CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

April 24, 2024April 23, 2024 by Dennis Mwihia - No Comments

Ambarella CV75S AI SoC brings Vision Language Models (VLM) and Vision Transformer Networks to cameras

Ambarella has been expanding its AI SoC portfolio, and the latest addition is the CV75S family of 5nm chips. The company claims this family introduces the most cost- and power-efficient SoC option for running the latest AI-based image processing like vision language models (VLMs) and vision transformer networks in security, robotics, conferencing, and sports cameras. The CV75S family is the first in Ambarella’s lineup to integrate the latest CVflow 3.0 AI engine, which results in 3 times the performance compared to the former generation. CVflow 3.0 is a chip architecture designed based on a deep understanding of the core computer vision algorithms. It features a dedicated vision-processing engine that Ambarella has programmed using a high-level algorithm description and works with Tensorflow, Caffe, and PyTorch. This engine enables the SoC to perform trillions of operations each second at a fraction of the power consumption of leading GPUs and general-purpose CPU solutions. These chips also […]

April 24, 2024April 24, 2024 by Debashis Das - 1 Comment

BIGTREETECH Pi 2 SBC and CB2 module for 3D printers now feature Rockchip RK3566 SoC with Gigabit Ethernet

BIGTREETECH Pi 2 and the BIGTREETECH CB2 Compute Modules

BIGTREETECH recently announced the release of the BIGTREETECH Pi 2 SBC and BIGTREETECH CB2 SoM, both powered by the Rockchip RK3566 SoC. These new modules are direct upgrades from the BIGTREETECH Pi v1.2 and BIGTREETECH CB1, which we covered and reviewed in our previous posts. Specially designed for 3D printers, these new modules have a similar form factor to that of a Raspberry Pi and the RPI CM4 module, and come with a set of upgraded features including support for GbE Ethernet, dual-band WiFi, up to 32GB of LPDDR4 RAM, eMMC storage, HDMI, USB, and more. BIGTREETECH Pi 2 Specifications SoC – Rockchip RK3566 CPU – Quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 processor @ 1.8 GHz GPU – Arm Mali G52-2EE GPU with support for OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0/3.2, Vulkan 1.1, OpenCL 2.0 NPU – 0.8 TOPS AI accelerator VPU – 4Kp60 H.265/H.264/VP9 video decoding, 1080p100f H.265/H.264 video encoding System Memory – 2GB LPDDR4 (Customizable – 1GB/2GB/4GB/8GB) […]

ArmSoM CM5 - Raspberry Pi CM4 alternative with Rockchip RK3576 SoC

April 23, 2024April 24, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Silicon Labs BG22E, MG22E, FG22E wireless MCUs target energy harvesting, battery-free IoT devices

BG22E MG22E FG22E energy harvesting wireless microcontroller

Silicon Labs xG22E is a family of wireless SoCs consisting of the BG22E, MG22E, and FG22E and designed to operate within an ultra-low power envelope required for battery-free, energy harvesting applications such as electronic shelf labels, Smart Home sensors, remote controls, and so on. Like the just-announced Silicon Labs MG26, BG26, and PG26, the new xG22E family features a Cortex-M33 core clocked up to 76.8MHz. As an evolution of the low-power BG22, the BG22E offers Bluetooth 5.4 LE connectivity with “Energy Conservation” to further enhance battery longevity and even support designs that eliminate the need for batteries. The MG22E is similar but embeds an 802.15.4 radio for Zigbee connectivity, and the FG22E provides a 2.4GHz proprietary plus the Cortex-M33 is clocked up to 38.4MHz. Silicon Labs BG22E, MG22E, FG22E specifications: MCU – Arm Cortex-M33 @ 76.8 MHz with DSP and FPU (38.4 MHz for FG22E) Memory – Up to 32 […]

April 23, 2024April 23, 2024 by Tomisin Olujinmi - 5 Comments

SC730 module from Small Computer Central features the now-discontinued Zilog Z80 CPU

Small Computer Central has released a new module kit, the SC730, for the 80pin-RCBus backplane which features the widely-used 8-bit Zilog Z80 CPU and a memory management unit. The Zilog Z80 is an 8-bit microprocessor created to be compatible with the Intel 8080 microprocessor while offering more advanced features such as built-in DRAM refresh, a better interrupt system, and non-multiplexed buses. The Z80 microprocessor was widely used for various applications between the 70s and the 80s and is still quite popular among retro computing enthusiasts today. Cousins’ SC730 module kit is designed to fit into an 80-pin socket on an RCBus backplane. The module is built to be used with a memory module as part of a complete computer system. The memory management unit (MMU) is compatible with a 1MB linear memory module such as the SC721. It maps a fixed 32KB bank of RAM to the top of the […]

