CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

July 25, 2021July 28, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

Zidoo M6 RK3566 mini PC & SBC supports GbE, WiFi 6, 5G connectivity

Zidoo M6 is both a complete mini PC and a single board computer based on Rockchip RK3566 processor with up to 8GB RAM with plenty of peripherals connectivity options including built-in Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5, and support for 5G modems. Several years ago, Zidoo used to serve the TV box market, but they’ve now veered towards higher-end media players, digital signage players, and industrial applications. While we’ve already seen some RK3566 TV boxes on the market, using the AIoT processor does not make much sense in this type of product, and instead, Zidoo M6 targets AI Edge gateways, digital signage, and other AIoT products. Zidoo M6 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3566 with a quad-core Cortex-A55 processor @ up to 1.8GHz, Arm Mali-G52 2EE GPU with support for OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0/3.2. OpenCL 2.0. Vulkan 1.1, 0.8 TOPS AI accelerator, 4K H.265/H.265/VP9 video decoder, 1080p100 H.265/H.264 video encoder. System Memory […]

July 24, 2021December 24, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Loongson’s first LoongArch processors – 3A5000 for computers, 3C5000L for servers

Loongson has officially launched the first processors based on LoongArch CPU instruction set architecture designed for made-in-China SoCs without the need to license technology made outside of China. Loongsoon LS3C5000L (3C5000L) 16-core server processor clocked at up to 2.5 GHz is now official and is apparently comprised of four LS3A5000 (3A5000) LoongArch processors designed for desktop computers and laptops. Loongson 3A5000 CnTechPost reports Loongson 3A5000 quad-core 64-bit GS464V processor runs at 2.3GHz-2.5GHz. GS464V microarchitecture comes with four fixed-point units, two 256-bit vector operations units, and two access memory units. The processor also includes two 64-bit DDR4-3200 controllers with ECC checksum support, as well as four HyperTransport 3.0 controllers with multi-processor data consistency support. Performance-wise, Loongson 3A5000 is said to achieve 26+ points in the single-core and floating-point SPEC CPU2006 benchmarks, and over 80 in the multi-core version of the benchmarks. That’s about 50 percent higher performance than the previous pin-compatible […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM

July 23, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Mali-G78 GPU’s Valhall instruction set documentation released after reverse-engineering work

Collabora has been working on Panfrost open-source GPU driver for Arm Mali Bifrost and Midgard GPU for several years, and even getting official support from Arm. But apparently, that support does not include documentation for Mali-G78 GPU and other recent Arm Valhall Mali GPUs, as the company recently reverse-engineered Mali-G78 for about a month before releasing the documentation on the Valhall instruction set (PDF). Other results from the reverse-engineering include an XML architecture description that can be parsed by programs, as well as a Valhall assembler and disassembler that were used as a reverse-engineering aid. Besides Mali-G78 “Borr” GPU, the work will be useful for other Valhall GPUs include Mali-G77 “TryM’, Mali-G57 “Natt-A/B”, Mali-G68 “Ottr”, and Mali-G78AE “Borr-AE” for automotive & industrial applications. Alyssa Rosenzweig explains Collabora’s work that was based on the International edition of the Samsung Galaxy S21 phone powered by Samsung Exynos 2100 system-on-chip with a Mali-G78 […]

July 23, 2021July 23, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments

$5 board eases ATX power supply connection to single board computers

ZJ-012 ATX Power Supply single board computer

Many people have ATX power supplies from older desktop PCs that they may want to reuse with Arduino boards, Raspberry Pi, or other single board computers. It’s indeed possible to do so by trimming some cables and making a circuit to protect the board from over-voltage or over-current. But ZJ-012 adapter board offers a simpler solution with a 24-pin header for the ATX power supply, terminal blocks for connection to the target board, some fuses for protection, and a header to connect an on/off button. JZ-012 (also known as JZ-024) ATX power adapter board’s key features and specifications: Power Input – 20-pin or 24-pin computer ATX power supply Power output – 9-pin terminal block with +3.3V, +5V, -12V, +12V, +5V, GND with fuses for each power outputs On/Off control – Toggle switch or header for external button/switch (shorted for power on) Misc – Power indicator (red LED) Dimensions – 70 […]

