low power News - Page 2 of 48 - CNX Software

April 25, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

LILYGO T-Echo Lite – A 1.22-inch e-Paper display board with nRF52840 SoC, LoRa transceiver, GPS

LILYGO T-Echo Lite is a small Nordic Semi nRF52840 board with a 1.22-inch e-Paper display, a Semtech SX1262 LoRa transceiver, and an L76K GPS module, that’s especially suitable for Meshtastic off-grid messaging firmware. It looks like it could even serve as the base for a Meshtastic watch. The T-Echo Lite is a lightweight version of the earlier T-Echo that ships with a larger 1.54-inch e-paper display. Three Lite versions are available: T-Echo Lite Core – Castellated module with nRF52840, LoRa, power, and battery management T-Echo Lite Base – A breakout board for the Core module with battery and solar panel connectors, Qwiic connector, USB port, an interface for a 1.22-inch e-paper display, and an optional GPS expansion header T-Echo Lite Main Unit – Complete solution built around the Base version, a 1.22-inch e-paper display, and an acrylic enclosure. The L76K GPS module is still an option. T-Echo Lite specifications: LILYGO […]

April 24, 2025April 24, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Microchip launches low-cost, low-power PIC16F17576 8-bit microcontrollers for analog sensors

Microchip PIC16F17576 8-bit MCUs are designed for low-cost and low-power analog sensors. They integrate a low-power comparator and voltage reference combination that can operate while the MCU core is in sleep mode, consuming less than 3.0 µA of current during analog measurements. The PIC16F17576 microcontrollers are equipped with up to four operational amplifiers (op amps) with software-controlled gain ladders, and a 12-bit differential ADC with automated averaging. Key applications include vibration and strain measurement, flow metering, gas detection, cold asset tracking, and motion sensing. PIC16F17576 specifications: Core – C Compiler Optimized RISC Architecture @ 32 MHz Memory and Storage Up to 2 KB of data SRAM Up to 28 KB of program flash memory Up to 256 bytes of data EEPROM memory Programmable code protection and write protection Digital Peripherals 2x Capture/Compare/PWM (CCP) Modules (16-bit resolution for Capture/Compare modes; 10-bit resolution for PWM mode) 2x 16-bit PWM 4x Configurable Logic […]

April 23, 2025April 23, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

SPARK Microsystems SR1120 UWB ultra-low-power transceiver delivers up to 41 Mbps throughput

SPARK Microsystems SR1120 is the company’s second-generation ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless transceiver capable of up to 41 Mbps throughput at ultra-low power and up to 100 times lower power ranging than UWB competitors. The Canadian company also highlights the outperformance of their UWB solution over Bluetooth with the new SR1120 offering 40 times higher data rates than Bluetooth chips, while consuming 25 times less power than Bluetooth and offering 60 times lower latency. However, readers should note that Bluetooth LE is supposed to support up to 2 Mbps, so it should (only) be up to about 20 times faster, and Bluetooth HDT is coming soon with data rates of up to 7.5 Mbps to further narrow the gap. SPARK SR1120 key features and specifications: Compliant with the upcoming IEEE 802.15.4ab low-energy UWB PHY standard Dynamically reconfigurable UWB spectrum 6.2–9.5 GHz band Up to 3 dBm TX power RX sensitivity of -81 […]

April 22, 2025April 22, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Renesas RA0E2 low-cost, low-power Arm Cortex-M23 MCU operates in extended temperature range (-40°C to +125°C)

Renesas RA0E2 is a low-power, low-cost Arm Cortex-M23 microcontroller (MCU) Group part of the RA0 family introduced in 2024 that can operate in an extended temperature range (-40°C to +125°C) and offers a wide variety of peripheral functions and safety features. It follows the RA0E1 devices – the first member of the RA0 family – designed for consumer electronics, household appliances, power tools, industrial monitoring, and other applications, including battery-powered devices. The new RA0E2 MCUs offer both software and pin-to-pin compatibility (for 32-pin SKUs) with RA0E1 devices, but the new family adds more memory and storage with up to 16KB SRAM, 128KB code flash, and 2KB data flash. The RA0E2 also features more I/Os with 32-pin to 64-bit packages, instead of 16-pin to 32-pin packages. Renesas RA0E2 specifications: MCU Core – Arm Cortex-M23 Armv8-M Core up to 32MHz Memory and Storage 16KB SRAM Code Flash – Up to 128KB Data […]

