CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

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

TQ unveils i.MX 8M Plus LGA module and evaluation single board computer

We’ve seen plenty of systems-on-module based on NXP i.MX 8M Plus AI processor announced at Embedded World 2021 either with edge or board-to-board connectors. TQ TQMa8MPxL is a bit different as an i.MX 8M Plus LGA (Land Grid Array) system-on-module meant to be soldered on a carrier board. The company also took the occasion to unveil STKa8MPxL evaluation kit based on TQMa8MxML in single board computer format to demonstrate its new LGA module. TQMa8MPxL i.MX 8M Plus LGA module Specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX 8M Plus “Quad 8 ML/AI”, “Quad 6 Video”, or “Quad 4 Lite” processor with four Cortex-A53 cores, one Cortex-M7 core, Vivante GPU, video encoder/decoder, HiFi4 audio DSP, and 2.3 TOPS AI accelertor System Memory – Up to 4 GB LPDDR4 Storage – Up to 256 MB (MBytes)Quad SPI NOR flash, up to 256 GB eMMC flash, optional EEPROM up to 64 Kbit 362-pin LGA with Storage […]

June 4, 2021June 4, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

reServer 2-bay multimedia NAS is equipped with an Intel Core Tiger Lake SBC

Seeed Studio has just introduced reServer dual-bay multimedia NAS based on Intel Core i3/i5/i7 Tiger Lake 11th generation processor. The networked storage device is based on ODYSSEY X86 V2 single board computer that offers an upgrade to the ODYSSEY-X86J4105 and ODYSSEY-X86J4125 Gemini Lake SBC’s. reServer comes with up to to 64GB dual-channel memory, dual 2.5GbE, support for two 3.5-inch SATA drives, HDMI and DisplayPort video output, and some USB 3.0/2.0 ports. reServer (preliminary) specifications: SoC (one or the other) Intel Core i3-1115G4 dual-core/quad-thread processor with 48 EU Intel UHD Graphics @ 400 – 1250MHz; 28W TDP Unnamed Intel Core i5 with 80 EU Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 @ 400-1300MHz; 28W TDP Unnamed Intel Core i7 with 96 EU Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 @ 400-1300MHz; 28W TDP Co-processor – Microchip ATSAMD21G18 32-Bit Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller System Memory – Up to 64GB dual-channel DDR4-3200 SDRAM via two SO-DIMM sockets Storage […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM

June 3, 2021June 3, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

HarmonyOS launched on Huawei MatePad tablets, Watch 3 smartwatches

Huawei HarmonyOS Tablet - MatePad Pro 10.8

Huawei plans for an Android alternative called HongMeng (鸿蒙) OS were leaked in 2019 following tensions with the US government that prevented them from working with American and other companies around the world. The operating system was later called HarmonyOS for the overseas markets, and Huawei released HarmonyOS 2.0 beta in September of last year, where we learned it was heavily inspired by Android, replacing Google GMS with Huawei’s own HMS, but using the same development tools. We also got a roadmap at the time with the company planning to launch HarmonyOS devices in 2021. Developers first got the HiSpark WiFi IoT RISC-V development board to play with the new OS in October 2020, but now the company has finally announced HarmonyOS consumer devices with three Huawei MatePad tablets, and two Huawei 3 watches. Huawei MatePad HamornyOS tablets Three models have been introduced with a mix of Kirin and Snapdragon […]

June 3, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Arm introduces Open-CMSIS-Pack and Keil Studio Cloud for MCU software development

Arm has just announced two new initiatives that aim to boost the productivity embedded, IoT, ML, and MCU software developers: the Open-CMSIS-Pack project and Keil Studio Cloud. The Open-CMSIS-Pack Project The Cortex Microcontroller Software Interface Standard (CMSIS) packs have been around for years providing a vendor-independent hardware abstraction layer for microcontrollers, mostly Cortex-M based, but others too, and currently support close to 9000 different microcontrollers. I always assumed CMSIS was open-source as the source code is available in Github under an Apache 2.0 license. But apparently, not all components are, and Arm has now announced the Open-CMSIS-Pack project that will move part of CMSIS into the open project in collaboration with the Linaro IoT and Embedded Group. Linaro, Arm, and other partners like STMicro and NXP will initially focus their work on command-line tools and CMake workflows, with the ultimate goal of making the CMSIS-Pack technology into a true open […]

