CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

September 29, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

NXP i.MX 6ULL Cortex A7 Processor is the Latest Member of i.MX6 32-bit ARM Processor Family

Freescale first unveiled i.MX6 processor family at CES 2011. Since then NXP has acquired Freescale, and kept working on the processors and even recently unveiled NXP i.MX 6ULL Cortex A7 processor promising 30 percent more power efficiency than its nearest competitors, and designed for “cost-effective solutions for the growing IoT consumer and industrial, mass markets”. NXP i.MX 6ULL key features and specifications: CPU – ARM Cortex A7 core @ up to 528 MHz with 128KB L2 cache Memory I/F – 16-bit DDR3/DDR3L, LPDDR2 memory support Storage I/F – 8/16-bit parallel NOR flash / PSRAM, dual-channel Quad-SPI NOR flash, 8-bit raw NAND flash with 40-bit ECC, 2x MMC 4.5/SD 3.0/SDIO Port Display & Camera I/F Parallel LCD Display up to WXGA (1366×768) Electrophoretic display controller support direct-driver for E-Ink EPD panel, with up to 2048×1536 resolution at 106 Hz 8/10/16/24-bit Parallel Camera Sensor Interface Peripherals 2x USB 2.0 OTG, HS/FS, Device […]

ArmSoM CM5 Raspberry Pi CM4 alternative with Rockchip RK3576 SoC

September 29, 2016June 18, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Nvidia Unveils Xavier Automotive & AI Octa-core SoC with 512-Core Volta GPU, 8K Video Decode & Encode

Nvidia has introduced the successor to their Parker SoC mostly targeting self-driving cars and artificial intelligence applications, with Xavier SoC featuring 8 custom ARMv8 cores, a 512-core Volta GPU, a VPU (Video Processing Unit) supporting 8K video decode and encode and HDR (High Dynamic Range), as well as a computer vision accelerator (CVA). The processor will deliver 20 TOPS (trillion operations per second) of performance, while consuming only 20 watts of power, and since it’s designed specifically for autonomous cars, it will comply with automotive safety standards such as ISO 26262 functional safety specification. Anandtech published a comparison table with Tegra X1 (Erista), Parker, and Xavier using currently available information. Xavier Parker Erista (Tegra X1) CPU 8x NVIDIA Custom ARM 2x NVIDIA Denver + 4x ARM Cortex-A57 4x ARM Cortex-A57 + 4x ARM Cortex-A53 GPU Volta, 512 CUDA Cores Pascal, 256 CUDA Cores Maxwell, 256 CUDA Cores Memory ? LPDDR4, […]

September 29, 2016September 29, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Mintbox Mini Pro Linux mini PC Gets AMD A10 Micro-6700T Processor, 8GB RAM, and 120 GB Storage for $395

Minitbox Mini is a low power mini PC based on Compulab Fitlet-i computer powered by AMD A4 Micro-6400T “Mullins” processor and running Linux Mint that was launched in 2015. There’s now an upgraded model – Mintbox Mini Pro – with a more powerful AMD A10 Micro-6700T, more RAM and storage with 8GB DDR3 and a 120 GB SSD, and faster and better networking thanks to 802.11ac WiFI, and dual Gigabit Ethernet. Mintbox Mini Pro specifications: SoC – AMD A10 Micro-6700T 64 bit quad-core processor up to 1.2 GHz / 2.2 GHz (Boost frequency) with Radeon R6 Graphics (4.5W TDP) System Memory – 8 GB DDR3L-1333 SDRAM (SODIMM module) Storage – 120GB mSATA (SATA 3.0) SSD, and micro-SD slot (SDXC support, rate 25 MB/s) Video Output – Dual HDMI 1.4a up to 1920×1200@60Hz; support two independent displays Audio I/O Output – HDMI, digital S/PDIF 7.1+2 channels output, 3.5 mm stereo audio jack […]

September 29, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Qualcomm is Finally Open for Business with Snapdragon 410E and 600E Processors for Embedded & IoT Applications

Qualcomm processors are found in mobile devices and wearables selling in large quantities, some boards and modules from embedded systems companies such as Inforce Computing and Intrinsyc, as well as it own 96Boards compliant DragonBoard 410c and DragonBoard 600c development boards, but it’s hard to find them in many other products, and few crowdfunding campaign feature Snapdragon processors, as Qualcomm may not be willing to work with smaller companies and startups. The company has made some progress in that regards with their partnership with Allwinner to allow smaller Chinese companies to manufacture Snapdragon based Tablets, and their newly introduced Snapdragon 410E and 600E processors targeting embedded systems and IoT applications, available from Arrow Electronics without questions asked, and with long term availability for 10 years, i.e. until 2025 based on available of Snapdragon 410 mobile version. Snapdragon 410E (APQ 8016E) specifications: CPU – Quad ARM Cortex A53 @ up to […]

September 28, 2016September 28, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 51 Comments

Rockchip RK3399 Benchmarks Appear on GeekBench

Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core processor with ARM Cortex A72 and A53 cores and a Mali-T860MP GPU will soon be found in TV boxes, development boards, tablets, Chromebooks, virtual reality headset and more, and is widely expected to offer a significant performance boost against previous Rockchip processors, including RK3288, and outperform SoCs from competitors like Amlogic and Allwinner. We can have a first clue about the performance as Rockchip RK3399 boxes and one tablet are now showing up on GeekBench. The box is clocked at 1512 MHz, while the tablet is limited to 1416 MHz, but overall single-core score is about 1350 points, while multi-core score hovers around 2,550 points. I’m not that familiar with GeekBench so number don’t tell me anything. Let’s compare it against RK3288 which CPU-wise is the fastest processor I known of from Chinese silicon vendors targeting TV boxes. There’s a significant single-core performance boost (+73%), and lower […]

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

September 28, 2016September 28, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Tbee Android TV Box Supports Voice Command and Gesture Control

The first thing you notice with Tbee TV box is the beehives inspired hexagonal enclosure, as we’ve already seen with T95Z Plus TV box, but the features that really stand out are voice command, and especially gesture control thanks to the built-in microphone and camera. Tbee TV box specifications: SoC – Amlogic S812 quad core Cortex A9r4 processor @ up to 1.99 GHz with octa-core Mali-450MP GPU System Memory – 2GB Storage – 8GB eMMC flash + SD card slot Video & Audio I/O – HDMI input, HDMI output Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n (2.4 GHz) and Bluetooth 4.0 USB – 2x USB 2.0 host ports Misc – IR receiver, built-in HD ready camera and IR receiver Dimensions – 28.5 x 8.5 cm (full package) Weight – 860 grams (full package) The box ships with an air mouse with QWERTY keyboard and its RF dongle, a HDMI cable, […]

September 28, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

TV Box Market Data (for China): Weekly Sales, Average Prices, Most Popular Devices & Streaming Services

I’ve recently seen a tweet from IloveRockchip twitter account about the weekly sales data, and market share of octa-core, quad-core, and other OTT TV boxes. The chart below shows 108,000 Android TV boxes were sold on the 37th week of 2016 (September 12 – 18), and that while quad core TV boxes still held 77% market share that week, octa-core sales grew by 108%. The downside is that the data is only for the Chinese market. But I still found interesting to investigate whether I could get more information. The research company, All View Cloud, will release weekly data to their paid customers, but a free sample report for Week 21 (16-22 May) can be downloaded from their website (N.B.: The link does not work in Firefox for me, but it does in Chrome). “SALES” must be the quantity, roughly between 100,000 and 150,000 units sold per week, and if […]