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

January 5, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

5G coming to entry-level devices with Snapdragon 480 5G SoC

5G rollout really only started ramping in 2019, and we covered premium 5G mobile SoC like Qualcomm Snapdragon 855, Huawei Kirin 990 or Samsung Exynos 980, as soon as December 2018. In late 2019 and 2020, 5G came to mid-range mobile devices thanks to chips such as Snapdragon 765(G), MediaTek Dimensity 720, UNISOC T7520, and others. Somehow, 5G still felt premium to me since the technology is still relatively, so I was surprised by the level of coverage in Europe and the US, and even smaller countries like Thailand, when I looked at the 5G coverage map above after seeing an announcement for Snapdragon 480 processor designed for entry-level 5G smartphones. Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 (SM4350) key features and specifications: CPU – Octa-core Kryo 460 processor with two Cortex-A76 class cores @ 2.0 GHz, six Cortex-A55 cores @ 1.8 GHz GPU – Adreno 619 GPU with H.264 (AVC), H.265 (HEVC) VP8 […]

January 4, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 18 Comments

100 Allwinner A20 EOMA68 CPU cards manufactured for testing

Last week, and technically last year, we wrote Dragonbox Pyra open-source hardware handheld Linux PC was ready to ship after 6 years in the making, and 4 years after initial pre-orders, highlighting that such projects can take a long time. But it’s not the only project to have suffered from long delays, but still slowly getting things done. Rhombus Tech started working on earth-friendly EOMA68 (Embedded Open Modular Architecture Standard) computing cards based on the 68-pin PCMCIA form factor in 2012, before launching Allwinner A20 based EOMA68 cards on Crowd Supply in 2016 together with laptop and micro PC shells. The project had regular updates over the year, mostly to discuss the progress of the project, and unexpected challenges encountered. But there may light in the tunnel, as in the latest December 30th update, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton (LKCL) announced the company had managed to manufacture 100 OEMA68 cards based […]

January 4, 2021January 4, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 mini-STX SBC to power gaming machines, digital signage, PoS…

SAPPHIRE introduced the FS-FP5V 5-inch SBC powered by AMD Ryzen Embedded V1000 processor in 2018, followed by FS-FP5R board based on AMD Ryzen R1000 processor the following year. But with the launch of AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 processor family in 2020, it should come as no surprise that Sapphire has also introduced a new 5″x5″ mini-STX SBC powered by Ryzen Embedded V2000 SoCs with Sapphire (V2000) FS-FP6. Sapphire FS-FP6 specifications Specifications with differences against FS-FP5V highlighted in bold: SoC AMD Ryzen Embedded V2516 hexa-core/12-thread processor @ 2.1 GHz / 3.95 GHz (Turbo) with 3MB L2 cache, 6 CUs Radeon RX Vega 6 GPU @ 1.5 GHz; TDP: 10-25W TDP (15W default) AMD Ryzen Embedded V2546 hexa-core/12-thread processor @ 3.0 GHz / 3.95 GHz (turbo) with 3 MB L2 cache, 6 CUs Radeon RX Vega 6 GPU @ 1.5 GHz; TDP: 35-54W TDP (45W default) AMD Ryzen Embedded V2718 octa-core/16-thread processor […]

January 4, 2021January 6, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 393 Comments

MINIX NEO J50C-4 Max mini PC international giveaway

Right before Christmas, I posted a review of MINIX NEO J50C-4 Max mini PC powered by an Intel Pentium J5005 Gemini Lake processor coupled with 8GB RAM and a 240GB SSD. It’s basically the same as the previously reviewed MINIX NEO J50C-4 except for the extra memory and faster & higher capacity SSD storage. MINIX asked me if I could do a giveaway of three units on CNX Software after the review, and I thought it would be a good idea so here we are. I wanted to complete the review before launching the giveaway and tested MINIX NEO J50C-4 Max with the pre-installed Windows 10 Pro. I worked just as well as the previous model with no CPU throttling and the performance one should expect from a Gemini Lake processor, but you may want to add an extra 8GB memory stick to take advantage of the higher bandwidth provided […]

