SwiftIO Circuit Playground relies on Apple Swift programming for IoT projects (Crowdfunding)

SwiftIO Circuit Playground

A few years ago, Mad Machine introduced the SwiftIO board powered by an NXP i.MX RT1052 Arm Cortex-M7 crossover processor and programmable with Apple Swift programming language. The company has now launched a smaller version of the board named the SwiftIO Micro along with the SwiftIO Circuit Playground baseboard with plenty of modules to play with the SwiftIO Micro’s GPIO, and that reminds me of the Arduino Sensor Kit Base but with even more modules. SwiftIO Micro specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX RT1052 Arm Cortex-M7 crossover processor @ 600MHz System Memory – 32 MB SRAM Storage – 16MB flash, microSD card slot USB – 1x USB-C connector for power and programming Expansion – 3x 20-pin headers with up to 44 GPIOs, analog inputs, PWM, UART, SPI, I2C, I2S, CAN Bus, etc… See the pinout diagram below for details Misc – RGB LED, download and reset buttons Power Supply – 5V […]

Gateworks GW7400 networking SBC features 6 Gigabit Ethernet ports, M.2 & mini PCIe sockets for wireless connectivity

NXP I.MX 8M Networking SBC 6 Ethernet ports

Gateworks Venice GW7400 is a rugged industrial single board computer for networking and gateway applications with six Gigabit Ethernet ports, and one M.2 and three mini PCIe sockets for WiFi, cellular, and other wireless options. We first mentioned the GW7400 board around three years ago, when the company introduced the Venice family powered by NXP i.MX 8M processor. But the board launched today has a different design with more Ethernet, an NXP i.MX8M Plus AI processor, up to 4GB RAM, up to 64GB eMMC flash, and various interfaces such as USB 3.0, dual CAN Bus, DIO, I2C, SPI, and UART. Gateworks GW7400 specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX 8M Plus CPU – Quad-core Cortex-A53 @ up to 1.6 GHz (industrial-grade) Real-time core – Arm Cortex-M7 @ up to 800 MHz GPU – Vivante GC7000UL 3D GPU, Vivante GC520L 2D GPU VPU – Up to 1080p60 video encoding and decoding AI accelerator […]

Getting started with VOIPAC IMX8M Industrial development kit (Yocto Linux SDK)

VOIPAC IMX8M Developer Kit Audio Testing

Last month I went through an unboxing of the VOIPAC iMX8M Industrial Development Kit with some specs and a quick try with the pre-loaded Yocto 3.1 Linux image. The kit is quite versatile with plenty of interfaces and headers, and eventually, it will support Android 12 and Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. but in the meantime, I played a bit with the Yocto Linux SDK for the NXP i.MX 8M board and will report by experience getting started with VOIPAC IMX8M Industrial development kit. WiFi antennas installation But before checking out Yocto Linux, I will install the two WiFi antennas since I did not do it last time around. We can attach the SMA connectors to the two metal plates on the side of the board securing them with the provided nuts and spacers. The other side of the antenna’s cable comes with a tiny u.FL (or is it MHF4) connector and […]

Tiny solder-down NXP i.MX 93 System-on-Module powers credit card-sized evaluation board

Raspberry Pi NXP i.MX 93 SBC

Ka-Ro Electronics’ QS93 is a tiny solder-down NXP i.MX 93 System-on-Module (SoM) running Linux and designed for edge processing. The company also offers a credit card-sized evaluation board that may remind some of the Raspberry Pi with its GPIO header and general layout, but it comes with two Fast Ethernet ports and one USB 2.0 port. We’ve already covered several system-on-modules based on the NXP i.MX 93 Cortex-A55/M33 AI processor including some with high-density board-to-board connectors such as the Compulab UCM-IMX93 and Forlinx FET-MX9352-C, others with a SO-DIMM connector like the VAR-SOM-MX93, and finally some designed to be soldered on the carrier board such as the OSM-L compatible iW-RainboW-G50M, and the QS93 adds to the latter category in a tiny 27×27 mm form factor. Ka-Ro electronics QS93 specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX 93 with CPU – Up to dual-core Cortex-A55 processor @ up to 1.5 GHz Real-time core – Arm […]

ALFA Network HaLow-U – An 802.11ah WiFi HaLow USB adapter supporting AP and STA mode

