CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

June 30, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

ARM64EC mixes Arm and x64 emulated code in Windows 11 for higher performance on Arm

Windows has been available on Arm for a few years, and while software support has progressed there have always been some limitations, and emulated x86/x64 code on Arm does not usually run as fast as native ARM32/ARM64 code. So far developers had a binary choice: run their x86/x64 app on Arm using emulation, or port the entire app to Arm, But Microsoft has now come up with a solution that mixes x64 emulation and native Arm with ARM64EC (Emulation Compatible). That means developers won’t need to port the complete app to Arm, but instead could do so step-by-step and focus on part of the code where native Arm support makes the most difference. Microsoft explains: ARM64EC is a new application binary interface (ABI) for Windows 11 on ARM that runs with native speed and is interoperable with x64. An app, process, or even a module can freely mix and match […]

June 29, 2021June 30, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Art-Pi STM32H750 Cortex-M7 board supports RT-Thread, mainline Linux

I like to browse Linux changelog to learning about new features in the kernel, but also new hardware that made it into mainline Linux, even if only preliminary or partial. And in the just-released Linux 5.13, one board that caught my eye was Art-Pi, powered by an STMicro STM32H750 Cortex-M7 microcontroller without MMU (memory management unit) that was initially designed for RT-Thread real-time operating system. Art-Pi specifications: MCU – STM32H750XBH6 Value Line Cortex-M7 microcontroller @ 400 MHz, with 128KB flash, 16KB D/I cache, 864 SRAM, 64KB+128KB TCM with ECC correction System Memory – 32MB SDRAM Storage – MicroSD card slot, 16 MB SPI flash, 8MB QSPI flash Display – FPC connector for RGB888 displays Connectivity – SDIO WiFi 4 and UART Bluetooth via Ampak AP6212 module USB – 1x USB OTG Type-C port Debugging – On-board ST-LINK/V2.1 via USB-C DBG port Expansion – 2x 40-pin P1 & P2 headers with […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM

June 29, 2021June 29, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Ugoos AM6B Plus 2021 TV box adds WiFi 6 connectivity

UGOOS AM6B Plus 2021 Dolby Vision TV Box

Ugoos AM6B Plus 2021 is an update to last year’s Ugoos AM6 Plus Android 9.0 TV box with Dolby Vision support through Amlogic S922X-J hexa-core processor. What has changed exactly? A WiFi 6 & Bluetooth 5.0 LE module replaces the WiFi 5 & Bluetooth 5.0 LE module used on the previous model. The new WiFi 6 TV box still comes with 4GB RAM, 32GB eMMC flash, Gigabit Ethernet, 4K video support through an HDMI 2.1 port, and VPU capable of 4Kp60 H.265, H.264, and VP9 video decoding. Ugoos AM6B Plus 2021 specifications: SoC – Amlogic S922X-J hexa-core processor with 4x Arm Cortex-A73 cores @ up to 2.2 GHz, 2x ARM Cortex-A53 cores, and an Arm Mali G52 MP6 GPU System Memory – 4GB LPDDR4 Storage – 32GB eMMC flash, MicroSD card slot up to 32GB Video Output – HDMI 2.1 up to 4K @ 60fps with HDCP2.2 support, HDR10, HDR10+, […]

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

M5Stack Atom DTU LoRaWAN Kit also supports WiFi, RS485, Modbus communication

ESP32 WiFI, Bluetooth, LoRaWAN, and RS485 kit

M5Stack is known for its ESP32 based building blocks for the IoT with WiFi & Bluetooth wireless connectivity, I/O headers, and block-specific features like a tiny color display, a speaker, a touchscreen display, a camera, and more. The company’s latest product is the M5Stack Atom DTU LoRaWAN Kit based on ESP32 ATOM Lite, as well as ASR Micro ASR6501 LoRa module (SX1302 based) and one RS485 header that allows for industrial communication notably with the Modbus protocol. M5Stack Atom DTU LoRaWAN Kit specifications: Wireless connectivity M5Stack ATOM Lite with ESP32 WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 4.2/5.x dual-core SoC ASR ASR6501 LoRa chip Operating frequency – 868MHz or 915 MHz Transmit power – Up to +21dBm RX sensitivity – Up to -137dBm (SF=12/BW=125KHz) Serial communication – UART 115200bps (AT command) via ESP32 Antenna – SMA antenna connector Power consumption @ 3.3V (from ASR6501 datasheet) Tx @ +21dBm – 106 mA Rx – […]

