CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

July 17, 2021September 16, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

The first Arm SystemReady IR certified platforms – NXP i.MX 8M Mini EVK & Compulab IOT-GATE-IMX8 gateway

A few months ago, we noted SolidRun HoneyComb LX2K became a certified Arm SystemReady ES platform. SystemReady is a certification program by Arm that ensures systems just work with generic operating systems like in the x86 world. When we looked at the details of the program in the article, we noted there were different categories including SystemReady ES for embedded servers and SystemReady IR for IoT Edge applications. The first SystemReady IR platform – NXP i.MX 8 Mini evaluation kit Arm has just announced the first SystemReady IR platform had just been certified. That device is the NXP i.MX 8M Mini EVK, and that means that anyone that uses the i.MX 8M family of devices with the associated Board Support Package (BSP) can build platforms that will pass the same certification process and boot compliant Linux distributions with minimal integration effort. We can see more details about the certifications on Arm developer’s website. NXP i.MX 8M Mini EVK achieved certification with NXP 2021 Q2 pre-release ﬁrmware, version LF […]

July 16, 2021July 16, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

$6 RAK3172 WisDuo LoRaWAN module features STMicro STM32WL LoRa SoC

RAK3172 WisDuo is a LoRaWAN module smaller than most coins with 15.5×15 mm dimensions made possible thanks to STMicro STM32WL Cortex-M4 LoRa SoC, which we previously found in Seeed Studio’s $10 LoRa-E5 module and corresponding development boards. But while Seeed Studio relies on STM32WLE5JC SoC with 256KB flash and 64KB RAM in a 73-pin UFBGA package, RAKwireless RAK3172 Wisduo is powered by STM32WLE5CC with the same amount of memory or storage, but in a 48-pin UFQFPN package, and an even lower price at just $5.99 in single units. RAK3172 Wisduo specifications: SoC – STMicro STM32WLE5CC55 Arm Cortex‐M4 MCU @ 48 MHz with 256 KB flash memory with ECC, 64 KB RAM, and a sub-GHz radio based on Semtech SX126x LoRaWAN 1.0.3 specification compliant Supported bands – EU433, CN470, IN865, EU868, AU915, US915, KR920, RU864, and AS923 LoRaWAN Activation by OTAA/ABP LoRa Point to Point (P2P) communication Range – Greater than […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM

July 16, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Innatera neuromorphic AI accelerator for spiking neural networks (SNN) enables sub-mW AI inference

Most AI accelerators currently rely on CNN (convolutional neural network) to perform AI inference in a much faster and efficient way than on CPU cores, or even GPUs. But there’s another type of neural network, namely spiking neural networks (SNN) that uses the timing of spikes in an electrical signal to perform pattern recognition tasks in a way similar to neurons in the brain. The claims in terms of efficiency are quite unbelievable, with up to 10,000 times more performance per watts than in microprocessor and digital accelerometer, 500 times lower energy, and 100 times shorter latency. Several companies are working on neuromorphic AI accelerators for spiking neural networks, with notably Prophesee focusing on image processing, and Innatera that is working on an ultra-low-power AI accelerator handling audio, health, and radar for sound and speech recognition, vital signs monitoring, elderly person fall sensors, etc… Innatera recently provided additional information about […]

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

NXP i.MX 8 SoMs and SBC get WiFi 6 upgrade via u-Blox JODY-W3 module

We’ve just written about a WiFi 6 M.2 card based on JODY-W3 module that works with NXP i.MX 8 evaluation and development kit. But the u-Blox module appears to be the solution of choice for other NXP i.MX 8 platforms, as well as iWave Systems upgraded their existing systems-on-module and one single board computer with JODY-W3 adding WiFi 6 (802.11ax) and Bluetooth 5.1. iW-Rainbow-G27S SBC with WiFi 6 We first covered iW-Rainbow-G27S single board computer in January 2020. The board comes with NXP i.MX 8QuadMax hexa-core Cortex-A72/A53 processor, up to 8GB RAM, quad display support via HDMI, eDP & MIPI DSI, dual Gigabit Ethernet, and more. At the time, the board was offered with optional 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac WiFi 5 + Bluetooth 5.0, but now adds 802.11ax WiFi 6 connectivity for higher bandwidth applications. iW-RainboW-G27M SMARC and QSeven modules get 802.11ax & Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity iWave Systems iW-RainboW-G27M was introduced as […]

July 15, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Low-cost embedded router SBC offers 2.5 GbE, WiFi 6 through Qualcomm IPQ5018 SoC

