Category: Processors

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments on NFV PicoPod is a Cluster of Six MACCHIATOBin Networking Boards for OPNFV, ODP, DPDK and OPF

NFV PicoPod is a Cluster of Six MACCHIATOBin Networking Boards for OPNFV, ODP, DPDK and OPF

If you are interested in networking applications, you may have already heard about Marvell ARMADA 8040 based SolidRun MACCHIATOBin board with multiple 10Gbps and Gbps network interfaces, three SATA ports, and more. PicoCluster has decided to make a cluster of 6 MACHIATOBin boards coupled with a Marvell Prestera DX 14 port, 10GbE switch for OpenDataPlane (ODP), Data Plane Development Kit (DPDK), OpenFastPath(OPF) as well as OPNFV (Open Platform for Network Functions Virtualization) . The main features of the full assembled kit –  named Cube – include: 6x MACCHIATOBin quad core Cortex A72 boards (24 cores in total) 1x Prestera DX 10GbE 14-port switch board 6x fans Power Supply Acrylic case The cluster kit comes with 64GB micro SD cards pre-loaded with the latest OPNFV Danube software release for ARM integrated by ENEA Software AB. The cluster is said to be compliant with the OPNFV Pharos specification. Three pre-order options are […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments on μduino May Be the World’s Smallest Arduino Board (Crowdfunding)

μduino May Be the World’s Smallest Arduino Board (Crowdfunding)

OLIMEXINO-85S may have held the title of the world’s smallest Arduino (compatible) board for the last few years, being barely bigger than a micro SD card as it measures about 16.9 x 12.7 mm, but there’s a new mini champion in town with μduino board measuring just 12 x 12 mm. μduino board specifications: MCU – Microchip Atmel ATMEGA32U4 8-bit AVR microcontroller @ 16 MHz with 2,560 bytes of RAM, 32KB flash, and 1024 bytes of EEPROM (Arduino Leonardo compatible) I/Os 6x Analog I/O ports 14x Digital I/O ports (including Rx/Tx) including  7x PWM 1x Analog reference voltage port 1.27mm pitch Programming / Debugging – 1x micro USB port; 6-pin ICSP programming ports (load custom bootloaders, program other boards, etc) Misc – Status LED, reset button Power Supply – 5V via micro USB port; 5V voltage regulator (accepts up to 16V DC);  2x 5V ports;  2x ground ports Dimensions – 12x […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Canonical Releases Ubuntu Core 16 for Raspberry Pi 3 Compute Module

Canonical Releases Ubuntu Core 16 for Raspberry Pi 3 Compute Module

Now that Canonical has refocused its development efforts on Cloud and IoT, Ubuntu Core has become even more important for the company, which has just released Ubuntu Core 16 for the Raspberry Pi 3 Compute Module, which is better suited for industrial projects than Raspberry Pi boards, for example thanks to the more resilient built-in storage of CM3 module. Ubuntu Core was already supported on Raspberry Pi 2 & 3, Intel Joule, DragonBoard 410c, Intel NUC, and Samsung Artik boards, as well as KVM to run Ubuntu Core in a virtual environment. One of the advantages of running Ubuntu Core is the availability of snaps and branded app stores, making it easy to provide updates, and promote app for the platform. Screenly is one commercial project that will take advantage of Ubuntu Core on CM3 module for their digital signage applications. You’ll find instructions to get started with Ubuntu Core […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on LAKE I Home Cloud TV Box with HDMI Input, SATA Bay Sells for $78

LAKE I Home Cloud TV Box with HDMI Input, SATA Bay Sells for $78

Realtek RTD1295 based Android TV boxes are usually interesting devices as they play 4K videos relatively well – minus 4K H.264 @ 30 fps -, support HDMI input with PVR and PiP functions, and often come with a SATA interface for NAS functions handled with OpenWrt. Zidoo X9S and EWEAT R9 Plus are examples of such devices, and I found them to work pretty well in my reviews, but they are quite pricey with prices ranging from $130 to $200 (with internal SATA bay) including shipping. A cheaper option is Beelink SEA I, which I started to review, but one firmware update wiped out the HDCP key, and the product became unusable with the company unwilling/unable to provide the HDCP key. There’s now a new even cheaper model with LAKE I Home Cloud TV box sold for $77.99 on GearBest with GBLAKEI coupon. LAKE I Home Cloud TV box specifications: […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 is a 14nm LTE “Mobile Platform” for Mid-Range Smartphones and Tablets

Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 is a 14nm LTE “Mobile Platform” for Mid-Range Smartphones and Tablets

