Author: Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments on Software progress and source code release for CIX P1 Armv9 SoC and Orion O6 motherboard

Software progress and source code release for CIX P1 Armv9 SoC and Orion O6 motherboard

CIX P1 Orion O6 source code upstreaming

When the Orion O6 mini-ITX motherboard with a CIX P1 12-core Armv9 SoC was announced in December 2024, we were told binary releases would start on January 15, 2025, and the source code would be released later in Q1 2025. Tom Cubie further explained that upstreaming of the CIX kernel would start in Q2 of 2025, and Linux 6.1 with Device Tree plus Linux 6.6 with ACPI would be supported in the meantime. I’ve been able to quickly check the Debian 12 binary release on the Orion O6 motherboard at the end of January, but as I was looking for an updated image for the second part of the review, I noticed there weren’t any new Debian 12 images so far. That does not mean there haven’t been any work done, as the forums are somewhat active and I’ve been told Radxa is even more active on Discord, although I […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments on Citronics built a router based on the Fairphone 2 mainboard

Citronics built a router based on the Fairphone 2 mainboard

Destore Citronics Fairphone 2 industrial gateway

Belgium-company Citronics has designed a router based on the mainboard of the Fairphone 2 smartphone, connecting the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 “system-on-module” to a carrier board with Ethernet, USB ports, and other connectors, while leveraging 4G LTE, WiFi, and Bluetooth connectivity from the phone’s core board. Citronics calls this type of hardware “Circular Microcomputers,” which refers to small computers focusing on sustainability and circular economy principles using parts from discarded devices like old smartphones. There’s actually more than one router, as Citronics designed its own development kit, and also partnered with other companies to design custom gateways based on the Fairphone 2 mainboard. Let’s have a look at the devkit first. Citronics devkit: Fairphone 2 mainboard SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 (MSM8974AB) quad core Krait 400 processor @ up to 2.26 GHz with Adreno 330 GPU System Memory – 2 GB LPDDR3 Storage – 32GB eMMC flash Connectivity – 2G/3G/4G LTE, […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments on Tropic Square TROPIC01 is an auditable, open architecture, tamper-proof RISC-V secure element (SE) for IoT and microcontrollers

Tropic Square TROPIC01 is an auditable, open architecture, tamper-proof RISC-V secure element (SE) for IoT and microcontrollers

TROPIC01 open RISC-V secure element

Tropic Square TROPIC01 is an auditable, open architecture, tamper-proof RISC-V based secure element (SE) designed to interface with microcontrollers in products such as hardware wallets, authentication solutions, biometric wallets, medical devices, and other IoT solutions. There are plenty of secure elements on the market, but their design is usually closed-source, so the design can’t be easily verified by third parties and flaws may remain hidden even when discovered.  With its open designs, potentially flaws in the TROPIC01 can easily be found, disclosed, and fixed by the community, and such verifiable design improved trust in the security of the solution. TOPIC01 secure element specifications: CPU core – RISC-V IBEX Controller Core with secure firmware updates and customizable FW upon request Memory OTP to store x.509 certificate and keys Flash to store general purpose and PIN verification data Memory address scrambling On-the-fly encryption Error correction code protection Communication Interface SPI application control […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments on ESP32-S3 infrared thermal imaging camera module offers 80×62 resolution, 45° and 90° wide angle versions

ESP32-S3 infrared thermal imaging camera module offers 80×62 resolution, 45° and 90° wide angle versions

ESP32-S3 Thermal Camera module

Waveshare has launched an ESP32-S3-based thermal imaging camera module based on the same 80 x 62 infrared camera found in its Thermal-45/90 camera Raspberry Pi HAT and Thermal-45/90 USB camera. The thermal camera module is offered with two field of views, namely 45° for the basic version and 90° for the wide angle variant, twenty solder pads with GPIOs, UART, and I2C for expansion, a USB-C port for power and programming, and a 2-pin header to connect a battery if required. Waveshare “ESP32-S3 IR thermal imaging camera module” specifications: Wireless Module ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 MCU – ESP32-S3 dual-core Tensilica LX7 up to 240 MHz with 512KB SRAM, up to 8MB PSRAM Storage – 16MB flash Wireless – WiFi 4 and Bluetooth LE 5 Thermal Camera – Meridian Innovation MI0802 Resolution – 80 × 62 Field of View (FOV) 56°(D) x 45°(H) x 34°(V) (Baisc version) 122°(D) x 90°(H) x 67°(V) (Wide angle […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on Giada DN25 fanless 4K digital signage player features Raspberry Pi CM5 Lite module and eMMC flash

Giada DN25 fanless 4K digital signage player features Raspberry Pi CM5 Lite module and eMMC flash

