Mediatek MT2625 NB-IoT SoC is Designed for Cellular IoT Devices working Worldwide

Mediatek has recently unveiled MT2625 SoC based on an ARM Cortex-M core, equipped with an NB-IoT “WorldMode” modem allowing for a single design worldwide, and supporting the latest 3GPP Release 14 (LTE Cat NB2) specification. Mediatek MT2625 specifications: CPU – ARM Cortex-M @ up to 104 MHz with FPU Embedded Memory – 4MB PSRAM Storage – 4MB NOR Flash Connectivity NB-IoT compatible with 3GPP Release 14 Full frequency band (450MHz to 2.1GHz) of 3GPP R13 (NB1) and R14 (NB2) standards Integrated baseband, RF, and modem DSP Peripherals – I2C,  I2S,  PCM,  SDIO,  UART Power Supply – Integrated PMU The solution will be found in products for worldwide transportation, municipal use, and consumer products, with a much longer battery life compared to existing devices relying on other 2G/3G/4G standards. According to the press release, one of the first module based on MT2625 has been designed in collaboration with China Mobile, integrates […]

MediaTek Unveils MT7686, MT7682, and MT5932 WiFi SoCs for IoT and Smart Home Applications

Beside announcing MT7622 SoC for WiFi and Bluetooth 5 gateways and routers last week, Mediatek also introduced three “next generation” WiFi SoCs for the IoT and the Smart Home market during Computex 2017, namely MT7686, MT7682, and MT5932. Mediatek MT7686 is a wide temperature range WiFi SoC for appliances: MCU – ARM Cortex-M4F @ 192 MHz System Memory – 4MB + 384KB RAM Storage – 4 MB flash with XIP support Connectivity – Low-power 1T1R 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi subsystem Peripherals –  SDIO I/F, UART, I2C, SPI, I2S, PWM, and auxiliary ADC Power Supply – Integrated Power Management Unit (PMU) Power Consumption – Connected DTIM1 <0.7mA Temperature Range – “Wide” Package – QFN48 (6x6mm) Mediatek MT7682 is promoted as a cost-effective, integrated SoC for multi-Cloud platforms: MCU – ARM Cortex-M4F @ 192 MHz System Memory – 384KB RAM Storage – 512 KB or 1 MB flash with XIP support Connectivity – […]

$14 LinkIt 7697 Bluetooth 4.2 LE and WiFi IoT Board is Powered by Mediatek MT7697 ARM Cortex-M4 MCU

Mediatek Labs has launched a new IoT development, which on the surface looks similar to LinkIt Smart 7688 board, but the internal design is quite different as the MIPS processor and Linux OS, have been replaced by Mediatek MT7697 ARM Cortex-M4 processor running FreeRTOS, and beside WiFi, also includes support for Bluetooth 4.2 LE. LinkIt 7697 board specifications: Wireless SoC – Mediatek MT7697 ARM Cortex M4F MCU @ 192 MHz with 352KB RAM, 4MB flash, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2 LE and a PMU Expansion – 2x 14-pin header with 18x GPIO, 2x UART, 1x I2C, 1x SPI, 18x PWM, 4x EINT, 4x ADC (0 to 2.5V), 1x IrDA, 1x I2S Debugging – 1x SWD, CP2102 UART to USB chipset Misc – Reset and user buttons; power and user LEDs Power Supply – 5V via micro USB port Dimensions – 48 x 26 mm The board can be programmed with […]

Microsoft is Working with Mediatek on Project Sopris Secure WiFi MCU

There are serious security issues with the Internet of Things at all levels: hardware, software, network, and end-users. Microsoft Research NExT Operating Systems Technologies Group has been tasked with “exploring the goal of securing the vast number of low cost Internet connected devices coming online” with Project Sopris. They have shared their first technical report that identifies “seven properties of highly secure devices”, and describes their experiments towards designing microcontroller based prototype devices adapted from Mediatek MT7687 MIPS microcontroller, and exhibiting those seven properties. The seven properties identifies by Microsoft team include: Hardware-based Root of Trust – Unforgeable cryptographic keys generated and protected by hardware. Physical countermeasures resist side-channel attacks. Small Trusted Computing Base – Private keys stored in a hardware-protected vault, inaccessible to software. Division of software into self-protecting layers. Defense in Depth – Multiple mitigations applied against each threat. Countermeasures mitigate the consequences of a successful attack on […]

