Year 2022 in review – Top 10 posts and statistics

It’s the last day of the year and the time to look at some of the highlights of 2022, some traffic statistics from CNX Software website, and speculate on what 2023 may bring us. The semiconductors shortage continued in 2022, but things are looking brighter in 2023 with the full reopening of the world mixed with forecasts of difficult economic times that should keep the demand/supply equation in check. On the Arm processor front the biggest news of the year, at least in this corner of the Internet, was the launch of the Rockchip RK3588 octa-core Cortex-A76/A55 processor together with interesting single board computers that we’ll discuss below. Announced last year, the Amlogic A311D2 octa-core Cortex-A73/A53 was finally made available in a few SBC’s, and we finally got some news about the Amlogic S928X Cortex-A76/A55 SoC showcased in 8K TV boxes, but we have yet to see it in action. […]

Business card-sized SBC ships with Intel Core Tiger Lake or AMD Ryzen V2000 processor

We’ve recently reviewed the UP 4000 SBC as a more powerful x86 alternative to Raspberry Pi 4, but if it still does not cut it, AAEON de next-TGU8 or de next-V2K8 should, as the business card-sized single board computers (SBC) are equipped with respectively an Intel Tiger Lake processor up to a Core i7-1185G7E, and an AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 SoC up to Ryzen Embedded V2516. But the comparison stops at the size, as both SBCs offer sets of features different from the usual Raspberry Pi form factor with notably up to 16GB RAM, SATA and NVMe storage, dual Ethernet (1x 2.5GbE, 1x Gigabit Ethernet), dual 4K display output via HDMI and eDP, some USB 3.2 ports, as well as serial and I/O interfaces via headers. de next-TGU8/V2K8 SBC specifications: SoC de next-TGU8 Intel Core i7-1185G7E quad-core/octa-thread processor @ 1.80GHz / 4.40GHz with Intel UHD graphics; TDP: 15W (TPD up: […]

Khadas Edge2 Arm mini PC

$200 Swarm M138 kit enables two-way satellite connectivity for IoT projects

Sparkfun has launched a Satellite Transceiver Kit based on the Swarm M138 satellite and GNSS modem that allows low-bitrate two-way connectivity for IoT projects anywhere on earth. Remote IoT applications have benefited from LPWAN standards such as LoRaWAN and NB-IoT, but in some extreme cases coverage may still be challenging, so satellite communication may be the only practical option. It used to be really expensive, but Swarm makes this more affordable, and companies like SigFox and Semtech also have (or had?) plans to use low-earth orbit satellites for their respective LPWAN technologies. Swarm M138 kit content and specifications: Swarm M138 mini PCIe satellite modem and GNSS receiver module MCU – Arm Cortex-M4 microcontroller Up to 1 Kbps data rate, up to 912 bytes packet size Frequency 137-138 MHz (downlink) 148-150 MHz (uplink) Dimensions – 51.0 x 30.0 x 5.3 mm Weight – 9.6 grams Temperature Range – -40°C to +85°C […]

LiLyGo T-SIMCAM ESP32-S3 camera development board supports optional 4G LTE connectivity

ESP32-S3 has been in the news recently and we just wrote about the Bee S3 and BPI-PicoW-S3 boards yesterday, but there’s more, and LilyGo T-SIMCAM ESP32-S3 is another interesting ESP32-S3 board with a 2MP camera as well as support for an optional 4G LTE module. The board can make use of the AI capabilities from the ESP32-S3 microcontroller through the built-in camera and microphone and offers two options for power with 5V through a USB Type-C port, as well as a 2-pin JST connector for connecting a battery. T-SIMCAM ESP32-S3 CAM board specifications: Wireless MCU – ESP32-S3R8 dual-core Xtensa LX7 microcontroller with WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE and Mesh connectivity with 8MB PSRAM Storage – 16MB QSPI flash, MicroSD card socket Camera – 2MP OV2640 camera with 1622×1200 resolution Audio – I2S digital microphone Connectivity – Optional NB-IoT, 2G GSM, or 3G/4G LTE module via mPCIe socket and SIM […]

UP Squared 2 is a compact Elkhart Lake SBC with Celeron N6210 or Pentium J6426 processor

