NXP LPC Microcontrollers Roadmap for 2017 – LPC800 and LPC54000 Series

With the acquisition of Freescale, NXP now has both Kinetis and LPC ARM Cortex M micro-controller families. The company has kept selling both so far, but it’s unclear whether they’ll keep developing new Kinetis MCU family in the future. There’s no such doubt about LPC family with the company having published a 2017 roadmap for ARM Cortex M0+ based LPC 800 series, and ARM Cortex M4 based LPC54000 series. LPC800 series MCUs are promoted as 8-bit MCU alternatives, and three new models are expected next year: LPC84x ARM Cortex M0+ @ 30 MHz with 64KB flash, 8 to 16KB RAM available in QFN and LQFP packages. LPC802 ARM Cortex M0+ @ 15 MHz with 16KB flash, 2KB RAM available in TSSOP packages LPC804 ARM Cortex M0+ @ 15 MHz with 32KB flash, 4KB RAM available in QFN or TSSOP packages There will be new models of the more powerful LPC54000 […]

Review of Mecool BB2 Pro TV Box with DDR4 Memory – Part 1: Specs, Unboxing and Teardown

Mecool BB2 Pro is yet another Amlogic S912 Android 6.0 TV box, but after Eweat R9 Plus, it’s my second TV box with DDR4 memory that should deliver much higher bandwidth compared to DDR3 memory used in most TV boxes. But so far, it’s clear how much performance can be extracted from the system with higher memory bandwidth in actual use,  and that’s exactly what I hope to find out in the second part of the review, but in this post I start by going through the specs, check the box and its accessories, as well as the hardware design. Mecool BB2 Pro specifications Apart from the DDR4 memory, BB2 Pro has pretty common specifications: SoC – Amlogic S912 octo-core ARM Cortex A53 processor @ up to 1.5 GHz with ARM Mali-820MP3 GPU System Memory – 3 GB DDR4 Storage – 16 GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot up […]

Kunbus RevolutionPi RevPi Core Raspberry Pi based Industrial Computer Sells with Digital I/O Modules and Fieldbus Gateways

Kunbus, a German company specialized in industrial network solution, has decided to design an industrial system based on Raspberry Pi Computer module supporting variable power supply, a wide temperature range, DIN rail mounting, etc, as well as corresponding digital I/O modules and fieldbus gateways. RevolutionPI RevPi Core specifications: SoC – Broadcom BCM2835 ARM11 processor @ 700 MHz System Memory – 512 MB Storage – 4GB flash Video Output – Micro HDMI port Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet port USB – 2x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x micro USB port Misc – RTC, 3x status LEDs (2 programmable) Power Supply – 10.7 V to 28.8 V; polarity protection; 4 kV / 8 kV ESD protection & EMI passed (according to EN61131-2 and IEC 61000-6-2), surge and burst tests passed Power Consumption – Max: 10 Watts including 2 x 450 mA USB load; typ.: 4 watts. Dimensions – 96 x 22.5 x 110.5 […]

Quectel SC20 Smart LTE Modules with WiFi, BLE and GPS Run Android 5.1

Google may just have released Android Things operating systems for IoT applications, but its big brother – Android – has already gotten into some other IoT systems such as Quectel SC20 module powered by a Qualcomm processor and supporting LTE, WiFi, Bluetooth LE, and GNSS functions. Quectel SC20 comes in different flavors to cater for various markets, but all module share most of the same specifications: SoC – Unnamed Qualcomm processor System Memory – TBD Storage – 8GB flash Cellular Connectivity – FDD LTE, TDD LTE, TD-SCDMA, EVDO/DCMA, WCDMA, and GSM; antenna: MIMO 2×2, supports Rx-diversity Other Wireless Connectivity WiFi – 2.4GHz 802.11b/g/n (SC20-CE/-W); Dual band 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (SC20-E/-A/-AU/-J) Bluetooth 2.1+EDR/3.0/4.1 LE GNSS – GPS, GLONASS, and BeiDou Interfaces LCD – 4x lanes MIPI-DSI, 1.5Gbps each, HD (720p) @ 60fps Camera – MIPI-CSI, up to 1.5Gbps per lane, supports two cameras 2-lane MIPI_CSI for rear camera, up to 8MP 1-lane MIPI_CSI […]