WiFi HaLow USB adapter

ALFA Network HaLow-U is an 802.11ah WiFi HaLow USB adapter based on the Newracom NRC7292 chipset and NXP i.MX 6 processor that works both in access point (AP) and client (STA) modes. It delivers long-range WiFi up to one kilometer in the 900 MHz frequency ISM bands and is mostly useful for IP cameras and high-end sensors. The ecosystem around WiFi HaLow (802.11ah) is expanding slowly, but surely, and we previously covered a mini PCIe card, a WiFi HaLow development board, and a gateway kit to extend the range of IP cameras, and also ALFA Network’s AHPI7292S Raspberry Pi HAT that found its way into RAKWireless WisGate Connect gateway. The new HaLow-U USB adapter adds another way to bring WiFi HaLow connectivity to more devices. HaLow-U specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX6 Arm Cortex-A9 processor System Memory – 256MB DDR3 Storage – 32MB NOR flash Connectivity 802.11ah HaLow Newracom NRC7292 chipset […]

VOIPAC iMX8M Industrial Development Kit Review – Part 1: Specs, Unboxing, and first boot

VOIPAC IMX8M Industrial Development Kit Review

VOIPAC iMX8M Industrial Development Kit comes with an NXP i.MX 8M module with up to 4GB LPDDR4 and 32GB eMMC flash, and an optional wireless module, as well as a features-rich carrier board. The company sent us the “iMX8M Industrial Pro” version for review with 2GB RAM, 16GB eMMC flash, and a WiFi and Bluetooth module. In the first part of the review, we’ll go through the specifications, do an unboxing, and give the board a quick try, before looking more into the software in the second part. VOIPAC iMX8M Industrial Development Kit specifications System-on-module iMX8M Industrial Max SoC – NXP i.MX 8M Quad @ 1.5 GHz System Memory – 4GB LPDDR4-3733 DRAM (1.866GHz) Storage – 32GB eMMC flash, 1 Mbit EEPROM Networking – Gigabit Ethernet PHY, wireless module with WiFi & Bluetooth PCIe (on module) Display – 2x LVDS Analog Audio iMX8M Industrial Pro SoC – NXP i.MX 8M […]

CompuLab UCM-iMX93 – A miniature NXP i.MX 93 module with WiFi 5 & Bluetooth 5.3

Compulab UCM-iMX93 system-on-module

CompuLab UCM-iMX93 is a miniature system-on-module powered by the new NXP i.MX93 Cortex-A55 AI processor family with up to 2GB RAM and 64GB eMMC flash. The tiny 38x28mm features a Gigabit Ethernet PHY, a WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.3 wireless modules, and plenty of multimedia, communication, and peripheral interfaces through two 100-pin high-density connectors including display and camera interfaces, USB ports, CAN FD, and up to 79 GPIOs. UCM-iMX93 specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX9352 or i.MX9331 dual-core/single-core Arm Cortex-A55 @ 1.5 GHz (industrial) / 1.7 GHz (commercial) with Arm Cortex-M33 real-time core @ 250 MHz, Arm Ethos U65 microNPU System Memory – 512MB to 2GB LPDDR4 Storage – 8GB to 64GB eMMC flash Networking Gigabit Ethernet PHY Certified WiFi 5 (802.11ac) and Bluetooth 5.3 BLE module (NXP 88W8997) 2x 100-pin 0.4mm pitch high-density UCM connectors Display 4-lane MIPI-DSI up to 1920 x 1080 @ 60Hz 4-lane LVDS up to 1366 […]

NXP i.MX 91 single-core Cortex-A55 SoC to power Linux-based cost-optimized edge devices

NXP i.MX 91 CPU

NXP has just unveiled the NXP i.MX 91 single-core Cortex-A55 processor following the introduction of the i.MX 93 in 2021, and designed for cost-optimized edge devices running Linux. The NXP i.MX 93 processor comes with up to two Cortex-A55 cores, a Cortex-M33 real-time core, and an Ethos U65 microNPU, but targeting entry-level Linux systems, the NXP i.MX 91 processor does without the real-time core and the AI acceleration, while still integrating NXP EdgeLock Secure Enclave, and the company highlights support for multiple wireless connectivity options through companion chips such as the IW612 that supports Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, 802.15.4, and the new Matter protocol. NXP i.MX 91 specifications: CPU – Arm Cortex-A55 running at up to 1.4GHz with 256KB L2 cache System Memory – Up to 2.4GT/s x16 LPDDR4 with Inline ECC Storage 3x SD 3.0, SDIO 3.0, eMMC 5.1 1x Octal SPI including support for SPI NOR and SPI […]