June 29, 2021June 18, 2023 by Sponsored Post - Comments Off

A customer’s review of NextPCB PCB manufacturing service (Sponsored)

This article is based on the feedback from “Fix Until Broken”, one of NextPCB customers who details his experience with their PCB manufacturing service, including the ordering process, pricing, customer service, available options, and quality of the boards ordered. Ordering with NextPCB Ordering is a very simple process. First, check your design rules just like you would with any board manufacturer. If you want to check it yourself or set it into your design rules with your EDA/CAD, you can find PCB capabilities on their website. Alternatively, NextPCB also offers a free program to check your Gerber files for free. NextDFM is great for checking Gerber files. This is especially true when using files from an open-source design that you got from Github. After checking your design rules you can start the ordering process. For the free trial just make sure you are using 1-2 layers, ordering no more than […]

June 28, 2021July 5, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Custom Raspberry Pi 3 SBC with eMMC flash powers gateway for washing machines

As I was browsing some group on Facebook, I noticed somebody had bought a custom Broadcom BCM2837 SBC that looks very much like a Raspberry Pi 3 board, and that thing was apparently bought from a Saleng, a three-wheeled motorbike with a side cart where people can buy and sell old/second-hand items. All good fun… So without further ado, here’s what the board looks like… Click for higher resolution photos. Both MIPI CSI and DSI connectors are gone, and so is the AV jack. Two of the USB 2.0 ports have made place for a micro USB port and some headers. Looking at the bottom of the board, the MicroSD card slot is gone, because there’s a 16GB Kingston eMMC flash for storage in that location. At first, I was quite confused, first because the Raspberry Pi logo is nowhere to found, then it’s the first “Raspberry Pi” SBC I […]

June 28, 2021July 2, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Linux 5.13 Release – Notable changes, Arm, MIPS and RISC-V architectures

Linus Torvalds has just announced the release of Linux 5.13: So we had quite the calm week since rc7, and I see no reason to delay 5.13. The shortlog for the week is tiny, with just 88 non-merge commits (and a few of those are just reverts). It’s a fairly random mix of fixes, and being so small I’d just suggest people scan the appended shortlog for what happened. Of course, if the last week was small and calm, 5.13 overall is actually fairly large. In fact, it’s one of the bigger 5.x releases, with over 16k commits (over 17k if you count merges), from over 2k developers. But it’s a “big all over” kind of thing, not something particular that stands out as particularly unusual. Some of the extra size might just be because 5.12 had that extra rc week. And with 5.13 out the door, that obviously means […]

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

Ubuntu 20.04/21.04 64-bit RISC-V released for QEMU, HiFive boards

Let’s a lot of excitement around RISC-V open architecture, but a lot of work still needs to be done to bring the ecosystem to level with Arm or x86 architecture from the silicon to the software. Progress is made step-by-step and one of these steps is Canonical released Ubuntu 64-bit RISC-V (RISCV64) images for some of SiFive HiFive boards, as well as QEMU open-source emulator. Specifically, Canonical released an Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS image for HiFive Unleashed & QEMU, and an Ubuntu 21.04 image for HiFive Unleashed, HiFive Unmatched, and QEMU. Note those are only server images, and there’s no desktop image yet like for Ubuntu 21.04 on Raspberry Pi 2/3/4. It’s been possible to run RISC-V Linux in QEMU for at least three years, but when I tried it was a minimal system based on Busybox, so let’s try again with Ubuntu 21.04 following the instructions provided on Discourse. I […]

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