Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft), Author at CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

June 25, 2023June 25, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Using Link.ONE all-in-one LPWAN development kit with ChipStark, Node-Red, InfluxDB, and Grafana

RAKwireless has sent us a review sample of the WisTrio Link.ONE all-in-one LPWAN IoT development kit with support for LTE-M, NB-IoT, and LoRaWAN connectivity and programmable with the Arduino IDE. We’ve tested the kit with its weatherproof WisBlock Unify enclosure using LoRaWAN connectivity and open-source software packages and frameworks such as ChipStark, Node-Red, InfluxDB, and Grafana. Key features of the Link.ONE kit The Link.ONE kit we’ve received comes with a WisBlock Unify Enclosure (100 x 75 x 38 mm) and a 3,200 mAh/3.7V rechargeable lithium battery which is sufficient when the system is mostly in sleep mode and used to receive data, while not sending information too often. “Link.ONE with BOX” unboxing The following items were very tightly packed inside the box: WisTrio LTE-M, NB-IoT, and LoRaWAN development board Rechargeable lithium battery External Antenna for cellular USB Type-C cable Circular M8 female cable The enclosure is strong with the lid […]

June 24, 2023June 24, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Portenta C33 is a $64 Arduino Pro board based on Renesas RA6M5 Arm Cortex-M33 MCU

Arduino Portenta C33 is the latest board from the Arduino Pro family which the company dubs a “high-performance, low-price” solution based on a 200 MHz Renesas RA6M5 Arm Cortex-M33 microcontroller and equipped with a ESP32-C3 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low Energy module. The new board provides a cost-effective alternative to the Portenta H7 and X8 boards, but still offers wireless connectivity, a secure element for industrial-grade security, and compatibility with Portenta, MKR, and Nicla components. Portenta C33 specifications: Microcontroller – Renesas R7FA6M5BH2CBG Arm Cortex-M33 microcontroller @ up to 200 MHz with 512KB SRAM, 2MB Flash, Arm TrustZone, and Secure Crypto Engine 9 Storage – 16 MB QSPI Flash Connectivity 10/100M Ethernet PHY ESP32-C3 WiFi and BLE module USB – 1x USB Type-C high-speed port with Power Delivery support I/Os via 2x 80-pin high-density connectors, Arduino MKR headers with castellated hole, and a 5-pin I2C connector Storage – SD Card Networking – […]

June 23, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

PiccoloBASIC – A BASIC interpreter for the Raspberry Pi Pico board

PiccoloBASIC is an open-source BASIC interpreter for the Raspberry Pi Pico development board that’s based on “uBASIC: a really simple BASIC interpreter” by Adam Dunkels and relying on Arm’s LittleFS fail-safe filesystem for microcontrollers. If my memory serves me well, my first computing experience was at school using a Thomson TO7 computer that we programmed with BASIC. I don’t think the language is still used in practical applications, but we can still see some BASIC projects pop up from time to time such as a BASIC interpreter for the Arduino Zero boards. Gary Sims, owner of the Gary Explains YouTube channel, has now ported a BASIC interpreter to the Raspberry Pi Pico. The project is still work in progress, but currently implemented features include: Let, if, print, for, goto, gosub String variables (let z$=”hello”) Floating point numbers and variables (let z#=1.234) Builtin functions [zero, randint, not, time] Sleep, delay, […]

June 23, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Qualcomm 212S and 9205S Satellite IoT modems target remote monitoring and asset tracking

Qualcomm has just unveiled the Qualcomm 212S and Qualcomm 9205S Satellite IoT modems developed in collaboration with Skylo, an NTN service provider, to enable IoT devices connectivity across satellite and cellular networks for remote monitoring and asset tracking. At the beginning of the year, Qualcomm launched Snapdragon Satellite for two-way messaging on smartphones, but the company has now expanded its use of satellite data connectivity with the Qualcomm 212S and 9205S modems optimized for 5G IoT use cases relying on NTN (Non-Terrestrial Networks). Qualcomm 212S Satellite IoT modem Qualcomm 212S (QCX212S) modem specifications: CPU – Arm Cortex-M3 CPU @ up to 204 MHz Cellular connectivity Cellular Technology – Rel.14 LTE Cat-NB2, Rel.17 NB-IoT over NTN RF LTE low bands – B85, B5, B8, B18, B19, B12, B13, B17, B14, B28, B26, B20 LTE mid bands – B70, B25, B66, B4, B3, B2, B1, B23, N255, N256 Network Protocols – SSL, […]

