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

June 19, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

FontEdit Font Editor Targets Embedded Systems with LED, LCD or e-Paper Displays

Once I had to use a Chinese TTF font in a project were storage was limited, and I managed to reduce the font size with FontForge open-source editor. It works well as long as your system support standard font formats like TrueType or OpenType, but on embedded systems with even fewer resources, it may not be workable due to the size of the font file, and the footprint of the required libraries. Instead, you may have to prepare the font in an image editor and convert those into code with a script and that can be cumbersome. So Dominik Kapusta decided to write a little tool to simplify the process. Meet FontEdit. The program allows you to import fonts, edit glyphs, and potentially add your own custom drawings. It does have some limitations as it only works with general-purpose fixed-width desktop font and imports font glyphs for characters in the […]

June 19, 2020June 19, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

nRF52805 Tiny Bluetooth 5.2 SoC is Optimized for Small Two-layer PCB Designs

Nordic Semi has just added a new member to its nRF52 Bluetooth 5 wireless SoC family with nRF52805 offered in a tiny WLCSP package measuring 2.48×2.46 mm and optimized for cost-effective 2-layer PCB designs. nRF52805 key features and specifications: MCU Core – Arm Cortex-M4 @ 64 MHz Storage & Memory – 192 KB Flash, 24 KB RAM Wireless Bluetooth Low Energy and 2.4 GHz proprietary protocols. High bitrate – 2 Mbps, 1 Mbps +4 dBm TX power -97 dBm RX sensitivity (1 Mbps Bluetooth LE) Integrated balun with single-ended output I/Os – UART, SPI, TWI, 2-channel 12-bit ADC Security 128-bit AES Power Consumption 7 mA in TX (4 dBm) 4.6 mA in TX (0 dBm) 4.6 mA in RX (1 Mbps) 0.3 μA in System OFF 1.1 μA in System ON with 24 KB RAM retained and RTC running Supply Voltage – 3.6V max Package – 2.48×2.46 mm WLCSP Note […]

June 19, 2020April 3, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Qualcomm Robotics RB5 Platform Targets the Development of 5G and AI-Enabled Robots

Qualcomm Robotics RB3 Development Platform powered by Snapdragon 845 processor gets an upgrade with Robotics RB5 Platform equipped with Qualcomm QRB5165 Robotics processor designed for industrial-grade temperature operating, and featuring a 15 TOPS Qualcomm AI Engine fo artificial intelligence and machine learning applications such as heterogeneous computing, enhanced computer vision, and multi-camera concurrency. The development platform also supports for 4G and 5G connectivity via a companion module and runs Ubuntu and ROS 2.0 operating systems. Qualcomm Robotics RB5 development kit specifications: SoC – Qualcomm QRB5165 with Kryo 858 CPU @ up to 2.84 GHz, Adreno 650 GPU, Adreno 665 VPU, Adreno 995 DPU, Qualcomm Hexagon DSP with quad HVX, and Qualcomm Spectra 480 ISP System Memory – 16GB LPDDR5 RAM (POP) Storage – 128 GB UFS3.0 storage, MicroSD card slot Video Output – 1x HDMI 1.4 port Audio – 2x WSA8810 Class-D on-board speaker amplifier, built-in PDM MIC, support for […]

June 18, 2020June 18, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Particle Takes Pre-orders for its Cellular Tracking SoM, Evaluation Kit, and Tracker One Asset Tracker

Earlier this year, Particle announced its Tracking System turnkey solution comprised of Tracker SoM LTE IoT module, Tracker One asset tracker with enclosure, as well as Particle Tracking Services software suite with geolocation services, fleet management, and an open device firmware application framework to integrate with off-the-shelf IoT sensors and enable OTA firmware updates. The hardware devices were expected for June/July 2020, and the company has now started to take pre-orders for Tracker SoM, its evaluation kit, and Tracker One for respectively $79.99, $99.99, and $127.99. Shipping is expected to start in August 2020. We already covered Tracker SoM in our initial article with the full specifications, but basically, it’s a Nordic Semiconductor nRF52840 powered module with 8MB flash, ESP32 for WiFI (including support for indoor location), U-blox Neo-M8U GNSS module, and a choice of Quectel BG96 LTE CAT M1 module for the US or Quectel EG91-X CAT 1 module […]

June 18, 2020June 18, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 23 Comments