ReflowR is a $99 SMT Reflowing Tool for Makers and Students

You can solder SMT components to your custom board by hand, but it would be much faster if you could get a reflow tool instead to “bake” your board after placing the components. ReflowR SMT reflowing tool offers just that in a small and affordable form factor. Some people have tried to use DIY solutions to bake their board, but results may vary. ReflowR has been specifically designed to heat PCB offering constant results. It supports reflow, rework, MSD bake, or rework pre-bake, and follows JEDEC reflow profiles. You can also add a WiFi extension to monitor the tool from your smartphone and set the temperature profile. Two version are available: Smart ReflowR – Compact 600W system for for makers and learners. Large ReflowR – Larger 1200W system for professionals “STEM Inspiration kits” are also offered without a ReflowR kit, but with multiple components, solder paste, a few PCBs, tweezers, […]

YokaTV KB2 Review – Amlogic S912 TV Box with 32 GB Flash

CNXSoft: This is another review by Karl about Amlogic S912 based YokaTV KB2 TV box. Introduction Today we will be looking at Videostrong YokaTV KB2. Below are the specs from Videostrong website. This is my first S912 device so I had high expectation. I have been using it for quite some time now with no major issues. I received approximately 6 OTA updates since I started testing and some welcome updates have come. Build When I receive a box first thing I do is take it apart and check out the inside. I was excited when I found out it had 32 gig of storage. It is not too common. Then when I opened the box I was really happy to see an antenna that wasn’t soldered on. Makes it easy to add a different one. +1 for KB2. Then I noticed the heat sink. It seemed a little small. […]

Arduino MKRZero is a Smaller Arduino Zero Board

Arduino Zero was unveiled over two years ago with an Atmel SAMD21G18  ARM Cortex M0+ MCU in Arduino Uno Rev.3 form factor, the company has now launched Arduino MKRZero with the same MCU but using the much smaller Arduino MKR1000 form factor. Arduino MKRZero specifications: MCU – Atmel/Microchip SAMD21 32-bit ARM Cortex M0+ MCU @ 48 MHz with 32 KB SRAM, 256 KB flash (8KB for bootloader) External Storage – micro SD slot Digital I/O Pins – 22x GPIOs with 12x PWM, UART, SPI, and I2C, 8x external interrupts Analog Pins – 7x analog inputs (8/10/12-bit ADC), and 1x analog output (10-bit DAC) DC Current per I/O Pin – 7 mA USB – 1x micro USB port for power and programming Debugging – USB via Atmel’s Embedded Debugger (EDBG) on-board debugger, and JTAG Misc – reset button, 1x LED (pin 32), 32.768 kHz RTC Power 5V via micro USB port […]

Avantek H270-T70 384-core ARM Server Powered by Cavium ThunderX SoCs Can Be Bought Online

ARM servers have been around for a while, but usually it’s pretty hard to buy for individuals, and developer’s boards such as LeMaker Cello are never in stock, probably because the project has been canceled or suffered from further delays. However, if you have some uses for ARM servers and the cash that goes with it, Avantek Computer (UK) is selling some ARM based servers starting from an 1U Rack with a quad core Annapurna Alpine AL5140 processor up to Avantek H270-T70 with a 2U rack equipped with multiple Cavium ThunderX SoCs providing 384 ARMv8 cores to play with. Avantek H270-T70 server key features and specifications: SoCs – 8x Cavium ThunderX CN8890 processors with 48 custom ARMv8 cores each System Memory – 64x DDR4 ECC slots for up to 8TB memory Storage – 16x 2.5” hot-swappable HDD/SSD bays Connectivity – 8x 40GbE QSFP+ fiber ports (Cortina CS4343 controllers) Power Supply – […]