CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

March 20, 2020October 3, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

A First Look at Otii Arc Power Supply, Power Meter, and DAQ Unit

I have recently been contacted by a Swedish company called Qoitech about their Otii solution that aims to help hardware and software engineers achieve long battery life for their IoT devices or apps. At the heart of Otii is Otii Arc hardware that acts as a power supply, voltage and current meter, and data acquisition (DAQ) unit. The company has now sent me a unit for review. I’ll start with a first quick post describing the device and checking out the hardware and interfaces, before writing my experience, or a getting started guide, with Otti hardware and software. Otii Arc specifications: Current/Voltage Measurement Current Accuracy – ±(0.1% + 50 nA) Sample Rate – in ±19 mA range: 4 ksps; in ±2.7 A range: 1 ksps; in 0 – 5 A range: 1 ksps Analog Bandwidth (3dB) – 400 Hz Voltage Total accuracy – ±(0.1% + 1.5 mV) Sample Rate – […]

March 20, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Google Pigweed Libraries Streamline Embedded Software Development on 32-bit Microcontrollers

There are many components required for embedded software development, including cross-toolchain, a build system like buildroot or YoCto Project, and debugging tools like OpenOCD. Once you’ve installed those, development involving several steps including building the code, flashing it to the board, and then running the program on the target. Google would like to make embedded software development to be as easy as web development as possible, similar to editing a file and running it in a web browser, so they’ve just released Pigweed open-source collection of embedded-targeted libraries/modules to streamline the development process for 32-bit microcontrollers such as STMicro STM32L452 or Nordic Semi nRF52832. Pigweed aims to help all steps of the process including tools/environment setup, program development, and code submission. Setup consists of running a bootstrap script that will automatically install tools such as Python 3.8, clang-format, and an Arm compiler in a virtual environment in order to leave […]

March 20, 2020March 20, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Arrow Embedded To Go Free Online Conference, and 3,000 Development Boards Giveaway

With the coronavirus outbreak on-going, many events are either canceled or moving online. Arrow Electronics has now announced what appears to be a completely new online event. Embedded To Go virtual technology exhibition for embedded systems will take place on April 1-3, 2020, and offer technical presentations, information on newly launched technology, and access to Arrow’s sales and engineering teams. The event will entirely free to attend, and you can register online today with a company’s email address. The event will start in about 10 days by so far the virtual “booth map”, “supplier guide” and “lecture area” are inaccessible. We only know what the event should consist of thanks to an article on EENew Embedded: Technical presentation webinars will be hosted by leading suppliers covering AI, IoT and Edge computing, precision measurement, high-performance computing, intelligent condition-based monitoring, and other technological subjects. Information will also be available in the form […]

March 19, 2020March 19, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Nordic nRF52820 Bluetooth 5.2 SoC Supports Thread, Zigbee and Full Speed USB 2.0

Nordic Semi has launched the sixth multi-protocol SoC part of their nRF52 family with nRF52820 Bluetooth 5.2 ultra low power System-on-Chip (SoC) supporting Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth LE), Bluetooth mesh, as well as Thread, Zigbee, and 2.4-GHz proprietary. nRF52820 can handle all Bluetooth 5/5.1/5.2 versions with features such as Long Range, 2 Mbps throughput, direction finding, LE power control, and LE isochronous channels. The SoC also happens to include a Full Speed (12 Mbps) USB 2.0 interface. nRF52820 key features and specifications: MCU Core – Arm Cortex-M4 @ 64 MHz Memory – 32 KB RAM Storage – 256 KB Flash Wireless Connectivity Bluetooth 2 Mbps, 1 Mbps, Long Range Bluetooth Low Energy Bluetooth Direction Finding Bluetooth mesh Thread, Zigbee 802.15.4/ANT/2.4 GHz proprietary Up to +8 dBm TX power Security – 128-bit AES encryption USB – Full Speed USB 2.0 Other Peripherals UART, 2x SPI/TWI, QDEC Analog comparator 4x 32-bit timer/counter, […]