January 2, 2021February 26, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

ESP32-S3 dual-core WiFi and Bluetooth LE 5 SoC supports AI acceleration for AIoT applications

Back in September, we reported that Espressif Systems planned to release a new ESP32-S3 with “AI instructions and multi-CPU cores” with few other details, except the chip would also be part of the MINI-series wireless modules. Now we have many more details, as the Shanghai-based company has now officially announced ESP32-S3. The processor features dual Tensilica LX7 cores, 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 & Bluetooth 5 connectivity, and as expected supports AI instructions to cater to the AIoT (AI + IoT) market. ESP32-S3 key features and specifications: CPU Dual-core Tensilica LX7 up to 240 MHz with additional vector instructions for AI acceleration ULP core to handle low power modes Memory – 512 KB of internal SRAM Storage – Octal SPI flash and PSRAM support (supports larger, high-speed devices compared to ESP32) Connectivity 2.4 GHz 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi 4 with 40 MHz bandwidth support Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) 5.0 connectivity with long-range […]

December 31, 2020March 19, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

Year 2020 in review – Top ten posts and stats

It’s this time of the year when we look back at what happened, and what may be next. 2020 did not pan out as planned in more ways than one, but there were still some interesting developments. Based on 2019 announcements, 2020 was promising to be an exciting year for Amlogic and Rockchip with the expected launch of RK3588 and S908X high-end processors for 8K capable devices, but we’ll have to wait for 2021 for this to happen. Instead, the most interesting processor of the year from the Allwinner, Amlogic, and Rockchip offerings was probably Amlogic S905X4 processing adding AV1 hardware decoding. As pointed out in our “RISC-V 2020 highlights” post, it was a fairly eventful year for RISC-V architecture, although there’s still a long road ahead, especially for application processors. We had seen some general-purpose and Bluetooth RISC-V MCUs in 2019, but 2020 saw the launch of the first […]

December 31, 2020December 31, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments

ECS GLKD-HTI is a “Half mini-ITX” motherboard with Gemini Lake processor

If you’ve never heard about a “half mini-ITX” motherboard, that’s normal, as I don’t think it’s actually a thing. At least until now, as ECS GLKD-HTI is an Intel Gemini Lake motherboard that’s half the size of a standard mini-ITX motherboard. The board still comes with the usual HDMI, DisplayPort, USB and Ethernet ports, as well as a SODIMM slot for DDR4-2133 memory, an M.2 socket for 2280 SATA SSDs, as well as a SATA 3.0 port. ECS GLKD-HTI “half mini-ITX” motherboard specifications: SoC – Choice of Intel Gemini Lake processors with Intel UHD 600 graphics System Memory – 1x DDR4 SO-DIMM socket for up to 8GB DDR4 2133 non-ECC memory Storage 1x M.2 slot for SSD for 2280 single side SATA SSD 1x SATA 3.0 6Gbps connector 128 MB SPI Flash for AMI BIOS / UEFI Video Output – HDMI 1.4a up to 1920×1200 1x LVDS connector Audio 2x […]

December 31, 2020December 30, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Protocol Droid is a USB bridge board to I2C, CAN Bus, RS485, UART, SPI, etc. (Crowdfunding)

We’ve seen some interesting USB hardware hacking/debugging boards in the last two months with Tigard, Ollie, and Glasgow Interface Explorer each with their own price point and features, but with the goal of replacing multiple other programming or debug boards you may need for your projects. Protocol Droid is another one of such USB boards for electronics designers and hardware hackers. It offers I/O connectivity via terminal blocks for I2C, CAN Bus, RS485, UART, SPI, and other interfaces. Protocol Droid key features and specifications: MCU – Unnamed STMicro microcontroller Host interface – Micro USB port Core Interfaces: I²C controller & peripheral modes SPI controller & peripheral modes RS485 controller & peripheral modes CAN Bus UART 2x PWM 2x ADC 2x DAC Debugging / programming interfaces – 7-pin JTAG/SWD unpopulated header Power Sources – 3V & 5V DC with limited current via 2-pin terminal blocks All interfaces are available simultaneously through […]