June 3, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Edge AI system combines Foxconn FXN3102 Arm SoC with Hailo-8 or Lightspeeur 2801S AI accelerator

Foxconn FXN3102 edge ai computing system

Did you know Foxconn makes processors now? Well, they do, or at least can pretend they do to as we’ll see below. Foxconn FXN3102 24-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor is found in Vecow VAC-1000, a compact Edge AI computing system, that also features either an Hailo-8 AI accelerator or Gyrfalcon Lightspeeur 2801S NPU. The Ubuntu 18.04 server system also comes with up to 16GB DDR4-2133 memory, optional NX Witness VMS (Video Management System) supported, and targets intelligent surveillance applications such as public surveillance or traffic monitoring, as well as smart retail, factory automation, and any other AIoT/Industry 4.0 applications. Vecow VAC-1000 specifications: SoC – Foxconn FXN3102 24-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1.0 GHz System Memory – 8GB or 16GB DDR4 2133MHz ECC SO-DIMM Storage 64GB eMMC flash, 512MB SPI Flash, up to 512KB EEPROM 1x SATA III port up to 6 Gbps 1x M.2 2280 Key M socket for […]

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

Inkplate 6PLUS ESP32 ePaper display gets higher resolution, a touchscreen, a frontlight (Crowdfunding)

Inkplate 6PLUS is an updated version of Inkplate 6 ESP32 powered 6-inch ePaper display that was introduced in 2019, wand comes with a higher 1024 x 758 resolution, and the addition of a touchscreen and a frontlight. Just like the original product, Inkplate 6PLUS makes use of recycled e-paper displays without thousands of screens currently in stock. Refresh performance per pixel is faster and similar to Inkplate 10, which leads to a complete screen refresh being about as fast as on the original Inkplate 6 despite the higher resolution. Inkplate 6PLUS specifications: Wireless module – ESP32 WROVER module with dual-core ESP32 processor with Wi-Fi 4 & Bluetooth 4.0 (BLE) connectivity, 8MB PSRAM, 4MB flash External storage – MicroSD card socket Display – 6-inch, 1024 x 758 e-paper display with support for grayscale, partial updates, and quick refresh cycles 1.27 second refresh time in black & white mode 1.52 second refresh […]

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

AMD Ryzen 5000U mini PCs coming soon from ASRock and GIGABYTE

Last year, AMD introduced the Ryzen 4000-U Series mobile processors for laptops but we soon got news of mini PCs based on the processor with devices such as MINISFORUM DeskMini HM50 or ASRock Mars 4000U. So it should not be surprising that we got some updates at Computex 2021 with companies announcing AMD Ryzen 5000U powered mini PCs with the likes of new GIGABYTE BRIX models and ASRock Mars 5000U which are expected to become available in the second half of the year. GIGABYTE BRIX Ryzen 5000U mini PCs Preliminary specifications: SoC -Up to a 15-watt Ryzen 5000U “Cezanne” processor with 8x Zen 3 CPU cores, 16 threads, and Radeon Vega graphics. System Memory – Up to 64GB of DDR4-3200 via two SODIMM slots Storage – M.2 2280 slot for PCIe 3.0 x4 (NVMe) or SATA SSD. The high-profile model will also include an internal 2.5-inch drive bay. Video Outputs […]

June 2, 2021July 31, 2022 by Karl Johnson - 11 Comments

Ortur Laser Master 2 Pro laser engraver – First impressions

Hey Karl here. Today I am here to share my initial experiences with the Ortur Laser Master 2 Pro laser engraver. That is a mouth full so I will refer to it as the LM2Pro for the remainder. The LM2Pro is the successor to the Ortur Laser Master 2. I have only had 1 experience with a diode laser and that was quite a long time ago and a lot has changed in the desktop laser department. I have used the LM2Pro for almost 2 weeks and I am blown away by what I have been able to achieve in such little time. I don’t know if it is better software or the machine itself. Probably a mixture of both. There are 3 different models with different power lasers. The 20W version was sent for review. It is dishonest to call this a 20w laser. I am not sure which […]