Gigadevice Category - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

April 15, 2024April 14, 2024 by Tomisin Olujinmi - 1 Comment

GigaDevice announces GD32F5 Cortex-M33 microcontroller targeted at high-performance applications

GigaDevice GD32F5 Cortex-M33 microcontroller

GigaDevice has officially launched the GD32F5 microcontroller series based on the Arm Cortex-M33 core. The Arm Cortex-M33 core has a maximum operating frequency of 200MHz and a working performance of up to 3.31 CoreMark/MHz. It also comes with a digital signal processing extension and a single-precision floating-point unit to reduce the load on the core. The GD32F5 microcontrollers are designed for high-performance applications and come equipped with up to 7.5MB on-chip flash, 1MB static RAM (SRAM), and diverse connectivity peripherals. The on-chip flash includes a zero-wait execution area (code flash) to improve code processing efficiency and real-time performance, and sizable data flash space for storing backups and parameters. The products support seamless OTA updates with a maximum of 2MB for Read-While-Write (RWW) operations. According to GigaDevice, the GD32F5 series is expected to find applications in “energy and power management, photovoltaic energy storage, industrial automation, programmable logic controllers (PLC), network communication […]

December 31, 2023December 31, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 18 Comments

2023 Year in review – Top 10 posts, statistics, and what to expect in 2024

It’s the last day and last article of the year, so we will look at some highlights of 2023, some traffic statistics on the CNX Software website, and speculate what interesting developments may happen in 2024. Looking back at 2023 The semiconductor shortage that had happened since 2020 started to fade away in early 2023, and supplies for most electronics components and devices seem to be adequate at this time, so that was a bright spot this year, and hopefully, it will stay that way in 2024 despite geopolitical tensions. We did not have any super exciting new Arm application processors from Rockchip, Amlogic, or Allwinner announced this year, although the Amlogic S928X penta-core Cortex-A76/A55 CPU started to show up in some 8K TV boxes. The launch of the Raspberry Pi 5 SBC with a Broadcom BCM2712 quad-core Cortex-A76 processor was probably the main highlight for Arm on this side […]

November 10, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Gigadevice GD32VW553 RISC-V microcontroller supports WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 LE

Gigadevice GD32VW553 is a new 160MHz RISC-V microcontroller for IoT applications with support for WiFi 6 (802.11ax) and Bluetooth 5.2 Low Energy (LE) and available in QFN32 and QFN40 packages with up to 28 GPIOs. As an IoT chip, the chip supports various power modes and target wake time (TWT) for low power consumption, as well as WiFi features such as WPA3 and WiFi direct, while the radio can handle Bluetooth 5.2 LE bit rates of up to 2 Mbps and support the Long Range mode. Gigadevice GD32VW553 specifications: MCU core – 32-bit Nuclei N307 RISC-V core @ up to 160 MHz with RV32I / M / A / F / D / C / P / B instruction extensions Memory – 320KB SRAM Storage – 2048KB or 4096KB flash Wireless WiFI 6 802.11b/g/n/ax HT20 up to 114.7Mbps 802.11e QoS Enhancement (WMM). 802.11i (WPA, WPA2, WPA3). Open, shared key, and […]

October 9, 2023October 8, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

GigaDevice GD-xD-W515-EVAL board features GD32W515 Cortex-M33 MCU, a fingerprint scanner, and an LCD module

GigaDevice GD-xD-W515-EVAL is a new “all-in-one” Cortex-M33 evaluation kit comprised of a GD32W515 mainboard, a fingerprint board, and an LCD board powered by either a battery or the Mini-USB interface of the GD-Link programmer. The devkit is mainly used to evaluate various chips from the company, namely the 180 MHz GD32W515PIQ6 Cortex-M33 microcontroller, the GD25Q128E SPI NOR flash, the GSL6157 capacitive fingerprint Sensor, the GD30BC2416 battery management IC, and the GD30LD1002 power management chip. GigaDevice GD-xD-W515-EVAL board specifications: MCU – Gigadevice GD32W515PIQ6 Core – Arm Cortex-M33 microcontroller clocked at up to 180 MHz with Arm TrustZone support Memory – 448KB SRAM Storage – 2048KB flash Wireless – 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 (802.11b/g/n), but somehow not used in the development board… I/Os – Up to 43x GPIOs, 3x USART, 2x I2C, 2x SPI, USB 2.0 FS, I2S, etc… Package – QFN56 Storage – 128Mbit SPI NOR Flash (GD25Q128E) Display – 0.96-inch […]

