CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

June 24, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Micrium µC/OS RTOS Is Now Free for Makers and Startups

According to UBM embedded market study for 2015, Micrium µC/OS real-time operating system only came second after FreeRTOS when the company asked close to 1,000 engineers and managers around the world which operating systems they were currently using in their embedded products. The OS appears to be particularly popular in Asia, and the results are all the more impressive considering it’s a commercial operating systems. But Micrium decided to bring more people on board by announcing a free version called µC/OS for Makers targeting hobbyists and startups (<$100k revenues) in February earlier this year. The real-time operating system includes a preemptive multitasking real-time kernel with optional round robin scheduling, has a low footprint (6K to 24K bytes code space, 1K+ bytes data space), support various types of targets including ARM Cortex-M and Cortex-A based MCU and processors such as STMicro STM32, NXP Kinetis, Cypress PSoC5, etc.., as well as Atmel […]

June 24, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Dreamcade Replay is a Retro Gaming Console Powered by Intel Braswell or Cherry Trail Processor (Crowdfunding)

If you are old enough to have played with Sega or Atari game console, and feel nostalgic about playing retro games, Dream Arcades Inc. plans to launch a vintage gaming console powered by Intel Braswell or Cherry Trail processor, running Windows 10 and preloaded with licensed retro games such as Pacman, Asteroids, Canyon Bomber, Slot Machine, Warlords, and many other. The console also has Sega/Atari ports to be used with your old game controllers. Three main products will be offered: Wireless Arcade Controller, Replay Classic game console, and Replay Mobile arcade machine, with the last two using the same hardware with the following preliminary specifications: SoC – Intel Atom x7-Z8700 Cherry Trail quad core processor, or Intel Celeron J3160 (or other) Braswell quad core processor with Intel HD graphics System Memory – 4GB Storage – 64GB eMMC flash + micro SD and SD slots Video Output – HDMI Display (Arcade […]

ArmSoM CM5 - Raspberry Pi CM4 alternative with Rockchip RK3576 SoC

June 24, 2016June 24, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

Does Amlogic S905X Support USB 3.0?

Despite Amlogic roadmap claiming none of the upcoming Amlogic TV box SoCs will support USB 3.0, I’ve been informed that Amlogic S905X might already support USB 3.0. So I had a check with NEXBOX A5 TV box. First we can see dwc3 (DesignWare USB3) module is loaded:

lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
dwc3                   17981  0 
mali                  233433  36

lsmod

Module Size Used by

dwc3 17981 0

mali 233433 36

then this happens when I connect a USB 3.0 hard drive or flash drive:

[ 4812.378262@0] usb 1-2: new high-speed USB device number 7 using xhci-hcd
[ 4812.798557@0] usb-storage 1-2:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
[ 4812.801416@0] scsi1 : usb-storage 1-2:1.0

[ 4812.378262@0] usb 1-2: new high-speed USB device number 7 using xhci-hcd

[ 4812.798557@0] usb-storage 1-2:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected

[ 4812.801416@0] scsi1 : usb-storage 1-2:1.0

The important point here is xhci, which stands for “eXtensible Host Controller Interface” and supports USB 1.x to USB 3.x devices. The next step is to check performance, but since S905X is running Android 6.0, I went through permission issues with both A1SD bench and Disk Speed apps, so I reverted to using dd to read a large file to /dev/null. Result with USB 3.0 hard drive:

dd if=Sintel-Bluray.iso of=/dev/null bs=1024*1024*32                           
47+1 records in
47+1 records out
1593180160 bytes transferred in 42.681 secs (37327620 bytes/sec)

dd if=Sintel-Bluray.iso of=/dev/null bs=1024*1024*32

47+1 records in

47+1 records out

1593180160 bytes transferred in 42.681 secs (37327620 bytes/sec)

That’s about 35.6 MB/s, which would be an excellent USB 2.0 transfer rate, but not quite USB 3.0 material, […]

June 23, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Armtronix AC Powered WiFi Quad Relay Board is Powered by ESP8266 SoC (Crowdfunding)

Armtronix, an Indian startup, has come to kickstarter to launch a quad relay board with an AC terminal based on ESP8266, and the company also offer a complete kit allowing you to build your own wireless power strip with the board. WiFi quad relay board specifications: Wireless module – ESP8266 module 4x Relays to connect four AC/DC loads with terminals offering both MO and NC options “ModeMCU” headers to connect additional sensors such as PIR, IR, Temperature, Humidity, Limit switch etc. USB – micro USB port for programming. Misc – LEDs Power Supply – Terminal with 100-240V AC to 5V DC converter. Dimensions – 145 x 60 x 22 mm. The WiFi Quad Relay Board can be programmed as “MQTT Client” for networking/home automation integration using Arduino IDE, and controlled/ setup with a smartphone running a web browser. Some code is already available on the company’s github account. The crowdfunding […]

