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QEMU 9.0 released with Raspberry Pi 4 support and LoongArch KVM acceleration

QEMU 9.0 open-source emulator just came out the other day, and it brings on board major updates and improvements to Arm, RISC-V, HPPA, LoongArch, and s390x emulation. But the most notable updates are in Arm and LoongArch emulation. The QEMU 9.0 emulator now supports the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B, meaning you can run the 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS for testing applications without owning the hardware. However, QEMU 9.0 has some limitations since Ethernet and PCIe are not supported for the Raspberry Pi board. According to the developers, these features will come on board in a future release. For now, the emulator supports SPI and I2C (BSC) controllers. Still on ARM, QEMU 9.0 provides board support for the mp3-an536 (MPS3 dev board + AN536 firmware) and B-L475E-IOT01A IoT node, plus architectural feature support for Nested Virtualization, Enhanced Counter Virtualization, and Enhanced Nested Virtualization. If you develop applications for the LoongArch […]

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Openterface Mini-KVM is an affordable KVM-over-USB device (Crowdfunding)

Openterface Mini-KVM compact, open-source hardware KVM-over-USB device with HDMI and audio inputs which connects over a USB-C port to the host computer. We’ve seen quite a few low-cost KVM-over-IP solutions based on single board computers over the years, but the Openterface Mini-KVM is quite different (and cheaper) as a plug-and-play and network-independent KVM-over-USB device that establishes a direct HDMI and USB connection between the host computer and the target device. It supports many of the same features as KVM-over-IP solutions except for some features such as ATX support found in the PiKVM v4 Plus or the Pi-Cast KVM with an expansion board that allows the target device to be turned off and from the host device. Mini-KVM (model LIG03D01) specifications: Control method – KVM-over-USB Video capture – Up to 1920×1080 @ 30 Hz with under 140ms latency through HDMI or VGA (the latter requires an add-on VGA-to-HDMI cable) Audio capture […]

Khadas Edge2 Arm mini PC
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Raspberry Pi Connect software makes remote access to Raspberry Pi boards easier

Raspberry Pi Connect software, currently in beta, aims to make remote access to the Raspberry Pi boards even easier and more secure by using a web browser and minimal configuration needed. It’s been possible to access Raspberry Pi boards remotely through VNC forever, and the X protocol used to be an option before the switch to Wayland, but both can be somewhat hard to configure especially when wanting to access the machine on a different local network or from the internet. Raspberry Pi Connect aims to change that. Under the hood, we’re told the web browser and the Raspberry Pi device established a secure peer-to-peer connection with the same WebRTC communication technology found in programs such as Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams. The Raspberry Pi runs the “rpi-connect” daemon that listens to screen-sharing requests from the Raspberry Pi Connect website and establishes a secure, low-latency VNC instance directly between […]

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$23 C790 HDMI to MIPI CSI adapter adds HDMI and audio input to Raspberry Pi SBCs

C790 is an HDMI to MIPI CSI-2 board compatible with Raspberry Pi single board computers featuring a 40-pin GPIO header that adds both HDMI input up to 1080p60 and I2S audio input to the popular Arm SBC. The solution can be useful for IP KVM solutions as we’ve seen with the PiKVM v3 and PiCast portable KVM switch, or to capture video and audio from a camera that outputs HDMI with audio through the board’s MIPI CSI camera interface and I2S input signals on the GPIO header. C790 specifications: Supported SBC’s – Raspberry Pi Zero, 3B, 3B+, 4B, CM3, CM4 with MIPI CSI-2 input port (Note: Raspberry Pi 4 is limited to 1080p50 due to 2-lane MIPI CSI-2, CM4 supports 1080p60) Main chip – Toshiba TC358743XBG HDMI to CSI-2 bridge chip up to 1920×1080, 60 FPS Video and audio input – HDMI port up to 1080p60 Video Output – 2-lane […]

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BitNetMCU project enables Machine Learning on CH32V003 RISC-V MCU