July 10, 2023July 10, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

UniHiker review – A Linux-based STEM education platform with IoT and AI support, Micro:bit edge connector

DFRobot’s UniHiker is a STEM educational platform that was originally launched in China, but now UniHiker is now available worldwide through the DFRobot shop. The company has sent us a UniHiker sample for review, so let’s unpack the kit and learn how to use the UniHiker platform. The main component of the kit is the Linux-powered UniHiker board which features a 2.8-inch resistive touchscreen display and a BBC Micro:bit edge connector, so we can use expansion boards for the Micro:bit board. Let’s start unboxing it together. UniHiker unboxing DFRobot sent us the UniHiker platform by DHL. The package is a familiar-looking DFRobot box in orange color and comes with a plastic box to safely store the UniHiker board and accessories after use. The plastic box contains another plastic box with the board, some 3-pin and 4-pin cables for Gravity ports, and a USB Type-C cable. The UniHiker is like a […]

May 16, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Gigadevice GD25LE128EXH is a tiny 3x3mm 128Mbit SPI NOR flash

GigaDevice Semiconductor has just launched the GD25LE128EXH 128Mbit SPI NOR Flash in a tiny ultra-compact 3x3x0.4mm FO-USON8 package designed for IoT, wearables, healthcare, and networking products. The GD25LE128EXH supports up to 133MHz frequency with four channels delivering up to 532Mbit/s data throughput. GigaDevice also highlights the low power consumption of just 6mA when reading, or a reduction of power consumption by 45% compared to previous devices. GD25LE128EXH specifications: Density – 128Mb I/O Bus – Single I/O, Dual I/O, Quad I/O, QPI Frequency – 133 MHz (x1 x2 x4) Features H/W RESET WP# Security Registers with OTP Locks Suspend Unique ID HOLD# Voltage – 1.65V~2.0V Package – FO-USON8 3x3mm Temperature Range – -40°C~85°C; -40°C~105°C, or -40°C~125°C The GD25LE128E SPI flash is also available in SOP8 208mil, USON8 4x4mm, WSON8 6x5mm, WSON8 8x6mm, and WLCSP (4-4 ball array) packages, which means the GD25LE128EXH’s FO-USON8 package reduces area by 70% and thickness by […]

August 12, 2022August 12, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

$4.9 CAN bus module features GD32E103 Cortex-M4 microcontroller

Seeed Studio has introduced a new CAN Bus Grove module based on 120 MHz Gigadevice GD32E103 Arm Cortex-M4+ microcontroller with support for CAN FD at up to 5Mbps and controlled by AT command over a serial interface. The new module appears to be a drop-in replacement for the company’s $19.90 Serial CAN-BUS Grove module based on Microchip MCP2551 and MCP2515, and the main benefit of the new GD32E103 module is that it is much more cost-effective going for only $4.90 including shipping. GD32E103 CAN BUS Grove module specifications: MCU – Gigadevice GD32E103 Arm Cortex-M4F microcontroller @ up to 120 MHz with 64KB to 128KB flash, 20KB to 32KB SRAM CAN Bus – 2-pin terminal block with CAN FD up to 5 Mbps Host connection – 4-pin Grove connector with UART up to 115,200 bps (default 9,600 bps) Misc – Tx and Rx LEDs Operating voltage – 3.3V Dimensions – 40 […]

January 14, 2021January 14, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Pine64 mailbag – PinePhone postmarketOS Edition, PineCone BL602 board, and Pinecil soldering iron

Pine64 community was pretty busy last year with the launch of several products. Recently I’ve received a couple of packages with some of those products, namely PinePhone Community Edition: PostmarketOS, PineCone WiFi & BLE IoT board based on BL602 RISC-V SoC, and Pinecil soldering iron also based on a RISC-V chip for control, but this time GD32V generic-purpose MCU. I’ll most show what I have received without going into too many details, except for PinePhone which I have already set up and used for one hour or so. PineCone BL602 board I received PineCone at the end of last year in a separate envelope with the board only. There’s not much to it with the BL602 processor offering WiFI and Bluetooth, a USB-C port for programming and power, and a few I/Os. The board is interesting as it is the first RISC-V IoT board with wireless connectivity built into the […]