Synaptics Category - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

December 18, 2025December 18, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Toradex Luna SL1680 – A “Pro Consumer” Raspberry Pi lookalike based on Synaptics SL1680 Edge AI SoC

Toradex Luna SL1680 is a credit card-sized single board computer heavily inspired by the Raspberry Pi 5 design, but powered by a Synaptics SL1680 quad-core Cortex-A73 SoC suitable for Edge AI applications thanks to a built-in 7.9 TOPS NPU. Designed for pro consumer and light industrial Edge AI applications, the Luna SL1680 ships with up to 4GB RAM and 256GB eMMC flash, and offers many of the same ports as the Pi 5, including a Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port with optional PoE support, four USB 3.0 ports, two micro HDMI ports (but one Tx, one Rx), MIPI DSI and CSI connectors, and a 40-pin GPIO header. The 16-pin PCIe FFC connector is gone, making way for an M.2 Key-E socket, mostly useful for adding wireless connectivity. Toradex Luna SL1680 specifications: SoC – Synaptics SL1680 CPU – Quad-core Arm Cortex-A73 processor @ 2.1 GHz GPU – Imagination PowerVR Series9XE GE9920 GPU […]

December 15, 2025December 15, 2025 by Debashis Das - 1 Comment

Calixto Systems SL1680 OPTIMA industrial SoM and EVK features Synaptics SL1680 Edge AI processor

Calixto Systems has recently introduced the SL1680 OPTIMA, an industrial SoM built around the Synaptics SL1680 quad-core Arm Cortex-A73 SoC with a 7.9+ TOPS secure NPU for Edge AI and advanced multimedia applications. They also announced an evaluation kit (EVK) for rapid product development. The SoM offers up to 4GB LPDDR4 RAM, up to 16GB eMMC flash, an onboard Gigabit Ethernet PHY, and a wide range of interfaces through compact Hirose connectors, including dual MIPI CSI camera inputs, MIPI DSI, HDMI 2.1 Tx/Rx, PCIe 2.0, USB 3.0/2.0, SDIO, RS485, CAN-FD, and various GPIOs. The EVK further expands connectivity with MikroBUS, display and camera interfaces, and industrial I/O, making the platform suitable for AI-enabled vision systems, smart HMIs, automation equipment, and other edge computing applications. SL1680 OPTIMA SoM specifications SoC – Synaptics SL1680 (Astra Series) CPU – Quad-core Arm Cortex-A73 processor @ 2.1 GHz GPU – Imagination PowerVR Series9XE GE9920 GPU with […]

October 21, 2025October 21, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

TechNexion unveils SO-DIMM and OSM system-on-modules based on Synaptics SL2610

Last week, we wrote about the Synaptics SL2610 Edge AI SoC family integrating Google’s open-source Coral NPU, and the first system-on-modules have already been announced, courtesy of TechNexion. The AIOM-SL2610 is a 260-pin SO-DIMM CPU module with a Realtek RTL8211F Gigabit Ethernet transceiver, a WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 6.0 module, and an on-module JTAG debug interface, while the OSM-SL260 is a smaller, lighter, solder-down module compliant with the OSM Size S specification. Both come with up to 2GB LPDDR4 memory, 64GB eMMC flash, and Arm PSA Level 2 or 3 security. TechNexsion AIOM-SL2610 SO-DIMM system-on-module AIOM-SL2610 specifications: SoC – Synaptics SL2610 (SL2613, SL2617, or SL2619) Application cores – Single and dual-core Arm Cortex-A55 @ up to 2.0 GHz Real-time cores – Arm Cortex-M52 with Helium System Manager (SM) domain, 256KB SRAM GPU – Optional Arm Mali-G31 3D GPU NPU (Optional) – Transformer-capable Torq and Coral NPU (RISC-V ML Core) for […]

October 17, 2025October 16, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Google’s open-source, RISC-V-based Coral NPU is integrated into Synaptics SL2610 Edge AI SoCs

Google has very recently introduced Coral NPU full-stack, open-source RISC-V-based platform for always-on AI on low-power edge devices and wearables. The first chip to integrate the Coral NPU is the upcoming Synaptics Astra SL2610 family. Google Coral NPU The Coral NPU aims to address the software fragmentation on entry-level AI accelerators that makes them difficult to program. By releasing an open-source NPU and associated source code, Google hopes its design will be adopted by silicon vendors, reduce software fragmentation over time, and help machine learning (ML) developers bring products to market faster. Building on the works on the Coral platform, the new, open-source Coral NPU is comprised of three main components: A scalar core – A lightweight, C-programmable RISC-V core that manages data flow to the back-end cores. It uses a simple “run-to-completion” model for ultra-low power consumption and traditional CPU functions. A vector execution unit – A single instruction […]