Neural networks and other machine learning processes are often associated with powerful processors and GPUs. However, as we’ve seen on the page, AI is also moving to the very edge, and the BitNetMCU open-source project further showcases that it is possible to run low-bit quantized neural networks on low-end RISC-V microcontrollers such as the inexpensive CH32V003. As a reminder, the CH32V003 is based on the QingKe 32-bit RISC-V2A processor, which supports two levels of interrupt nesting. It is a compact, low-power, general-purpose 48MHz microcontroller that has 2KB SRAM with 16KB flash. The chip comes in a TSSOP20, QFN20, SOP16, or SOP8 package. To run machine learning on the CH32V003 microcontroller, the BitNetMCU project does Quantization Aware Training (QAT) and fine-tunes the inference code and model structure, which makes it possible to surpass 99% test accuracy on a 16×16 MNIST dataset without using any multiplication instructions. This performance is impressive, considering […]

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Arduino Pro Opta D1608E/D1608S expansions feature electromechanical or solid-state relays, 16 I/Os

Arduino has recently announced two new expansions to their Arduino Pro Opta PLC series – the Arduino Pro Opta Ext D1608E and Arduino Pro Opta Ext D1608S, the main difference between the two is that the D1608E features 8 electromechanical relays (EMRs) whereas the D1608S features solid-state relays (SSRs). Other than that both expansion modules have 16x programmable I/Os (0-24 V digital / 0-24 V analog) which doubles the number of I/Os we have seen on the Opta micro PLC. Both are compatible with the Arduino IDE and the PLC IDE and are easy to install on a DIN rail. These features make it suitable for control, monitoring, and predictive maintenance applications. Previously we have seen Arduino launch a PLC Starter Kit for those who want to get started with PLCs. Additionally, we have written about ESP32-powered PLCs, Raspberry Pi-powered PLCs, and more. Feel free to check those out if you […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs
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NanoCell V2.1 battery-powered ESP32-C3 IoT board runs ESPHome for Home Assistant integration

The NanoCell V2.1 is a development board built around the Espressif ESP32-C3 SoC (system-on-a-chip) preloaded with ESPHome firmware for low-power applications and improved Lithium battery management. The development board is a white printed circuit board with gold-plated contacts and a battery fuel-gauge IC, designed by Frapais’ lab in Greece. As the name suggests, the NanoCell V2.1 is the latest in a series of iterations of ESP32-C3-based devices targeted at low-power applications. Compared to earlier versions, it offers a better user experience and improved power efficiency. It features a buck-boost converter that reduces standby current consumption to 66uA (excluding the current consumed by the ESP32 module). The battery management system (BMS) integrated circuit supports accurate capacity measurement and protects connected Lithium batteries from overcharging and other harmful scenarios. Also, two LEDs on the board serve as power and charging indicators to relay the board’s status. It is based on the same […]

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Microchip PIC32CK 32-bit Arm Cortex-M33 MCU combines Hardware Security Module with Arm TrustZone for IoT cybersecurity compliance

Microchip PIC32CK is a new family of 32-bit Arm Cortex-M33 microcontrollers clocked up to 120 MHz with Arm Trustzone and an optional integrated Hardware Security Module (HSM) that can help companies meet the cybersecurity requirements for consumer IoT devices and critical infrastructure mandated in the US, Europe, and other countries. Two sub-families are available with the PIC32CK GC and PICK32CK SG with the latter integrating the HSM, and the company claims it is the first 32-bit device on the market that combines an HSM with TrustZone technology for optional security. The PIC32CK is also said to support ISO 26262 functional safety and ISO/SAE 21434 cybersecurity standards. Microchip PIC32CK specifications: MCU core – Arm Cortex-M33 clocked at up to 120 MHz with 4KB combined instruction and data cache, TrustZone security Memory and Storage 128KB, 256KB, or 512KB SRAM 512KB, 1MB, or 2MB flash 128KB boot flash memory 64KB of configuration flash […]

Khadas VIM4 SBC