CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

August 5, 2021December 22, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

Overview and List of System-on-Module and Computer-on-Module Standards – Q7, SMARC, COM HPC, and More

A System-on-Module (SoM), also known as a Computer-on-Module (CoM), is a small board with the key components of a computer such as SoC, memory, and possibly others components such as PMIC (Power Management IC), an Ethernet PHY, as well as one or more connectors used to connect to a baseboard, also called carrier board, which features standard ports such as Ethernet (RJ45), USB ports, SATA, power jack and so on. The advantages of using of baseboard + SoM design compared to a single board are at least twofold: Most of the PCB design complexity is often around the CPU/SoC and high-speed buses connected to the CPU/SoC. So you could buy an SoM, design your own baseboard and get a complete design relatively in a short amount of time, with reduced development resources and costs. The design is modular, so you could easily upgrade from one SoM to another one. For […]

August 5, 2021September 26, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

BL-63B – A smaller BL602 IoT module that sells for $1.5

Bouffalo Labs BL602 is a low-cost, low-power RISC-V microcontroller that offers 2.4 GHz WiFi and Bluetooth 5.0 LE connectivity for IoT projects for about the price of ESP8266. We first discovered it last year, together with a development board. Pine64 created its own PineCone board fitted with the $2 PineNut module, and some reverse-engineering work has started on BL602 SDK. But there’s now another smaller BL602 module with “Machine Intelligence” (that’s the company name) BL-63B that sells for $1.5 on Taobao in China, as well as on LCSC Electronics albeit you’d need to purchase 1000 pieces to get that price, and single-unit pricing is currently $2.5. BL-63B WiFI & BLE module specifications: SoC – Bouffalo Labs BL602 32-bit RISC-V processor @ up to 192 Mhz with 276KB RAM, 128KB ROM, 1Kbit eFuse, WiFi and BLE Storage – 2MB flash Wireless 2.4GHz 802.11b/g/n WiFI 4 1×1 SISO up to 65 Mbps […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM

August 5, 2021August 10, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 15 Comments

Board for 60 ESP-01 modules that update firmware from Github, mine “Duino Coins”

When I first saw the large ESP-01 V1.0 board on Facebook, I thought it was designed to speed up firmware updates of up to 60 ESP-01 modules. The developer, Thanormsin, just explained it would take 5 to 24V DC input to power all ESP8266 attached to it. It looks cool to have so many But there was no PC interface to update the firmware, so it did not make sense to me, even if it could be used for OTA firmware updates, as the first time, one would have to manual update the firmware. So I discussed with Thanormsin, and he explains to me his initial arrangement was a cable mess. That is why he designed a board to make it neater, and easier to manage. Each ESP-01 module can update firmware from the Internet, more especially from Github, as each time a new firmware version is uploaded to Github, […]

August 4, 2021August 4, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Intel Core i5-1135G7 Tiger Lake mini PC with 12GB RAM sells for $700 and up

Minisforum TL50 is a mini PC based on Intel Core i5-1135G7 Tiger Lake quad-core/octa-thread processor that ships with 12GB RAM, and optional 256GB and 512GB SSD preloaded with Windows 10 Pro. The mini PC also features two 2.5 Gbps Gigabit Ethernet ports, two 2.5-inch SATA drives, one M.2 slot for NVMe SSD, and supports 8K and 4K monitor setups through HDMI, DisplayPort, and USB-C video outputs. It was announced a few months ago, but it’s now available for sale for $699.99 and more on Banggood depending on storage options. MINISFORUM TL50 specifications: SoC – Intel Core i5-1135G7 4 cores/8 threads Tiger Lake processor @ 2.4 GHz / 4.20 GHz (Turbo) with 8MB cache, 80 EU Intel Iris Xe Graphics @ up to 1.30GHz; TDP: 12 to 28W System Memory – 12GB LPDDR4 soldered on board Storage M.2 2280 socket for NVMe PCIe SSD optionally fitted with a 256GB or 512GB […]

August 4, 2021September 26, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Vecow unveils Intel Atom x6211E based fanless Box PC & Pico-ITX motherboard