ODROID-H2+ SBC Gets Celeron J4115 Processor, Offers 2.5GbE Networking

Harkernel ODROID-H2 is an Intel Celeron J4105 Gemini Lake powered SBC that offers great value and performs reasonably well as we’ve seen in our ODROID-H2 Ubuntu review. But there’s an upgraded model coming soon with ODROID-H2+ getting a slightly faster Intel Celeron J4115 processor, 2.5 GbE networking, a couple of extra I/O on the header for USB 2.0 and HDMI CEC, and a change to the 12V SATA power circuit to improve the suspend-resume power control sequence of 3.5″ HDDs. ODROID-H2+ specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron J4115 Gemini Lake Refresh quad-core processor @ 1.8 GHz / 2.5 GHz (turbo single thread) / 2.3Ghz (turbo multi-thread) with 12EU Intel UHD Graphics 600 up to 700 MHz; Noted listed on Ark Intel just yet, but it’s real. System Memory – Dual-channel Memory DDR4-PC19200 (2400MT/s) supporting up to 32GB RAM in total Storage – M.2 PCIe 2.0 x4 slot for one NVMe storage, […]

June 18, 2020July 26, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Beelink GS-King X Review – Part 1: Unboxing & Teardown

Beelink GS-King X is a 3-in-1 media center that works as an Android 9.0 TV box, a NAS with support for two 3.5″ hard drives, and a HiFi audio system with two ESS9018 audio DACs powering RCA and balanced audio outputs. The company sent a review sample, and I’ll start by checking out the hardware and accessories, show how to install the hard drive(s), and attempt to tear down the device to check what it’s really made of. Beelink GS-King X Unboxing There’s no mention of TV box nor Android on the package, just “STORAGE” and DTS plus Dolby Audio… The bottom of the package lists the Beelink GS-King X specifications which we already discussed in our previous articles. There’s a red ribbon that helps to take the device out of its package. I wish more companies would do this. Accessories include the voice remote control, an HDMI cable, a […]

June 17, 2020June 17, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Qualcomm Snapdragon 690 5G Processor Brings 5G, Cortex-A77 to Mid-Range Smartphones

Qualcomm launched Snapdragon 855, the company’s first 5G mobile processor, in December 2018, before following up the next year with Snapdragon 865, 765, and 765G 5G mobile platforms still targetted to higher-end and premium smartphones. Qualcomm has now introduced its first 5G mobile SoC part of the mid-range Snapdragon 600-series with Snapdragon 690 5G octa-core processor featuring Cortex-A77 and Cortex-A53 cores, and a Snapdragon X51 5G modem delivering up to 2.5 Gbps download speed. Qualcomm Snapdragon 690 5G (SM6350) specifications: CPU – Octa-core Qualcomm Kryo 560 CPU @ up to 2.0 GHz, specifically 2x Cortex 77 cores @ 2.0 GHz and 6x Cortex-A55 cores @ 1.7 GHz GPU – Qualcomm Adreno 619L GPU with support for OpenCL 2.0 FP, OpenGL ES 3.2, Vulkan 1.1, and DX12 APIs DSP – 2x Qualcomm Hexagon 692 with Qualcomm Hexagon Vector eXtensions (HVX), Hexagon Tensor Accelerator, Qualcomm Hexagon Scalar Accelerator Qualcomm Sensing Hub – Ultra-low-power […]

June 17, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

AirTab 15.6″ Portable Display Provides 2x USB-C Inputs (Crowdfunding)

While portable displays have been available as far back as at least 2012, they’ve become more popular in recent years as they can both offer a secondary display to your laptop, or add a larger screen to your smartphone. In the last two years, we’ve already covered BlitzWolf BW-PCM1, T-bao T15A, TAIHE Gemini (which ended up being a failure), Airview, and Desklab among others. But apparently, there’s room for more with the launch of AirTab, a 15.6″ portable touchscreen or non-touch monitor, on Kickstarter that’s already surpassed its $10,000 funding target. AirTab specifications: 15.6″ display with 1920×1080 resolution up to 60 Hz refresh rate; 4ms response time; 256 cd/m2 brightness Touchscreen – Air Touch model only USB – 2x USB-C ports Power Supply – Dimensions – 335 x 245 x 4.9 mm Weight – 500 grams AirTab comes with a foldable magnetic cover that allows the display to be used […]