Banana Pi BPI-R3 Mini – A low-profile 2.5GbE router board powered by MediaTek Filogic 830 SoC

Banana Pi BPI-R3 Mini SBC

Banana Pi BPI-R3 Mini router board is powered by MediaTek MT7986 (Filogic 830) quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor with 2GB DDR4, an 8GB eMMC flash, two low-profile 2.5GbE ports, and WiFi 6 support. It also comes with an M.2 PCIe socket that can be used with an NVMe SSD or a 5G cellular module. The BPI-R3 Mini is based on many of the same chips as found on the Banana Pi BPI-R3 board, but with a much more compact design that makes it suitable as a  2.5GbE firewall, wireless router or repeater, home security gateway, home automation gateway, NAS device, and more. Banana Pi BPI-R3 Mini specifications: SoC – MediaTek MT7986A (Filogic 830) quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor with hardware acceleration engines for Wi-Fi offloading and networking System Memory – 2GB DDR4 RAM Storage – 8GB eMMC flash, 128MB NAND flash, M.2 2230 NVMe SSD socket Networking 2x 2.5GbE RJ45 ports via […]

SolidWAN CN9131 is a compact SD-WAN appliance powered by a Marvell OCTEON CN9131 SoC

SolidWAN CN9131

SolidRun has just introduced the SolidWAN CN9131 SD-WAN appliance powered by a Marvell OCTEON CN9131 quad-core Cortex-A72 processor and with a compact form factor and features that makes it suitable for small offices. The Linux-based Software Defined-WAN appliance comes with 4GB to 8GB RAM, 8GB to 64GB eMMC flash storage, plus M.2 SATA and NVMe sockets, and offers four GIgabit Ethernet ports and two 10GbE SFP+ cages for networking connectivity, as well as two USB 3.0 ports. SolidWAN CN9131 specifications: System-on-Module – CN9130 SOM with SoC – Marvell OCTEON CN9131 quad-core Arm Cortex A72 clocked at up to 2.2GHz System Memory – 4GB – 8GB (4GB default) 64-bit DDR4 @ 2400MT/s Storage – 8GB eMMC flash with options up to 64GB, 8MB SPI NOR flash Storage M.2 SATA and/or NVMe SSD (See Expansion section) MicroSD card slot accessible from the outside  Networking 2x 10GbE SFP+ cages 4x Gigabit Ethenret RJ45 […]

UniHiker review – A Linux-based STEM education platform with IoT and AI support, Micro:bit edge connector

UniHiker Review

DFRobot’s UniHiker is a STEM educational platform that was originally launched in China, but now UniHiker is now available worldwide through the DFRobot shop. The company has sent us a UniHiker sample for review, so let’s unpack the kit and learn how to use the UniHiker platform. The main component of the kit is the Linux-powered UniHiker board which features a 2.8-inch resistive touchscreen display and a BBC Micro:bit edge connector, so we can use expansion boards for the Micro:bit board. Let’s start unboxing it together. UniHiker unboxing DFRobot sent us the UniHiker platform by DHL. The package is a familiar-looking DFRobot box in orange color and comes with a plastic box to safely store the UniHiker board and accessories after use. The plastic box contains another plastic box with the board, some 3-pin and 4-pin cables for Gravity ports, and a USB Type-C cable. The UniHiker is like a […]

LicheePi 4A RISC-V SBC gets 16GB/128GB version, metal enclosure, 10.1-inch display, and more accessories

LicheePi 4A metal enclosure

LicheePi 4A quad-core RISC-V SBC is now available with 16GB RAM and 128GB eMMC flash, and Sipeed has also introduced various accessories such as a metal enclosure, a 10.1-inch touchscreen display, a PoE module, and a camera module. The Lichee Pi 4A board was first unveiled in December 2022, before the beta version launched in May 2023 with 8GB RAM and 8GB flash. Since then Sipeed also started selling an 8GB/32GB model, and now a new version of the T-Head TH1520-powered single board computer is now available with 16GB LPDDR4X and 128GB eMMC flash for $179 plus shipping. LicheePi 4A SBC While pricing is quite different, the LicheePi 4A was launched as a RISC-V alternative to the Raspberry Pi 4 SBC, so here are the specifications of the two boards side-by-side. Sipeed currently provides a Debian image based on Linux 5.10 and built with Yocto, but Linux mainline support is […]

