myriad X AI accelerator, 5G connectivity

Axiomtek KIWI310 may look like a Raspberry Pi SBC but it packs an Intel Celeron N3350 processor, an M.2 slot with support for Myriad X AI accelerator, and the company also offer a HAT with 5G cellular connectivity. The single board computer also comes with up to 4GB LPDDR4 memory, up to 64GB eMMC flash, a Micro HDMI port, two USB 3.0 and two USB 2.0 ports, as well as the ubiquitous 40-pin GPIO header. Power options are also an improvement over your typical Raspberry Pi board with USB-C PD as well as LiPo battery support. Axiomtek KIWI310 specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron N3350 dual-core Apollo Lake processor @ 1.1 GHz / 2.4 GHz (Turbo) with Intel HD Graphics 500; 6W TDP System Memory – Up to 4GB (specs) or 8GB (YouTube video) LPDDR4 Storage – Up to 64GB eMMC flash, SPI flash for AMI BIOS Video & audio output […]

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

November 10, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Ikea PM2.5 air quality sensor’s ESP8266 hack adds WiFi, MQTT, and Tasmota support

Ikea VINDRIKTNING PM2.5 air quality sensor functionality can be augmented with an ESP8266 WiFi board or module, and open-source firmware adding MQTT, or the popular Tasmosta firmware for more features. Out of the box, Ikea air quality sensor simply shows green (good), yellow (ok), and red (not good) colors to indicate the level of pollution with PM2.5 levels. But Sören Beye (Hypfer), who also happens to have developed Valetudo firmware for smart vacuum cleaners, has added a Wemos D1 Mini board to his sensor and developed open-source firmware with MQTT support. You’ll need to open the air quality sensor, and solder three wires between the ESP8266 board and the 5V, GND, and Tx (data) pin from the Ikea VINDRIKTNING mainboard. After flashing the firmware, you still get the original LED indicator plus PM 2.5 air quality data sent over MQTT and WiFi. The update system supports Home Assistant Autodiscovery with […]

November 10, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

NXP i.MX 93 processor combines Cortex-A55 cores with Ethos U65 microNPU

NXP has unveiled the i.MX 93 processor family comprised of i.MX 935x, 933x, 932x, and 931x parts at this time with up to two Cortex-A55 cores, one Arm Cortex-M33 real-time core, as well as an Ethos U65 microNPU for machine learning (ML). We wrote about i.MX 9 family back in March with NXP telling us it would include an Arm Ethos U-65 microNPU and EdgeLock secure enclave, be manufactured with a 16/12nm FinFET class process, and includes the “Energy Flex” architecture to optimize power consumption by turning on/off specific blocks in the processor. The NXP i.MX 93 is the first family leveraging those new features, and we know have some more details. NXP i.MX 93 processor specifications: CPU 1x or 2x Arm Cortex-A55 @ 1.7 GHz with 32KB I-cache, 32KB D-cache, 64KB L2 cache, 256KB L3 cache with ECC 1x Arm Cortex-M33 @ 250 MHz low power microcontroller with 256KB […]

Boardcon EM3562 Rockchip RK3562 SBC with 8 analog camera inputs