AMD Ryzen Embedded based SBC-VR1000 SBC to Power Edge Computing & Graphics Applications

Kontron SBC-VR1000

We just wrote about a 3.5″ Ryzen Embedded SBC a few days ago, namely SECO SBC-C90 single board computer, after mentioning there were few such AMD options in the 3.5-inch form factor with the only other board we covered so far being IBase IB918. But there’s now at least a third option with Kontron introducing SBC-VR1000 3.5-inch board powered by AMD Ryzen Embedded V1000-series or R1000-series processor, and designed for “intensive edge computing and graphics applications” including digital signage, digital casino gaming, kiosk, retail, banking, education, medical imaging, as well as industrial control and automation. Kontron SBC-VR1000 specifications: SoC (one or the other) AMD Ryzen V1605B quad-core processor @ up to 3.60 GHz with 4M cache, AMD Radeon Vega 8 GPU; 15 W TDP AMD Ryzen V1202B dual-core processor @ up to 3.20 GHz with 4MB cache, AMD Radeon Vega 3 GPU; 15 W TDP AMD Ryzen R1606G dual-core processor […]

Kontron Launches the Smallest i.MX 8M Mini Module with 30x30mm Form Factor

Kontron Smallest i.MX 8M Mini Module

Introduced in 2018, NXP i.MX 8M Mini is the first i.MX processor from the company manufactured with a 14nm process, and the low-power processor is found in several compact modules such as Variscite VAR-SOM-MX8M-MINI (38×28 mm), SolidRun i.MX 8M Mini SoM (47×30 mm), or Compulab UCM-iMX8M-Mini (38×28 mm). The smallest i.MX 8M Mini module we’ve covered so far is TechNexion XORE-IMX8M-Mini LGA system-on-module that takes just 30×30 mm of space. The TechNexion module is now joined by Kontron SoM SL i.MX8M Mini module with the same 30x30mm form factor, but a few more pins (267 vs 225). Kontron SoM SL i.MX8M Mini specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX 8M Mini quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ 1.6 GHz with one Arm Cortex-M4 real-time core @ 400 MHz, as well as 2D GPU and 3D GPU System Memory – 1GB LPDDR4 RAM (option up to 4GB) Storage – 8GB eMMC flash (option up […]

Linux 5.4 Release – Main Changes, Arm, MIPS & RISC-V Architectures

Linux 5.4 Changelog

Linus Torvalds has just announced the release of Linux 5.4: Not a lot happened this last week, which is just how I like it. And as expected, most of the pull requests I got were for the 5.5 merge window, which I’ll obviously start working through tomorrow. What little there is here is mostly some networking updates (mix of network drivers and core networking), and some minor GPU driver updates. Other than that it’s a small collection of random other things all over. The appended shortlog is small enough that you might as well just scroll through it. Anyway, this obviously opens the merge window for 5.5. It’s not ideal timing with Thanksgiving week coming up, but it hopefully shouldn’t be too much of an issue. If I fall behind (not because I’m all that big of a fan of the indiscriminate and relentless turkey-killing holiday) it’s because we’ve got […]

Linux 5.3 Release – Main Changes, Arm, MIPS & RISC-V Architectures

Linux 5.3 Changelog

Linus Torvalds has just announced the release of Linux 5.3: So we’ve had a fairly quiet last week, but I think it was good that we ended up having that extra week and the final rc8. Even if the reason for that extra week was my travel schedule rather than any pending issues, we ended up having a few good fixes come in, including some for some bad btrfs behavior. Yeah, there’s some unnecessary noise in there too (like the speling fixes), but we also had several last-minute reverts for things that caused issues. One _particularly_ last-minute revert is the top-most commit (ignoring the version change itself) done just before the release, and while it’s very annoying, it’s perhaps also instructive. What’s instructive about it is that I reverted a commit that wasn’t actually buggy. In fact, it was doing exactly what it set out to do, and did it […]

Kontron SMARC-sAL28 System-on-Module Supports ECC Memory, Up to 5 TSN Ethernet Ports

