development board

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 24 Comments on $30 NanoPi-M2 Board Packs Raspberry Pi 2 Hardware Features in a Smaller Form Factor

$30 NanoPi-M2 Board Packs Raspberry Pi 2 Hardware Features in a Smaller Form Factor

FriendlyARM had already launched two NanoPi boards powered by Samsung S5P4418 quad core processor, namely NanoPi 2 and NanoPi2 Fire, that were especially interesting due to their small size (75 x 40 mm) for the features including HDMI output, a camera interface, and either WiFi + Bluetooth or Ethernet. The company is now back with a third larger board, but still compact, removing the wireless module, but adding an audio jack and more USB ports, while keeping the price about the same. Meet NanoPi-M2: SoC – Samsung S5P4418 quad core Cortex A9 processor @ 400 MHz to  1.4GHz with Mali GPU including two pixel processors, and a geometry processor. System Memory – 1GB 32-bit DDR3 Storage – 1x Micro SD Slot Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port (via RTL8211E) Video Output / Display I/F- 1x HDMI 1.4a, 0.5 mm pitch SMT FPC seat for type-A full-color LCD (RGB: 8-8-8) with […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 25 Comments on Banana Pi BPI-M2+ is another Compact Allwinner H3 Development Board

Banana Pi BPI-M2+ is another Compact Allwinner H3 Development Board

Allwinner H3 processor has become popular on hobbyist boards thanks to several Orange Pi board, especially Orange Pi PC and Orange Pi One due to their ultra-low prices, respectively $15 and $10. Olimex is also involved with their H3-OLinuXino-NANO board, and now at least one more company is about to release another Allwinner H3 board with SinoVoip’s Banana BPI-M2+. Banana BPI-M2 Plus specifications: SoC – Allwinner H3 quad core Cortex A7 @ 1.2 GHz with an ARM Mali-400MP2 GPU up to 600 MHz System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – micro SD card slot up to 64GB, optional 8GB eMMC flash Video & Audio Output – HDMI with CEC support Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, optional 802.11 b/g/n WiFi (AP6212). More options:  AP6181, AP6335 USB – 2x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x micro USB OTG port Camera – CSI Interface Expansions – 40-pin Raspberry Pi compatible header Debugging – 3-pin UART […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on Arduino Tian Board Combines Atmel D21 MCU, Atheros AR9342 WiSoC, and CSR8510 Bluetooth 4.0 SoC

Arduino Tian Board Combines Atmel D21 MCU, Atheros AR9342 WiSoC, and CSR8510 Bluetooth 4.0 SoC

Arduino Tian is an update of Arduino Yun board, mainly replacing Atmel ATMega32u4 8-bit MCU and Atheros AR9331 WiSoC with more recent Atmel SAMD21 32-bit Cortex M0 MCU and Atheros AR9342 WiSoC with support for dual band 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, as well as CSR8510 Bluetooth 4.0 SoC. Arduino Tian specifications: MCU part MCU – Atmel SAMD21G18 ARM Cortex-M0 MCU @ 48 MHz with 256KB flash and 32KB SRAM Digital I/O Pins – 20x GPIOs with 12x PWM and UART Analog Input Pins – 6x 12-bit ADC channels Analog Output Pins – 1x 10-bit DAC DC Current per I/0 – 7mA Operating Voltage – 3.3V “Linux” SoC part SoC – Atheros AR9342 MIPS74Kc processor @ 535 MHz System Memory 64MB DDR2 Storage –  16 MB Flash for firmware, 4 GB eMMC Flash for data Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, dual band 802.11n 2×2 2.4/5 GHz WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0 + EDR (CSR8510) USB […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 46 Comments on ODROID-C2 64-Bit ARM Development Board is Now Available for Purchase for $40

ODROID-C2 64-Bit ARM Development Board is Now Available for Purchase for $40

ODROID-C2 is a quad core 64-bit ARM development board based on Amlogic S905 processor with 2GB RAM that was planned to launch in early March, but maybe unsurprisingly, Hardkernel decided to launch their latest board, the very same day as Raspberry Pi 3 launch. We already knew the specifications, but it’s always useful to mind ourselves of the details: SoC – Amlogic S905 quad core cortex-A53 processor @ 2.0 GHz with 3+2 cores Mali-450 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 SDRAM Storage – eMMC module socket with 8, 16, 32, or 64GB module by Toshiba or Sandisk + micro SD slot supporting UHS-1 SD cards. Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60 Hz Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet (Realtek RTL8211F) USB – 4x USB 2.0 host ports + micro USB OTG port Expansion Header 40-pin header with GPIO, I2C, UART, and ADC ; All I/Os are 3.3V, except […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 32 Comments on Raspberry Pi 3 Board is Powered by Broadcom BCM2837 Cortex A53 Processor, Sells for $35

Raspberry Pi 3 Board is Powered by Broadcom BCM2837 Cortex A53 Processor, Sells for $35