June 23, 2016June 23, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Forlinx i.MX6UL Linux Single Board Computer Supports ESAM Embedded Security Control Module

Forlinx Embedded has introduced i.MX6UL single board computer (SBC) based on NXP i.MX 6Ultralite Cortex A7 processor with 512 MB RAM, 8GB storage, that includes two Ethernet interface, an LCD interface, a CAN bus, as well as ESAM (Embedded System Access Module) support via either a SIM card like slot, or a 8-pin DIP chip compatible with ISO7816 standard, and typically used in the financial, telecommunications, transportation sectors for authentication and secure data transfer. Forlinx I.MX6UL board specifications: System-on-module: SoC – NXP i.MX 6Ultralite ARM Cortex A7 processor @ up to 528 MHz with 2D graphics GPU System Memory – 512 MB LvDDR3 memory Storage – 8GB eMMC flash (but hardware manual says 1GB eMMC flash, but also mentioned MTFC8GACAAAM-1M WT so it must 8GB after all…) 2x 80-pin board to board connectors with signals for 2x CAN bus, 2x USB device, 2x SDIO, 2x 10/100M Ethernet, 24-bit RGB, 4x […]

June 23, 2016June 23, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

TVPRO HD6 is an Intel Bay Trail mini PC Designed for Video Conference

Intel Atom Z3735F processor has been one of the most popular low power Intel Atom processor, and has been found in tablets, mini PCs, TV sticks running Windows, Android or Linux operating systems. TVPRO HD6 is still marketed as a mini PC, but the form factor is a little different as it includes a high-definition camera, and has been designed to be placed on top of the television to be used as a video conferencing system with Skype, Google Hangout, or other similar applications. TVPRO HD6 specifications: SoC – Intel Atom Z3735F “Bay Trail” quad core processor @ 1.33 GHz / 1.83 GHz with Intel HD graphics System Memory – 2 GB DDR3 Storage – 32 GB eMMC flash + micro SD card slot up to 128GB Video Output – 2x HDMI output Audio – 2x HDMI, 3.5mm headphone jack, 3.5mm microphone jack, dual microphone up to 5 meters range, […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs

June 22, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Get an Early ESP32 Board by Contributing to Luanode for ESP8266 & ESP32 Project (Crowdfunding)

Development boards and module based on Espressif ESP32 dual core processor with WiFi and Bluetooth LE connectivity are due for Q3 or Q4 2016, but you could get an early sample as early as July if you contribute to Jimmy Wu’s (of wifimcu.com) crowdfunding campaign to develop Luanode (Lua SDK) for ESP8266 and ESP32 processors, as ESP32 boards are part of the rewards. Luanode is a Lua SDK for ESP32 and ESP8266 that supports multi-tasking through FreeRTOS, and includes support for peripherals. The source code and documentation can be already be found on Github, and the main differences against something like NodeMCU appear to be multi-tasking and (for now) ESP32 support. Interestingly the SDK contains a tools called WiFi-Killer uses for Denial of Service (DoS) attacks using ESP8266 or ESP32 modules… One hardware project is called WiFi tank comprised of one T300 Tank Chassis, ESP8266 Development Kit, 720p HD Camera, […]

June 22, 2016June 22, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

VLC for Android 2.0 Released with Network Shares, Multi-windows, Better Codec Support, and More

VLC / VideoLAN is a popular desktop video player for Linux and Windows, and it’s the program I go to when I want to watch a local video on my computer. VLC also has an Android version, but last time I checked VLC in an Android TV box, I was disappointed due to the lack of SAMBA support, and video decoding support was pretty poor on Rockchip RK3368 processor at the time. The good news is that the developers have now released VLC for Android 2.0, which brings several improvements including: Support for network browsing including DLNA/UPnP, Windows Shares (SAMBA), FTP(S), SFTP, and NFS Multi-windows/pop-up video with support for Samsung MultiWindow and LG Dual Window extensions New asynchronous hardware decoder, and codecs and formats support updates. Subtitle downloads via OpenSubtitles from VLC interface without having to go to the website inside a web browser Right-To-Left and Complex Text Layout subtitles […]