CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

June 13, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

3.5-inch SBC targets industrial applications with 9-36V wide-range DC-in

BCM Advanced Research ECM-3455J is an upcoming 3.5-inch SBC designed for industrial application with 9-36V wide range DC-in support, an Intel Celeron J3455 quad-core Apollo Lake processor, up to 8GB SO-DIMM memory, and 32GB on-board eMMC flash. The single board computer also comes with HDMI and LVDS video out, dual Gigabit Ethernet, an M.2 socket a micro SIM socket for cellular connectivity, as well as up to eight USB interfaces, and a thick and large heatspreader for fanless operation. ECM-3455J specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron J3455 quad-core Apollo Lake processor @ 1.5GHz / 2.3GHz (Burst Frequency) with Intel HD graphics 500; 10W TDP System Memory – 1x 204-pin SO-DIMM DDR3L-1600MHz socket for up to 8GB RAM Storage – 32GB eMMC flash (option: 64GB), 1x SATA III port, mSATA socket (See expansion), 64Mbit SPI flash for AMI UEFI BIOS Video Output 18/24-bit dual-channel LVDS through Chrontel CH7511B embedded DisplayPort to LVDS bridge + 1x backlight locking type header HDMI Audio – […]

June 12, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

RasPad 3 Review – Part 1: Raspberry Pi 4 “tablet” specs, unboxing and assembly

RasPad tablet kit for Raspberry Pi 3B+ and other SBC’s was introduced in 2018, but Sunfounder has recently introduced an update, RasPad 3 that supports the more powerful Raspberry Pi 4 SBC. After seeing my review of CrowPi2 Raspberry Pi 4 education laptop, the company asked me whether I’d be interested in reviewing Raspad 3 as well. So here we are, and I’ve received a sample of the tablet kit. As usual, I’ll do a two-part review, with unboxing and assembly of the kit. Since I previously missed the RasPad 3 announcement, I’ll start by listing some of the specifications. RasPad 3 specifications Compatible board – Raspberry Pi 4B with Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 processor, up to 8G RAM Storage – MicroSD card socket Display – 10.1-inch touchscreen IPS display with 1280×800 resolution, 10-point touch Video Output – Full-size HDMI output Audio – 3.5 mm headphone jack, stereo speaker Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port, and 802.11b/g/n/ac WiFi 5 + […]

GMK NucBox2 Review – Windows 10, Unraid OS on a Coffee Lake mini PC

Karl here. Today we are going to look at a mini PC. It is by GMK. GMK’s first foray looks to be the NucBox, a super tiny mini pc. I would call the NucBox2 its older, bigger, more capable brother. What stood out to me was the M.2 4x NVMe slot. I don’t anticipate a superfast SSD to come with the NucBox2 but we will see. The NucBox2 only had one 8 GB stick of memory and I had an extra stick laying around so I installed it to get dual-channel support. I think they are doing this mini PC a disservice using memory in single-channel mode. A quick Google search shows an 8GB stick is about $50 and I would highly recommend this upgrade. Notable Specs Processor – Intel Core i5-8259U 4-core/8-thread Coffee Lake processor 802.11 AC WiFI M.2 NVMe 256 GB SSD (Netac) 8GB memory single-channel Gig Ethernet Dual HDMI Outside Plastic housing. Doesn’t feel premium nor cheap. […]

June 11, 2021June 11, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Timesys Embedded Board Farm enables remote access to hardware for software development & QA

When you design a new board with an international team working in multiple locations, there may only be a couple of boards available for testing, and that’s mean some members of the team may not have access to the hardware. The same problem can be true for test farms with a larger number of boards. So it would be good to have a solution to remotely access and control the hardware to speed up development. A few years ago we wrote about MuxPi board using NanoPi NEO SBC to enable remote testing of development boards, but now Timesys has come up with a more advanced solution with the Embedded Board Farm (EBF) capable of sharing multiple boards across teams spread around the world. The solution is comprised of three main components besides the target boards: The Master Server integrated with LAVA test automation framework – It handles docker images, firmware/file transfer, access control, and so on. A Zombie connected to […]

June 10, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 50 Comments

How much do you pay for cellular data plans?