July 23, 2021July 23, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Tiny Seeeduino XIAO board gets Raspberry Pi RP2040 MCU

Seeeduino XIAO is a tiny Arduino Zero compatible board with battery support that was launched last year with Microchip SAMD21G18 ARM Cortex-M0+ microcontroller at up to 48MHz. Seeed Studio has now launched the XIAO RP2040 board with the same form factor but upgrading to a more powerful Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ microcontroller clocked at up to 133 MHz. XIAO RP2040 specifications: MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex M0+ up to 133 MHz, or even 252 MHz (48MHz default) with 264 kB SRAM Storage – 2MB SPI flash USB – 1x USB type C port for power and programming Expansion I/Os 2x 7-pin headers with 11x 4x analog inputs, 11x digital I/Os / PWM, 1x DAC, SPI, UART, and I2C; 2.54mm pitch 3.3V I/O voltage (not 5V tolerant) Misc – 1x user LED, power LED, 2x LEDs for serial port downloading, Reset Button/ Boot Button, RGB LED, SWD pads […]

July 22, 2021July 29, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

MagikEye Developer Kit enables 120 fps 3D sensing on Raspberry Pi

MagikEye ILT001 developer kit (DK-ILT001) is a low-latency 3D sensing kit that connects to the Raspberry Pi’s MIPI CSI camera connector and features the company’s Invertible Light Technology (ILT) module with an infrared laser and a CMOS image sensor. The company says a “unique algorithm” developed in-house can generate 3D point cloud datasets acquired at high speeds (up to 120 fps) and with very low latency using simple hardware configuration. The kit targets researchers, students, and hobbyists working on machine vision, robotics, automated carriers, and other projects that can benefit from low-latency 3D sensing. MagikEye DK-ILT001 kit key features and specifications 850nm infrared light laser CMOS image sensor Range up to 1.5 meters (15 to 80 cm recommended) Compatibility – Raspberry Pi Zero W/3B/3B+/4 Power Supply – 3.3V (via MIPI Interface on Raspberry Pi) Power Consumption – 0.6W (average) Dimensions – 44 x 24 x 16 mm (within enclosure) Weight […]

July 22, 2021July 22, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

PlasticArm is a functional, non-silicon, flexible Cortex-M0 microcontroller

Four years ago, we wrote about PragmatIC’s ultrathin and flexible plastic electronics circuit, with news that an ultra-cheap ARM Cortex M0 MCU made of plastic materials was coming soon. In this case, “soon” means about four years, but Arm has now finally announced PlasticArm, an ultra-minimalist, fully functional Cortex-M0-based SoC, with 128 bytes of RAM and 456 bytes of ROM that, with 18,000 gates, is twelve times more complex than previous state-of-the-art flexible electronics. PlasticArm specifications are similar to a standard Cortex-M0+ core with some notable exceptions: Cortex-M core in PlasticARM ARMv6-M architecture ISA – 16-bit Thunb and subset of 32-bit Thumb 32-bit data access and address width 86 instructions 2-stage pipeline Architectural register file mapped to RAM external to the CPU (instead of inside the CPU) Runs code from other Cortex-M CPUs 0.8-μm process There are two main advantages of PlasticArm. First, It’s flexible and integrated into paper, plastic, […]

July 22, 2021January 24, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Foscam SPC WiFi Spotlight Camera Review – Part1: Unboxing and Teardown

I’ve been reviewing a few IP cameras with built-in AI features with Vacom Cam, Reolink RLC-810A, and Annke CZ400 AI security camera which had by far the most advanced features going beyond human detection with luggage monitoring, line crossing-detection, and many more. Today, I’ve received another model with basic human detection. But Foscam SPC security camera also happens to come with a motion-activated spotlight, and it is the first camera I’ve ever received with support for dual-band WiFi meaning 2.4GHz or 5 GHz WiFi can be used as needed. In the first part of the review, I’ll go through the specs, do an unboxing, and go through teardown photos to check the internals. Foscam SPC key features and specifications Some of the highlights listed in the user manual and package: Camera 4MP camera up to 2560×1440 resolution @ 25 fps, 156° view of view (diagonal) HDR support 2x white LED […]