Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments on DM&P Vortex86EX2 Dual Core Processor Targets Dual OS Systems, Support ISA & PCI Interfaces

DM&P Vortex86EX2 Dual Core Processor Targets Dual OS Systems, Support ISA & PCI Interfaces

Vortex86EX2 Block Diagram

Most people will probably think about Intel and AMD when asked about x86 processors, at least those who understand the question… But there are also other companies such as Zhaoxin (based on VIA Technologies designs) and DM&P. Last time I wrote about the latter was in 2015 with the introduction of DM&P Vortex86DX3 dual-core x86 SoC for embedded systems and the corresponding evaluation board. The company is still making new x86 processors, and I’ve just been information the company unveiled  Vortex86EX2 dual-core processor last year with master and slave cores suitable for running two operating systems at the same time without the need for virtualization, nor hypervisor. The new processor still supports ISA & PCI interfaces for legacy expansion cards and targets real-time industrial or automation applications. DM&P Vortex86EX2 specifications: Processor Cores Master @ 600MHz max with Build-in FPU L1/L2 Cache for user interface Slave @ 400MHz max with Build-in FPU, L1 Cache for real-time control GPU – N/A, external …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments on Strawberry4Pi Enables Home Automation on Raspberry Pi Boards (Crowdfunding)

Strawberry4Pi Enables Home Automation on Raspberry Pi Boards (Crowdfunding)

Strawberry4Pi Boards

Strawberry4Pi is an ecosystem of hardware, firmware, and software to create home automation and IoT projects with for Raspberry Pi boards. The project offers a pre-configured Linux operating system, a mobile app for Android and iOS, as well as two boards with four relays: Strawberry4Pi baseboard Zero for Raspberry Pi Zero (W), and Strawberry4Pi shield A/B for the larger boards such as Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ or Model A. Strawberry4Pi boards specifications: 4x SONGLE relays Misc – Temperature sensor and Wifi configuration button Power Supply Baseboard Zero – 100V-220V via 3-pin terminal block Shield A/B – 5V via 2-pin terminal block Dimensions Baseboard Zero – 97 x 75 mm Shield A/B – 65 x 56 mm Certifications – CE/FCC A 3D printed case and a DIN rail mount are also offered as options. There’s no a whole lot of information about the operating system as most people won’t need to mess with it, but I suppose it’s either based …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 20 Comments on Banana Pi BPI-M4 RPi 3+ Lookalike Board with 4K Video, M.2 Socket Launched for $38

Banana Pi BPI-M4 RPi 3+ Lookalike Board with 4K Video, M.2 Socket Launched for $38

Banana Pi BPI-M4

Banana Pi BPI-M4 was unveiled at the beginning of the year as an alternative to Raspberry Pi 3B+ with the same form factor, but equipped with a more capable processor, namely Realtek RTD1395 with support for 4K video output and decoding, Gigabit Ethernet support, PCIe, etc.. SinoVoIP has however made the choice not to go with Gigabit Ethernet, and opted for a cheaper design with Fast Ethernet instead. Having said that, the 4K capabilities of the processor, and PCIe via an M.2 socket are still leveraged in the company’s latest Banana Pi board. What’s changed is that Banana Pi BPI-M4 is now available on Aliexpress for $38 plus shipping in 1GB RAM + 8GB flash storage configuration. Banana Pi BPI-M4 specifications have not changed: SoC – Realtek RTD1395 quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor with Mali-470 MP4 GPU System Memory – 1 GB DDR4 (option 2 GB) Storage – 8G eMMC flash (max 64 GB), micro SD slot up to 256GB Video …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments on AMD Ryzen Embedded R1000 powered Atari VCS Game Console is Now up for Pre-order for $249 and up

AMD Ryzen Embedded R1000 powered Atari VCS Game Console is Now up for Pre-order for $249 and up

AMD Ryzen Embedded R1000 Game Console

Atari VCS game console had initially been teased with minimal information a few years ago, then delayed, and even when they launched an Indiegogo campaign last year, the specifications were not set in stone, and although we knew the company planned to use an AMD Ryzen processor, the final choice was announced later in April of this year: AMD Ryzen Embedded R1000 processor. Indiegogo backers should get their console in December 2019, but if you’re prudent with your own money, you may have preferred to wait, it’s now possible to get Atari VCS in March 2020 by pre-ordering it now for $249 and up from Walmart, Gamestop, or Atari’s own website. There will be two model with Atari VCS 800 and Atari VCS 400 sharing many of the same (preliminary) specifications except for the RAM capacity: SoC – AMD Ryzen Embedded R1000 dual-core / quad-thread processor with VEGA 3 graphics System Memory VCS 400 – 4GB DDR4 RAM (upgradable) VCS …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on MYiR Launches MYC-JX8MX CPU Module & MYD-JX8MX Devkit Powered by NXP i.MX 8M Processor

MYiR Launches MYC-JX8MX CPU Module & MYD-JX8MX Devkit Powered by NXP i.MX 8M Processor