September 25, 2025September 25, 2025 by Sponsored Post - 2 Comments

5 Ways Embedded AI Processors are Revolutionizing Device Performance (Sponsored)

Artificial intelligence (AI) is moving from cloud-first architectures to edge-first designs, so more processing now runs on phones, cameras, and embedded controllers. Running inference on-device cuts latency and keeps sensitive data local. This momentum is reshaping product roadmaps, all due to different revolutions driven by edge AI. The Core Revolutions Driven by Edge AI Instead of routing every model and signal to the cloud, devices are processing more data locally to act faster and protect sensitive information. Because edge AI is changing where intelligence runs, IDC estimates global spending on edge computing reached about $261 billion in 2025. This rapid enterprise investment is due to several reasons. 1. Enabling Real-Time, On-Device Decisions Eliminating the cloud round-trip lets devices turn sensor input into action in milliseconds. This capability is essential for industrial automation and control loops because embedded AI processors run optimized models on-device, so decisions happen continuously. 2. Strengthening Privacy […]

March 31, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Geniatech APC680 Edge AI and TV Box is powered by Synaptics VS680 AI SoC with 7.9 TOPS NPU

Geniatech APC680 is described as an “AI-powered TV box” powered by Synaptics VS680 quad-core Cortex-A73 SoC with a built-in 7.9 TOPS NPU and designed for smart entertainment and edge computing. The system comes with 4GB RAM and 16GB eMMC flash by default, 4K capable HDMI output and input ports, gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0, a few USB ports, and a range of wireless options including 4G LTE, Zigbee, Z-Wave, and LoRa. Besides being just an AI-powered TV box, it could also be used as a Smart Home gateway in more ways than one. Geniatech APC680 specifications: SoC – Synaptics VS680 CPU – Quad-Core Arm Cortex-A73 processor GPU – Imagination PowerVR Series9XE GE9920 with support for OpenGL ES 3.2, OpenCL 1.2, Vulkan 1.1, and DirectFB VPU Up to 2160p60 decode with AV1, H.265, H.264, VP9, VP8, and MPEG-2 Up to 1080p60 encode with H.264, VP8 NPU – 7.9 TOPS with […]

March 12, 2025March 12, 2025 by Samrudhi Jagdale - No Comments

Synaptics Astra SR series Arm Cortex-M55 MCUs feature Arm Ethos-U55 NPU, low-power Cortex-M4 core with microNPU

Synaptics unveiled an extension to its Astra Native AI platform with the new SR series of MCUs. This new product family, unlike the Astra SL series released last year, isn’t comprised of Linux-capable application processors. Instead, the Arm Cortex-M55 microcontrollers focus on providing high-performance, AI-native processing for Edge AI applications leveraging a built-in Arm Ethos-U55 NPU. Built on the Arm Cortex-M55 core and the Arm Ethos-U55 neural processing unit (NPU), these MCUs are optimized for multimodal applications, including vision, audio, and voice processing. As indicated in the MCU’s block diagram (see below), the SR series also features an optional low processing SoC unit featuring an Arm Cortex-M4 @ 100MHz and a Synaptics micro NPU engine. Such a provision in this MCU is what allows the three operation tiers the company offers with the MCU series: performance, efficiency, and ultra-low-power modes, allowing intelligence across various power levels. The MCU can switch […]

December 26, 2024 by Debashis Das - No Comments

Synaptics SYN20708 low-power IoT SoC features Bluetooth, Zigbee, Thread, Matter, and advanced coexistence

SYN20708 Dual Core Bluetooth & IEEE 802.15.4 SoC

Synaptics has recently introduced the SYN20708 low-power IoT SoC designed to handle simultaneous Bluetooth 5.4 Classic/Low Energy and IEEE 802.15.4 radios with Zigbee, Thread, and Matter protocols. The SoC integrates power and low-noise amplifiers and two separate radios enable simultaneous multiprotocol operations. The SoC is based on a 160 MHz Arm Cortex-M4 processor with user-accessible OTP memory for configuration. Built using a 16-nm FinFET process, it has very low power consumption, and advanced features like high-accuracy distance measurement (HADM), angle-of-arrival (AoA), and angle-of-departure (AoD). These features with versatile antenna support make this SoC suitable for industrial, consumer, and IoT applications. Synaptics SYN20708 specifications CPU – Arm Cortex-M4 processor @ 160 MHz Memory/Storage 544 KB System RAM 1664 KB Code RAM 1640 KB ROM 256 bytes OTP Connectivity Dual-radio Bluetooth 5.4 Bluetooth Classic, Bluetooth Low Energy Supports Bluetooth 6.0 features like HADM (high accuracy distance measurement) Bluetooth Class 1 and Class […]