Qualcomm has a made several announcements at Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2017, with processors like Snapdragon Wear 1200 Wearables SoC, as well as Snapdragon 450 octa-core mobile platform, allegedly the first 14nm processor made for mid-range mobile devices. Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 specifications: CPU – 8x ARM Cortex A53 cores @ up to 1.8 GHz GPU – Adreno 506 GPU with OpenGL ES 3.1, OpenCL 2.0 Full, DirectX 12, GPU tessellation, geometry shading DSP – Hexagon 546 DSP Memory I/F – LPDDR3 Display – Full HD 1080p60; Qualcomm EcoPix,TruPalette, improveTouch technology Audio – Qualcomm Aqstic with VoLTE w/Ultra HD Voice (EVC), high-fidelity music playback (24-bit/192 KHz), Dolby 5.1 Modem – Snapdragon X9 LTE modem up to 300 Mbps download (Cat 7) and 150 Mbps uplink (Cat. 13) Wireless Connectivity – 802.11ac MU-MIMO, Gen8C Lite location technology, Bluetooth 4.1 LE USB – USB 3.0 interface Camera – Up to 13MP dual camera, […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 1200 Platform for Wearables Supports LTE Cat M1 and NB1 (NB-IoT)

Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 1200 Platform for Wearables Supports LTE Cat M1 and NB1 (NB-IoT)

After Snapdragon Wear 2100 and 1100 launched last year , Qualcomm has announced a new Snapdragon Wear 1200 platform still designed for wearables, but with lower power consumption, less processing power, a more compact package, and built-in support for LTE IoT communications standards such as LTE Cat M1 and LTE NB-IoT (Cat NB1).   Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 1200 key features and specifications: CPU – ARM Cortex A7 @ 1.3 GHz Memory / Storage – Support for discreet or MCP NAND and LPDDR2 Display – Support via SPI for simple UI and displays Modem Global multi-mode supporting Cat-M1 / NB1 / E-GPRS. Supports LTE FDD and TDD for Cat-M1 and E-GRPS and FDD only for Cat-NB1 Up to 300 kbps downlink and 350 kbps uplink for Cat-M1 10 kbps download and 60 kbps upload speeds for Cat-NB1 Integrated voice support for VoLTE Other Connectivity – Pre-integrated support for Qualcomm 11ac Wi-Fi […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 39 Comments on Banana Pi BPI-R2’s U-boot & Linux 4.4 Source Code & MediaTek MT7623N Datasheet Released

Banana Pi BPI-R2’s U-boot & Linux 4.4 Source Code & MediaTek MT7623N Datasheet Released

Banana Pi BPI-R2 is a multimedia router board powered by MediaTek MT7623N quad core processor with 2GB RAM, 5 Gigabit Ethernet ports, up to two SATA ports, two USB 3.0 ports, HDMI output, and I/O headers. The board is not for sale yet, but the company has recently released the source code with U-boot and Linux 4.4.70, as well as a datasheet for MediaTek MT7623N processor. The source code can be found on Github, so let’s see if we can build it:

After a couple of minutes, the build would end with:

For the very last step, it asks you to login as root / sudoer, which it should not do… But we end up with the images, so at least it builds:

MediaTek has also been active by committing patchsets for MT7623 to the Linux Kernel Mailing List, so mainline Linux is an eventual possibility for […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments on Allwinner A63 2K “Flat Panel” SoC Unveiled at APC 2017 Conference

Allwinner A63 2K “Flat Panel” SoC Unveiled at APC 2017 Conference

Allwinner unveiled their latest A63 quad core Cortex A53 SoC for tablet at the APC 2017 conference in Zhuhai, Shenzhen, last week. The processor will be an upgrade to Allwinner A64 with a Mali-T760MP2 GPU, support for 2560 x 1600 displays, and a 6K H.265/VP9 video processing unit. Some of Allwinner A63 key features: CPU- Quad core Cortex A53 processor with 32KB L1 I-cache, 32KB L1 D-cache, shared 512KB L2 cache GPU – ARM Mali-T760MP2 “high performance” GPU with OpenGL ES 3.2 support VPU – 4K/6K VP9, H.265, and H.264 4K @ 30fps video decoder; Smartcolor 3.0 “video quality enhancement engine” Memory I/F – DDR3, DDR3L, LPDDR3, LPDDR2 Storage I/F – eMMC 5.0; TLC/MLC/SLC/EF NAND flash with 80-bit ECC Display I/F – Dual MIPI and eDP interfaces up to 2560 x 1600 resolution Audio – Support for multi-microphone array, multi-channel analog voice signal input and stereo ADC, DAC Package – […]