MYD-JX8MX Development Board

MYiR Tech Limited (aka MYiR) has launched a new NXP i.MX 8 CPU module – MYC-JX8MX – powered by NXP i.MX 8M processor, as well as the corresponding MYD-JX8MX development kit. The module integrates up to 2GB LPDDR4 RAM, 8GB eMMC flash, 256Mbit QSPI Flash, Gigabit Ethernet PHY & PMIC onboard, and I/O signals are accessible from a 314-pin MXM 3.0 expansion connector. Typical applications for the company’s latest system-on-module include scanning/imaging solutions, building automation and smart home, human-machine interface (HMI), machine vision or other consumer and industrial applications requiring multimedia capabilities. MYC-JX8MX CPU Module Specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX 8M quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ 1.3GHz,  Arm Cortex-M4 real-time core @ 266MHz, 2D and 3D GPU System Memory – 1GB or 2 GB LPDDR4 (supports up to 4GB LPDDR4) Storage – 8GB eMMC Flash (supports up to 64GB), 256Mbit QSPI Flash 314-pin MXM 3.0 edge connector with: 1x Gigabit Ethernet 3x Serial ports 3 x I2C, 2x SPI, 4x …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on AAEON AI Core XP4/XP8 PCIe Card Combines up to 8 Myriad X VPU’s

AAEON AI Core XP4/XP8 PCIe Card Combines up to 8 Myriad X VPU’s

AAEON AI Core XP4 XP8

Movidius Myriad X is Intel’s latest vision processing unit (VPU) first unveiled in 2017, and available for evaluation in Intel Neural Compute Stick 2 since the end of 2018. Later on, AAEON also launched their own AI Core XM2280 M.2 card equipped with two Myriad X 2485 VPU’s and capable of up to 200 fps (160 fps typical) inferences, thanks to over 2 TOPS of deep neural network (DNN) performance. But what if you need even more performance? The company has now launched AI Core XP4/XP8 card with either two or four AI Core XM2280 M.2 cards that can be connected into any computer or workstation with a PCIe x4 slot. AAEON AI Core XP4/XP8 specifications: 4x M.2 sockets for 2x or 4x M.2 2280 M-key cards with 2x Myriad X VPU’s and 2x 4Gbit LPDDR4x memory each Asmedia PCIe switch Cooling – Fan heatsink PCIe x4 standard full-length low profile slot card Dimensions – 167 x 111 mm Temperature …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments on UP Xtreme Whiskey Lake-U SBC Launched for €249 and up (Crowfunding)

UP Xtreme Whiskey Lake-U SBC Launched for €249 and up (Crowfunding)

UP Extreme SBC

Back in March, I was tipped about AAEON’s upcoming UP Xtreme Whiskey Lake board equipped with Intel’s latest 15W processors, and providing a boost in performance compared to their previous UP boards, including UP Squared board introduced in 2016 with a choice of Apollo Lake processors. The company has now finally launched a Kickstarter campaign to let the public pledge for UP Xtreme SBC for €249 and up. UP Xtreme Whiskey Lake-U SBC specifications: SoC (one or the other) Intel Celeron 4305UE dual-core processor @ up to 2.2 GHz with 2MB cache, Intel UHD 610 graphics Intel Core i3-8145UE dual-core 4-thread processor @ up to 2.1 GHz / 3.9 GHz (Turbo) with 4MB cache, Intel UHD 620 graphics Intel Core i5-8365UE quad-core 8-thread processor @ up to 1.6 GHz / 4.1 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, Intel UHD 620 graphics Intel Core i7-8665UE quad-core 8-thread processor @ up to 1.9 GHz / 4.8 GHz (Turbo) with 8MB cache, Intel UHD …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on Mcuzone RK3308 SoM and MDK3308-EK Evaluation Kit are Designed for Smart Voice Applications

Mcuzone RK3308 SoM and MDK3308-EK Evaluation Kit are Designed for Smart Voice Applications

Mcuzone MDK3308-EK Rockchip-RK3308 Development Board

Rockchip RK3308 is a quad-core Cortex-A35 processor that was announced in 2018 together with RK3326  specifically for Smart AI solutions. While the processor is equipped with an RGB LCD output interface, it does not come with a 2D or 3D graphics accelerator, so it’s better suited to smart speakers with an optional display using a basic user interface. I’ve not seen many hardware platforms or boards based on the processor, but today I noticed “Hangzhou Wild Chip Tech” had an RK3308 system-on-module, as well as development kits for sale on Aliexpress with the module price starting at $23. Mcuzone MDK3308 Coreboard Specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3308 quad-core Cortex-A35 processor @ 1.3 GHz with NEON and VFPv4 FPU System memory / storage configurations: 256MB DDR3/3L + 256MB NAND flash 512MB DDR3/3L + 8GB eMMC flash 2x 100-pin dual row headers (1.27mm pitch) exposing: Display – LCD interface up to 1024×600 (RGB), up to 1280×720 (LVDS) Networking – 10/100M Ethernet (apparently multiplexed …

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