March 19, 2020January 18, 2021 by Dejan Petrović - 3 Comments

MikroElektronika Launches Fusion for ARM & EasyPic MCU Development Boards

During Embedded World 2020 (EW2020), some companies withdrew their presence, while some were at the event. MikroElektronika presented several new boards and among them Fusion for ARM v8 and EasyPic v8 development boards. While we already wrote about Fusion fo TIVA, we haven’t covered any EasyPic board yet. Development boards from MikroElektronika allow rapid prototyping in the most efficient and effortless way. Fusion for ARM v8 Fusion for ARM v8 belongs to the Fusion family of development boards. It has integrated the world’s first embedded debugger/programmer over WiFi, while the CODEGRIP WiFi license is available as an add-on feature. The board is designed to be used in almost every environment retaining full debugging and programming access. The CODEGRIP currently supports more than 1600 microcontrollers from different vendors. The Fusion board integrates a new MCU card standard. It is a low profile standard where sockets consist of two connectors (male/female) which […]

March 19, 2020November 3, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Purism Librem Mini Linux Mini PC is Powered by an Intel Core i7-8565U Whiskey Lake Processor

Purism has been known for its Linux-based secure and privacy-focused laptops for years, and more recently they developed Librem 5 Linux smartphone with the same philosophy in mind. But now the company has introduced Librem Mini based on an Intel Core i7 Whiskey Lake processor with up to 64GB DDR4 RAM and running PureOS Linux distribution, and Coreboot based PureBoot bootloader that disables and neutralizes Intel Management Engine (IME). Librem Mini specifications: SoC – Intel Core i7-8565U quad-core/octa-thread Whiskey Lake processor @ 1.8 GHz / 4.6GHz (Turbo) with Intel UHD Graphics 620; 15W TDP System Memory – 2x SO-DIMM slot for up to 64GB DDR4-2400 RAM Storage – 1x SATA III 6Gbps SSD/HDD (7mm thickness), 1x M.2 SSD (SATA III/NVMe x4) Video Output – 1x HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60Hz, 1x DisplayPort 1.2 up to 4K @ 60Hz Audio – 3.5mm audio jack (Mic & Headphone), digital audio […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs

March 18, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 19 Comments

A Typical Day Working from Home

If I read the news right, a couple of you guys and gals have to stay at home for the next few weeks either twiddling your thumbs or working from home. In the suburbs of Chiang Mai, life is pretty normal right now, we haven’t been ordered to stay home, and virtually nobody is wearing masks except the few who want to protect themselves against the air pollution. In the area I live, few are concerned about the coronavirus, but I do have extensive experience working from home so I thought it may be interesting sharing a typical schedule. It’s stating the obvious but once you start working from home, your house is also your office, and it can be hard separating the two. So I’d recommend setting a room for work only, or if not possible a space reserved for work, and setup a schedule to introduce some routine. […]

March 18, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

$11 DIGOO DG-R611 WiFi Repeater Comes with Two External Antennas

Low-cost WiFi routers such as A5 V11 mini router have been around for many years. The cheaper ones are usually powered by a USB charger sold separately, and support 2.4 GHz WiFI with a single antenna. But I’ve just noticed DIGOO DG-R611 WiFi repeater with support for dual-antenna, data rate up to 300 Mbps, and integrated power supply. It is sold for under $11 on Banggood and Aliexpress, and may be worth a closer look. DIGOO DG-R611 specifications: SoC – Realtek RTL8196E RISC processor @ 400 MHz System Memory – TBD Storage – TBD Networking Wired – 10/100M Ethernet port Wireless 2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n WiFi 4 up to 300 Mbps Two 2dBi antennas Wireless Transmit Power – 20dBm(MAX EIRP) Repeater, Access Point (AP), or Media bridge modes supported Wireless Security – 64/128-bit WEP, WPA/WPA2, WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK (TKIP/AES) Power Supply – Integrated 110-230V with US, EU, or UK plug Dimensions […]