CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

March 4, 2021April 12, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 29 Comments

The first Rockchip RK3566 TV box is out with H96 Max running Android 11

Rockchip RK3566 is a quad-core Cortex-A55 processor with plenty of peripherals designed for AIoT and NVR applications. While it still supports features like high-dynamic range or video post-processing, it’s not really optimized for TV boxes, but this has not stopped the maker of H96 Max “8K UltraHD” TV box to launch an RK3566 model with 4GB RAM and 8GB RAM now sold for respectively $59.99 and $76.99 on Banggood. H96 Max RK3566 TV box specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3566 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor with Arm Mali-G52 EE GPU, 0.8 TOPS NPU/AI accelerator System Memory / Storage configuration 4GB DDR3, 32GB eMMC flash, and MicroSD card 8GB DDR3, 64GB eMMC flash, and MicroSD card Video Output – HDMI 2.0a up to 4Kp60 with 3D support, Video decoding 4Kp60 H.264/H.265/VP9 VC1 up to 1920 x 1080 @ 60fps MPEG-4 up to 1920 x 1080 @ 60fps HDR10 and HLG modes Audio – Optical […]

March 4, 2021March 4, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Infineon AIROC CYW5557x WiFI 6/6E targets IoT and streaming devices

WiFi 6E is a new wireless standard that operates in the 6 GHz frequency band. We’ve already seen it used in consumer products such as premium smartphones and routers, as well as some embedded SBCs that take Qualcomm WiFI 6E cards. But now Infineon, who purchased Cypress Semiconductors last year, has unveiled the AIROC CYW5557x family of WiFI 6/6E chipsets designed for the IoT, enterprise and industrial applications for the 1×1 models, and for multimedia, consumer and automotive applications with 2×2 MIMO. Infineon AIROC CYW5557x has three SKUs that share most of the same specifications: Devices CYW55573 with Wi-Fi 6E, 2×2 MIMO CYW55572: with Wi-Fi 6, 2×2 MIMO CYW55571 with Wi-Fi 6E, 1×1 (80MHz) Wireless features WiFI Arm Cortex-R4 core Wi-Fi 6/6E, Tri-band (2.4/5/6 GHz) OFDMA, MU-MIMO, TWT, DCM 2×2 MIMO or 1×1 SISO 20/40/80 MHz channels, 1024-QAM, up to 1.2 Gbps PHY data rate STA and Soft AP mode […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM

March 4, 2021June 9, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

SPARK UWB technology takes aims at Bluetooth with lower power consumption, higher bandwidth

Bluetooth is omnipresent in smartphones, headsets, smartwatches, and other devices thanks to its low-cost, low power consumption, and good interoperability between devices. But Montréal based SPARK Microsystems claims their SPARK UWB (Ultra-Wide Band) technology is vastly superior to Bluetooth with a data rate of up to 10 Mbps @ 1.5 nJ/bit, power consumption as low as 2 mW while transmitting and receiving at 1 Mbps, and going down to 6 μW at 1 kbps. In other words, that’s up to 40x better energy efficiency, 60x lower latency, and 10x more data throughput as compared to BLE (Bluetooth LE) and without interfering in the 2.4 GHz band. Other highlights include lower wireless latency (50 µs for 1 kb), and time-of-flight (ToF) positioning at 30 cm accuracy for a line-of-sight range of up to 100 meters. The company has launched the SPARK SR1000 family with two models: the SR1010 operating in the […]

March 3, 2021March 4, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

Geniatech XPI-3288 Raspberry Pi lookalike features Rockchip RK3288 SoC

Geniatech XPI is a family of single board computers following Raspberry Pi 3 form factor. We first covered XPI-S905X SBC in 2018, which was followed by XPI 3128 board last year. The company has now launched another model with Geniatech XPI-3288 SBC powered by Rockchip RK3288 32-bit quad-core Cortex-A17 processor coupled with 2G RAM and 16GB eMMC flash. Geniatech XPI-3288 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3288 quad-core Cortex-A17 processor @ up to 1.6GHz with Arm Mali-T764 GPU System Memory – 2GB RAM Storage – 16GB eMMC flash (8/32GB optional), MicroSD card slot Video Output – HDMI up to 4Kp60 (may be limited to 4Kp30 on some older 4K TVs) Video decoding H.264 up to HP level 5.1 @ 2160p24 (3840×2160) MPEG-1/-2/-4, AVS, VP8, MVC up to 1080p60 (1920×1080) VC-1 up to AP level 3 @ 1080p30 (1920×1080) H.263 @ 576p60 (720×576) Connectivity Gigabit Ethernet port Optional dual-band 802.11b/g/n/ac WiFi 5 and […]

