Kneron KL720 Arm Cortex-M4 AI SoC Delivers 1.5 TOPS at 1.2 Watts

Kleron KL720 Cortex-M4 AI Processor

We first came across Kneron AI processors last year, when we covered AAEON M.2 & mPCIe AI accelerator cards powered by Kneron KL520 dual-core Cortex-M4 processor and delivering 0.3 TOP AI acceleration performance at 0.5 Watt. The company has now introduced a more powerful processor with Kneron KL720 single Arm Cortex-M4 AI processor delivering up to 1.5 TOPS at 1.2 Watts, or 0.9 TOPS for 1 Watt. The company does not provide much other information in terms of specifications, but Kneron KL720 is said to be two to four times more power-efficient than competitors at a lower cost and is best suited for high-end IP cameras, Smart TVs, AI glasses & headsets, as well as AIoT Gateways. The processor can process 4K images, full HD videos, and 3D sensing data for facial recognition and gesture control for gaming, shopping kiosks, etc.. Besides computer vision, the chip can also handle natural […]

ThinkCentre M75n IoT Nano Desktop Features a 6W AMD Athlon Silver 3050e Processor

Earlier today, we wrote about AMD 3015e dual-core/quad-thread Zen processor with 6W TDP found in some upcoming education laptops from Lenovo. We also noted that two other recent 6W AMD processors had been introduced by the company AMD 3020e and AMD Athlon Silver 3050e. When looking for AMD 3020e I got ACER ASPIRE A314-22-A8ST 14″ laptop with 4GB RAM and 256GB SSD listed for 9,590 Baht ($309 inc. 7% VAT) – but out of stock – on several Thai websites, but after switching to a US VPN all product reference disappeared, except for Lenovo Ideapad 3 soon getting an AMD 3020e model. None of the laptops are available now, but at least that means AMD does not only target the education market with its 6W SKUs. But when I searched for AMD Athlon Silver 3050e platforms, I realized Lenovo made an announcement last June about ThinkCentre M75n IoT Nano Desktop […]

6W AMD 3015e Dual-Core “Zen” Processor Shows Up in Lenovo Laptops

6W AMD 3015e Mobile Processor

While AMD has done a good job with their Ryzen processors based on Zen architecture, the company did not provide alternatives to low-cost, low-power  Intel Gemini Lake processors with the closest equivalent being the 15W AMD Athlon 3000-series processors. But this may be about to change, as Lenovo has now unveiled two new education laptops, namely Lenovo 100e 2nd gen and Lenovo 300e 2nd gen, powered by a previously-unannounced 6W AMD 3015e processor, and expected to become available in September 2020 for $219 and up. AMD 3015e key features and specifications: CPU – 2x cores, 4x threads @ 1.2 GHz / 2.3 GHz (Boost) GPU – Vega 3 Graphics @ 600 MHz Cache – 1MB L2 cache, 4MB L3 cache Memory I/F – Single-channel DDR4 up to 1,600 MHz Video – HDMI and DisplayPort Peripheral Interfaces – PCIe 3.0 TDP – 6W Process – 14nm Based on the product page, […]

Intel Launches Atom Denverton “Refresh” and “Low Power” Server Processors

Intel Atom Denverton Refresh Q2 2020

Intel Atom C3000 “Denverton” processors were first unveiled in 2016 for low power servers, and are now found in fanless network appliances and server motherboards. Intel has now quietly launched three new Atom Denverton “Refresh” and one “Low Power” processors, namely Intel Atom C3436L, C3338R, C3758R, and C3558R. Highlights for the “refreshed” and current processors: Intel Atom C3436L quad-core processor @ 1.3 GHz with 8MB cache, 10.75W TDP Intel Atom C3338R  dual-core processor @ 1.8 GHz / 2.2 GHz (Turbo) with 4MB cache, 10.5W TDP Intel Atom C3558R quad-core processor @ 2.4 GHz with 8MB cache, 17W TDP Intel Atom C3758R octa-core processor @ 2.4 GHz with 16MB cache, 26W TDP Intel Atom C3338 dual-core processor @ 1.5 GHz . 2.2 GHz (Turbo) with 4MB cache, 8.5W TDP Intel Atom C3558 quad-core processor @ 2.2 GHz with 8MB cache, 16W TDP Intel Atom C3758 octa-core processor @ 2.2 GHz with […]