LuckFox Core3566 – A Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 alternative that sells for $24 and up

LuckFox Core3566 system-on-module

We’ve already seen Rockchip RK3566 system-on-modules that follow the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 with the likes of Pine64 SOQuartz and Radxa CM3. But there’s at least one more Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 alternative based on the RK3566 SoC with the LuckFox Core3566 going for as little as $23.99. I found out about the new module after checking out the upcoming Orange Pi Compute Module 4 (another CM4 alternative based on RK3566), and the LuckFox Core3566 is offered with 2GB or 4GB RAM, an optional 32GB eMMC flash, and an optional WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 module. LuckFox Core3566 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3566 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor up to 1.8 GHz with a 32-bit RISC-V MCU, an Arm Mali-G52 GPU supporting OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0/3.2, OpenCL 2.0, Vulkan 1.1, a 0.8 TOPS NPU for AI acceleration System Memory – 2GB to 4GB LPDDR4 Storage – Optional 32GB eMMC module Wireless module […]

Orange Pi Zero 3 Allwinner H618 SBC ships with up to 4GB RAM

Orange Pi Zero 3

The Orange Pi Zero 3 is a compact Allwinner H618 quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 SBC with 1GB to 4GB RAM, 16MB SPI flash, micro HDMI output, Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0, a USB 2.0 port, and two headers for expansion. It provides an update to the Allwinner H616-powered Orange Pi Zero 2 SBC quadrupling the maximum memory to 4GB and embedding a larger SPI flash. The new board basically offers the same ports but in a different layout and a slightly smaller form factor. Orange Pi Zero 3 specifications: SoC – Allwinner H618 quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1.5GHz with 1MB L2 cache and Arm Mali-G31 MP2 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 1.0/2.0/3.2, OpenCL 2.0, Vulkan 1.1 System Memory – 1GB, 1.5GB, 2GB, or 4GB LPDDR4 Storage – 16MB SPI flash, microSD card socket Video Output Micro HDMI 2.0 up to 4Kp60 Video composite (CVBS) via […]

Firefly’s Rockchip RK3588 SBCs are now available with 32GB RAM

ROC-RK3588-PC 32GB RAM

The Rockchip RK3588 datasheet clearly states the processor supports up to 32 GB RAM, and many vendors claimed their board supports up to 32GB RAM at launch, but none were to be found once you accessed a shop, and the maximum was 16GB RAM so far, likely due to availability and the high price of of the two 16GB RAM chips needed to get 32GB of RAM. But Firefly has now discreetly started to sell boards with 32GB RAM including the ROC-RK3588-PC, ROC-RK3588S-PC, and ITX-3358J mini-ITX motherboard. I’ve just noticed I never covered the former, so I’ll have a closer look at it today. Firefly ROC-RK3588S-PC specifications: SoM – Core-3588J system-on-module SoC – Rockchip RK3588 octa-core processor with 4x Cortex-A76 cores @ up to 2.4 GHz, four Cortex-A55 cores, Arm Mali-G610 MP4 quad-core GPU with OpenGL ES3.2 / OpenCL 2.2 / Vulkan 1.1 support, 6 TOPS NPU, and an 8Kp60 […]

64-core RISC-V motherboard and workstation enable native RISC-V development (Crowdfunding)

64-core RISC-V motherboard

There’s now a microATX motherboard and workstation for native RISC-V development based on the SOPHON SG2042 64-core RISC-V C920 processor with up to 128GB DDR4 memory, various SATA and M.2 NVMe interfaces for storage, three PCIe x16 slot for expansion and more. I remember a few years ago, there was a lot of talk about making a workstation for native Arm development instead of relying on x86 machines, cross-compilation, and emulation. So we got hardware like the HoneyComb LX2K, Ampere eMAG, and more recently the ADLINK Ampere Altra Dev Kit to achieve this goal. The RISC-V ecosystem is now getting something similar thanks to the Milk-V Pioneer microATX motherboard and the Pioneer Box that provides a complete 64-core RISC-V workstation with DIMM memory, SATA and NVMe storage, a graphics card, 10GbE networking, a 350W power supply, and more. Pioneer board specifications: SoC – Sophgo SOPHON SG2042 64-core RISC-V processor (T-Head […]