Wallys Communication has been offering Qualcomm-based embedded router boards for several years, including the higher-end DR8072A with dual 2.5GbE and WiFi 6 connectivity, followed by a lower-cost WiFi 6 SBC based on IPQ6010 with Gigabit Ethernet ports. But if you’d like to benefit from the lower cost while keeping WiFi 6 and 2.5GbE, the company has now introduced a new model based on Qualcomm IPQ5018 dual-core Cortex-A53 SoC, also found in Xiaomi Mi AX6000 router, with DR5018 embedded router board. The blurry photo above reveals the board is also called AP.MP03, a name that looks like the typical name for Qualcomm reference designs. DR5018 specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Atheros IPQ5018 dual-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ 1.0 GHz System Memory – 512MB DDR3L Storage – 4GB or 8GB eMMC flash, 4MB Nor Flash, 128MB NAND flash Networking 4x Gigabit Ethernet Ports or 1x 2.5Gbps Ethernet port 1x Gigabit Ethernet Port On-board […]

July 15, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Qualcomm QCM2290/QCS2290 SoM and Devkit target Industrial IoT applications

Last June, Qualcomm introduced several industrial IoT solutions that we did not cover at the time with Qualcomm QCM2290/QCS2290 IoT chip for camera applications, industrial handhelds, retail and tracking, Qualcomm QCS8250 WiFI 6 & 5G SoC for connected healthcare, digital signage, retail, and video collaboration, Qualcomm QCS6490/QCM6490 WiFI 6E & 5G SoC for connected healthcare, logistics management, retail, transportation, and warehousing, and Qualcomm QCS4290/ QCM4290 designed for cameras, industrial handhelds, and security panels with 4G LTE and WiFi 6 connectivity. Shortly after Qualcomm’s announcement, Thundercomm introduced the TurboX C2290/CM2290 system-on-module respectively based on Qualcomm’s quad-core Cortex-A53 QCS2290 SoC and QCM2290 SoC adding 4G connectivity. The module also offers WiF & Bluetooth, as well as MIPI display & camera interfaces, and the TurboX CM2290/C2290 development kit is also available to get started. TurboX CM2290 and C2290 SoM Specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon QCM2290 or QCS2290 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor at up to […]

July 15, 2021July 21, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

ESP32-C3 board comes with 16340 battery holder, D1 mini compatibility

It looks like ESP32-C3 floodgates have opened. We’ve just written about several NodeMCU ESP32-C3 boards, and now there’s another board with the RISC-V WiFI & Bluetooth processor. Meet LilyGo TTGO T-OI PLUS equipped with a 16340 battery holder. Getting a battery-powered ESP32-C3 board could prove to be very interesting as ESP32-C3 power consumption is much lower than ESP8266 and ESP32, notably in deep sleep mode, where the RISC-V processor consumes just 5uA, against 20 uA for ESP8266 and ESP32, and the difference is even greater in light sleep mode (ESP8266: 2000 uA vs ESP32-C3: 130 uA). LilyGo TTGO T-OI PLUS specifications: SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-C3 single-core RISC-V processor @ 160 MHz with 2.4 GHz WiFi, Bluetooth 5.0 LE Storage – TBD flash (probably 2MB or 4MB) Antenna – Ceramic antenna and IPEX connector USB – USB-C port for power and programming Expansion 2x 8-pin headers with 12x GPIO, 1x […]

July 14, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

LP-AM243 dual Gigabit Ethernet MCU board features TI Sitara AM243x Cortex-R5F microcontroller

LP-AM243 Sitara AM2434 development board

The few microcontroller boards that get Ethernet, are often limited to 10 Mbps or 100 Mbps, but the LP-AM243 LaunchPad development kit comes with two Gigabit Ethernet ports controlled by the newly announced 800 MHz Texas Instruments Sitara AM243x Cortex-R5F microcontroller with industrial communication and security features. TI Sitara AM243x Cortex-R5F microcontroller The Sitara AM243x is the first family of microcontrollers part of the larger Sitara AM2x MCU series that, a bit like NXP i.MX RT crossover processors, aims to combine the advantages of traditional microcontrollers and microprocessors by leveraging the real-time capabilities of the former and the high performance of the latter, but in a way optimized for industrial communication and safety. The Sitara AM243x family is comprised of three processors with one, two, or four cores with the following key features and specifications: CPU AM2431 – Single-core Cortex-R5F real-time core @ 800 MHz with 128KB TCM AM2432 – Dual-core […]

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