Giada DN25

Most products based on Raspberry Pi CM5 make use of the eMMC flash version, but Giada DN25 fanless 4K digital signage player relies on the Raspberry Pi CM5 Lite module instead, but still uses 32GB or 64GB flash. This looks like a contradiction at first since the CM5 Lite module has no eMMC flash, but more on that later. The media player uses a CM5 Lite module with 2GB RAM and a wireless module, and features two full HDMI ports to drive up to two 4K displays, a 3.5mm audio jack, a Gigabit Ethernet port, four USB ports, and an RS232 port for peripheral connection (e.g. barcode scanner). Giada DN25 specifications: Compute Module – Raspberry Pi CM5 Lite Module SoC –  Broadcom BCM2712 CPU  – Quad-core 64-bit Arm Cortex-A76 processor @ 2.4GHz GPU – VideoCore VII GPU with support for OpenGL ES 3.1 graphics, Vulkan 1.3 VPU – 4Kp60 HEVC decoder […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments on Arm Cortex-A320 low-power CPU is the smallest Armv9 core, optimized for Edge AI and IoT SoCs

Arm Cortex-A320 low-power CPU is the smallest Armv9 core, optimized for Edge AI and IoT SoCs

Arm Cortex-A320

Arm Cortex-A320 is a low-power Armv9 CPU core optimized for Edge AI and IoT applications, with up to 50% efficiency improvements over the Cortex-A520 CPU core. It is the smallest Armv9 core unveiled so far. The Armv9 architecture was first introduced in 2021 with a focus on AI and specialized cores, followed by the first Armv9 cores – Cortex-A510, Cortex-A710, Cortex-X2 – unveiled later that year and targeting flagship mobile devices. Since then we’ve seen Armv9 cores on a wider range of smartphones, high-end Armv9 motherboards, and TV boxes, The upcoming Rockchip RK3688 AIoT SoC also features Armv9 but targets high-end applications. The new Arm Cortex-A320 will expand Armv9 usage to a much wider range of IoT devices including power-constrained Edge AI devices. Arm Cortex-A320 highlights: Architecture – Armv9.2-A (Harvard) Extensions Up to Armv8.7 extensions QARMA3 extensions SVE2 extensions Memory Tagging Extensions (MTE) (including Asymmetric MTE) Cryptography extensions RAS extensions […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments on NComputing RX540 Raspberry Pi CM5-powered thin client supports Citrix, Microsoft AVD, WIndows 365, RDS, and more

NComputing RX540 Raspberry Pi CM5-powered thin client supports Citrix, Microsoft AVD, WIndows 365, RDS, and more

NComputing RX540 thin client

NComputing RX540 is a thin client powered by the Raspberry Pi CM5 that works with Citrix, Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD), Windows 365, Remote Desktop Services (RDS), and NComputing’s own vSpace Pro and VERDE VDI platforms. Omnissa Horizon integration is expected in March 2025. We first covered NComputing when the company released the RX300 Raspberry Pi 3-based Thin Client in 2017, which we reviewed with Windows Server 2016 the same year. Since then, the company introduced the RX420(HDX) Raspberry Pi 4 Thin Client compatible with Citrix HDX in 2020, and now they’ve introduced their first Raspberry Pi Compute Module-based hardware with the CM5-powered NComputing RX540 thin client, and there’s also an RX580 model with 8GB RAM and internal storage available upon request. Ncomputing RX540 specifications: SoM – Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 SoC – Broadcom BCM2712 CPU – Quad-core 64-bit Arm Cortex-A76 processor @ 2.4GHz GPU – VideoCore VII GPU […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on Silicon Labs MG26 development kits and SoCs are now available for Matter and multiprotocol Smart Home applications

Silicon Labs MG26 development kits and SoCs are now available for Matter and multiprotocol Smart Home applications

xG26 PK6028A MG26 development kit

Silicon Labs MG26 is a new family of Arm Cortex-M33 wireless SoCs designed for Matter or multiprotocol Smart Home applications that provide an update to the MG24 with more memory and storage, additional GPIO, a 4×40 LCD controller, and an integrated AI/ML accelerator. We first covered the new wireless microcontroller family in April 2024, but the company has now published a new press release announcing the general availability of the MG26 microcontrollers, and I also noticed some development kits were now available, so we’ll check those out in this post. Silicon Labs MG26 specifications A reminder of the SoC specifications with highlights in bold showing the improvements or differences against the MG24 family: MCU core – Arm Cortex-M33 @ 78.0 MHz with DSP instruction and floating-point unit Memory – Up to 512 kB RAM data memory Storage – Up to 3200 kB flash program memory AI/ML accelerator – Matrix Vector […]

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