Kontron SMARC-sAL28

Many systems-on-module are equipped with one Gigabit Ethernet transceiver / PHY, but NXP LS1028A powered Kontron SMARC-sAL28 SoM is equipped with two Gigabit Ethernet PHY, and can optionally support up to 5 TSN-capable Gigabit Ethernet ports directly from the controller thanks one PCIe line that can be used as a QSGMII (Quad Serial Gigabit Media Independent Interface) port. Furthermore, the module comes with up to 4GB non-ECC or ECC memory. “What is TSN?” you may ask. It stands for “Time-Sensitive Networking“, provides distributed time synchronization and deterministic communication using standard Ethernet networks for applications such as distributed synchronized measurements, coordinated distributed data logging, next-generation computer numeric control machining, automotive networks, and more as explained on National Instruments website. But let’s go back to Kontron SMARC-sAL28 system-on-module with the hardware specifications: SoC – NXP LS1028A dual Arm Cortex A72 processor, 3D GPU System Memory – Up to 4GB DDR3L ECC or […]

Kontron pITX-iMX8M Industrial Pico-ITX Motherboard is Powered by NXP i.MX8M Processor

pITX-imx8m

We’ve had a fair amount of boards and modules based on NXP i.MX 8M dual or quad core Cortex A53 processor this year, including one pico-ITX motherboard with F&S Elektronik ArmStone MXM8 supporting up to 8GB RAM. Another i.MX 8M pico-ITX board will soon be launch courtesy of Kontron. pITX-iMX8M will also features the dual or quad core version of the processor, but will differ thanks to the presence of dual Gigabit Ethernet, mini DP and HDMI video outputs, an M.2 PCIe/USB 3.0 socket, and built-in TPM 2.0 security. Kontron pITX-iMX8M preliminary specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX 8M Dual or QuadLite Arm Cortex A53 processor @ up to 1.5 GHz, Arm Cortex-M4 real-time core, and Vivante GC7000Lite GPU with support for OpenGL/Es 3.1, OpenGL 3.0, Vulkan System Memory – 4GB LPDDR4 Storage – 64GB eMMC 5.1 flash, micro SD card / SIM slot combo Video Output – mini DisplayPort, HDMI […]

Kontron SMARC-sXBTi is a SMARC Module Powered by Intel Atom E3800 Series SoC

Kontrol has unveiled a computers-on-module based on the SMARC standard, previously ULP-COM, based on Intel Atom E3800 “Bay Trail-I” SoCs with up to 8GB LPDD3 memory, up to 64GB SSD, and support for various interface. After having released SMARC modules based on TI, Freescale and Nvidia last year, the company claims their SMARC-xXBTi is the first ever x86 CoM compatible with SMARC. SMARC-sXBT(i) specifications: SoC – Intel Atom E3800 “Bay Trail-I” with Intel Gen 7 Graphics System Memory – Up to 8GB DDR3L-1067/1333 (1.35V) with optional ECC Storage – 2-32 GB eMMC (SLC), 4-64GB for (MLC), 1x or 2x SATA 3Gb/s, 2x SDIO interfaces Display HDMI 1.4 up to 2560 x 1600 @ 60Hz 18/24-bit single channel LVDS  up to 1366 x 768 (Optional eDP to have higher resolutions) Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet (Intel Springville I210) USB – 1x USB 3.0 (via AFB), 2x USB 2.0, and optional USB OTG. […]

Kontron Unveils SMARC Starterkit for ARM Systems-on-Module

You may have previously heard about ULP-COM (Ultra Low Power CoM), a standard for systems and computers on module. The standard has been ratified by the Standardization Group for Embedded Technologies (SGET) in February 2013, and renamed to SMARC (Smart Mobility ARChitecture). This standard is specifically designed for low power designed, and is currently only used with ARM SoC. Kontron was involved in the design of this standard, released several ULP-COM, now SMARC, compatible CoM based on TI, Freescale and Nvidia SoC, and yesterday the company just announced SMARC Starterkit will all hardware and software components needed to get started with evaluation and development. This starter kit comes in a carrying case with the following items: SMARC Evaluation Carrier Board 7″ Display PM070W4 (WVGA – 800×480) Touch USB Kit ETP04USBR Mounting Kit Adapter and Cables: 1x Kontron LVDS Jili30 Adapter incl. cable 1x DSUB9 1x micro USB USB A Storage […]

UP 7000 x86 SBC