April 23, 2024April 23, 2024 by Debashis Das - 5 Comments

$4.99 ESP32-S3-Tiny board measures just 23.50 x 18 mm

waveshare esp32 s3 tiny kit a mini development board

Waveshare has recently released the ESP32-S3-Tiny mini development board powered by ESP32-S3 wireless MCU and measuring just 23.50 x 18 mm. Due to its compact form factor, it does not include a USB-to-UART converter or a USB port. That is why, you will need an additional adapter board with an FPC cable to program it, which costs only $1. Despite its small size, the board is feature-rich. It includes 34 multi-function GPIO pins, along with Wi-Fi, BLE, SPI, I2C, UART, ADC, PWM, and more. The design of the board is very similar to the Raspberry Pi RP2040-powered Waveshare RP2040-Tiny board that we covered last year. However, what sets this board apart is its 34 I/O pins, compared to the 23 found on the RP2040-Tiny board, and wireless connectivity. We’ve also written about several other boards with compact form factors, such as the Unexpected Maker NANOS3 board (28 x 11 mm), […]

April 23, 2024April 22, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

The Open Home Foundation will manage Home Assistant, ESPHome, Zigpy among over 240 open-source Smart Home projects

The Open Home Foundation is a non-profit organization that will manage over 240 Smart Home projects, standards, drivers, and libraries including Home Assistant, ESPHome, Zigpy, Piper, and Improv Wi-Fi with the goal of “fight[ing] for the fundamental principles of privacy, choice, and sustainability for smart homes”. The non-profit was introduced during the “State of the Open Home 2024” (see video embedded at the end of this article) with Nabu Casa – the for-profit company behind Home Assistant – transferring all their projects to the new entity, and the Open Home Foundation will also help with the development of critical external projects such as Z-Wave JS, WLED, Rhasspy, and Zigbee2MQTT. The foundation further explains the goal of teaming multiple projects together in a stronger structure: We’ve done this to create a bulwark against surveillance capitalism, the risk of buyout, and open-source projects becoming abandonware. To an extent, this protection extends even […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs

April 22, 2024April 22, 2024 by Tomisin Olujinmi - 2 Comments

Louder Raspberry Pi is an open-source home media center that is powered by Raspberry Pi Zero and a TI TAS5805M DAC

Louder Raspberry Pi is an open-source home media center based on a combination of the Raspberry Pi Zero W or Zero 2 W and the Texas Instruments TAS5805M DAC. It is an audio entertainment platform created by Andriy Malyshenko of Sonocotta, a Polish electronics hobbyist and maker. Louder Raspberry Pi incorporates the computing power of the Raspberry Pi Zero and the Hi-Fi audio processing capabilities of TI’s TAS5805M DAC in a compact, aluminum case. The device delivers up to 25W per channel stereo output and is powered via a 65W+ USB-C PD3.0 adapter. It is “aimed to be paired with medium-to-large speaker systems” and supports both Wi-Fi and Ethernet. The Raspberry Pi board was selected over other lightweight alternatives due to the ease of development it offers. The Raspberry Pi Zero board is small enough to make for an overall compact device and powerful enough to handle the demands of […]

April 22, 2024April 22, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Testing ntttcp as an iperf3 alternative in Windows 11 (and Linux)

ntttcp (Windows NT Test TCP) is a network benchmarking utility similar to iperf3 that works in both Windows and Linux written and recommended by Microsoft over iperf3, so we’ll test the alternative in this mini review. iperf3 is a utility of choice for our reviews of single board computers and mini PCs running either Windows or Linux, but we’ve noticed that while Ethernet (up to 2.5GbE) usually performs just as well in Windows and Linux, WiFi is generally much faster in Ubuntu 22.04 than in Windows 11. So when XDA developers noticed a post by Microsoft saying iperf3 should not be used on Windows 11, it caught my attention. Microsoft explains iperf3 should not be used in Windows for three main reasons: The maintainer of iperf – ESnet (Energy Sciences Network) – says “iperf3 is not officially supported on Windows, but iperf2 is. We recommend you use iperf2. Some people […]