Vecow EPBC-1000 2.5-inch/Pico-ITX single board computer powered by an Intel Atom x6211E Elkhart Lake processor, and found in the company’s PBC-1000 ultra-compact fanless embedded box PC, is designed for edge applications such as intelligent control, energy management, M2M, In-Vehicle Infotainment (IVI), factory automation, and any AIoT or Industry 4.0 applications. Vecow EPBC-1000 Pico-ITX board and PBC-1000 embedded mini PC specifications: SoC – Intel Atom x6211E dual-core EIkhart Lake processor @ 1.20 GHz / 3.0 GHz (Turbo), with 16 EU Intel UHD graphics @ 350 MHz / 750 MHz, 1.5MB cache; 6W TDP System Memory – 1x DDR4 3200MHz SO-DIMM up to 32GB RAM Storage – 1x SATA III (6Gbps) port Video Output – 1x DisplayPort up to 4096 x 2160 @ 60Hz Audio 1x Mic-in, 1x Line-out Realtek ALC888S-VD, 7.1 Channel HD audio codec Networking 2x Gigabit Ethernet port via Realtek RTL8119I Ethernet Controllers Optional WiFi/Bluetooth or 4G LTE via […]

August 4, 2021August 5, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Congatec COM-HPC & COM Express Xeon modules target high-end IoT gateways, medical edge applications

Tiger Lake-H COM-HPC & COM Express CPU modules

Yesterday, we wrote about ADLink Express-TL COM Express Basic Size Type 6 module powered by the latest Intel Tiger Lake-H Xeon, Core, and Celeron processors designed for high-end industrial & embedded systems. But as one would expect more such modules are coming to market, and Congatec announced both COM-HPC and COM Express CPU modules based on Intel Tiger Lake-H processors with target applications include high-end IoT gateways and medical edge applications. Let’s check out both conga-HPC/cTLH COM-HPC Client Size B modules (120mm x 120mm), as well as the conga-TS570 COM Express Basic Type 6 modules (125mm x 95mm). conga-HPC/cTLH COM-HPC module Key features and specifications: SoC – Choice of ten Intel Xeon, Core i3/i5i/7, or Celeron 6600HE processors with Intel Xe Gen12 graphics part of Tiger Lake-H family System Memory – Up to 4 SO-DIMM sockets for DDR4 ECC memory modules up to 32 GB each (128 GB total) with […]

August 3, 2021August 3, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

XGO Mini Pro robot dog features Kendryte K210 AI processor (Crowdfunding)

[Update: Initially published on July 30th, XGO Mini Pro robot dog is now up on Kickstarter. While it was listed on the Kendryte K510 product page, it is only offered with the earlier Kendryte K210 in the crowdfunding campaign] Kendryte K510 RISC-V AI processor is the successor of Kendryte K210 with much more AI processing power (2.5/3 TOPS) that makes it suitable for robotics projects demanding much lower latency and quasi-real-time inference. One of the first products to be compatible with both Kendryte K510/K210 capabilities is Luwu Intelligence Technology’s XGO Mini Pro, a four-legged robot that looks like a dog with a tiny head providing the “smarts” for the system including face detection, image recognition, object tracking, voice recognition, and so on. We first found the description of the robot on Canaan’s website is rather short with an explanation that when equipped with is equipped with a 9-axis IMU and […]

August 3, 2021August 6, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments

Shipping costs from China are going through the roof

Since the beginning of the year, we’ve had a worldwide chip shortage that increased the price of components, followed by long lead times. My Twitter feed is often filled with complaints of expensive components (e.g. STM32 being 10 times more expensive), and ever-increasing lead times of up to two years. But lockdowns and some governments paying people to stay home have completely messed up the supply chain, and with China having reopened a long time ago, many containers are shipping with products from China, only to return half-empty, or not at all. This behavior can be seen in the US trade deficit that almost doubled in the last year or so, and freight rates have gone through the roof for a while, but especially in the recent weeks/months. The chart above shows a container rate of over $10,000 for a 40-foot box from just around $2,000 for years, or […]

Boardcon CM3588 Rockchip RK3588 System-on-Module designed for AI and IoT applications