Dialog DA16200 WiFi SoC Promises a Year of Battery Life for Always-Connected IoT Devices

Dialog DA16200 WiFi One Year Battery Life

WiFi is omnipresent, and many IoT devices are relying on the wireless standard for connectivity, but as most of you will already know, WiFi suffers from high-power consumption and may not always be suitable for battery-operated devices. There are always battery optimization tricks to use WiFi on battery-powered devices, for example, a solar camera using PIR to only record and transmit video when needed,  or a board optimized to consume as little as possible in deep sleep waking up only when necessary. Those tricks are not applicable to all use cases, so Dialog Semiconductor has launched DA16200 Wi-Fi SoC delivering year plus battery life for always-connected Wi-Fi IoT devices. DA16200 key features and specifications: MCU Core – Arm Cortex M4F @ up to 160 MHz Memory – 512 KB SRAM Storage – 256 kB ROM, 8KB OTP ROM, external flash controller, eMMC, SD host Connectivity 2.4 GHz, 20 MHz channel […]

Olimex ESP32-S2-Devkit-LiPo WiFi Board Consumes as Little as 2uA in Sleep Mode

ESP32-S2 Devkit LiPo

When we covered ESP32 powered TTGO T-Watch-2000 smartwatch this week-end, people noted that with a 350 mAh battery, the watch would last about 3.65 days considering a 4mA drain with the screen always off, WiFI and Bluetooth off, and around 65mA when the screen is on good for about 5 hours of continuous use without Bluetooth nor WiFi. But it’s possible to make a much more-efficient ESP32-S2 Wifi board, as demonstrated by Olimex with their upcoming ESP32-32-Devkit-LiPo based on ESP32-S2-Saola-1 with circuitry to support LiPo batteries. They designed the board with an ultra-low-power power supply circuit which makes current consumption during sleep only 6uA, 4 of which are due to the battery measurement resistor divider, meaning the board should consume only 2uA in sleep mode or about 10 times less than other ESP32 Olimex boards. When reviewed Qoitech Otii power measurement & DAQ tool, we also noted power consumption could […]

MediaTek Dimensity 1000+ 5G Mobile SoC Supports 144Hz FHD+ Displays, 5G UltraSave Technology, and More

Mediatek Dimensity 1000+

MediaTek Dimensity 1000 5G processor for premium mobile devices was announced in Q4 2019 with eight Cortex-A77/A55 cores, an Arm Mali-G77 MC9, and APU 3.0 AI coprocessor. Since then, several companies have announced plans to launch Dimensity 1000 smartphones with products such as Astro Slide 5G Transformer. But while there aren’t any Dimensity 1000 phones available for sale just yet (AFAIK), MediaTek has already announced an updated version with Dimensity 1000+ (Dimensity 1000 Plus). The new version of the processor runs the CPU and GPU cores at the same frequencies, and the differences are instead in other specific features of the processor, as we’ve highlighted below. MediaTek Dimensity 1000+ specification: Processor 4x Arm Cortex-A77 @ 2.6GHz 4x Arm Cortex-A55 @ 2.0GHz DynamIQ heterogeneous multi-processing technology GPU – 9-core Arm Mali-G77 MC9 AI Coprocessor – APU 3.0 hexa-core AI accelerator with 2x big cores, 3x small cores, and 1x tiny core […]

Sipeed MaixCube is a Fully Integrated AI Development Platform Powered by Kendryte K210 RISC-V SoC

MaixCube All-in-one K210 Development Platform

Sipeed has made several boards and kits based on Kendryte K210 RISC-V processor for low-power AI workloads such as face detection or object recognition including Maixduino board and Grove AI HAT that ship with camera and display. The company has now come up with MaixCube all-in-one development platform that houses Sipeed M1 module, a display, a camera, and a battery into a plastic case that’s somewhat similar to MStack M5StickV but with a larger display, and variations in the form factor and features. Sipeed MaixCube specifications: SoC – Kendryte K210 dual-core 64-bit RISC-V processor @ 400 MHz (overclockable to 600 MHz) with FPU, 8MB SRAM, KPU AI accelerator, APU audio processor, and FFT accelerator Storage – 128 Mbit flash, MicroSD card slot Display – 1.3″ TFT screen with 240×240 resolution Camera – OV7740 sensor (VGA camera) Audio – Built-in microphone, external speakers support; ES8374 audio codec USB – 1x USB […]

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