UP Squared 2 is a compact single board computer powered by either an Intel Celeron N6210 or Pentium J6426 “Elkhart Lake” processor with up to 16GB RAM, 64GB eMMC flash, 4K capable HDMI and DisplayPort video outputs, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, and more. Slightly smaller than two business cards, the UP Squared 2 is an upgrade of the UP Squared SBC introduced in 2016 with Intel Celeron N3350 or Pentium N4200 “Apollo Lake” processor. The new board offers virtually the same features, except the two HDMI ports, have been replaced by one HDMI port, and one DisplayPort connector, the mini PCIe slot is gone in favor of an M.2 NVMe socket, the Altera FPGA has been removed, and the new system provides overall better specifications in terms of CPU/GPU performance. UP Squared V2 specifications: Elkhart Lake SoC (one or the other) Intel Celeron N6210 dual-core processor up to 2.6 GHz […]

MYIR MYC-J1028X CPU module features NXP LS1028A dual Cortex-A72 SoC with time-sensitive networking (TSN)

MYIR has introduced the MYC-J1028X CPU module based on NXP LS1028A dual Cortex-A72 processor with time-sensitive networking (TSN) support, as well as the MYD-J1028X development board with five Gigabit Ethernet ports, and other interfaces to evaluate the solution. The MYC-J1028X is equipped with 2GB DDR4, 8GB eMMC flash, a 32Kbit EEPROM, and a temperature sensor by default, and exposes all I/Os through a 314-pin MXM 3.0 edge connector. The module also comes with footprints to solder a QSPI NAND Flash, XSPI NOR Flash, and/or ECC memory. Typical applications include industrial routers, industrial control, edge computing, automotive electronics, industrial IoT, and more. MYC-J1028X CPU module MYC-J1028X SoM specifications: SoC – NXP Layerscape LS1028A (LS1028AXN7PQA) dual-core Cortex-A72 processor @ 1.5 GHz with 3D GPU, integrated TSN Ethernet switches and Ethernet controllers System Memory – 2GB DDR4 (optional 3GB / 4GB DDR4); optional DDR4 ECC Storage 8GB eMMC flash (optional 16GB / 32GB) […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs

ASUS Tinker Edge R SBC with 3GB RAM, Rockchip RK3399Pro sells for $179

ASUS Tinker Edge R Pico-ITX single board computer with Rockchip RK3399Pro AI processor was first unveiled in 2019 with 6GB RAM, but a cheaper 3GB RAM version with 2GB RAM for the CPU, and 1GB RAM with the integrated NPU just showed up in my news feeds. Whether it comes with 3GB or 6GB RAM, the Tinker Edge R board should mostly be interesting for AI accelerated workload thanks to the 3 TOPS built-in NPU, as well as the two MIPI CSI camera interfaces. ASUS Tinker Edge R (3GB) SBC specifications: SoC – Rochchip RK3399Pro hexa-core big.LITTLE processor with 2x Cortex A72 cores up to 1.8 GHz, 4x Cortex A53 cores @ 1.4 GHz, an Arm Mali-T860 MP4 GPU up to 800 MHz with OpenGL ES 1.1 to 3.2, OpenVG1.1, OpenCL 1.2 and DX 11 support, and NPU delivering up to 3.0 TOPS System Memory – 2 GB dual-channel LPDDR4 […]

Portenta X8 is the first Arm Linux Arduino board

In simpler times, Raspberry Pi was making Arm Linux SBC’s, and Arduino MCU boards, but after Raspberry Pi got into the MCU business last year, it’s now time for Arduino to introduce its first Arm Linux board with the Arduino Portenta X8. The new board since comes with the same STM32H7 Cortex-M7/M4 microcontroller found in the Portenta H7 boards, but add a more powerful, Linux-capable NXP i.MX 8M Mini processor with four Cortex-A53 cores and a Cortex-M4 core, coupled with 2GB RAM and a 16GB eMMC flash. Arduino Portenta X8 specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX 8M Mini Arm Cortex-A53 quad-core up to 1.8 GHz,1x Cortex-M4 real-time core up to 400MHz. Microcontroller – STMicro STM32H747AII6 Cortex-M7 @ 480 MHz + M4 @ 240 MHz MCU  with 2MB dual-bank Flash memory, 1 MB RAM, Chrom-ART graphical hardware accelerator System Memory – 2GB LPDDR4 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash Connectivity Gigabit Ethernet interface […]

Khadas VIM4 SBC