Raspberry Pi 3 board was first found on the FCC website, and thanks to various other leaks we had a pretty good idea of the board specifications including a Broadcom 64-bit ARM processor coupled with 1GB RAM, WiFi and Bluetooth, as well as basically the same features and ports as Raspberry Pi 2 Model B. But with the fourth anniversary of the Raspberry Pi Model 1 board, Raspberry Pi 3 has now officially been launched, and you can now purchase the board for $35. Raspberry Pi 3 specifications: SoC – Broadcom BCM2837 64bit ARMv8 quad core Cortex A53 processor @ 1.2GHz with dual core VideoCore IV GPU @ 400 MHz supporting OpenGL ES 2.0, hardware-accelerated OpenVG, and 1080p30 H.264 high-profile decode. Capable of 1Gpixel/s, 1.5Gtexel/s or 24GFLOPs with texture filtering and DMA infrastructure System Memory – 1GB LPDDR2 Storage – micro SD slot Video & Audio Output – HDMI 1.4 […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on SiLabs Wireless Gecko SoCs Support Bluetooth 4.2, Zigbee, Thread, and 2.4GHz Proprietary Protocols

SiLabs Wireless Gecko SoCs Support Bluetooth 4.2, Zigbee, Thread, and 2.4GHz Proprietary Protocols

Silicon Labs has introduced three new Wireless SoC families with Blue Gecko for Bluetooth Smart, Mighty Gecko for Thread & Zigbee, and Flex Gecko for proprietary 2.4 GHz protocols. All three families provides up to 19.5 dBm output power & hardware cryptography, and are pin-to-pin and software compatible. SiLabs Wireless Gecko SoC highlights: MCU Core – ARM Cortex-M4 @ 40 MHz with FPU, up to 256 KB flash, and up to 32KB SRAM. Mighty Gecko also adds a DSP Peripherals AES256/128 Hardware Crypto Accelerator ADC (12-bit, 1 Msps, 286 µA) Current DAC (4-bit, Current Source or Sink) 2x Analog Comparator Low Energy UART 2x USART (UART, SPI, IrDA, I2S) I2C (Address recognition down to EM3) Timers : RTCC, LE Timer & Pulse Counter 12-channel Peripheral Reflex System Up to 31 GPIO EFR32BG Blue Gecko Family Bluetooth Smart (Bluetooth Low Energy or “BLE”) 4.2 specification as well as proprietary wireless protocols […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 18 Comments on Rho Board $35 Mstar MSO9280 Development Board Supports an Optional DTV Tuner (Crowdfunding)

Rho Board $35 Mstar MSO9280 Development Board Supports an Optional DTV Tuner (Crowdfunding)

Futarque A/S, a Danish company specializing in digital TV (tuners, IPTV), DVD and Blu-ray solutions, has developed the Rho Board powered by Mstar MSO9280 quad core ARM Cortex A7 processor with 1GB RAM and 4GB NAND flash, and featuring HDMI 2.0 output, a Raspberry Pi 2 compatible expansion header, and  a TV tuner connector for an optional DVB-T2/C tuner. Rho board specifications: SoC – Mstar MSO9280PBM quad core Cortex A7 processor with an hexacore (4+2) Mali-450MP GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3-1666 Storage – 4GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot up tp 128GB Video Output – HDMI 2.0 and AV ports Audio Output – HDMI, AV and optical S/PDIF Video Codec – MPEG 1/2, 4K @ 60 fps AVC and 4K @ 30 fps H.265 Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet USB – 2x USB 2.0 ports, 1x micro USB port Expansion 40-pin “Raspberry Pi” header TV tuner connector SDIO expansion […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on Boundary Devices Nitrogen7 Single Board Computer is Powered by NXP i.MX7 Processor

Boundary Devices Nitrogen7 Single Board Computer is Powered by NXP i.MX7 Processor

While several system-on-modules based on Freescale/NXP i.MX7 processor have been announced such as Compulab CL-SOM-iMX7, or TechNexion PICO-IMX7-EMMC, I had not seen many single board computers or development boards based on the new processor, apart from Freescale i.MX7 96Boards by Arrow Electronics which was scheduled for Q4 2015, but has yet to launch. Boundary Devices Nitrogen7 board is another option that’s available now (in limited quantities) with NXP i.MX7 Cortex A7+Cortex M4 processor, 1GB RAM, 4 to 64GB eMMC, wired and wireless connectivity, and expansion headers. Nitrogen7 board specifications: SoC – Freescale i.MX7 single or dual ARM Cortex-A7 processor @ up to 1GHz + ARM Cortex-M4 MCU + 2D graphics engine System Memory – 1GB DDR3L Storage – 4GB eMMC flash (expandable to 64GB), 2MB Serial NOR Flash, SD card slot Connectivity – 1x 10/100/1Gb Ethernet, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1 (TiWi-BLE combo module) Display – 24-bit RGB (via expansion […]