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

It’s raining i.MX 8M Plus systems-on-module at Embedded World 2021

NXP introduced i.MX 8M Plus AI SoC with a built-in 2.3 TOPS neural processing unit (NPU) last year, and we’ve already covered several early announcements about i.MX 8M Plus systems-on-module (SoM) with Variscite VAR-SOM-MX8M-PLUS and DART-MX8M-PLUS, TechNexion EDM-G-IMX8M-PLUS and AXON-E-IMX8M-PLUS respectively using SO-DIMM edge connectors and board-to-board connectors, as well as SolidRun i.MX 8M Plus SoM that was announced together with the HummindBoard Mate carrier board with dual Gigabit Ethernet. But as Embedded World 2021 Digital is taking place virtually until Friday, other companies have now made their own announcements of i.MX 8M Plus SoMs as the processor enters mass production this month, and since as far as I know, it’s pin-to-pin and software compatible with earlier i.MX 8M Nano/Mini SoCs, the update must have been easy. That means we’ve got a longish list of modules, and I have probably missed some. Supported operating systems are basically the same across […]

March 3, 2021September 14, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

Arduino IDE 2.0 beta released with live debugger, revamped user interface

Arduino programming language and the Arduino IDE are the most popular software development tools for the makers market, but it lacks some of the features found in professional tools like autocompletion and the ability to add breakpoints via a debugger, and that’s why the company announced its work on the Arduino Pro IDE in 2019. Work is now nearing completion with the release of the beta version of the Arduino IDE 2.0 based on the Eclipse Theia framework. The user interface has been revamped with easy access to the newly added debugger, as well as the boards manager and libraries manager on the left side of the interface, the possibility to type the name of the board, and autocompletion of variables and functions from your code and installed libraries. Pressing F12 while on a function name will bring you directly to the corresponding code in another tab, or alternatively, you […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025

March 2, 2021March 2, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Raspberry Pi RP2040 boards are coming with… HDMI?

We’ve already seen Raspberry Pi RP2040 MCU can support VGA output using the microcontroller’s programmable I/O blocks. But yesterday, I saw two upcoming RP2040 boards with an HDMI connector. How is that supposed to work? The first one is Olimex RP2040-PICO-PC that’s indeed like a pico PC board with an HDMI connector for video, a micro SD card for storage, a standard 3.5mm audio jack for speaker or headphone, and a USB host for a keyboard. RP2040-PICO-PC teaser small PC with RP2040-PICO module. Video, Audio, SD-card, UEXT, I2C, Lipo battery, Reset, USB pwr, USB host for keyboard, Debug TxRx, SWD for JTAG debug #rp2040 #raspberrypi #circuitpython #retrogames pic.twitter.com/str79xsMkm — OLIMEX Ltd (@Olimex) March 1, 2021 There are some I/O headers for good measure, what looks like a 3-pin UART console header, a 2-pin header for LiPo battery, as well as a reset button. The second board, dcelectr DC2040, follows the […]

March 2, 2021March 2, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

tCam-Mini IR thermal camera board ships with ESP32 module

While there are plenty of ESP32 camera boards, it’s much harder to find off-the-shelf solutions with ESP32 wireless SoC and an IR thermal camera. That’s likely why Dan Julio decided to design tCam-Mini board combining an ESP32 module with a Flir Lepton 3.5 sensor with 160×120 resolution to capture radiometric data for thermographic analysis. tCam-Mini board hardware specifications: Wireless module – Espressif ESP32-WROVER-E module with dual-core ESP32-D0WD0V3 WiSoC, 8 MB PSRAM, 8 MB Flash, and PCB antenna; Camera – Flir Lepton 3.5: 160×120 pixel radiometric LWIR camera with shutter operating in either Radiometric/TLinear (each pixel contains temperature data) or AGC modes (no temperature data in each pixel but better images). Expansion – 4-pin I2C header Debugging – Micro USB port with CP2102N-A02 USB to UART bridge for ESP32 boot loader control Misc – Dual color (Red/Green) status LED, Factory/Wifi Reset button Power supply – 5V input via micro USB port […]

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