New 96Boards IoT Edition Boards Showcased at Linaro Connect 2017: BlueSky IE and WRTNode IE

Linaro Connect Budapest 2017 is taking place this week in Hungary, and during George Grey – Linaro CEO – keynote, he provided a status updates for the Linaro group, addressed some of Linaro’s criticisms from members and the community, and unveiled two upcoming boards compliant with 96Boards IoT edition both running Zephyr OS, and adding to BLE Carbon board announced last year. The first board is BlueSky IE board with the following key specifications: SoC – RDA Micro RDA5981A ARM Cortex-M4 Wireless MCU with 64KB ROM, and 32KB cache System Memory – 485KB SRAM. It’s unclear if that’s only the on-chip SRAM, and there’s also some external PSRAM added. Storage – 8Mb NOR flash 802.11 b / g / n HT20 / 40 mode Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n WiFi with support for  HT20 / 40 modes Crypto security hardware The second board is WRTnode IE: SoC – Mediatek MT7697 ARM […]

Mediatek MT2533D is a Bluetooth 4.2 SiP for Smart Headphones & Hands-Free Systems

There used to be a time when most products were based on a general purpose MCU or processor that you would interface to over chips like audio codecs, memory chips, flash storage, etc…, but in order to cut costs, application specific SoCs have become quite common over the year, so we’ve had mobile application processors for several years already, but more recently we got “wearables” SoCs and “Smart Home” SoCs, and Mediatek has launched MT2533D “headphone” SiP (System-in-Package) combining a Cortex-M4 MCU, 4MB PSRAM, an audio codec, and a dual mode Bluetooth subsystem. Mediatek MT2533D specifications: MCU –  ARM Cortex-M4 @ up to 208MHz with 32KB L1 cache, FPU, MPU, AES 128/192/256 crypto engine and TRNG Memory – 160kB SRAMs, 4MB pseudo SRAM Storage – 4MB flash Wireless Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.2 dual mode (classic and low energy) Audio AAC/SBC for Bluetooth audio CVSD/mSBC for Bluetooth speech PCM playback: 8-48kHz […]

Mediatek Introduces Helio X23 and X27 Processors with Faster Clocks, Better Camera Support, Lower Power Consumption

Mediatek has just announced upgrades to their Helio X20 and X25 deca-core processors with respectively Helio X23 and X27 boasting higher CPU and GPU frequencies, higher camera quality, as well as lower power consumption thanks to MiraVision EnergySmart Screen power-saving technology. The two new processor still feature MediaTek tri-cluster deca-core architecture with two ARM Cortex A72 cores, four ARM Cortex A53 core, and 4 more low power Cortex A53 cores, but Helio X23  Cortex A72 cores’ max CPU frequency increased from 2.1 GHz to 2.3 GHz, and Helio  X27 got a small boost to 2.6 GHz for the Cortex A72 cores (vs 2.5 GHz) and 1.6 GHz for the low power Cortex A53 cluster, as well as a higher frequency ARM Mali-T880 MP4 GPU at 875 MHz instead of 850 MHz for Helio X25. MediaTek Helio X23 and X27 also support dual camera photography with the upgraded MediaTek Imagiq image […]

How Fix Apps Crashing at Launch in Android 6.0 (in Mediatek Phones) ?

I’ve recently received a new Android 6.0 Marshmallow smartphone powered by Mediatek Helio X20 processor, namely Vernee Apollo Lite, and one of the issues I encountered is that some applications such as Firefox and MAPS.ME would crash when I tried to launch them. The problem was reproducible 100% of the time, and occurred from the very first time I tried to start the app. I’d get a message like “Unfortunately MAPS.ME has stopped” with two buttons: REPORT or OK. So I asked on Vernee forums to report the issue, and see if other people had the same problem. One replied had the same problem, but a simple reboot would fix the issue, while the other proposed to clear the cache. I had not considered that option since the crash occurred from the very first time, but I tried anyway. Go to the App list, drag and drop the problematic app […]