I’m mostly working from home using a broadband “Fiber-to-the-home” monthly subscription, with a router handling the connection to computers and devices through Ethernet or WiFi. So I’ve very seldom used cellular data plans since I don’t exactly need to be connected each time I get out. But recently, I’ve been to places for around one or two weeks at a time without WiFi, and my ISP has gotten into the habit of disconnecting for several hours once a month, so I’ve started to connect to 4G cellular networks more often. So far I had purchased daily or weekly plans from my bank app depending on my need for under two dollars a day or $10 per week for a 10 Mbps “unlimited” connection. Unlimited here means the company will not throttle the connection to lower speed after reaching a cap. I had some problems with excessive packet loss (> 70%) from time to time on my computer while using my […]

June 10, 2021June 10, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

BastWAN Feather-compatible LoRaWAN board features RAK4260 Microchip R34 module

We’ve previously written about a Feather-compatible LoRaWAN board equipped with RAK4260 module based on Microchip R34 LoRa SIP called Penguino Feather. It appears somebody, namely Electronic Cats based in Mexico, decided to design an almost identical board with BastWAN. Let’s see if there are any differences besides the cheaper price. BastWAN specifications: LoRa module – Rak wireless RAK4260 module with: SiP – Microchip SAML21 Arm Cortex M0+ MCU @ 48 MHz, 32 KB RAM, 256 KB Flash, Semtech SX1276 LoRa Connectivity Frequency Range – 862 to 1020 MHz High level of accuracy and stability (32MHz TXCO) Max Tx Power: 20dBm; Max Sensitivity: -148dBm; Rx Current: 17mA (typical) Compliant with LoRaWan 1.0.2 Antenna – SMA and u.FL (IPEX) antenna connector I/Os – Feather headers with 20x IO pins including PWN, serial, I2C, SPI, 6x 12-bit ADC, 1x 10-bit DAC HW security – ATECC608A crypto authentication chip Programming and debugging 10-pin 4-pin SWD programming header Micro USB port for power and debugging […]

ClearFog CN9130 networking boards deliver 10GbE through a tiny Octeon TX2 module

SolidRun has designed and manufactured ClearFog networking boards ever since the introduction of the Marvell ARMADA 380/388-based ClearFog Pro in 2015. Since then, more powerful models have been launched including the ClearFog GT 8K based on Marvell ARMADA A8040 quad-core Cortex A72 processor with support for 2.5GbE and 10GbE, and the ClearFog CX LX2K equipped with a 16-core Cortex-A72 NXP capable of 100GbE networking. The Israeli company unveiled its first Octeon TX2-based design last fall with ClearFog CX CN9K, a full-featured networking SBC fitted with CEx7 CN9132 COM Express Type 7 module. But now the company has launched the more compact ClearFog CN9130 Pro/Base networking boards equipped with a tiny 50x30mm Octeon TX2 module still enabling 10GbE connectivity. SolidRun SOM 9130 system-on-module Specifications: SoC – Marvell OCTEON TX2 CN9130 quad-core Cortex A72 processor @ up to 2.2 GHz (commercial) or 2.0 GHz (industrial) System Memory – Up to 8GB DDR4 RAM Storage – 8GB eMMC flash, 64Mbit SPI flash 3 […]

June 9, 2021June 9, 2021 by Sponsored Post - Comments Off

Toradex extends Torizon to Development and Operation (DevOps) Platform for IoT Linux Devices (Sponsored)

Torizon Platform DevOps Linux IoT Devices

Toradex is extending its Torizon to a full IoT Development and Operations (DevOps) Platform for Linux Devices, including free hosted remote updates, device monitoring, and fleet management solution. Torizon enables modern, iterative product development by seamlessly integrating hardware, a Linux OS, development tools, remote updates, and fleet operations. Thereby creating a scalable solution for devices requiring high reliability and security. In a paper from May 2021, Forrester Consulting finds that Traditional embedded development practices are insufficient when building smarter, digital products and that 79% of decision-makers say challenges with smart product development and delivery negatively impact their firms in delivering digital products. Torizon brings state-of-the-art product development principles to demanding applications in industries such as Industrial Automation, Healthcare, Smart City, and Transportation. Torizon allows for faster shipping of products, continuous improvements in customers’ user experience, bug fixes, and patching of security vulnerabilities in a secure and robust way. Software Developers can take advantage of TorizonCore a ready-to-use Linux, removing the […]