June 22, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Qualcomm S3 Gen 2 Sound Platform supports LE Audio and Auracast broadcast audio

The Qualcomm S3 Gen 2 Sound Platform (QCC5181) is a Bluetooth 5.4 audio solution designed for dongles and adapters with ultra-low latency (<20 ms) and support for the latest LE Audio and Auracast broadcast audio standards. The platform was introduced last year, but the company says it has now launched a “newly enhanced solution” optimized for gaming that “combines Snapdragon Sound and LE Audio to deliver ultra-low latency of less than 20ms for lag-free wireless audio with voice back-channel for in-game chat”. The new solution also focuses on USB dongles and adapters since few hosts support Bluetooth 5.4 at this time. Qualcomm S3 Gen 2 (QCC5181) Sound Platform specifications: CPU – Dual-core 32-bit microcontroller clocked at up to 80 MHz DSP – Qualcomm Kalimba DSP @ 240 MHz with 384 kB program RAM, 1,024kB data RAM Storage – External QSPI flash Connectivity Bluetooth 5.4 qualified Bluetooth Low Energy, Bluetooth Classic, […]

June 22, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

NOVELDA’s latest UWB radar presence sensor consumes less than 100 µW

NOVELDA has unveiled a new low-power ultra-wideband (UWB) radar presence sensor with a power consumption of under 100 µW and designed to operate on two AAA batteries for up to four years. We first wrote about NOVELDA in 2021 where we covered their UWB X4 presence sensor capable of detecting submillimeter movements with a power consumption of under 2mW. The company has further optimized the technology and has come up with a 30x5mm module capable of doing the same with 0.1mW power consumption. The sensor is said to work behind various materials such as plastics, tempered glass, and ceramics, the detection zone size and shape can be adjusted to meet the application requirements, and the device provides accurate angle and distance information. The new ultra-low power UWB radar presence sensor will mostly be useful for energy/resource savings, lengthening a product’s life cycle, and health monitoring with some of the potential […]

June 22, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

8K TV box board features Amlogic S928X Cortex-A76/A55 SoC

The “YB910_428_V1.0” is an Amlogic S928X penta-core Cortex-A76/A55 board designed for 8K TV boxes with up to 8GB RAM, an HDMI 2.1a port, Gigabit Ethernet and WiFi connectivity, optical S/PDIF, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a few USB 3.2/2.0 ports. We first started to see Amlogic S928X TV boxes from manufacturers such as SEI Robotics and SDMC last year, but those companies mostly cater to operators and I’ve yet to see any retail Amlogic S928X devices. The YB910 board could mean we are about to see some S928X devices for sale very soon. YB910 board specifications: SoC – Amlogic S928X CPU – Penta-core processor with 1x Cortex-A76 core, 4x Cortex-A55 cores GPU – Arm Mali-G57 MC2 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 3.2, Vulkan 1.2, and OpenCL 2.0 VPU 8Kp60 H.265, AV1, VP9, AVS3/AVS2 10-bit video decoder; 4Kp60 H.264 decoder, 1080p60 MPEG-4, WMV/VC-1, AVS, MPEG-2, MPEG-1 decoder Low-latency 4Kp60 H.265/H.264 […]

June 22, 2023June 22, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Particle launches Photon 2 Realtek RTL8721DM dual-band WiFi and BLE IoT board, Particle P2 module

Particle has launched the Photon 2 dual-band WiFi and BLE IoT board powered by a 200 MHz Realtek RTL8721DM Arm Cortex-M33 microcontroller, as well as the corresponding Particle P2 module for integration into commercial products. The original “Spark Photon” WiFi IoT board was launched in 2014 with an STM32 MCU and a BCM43362 wireless module, but the market and company name have changed since then, and Particle has now launched the Photon 2 board and P2 module with a more modern Cortex-M33 WiFi & BLE microcontroller with support for security features such as Arm TrustZone. Particle Photon 2 specifications: Wireless MCU – Realtek RTL8721DM CPU – Arm Cortex-M33 core @ 200 MHz Memory – 4.5MB embedded SRAM of which 3072 KB (3 MB) is available to user applications Connectivity – Dual-band WiFi 4 up to 150Mbps and Bluetooth 5.0 Security Hardware Engine Arm Trustzone-M Secure Boot SWD Protection Wi-Fi WEP, […]