April 11, 2025April 12, 2025 by Debashis Das - 2 Comments

Topaz Tz170b FPGA devkit features hardened LPDDR4 controller, hardened MIPI D-PHY up to 2 Gbps per lane

The Topaz Tz170b FPGA devkit from Efinix is a compact FPGA evaluation platform built around the Efinix Tz170 FPGA. This FPGA is built around a low-power, high-density 16 nm Quantum fabric and comes in a compact 484-ball FineLine BGA package. The company mentions that the board supports hardware-level MIPI D-PHY with data rates of up to 2 Gbps per lane and hardware-level LPDDR4 memory controller, making it ideal for high-speed embedded systems, vision processing, and custom SoC designs. Additionally, it includes 256 Mbit of LPDDR4 memory, dual SPI NOR flash memories, and high-speed QSE connectors for Efinix or custom daughter cards. Expansion is further enabled by a low-pin-count FMC connector, a microSD slot, user LEDs, and push buttons. Clock options include 33.33, 50, and 74.25 MHz oscillators, and a full range of onboard regulated power sources for stable operations. These features make this device useful for applications like edge AI, […]

April 6, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Beacon W5+ SoM – A tiny (27x15mm) Qualcomm Snapdragon W5+ System-on-Module for wearables

Beacon EmbeddedWorks’ W5+ SoM is an ultra-compact (27×15 mm) system-on-module powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon W5+ platform for wearables with a quad-core Cortex-A53 processor, a co-processor with an Arm Cortex-M55 core and an Ethos U55 ML accelerator, and WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity. The Snapdragon W5/W5+ wearables platforms were introduced in the summer of 2022, but so far, all I could find was a $2,000 devkit (TurboX W5+) suitable for ODM/OEM manufacturers. The upcoming Beacon W5+ SoM will be one of the first hardware solutions based on the Snapdragon W5+ platform designed for commercial applications. Beacon W5+ specifications: Platform – Snapragon W5+ SW5100P-0 SoC CPU – Quad-core Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1.7 GHz GPU – Qualcomm Adreno A702 @ up to 1,010 MHz with OpenGL ES 3.1, Vulkan 1.0, OpenCL 2.0 API support DSP – Dual Qualcomm Hexagon DSP V66K ISP – Dual ISP VPU 1080p30 Video Decode […]

April 3, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

LILYGO T-Deck Pro – An ESP32-S3 LoRa messenger with e-paper touch display, keyboard, and 4G LTE or audio codec option

LILYGO T-Deck Pro is a LoRa messenger based on an ESP32-S3 WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.x SoC, and offered with a 3.1-inch e-paper display with touchscreen, a Blackberry-like QWERTY keyboard, a GPS module, speaker, microphone, and a 3.5mm audio, as well as IMU and light sensors. It builds upon the T-Deck Plus design, but replacing the 2.8-inch IPS display with a 3.1-inch e-paper display allows for a slimmer design and should offer longer battery life despite the smaller 1,400 mAh battery used in the new model. Two versions of the T-Deck Pro are available: one with a Simcom 4G LTE modem and a cheaper one with a PCM5102A audio codec. LILYGO T-Deck Pro specifications: SoC – ESP32-S3FN16R8 CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller @ up to 240 MHz 2.4 GHz 802.11n WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE connectivity Memory – 8MB PSRAM Storage – 16MB SPI flash Storage – MicroSD card […]

April 3, 2025 by Debashis Das - 2 Comments

Batteryless 7.5-inch NFC-powered e-paper display V2 gets new NFC chip and “fast flashing method”

7.5inch NFC Powered e Paper V2 side view

Back in 2020, we wrote about Waveshare’s Batteryless NFC e-paper display, which can work without a battery and draws power and data from an NFC-enabled smartphone or the company’s ST25R3911B NFC board. Waveshare has now released a V2 version of this display with a new and improved NFC chip, a “fast flashing method”, and enhanced contrast. The new batteryless, 7.5-inch NFC-powered e-paper display features an 800×480 resolution and updates via an NFC-enabled smartphone or reader. It offers a 170° viewing angle and comes in a durable ABS plastic shell. The ST25R3911B NFC board allows updates via USB, SD card, or serial port, with an optional password lock. However, precise NFC positioning is required for updates. These features make it ideal for shelf labels, equipment tags, and other applications. Waveshare 7.5-inch NFC e-paper display V2 specifications: 7.5-inch e-paper display 800×480 resolution Display color black and white 170° viewing angle Refresh Time […]