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March 25, 2023April 15, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Getting Started with GL-S200 Thread Border Router kit

Getting Started GL-S200 Thread Border Router

Last week we checked out the hardware for the GL.iNet GL-S200 Thread Border Router kit with three nRF52840 Thread Dev Boards, and I’ve now had time to work with the kit, so I’ll report my getting started experience in the second part of the review. GL-S200 Initial Set Up I connected the WAN port to my Ethernet Switch itself connected to my modem router and the LAN port to my laptop, so I could access the web interface using the default IP address (192.168.8.1). The GL-S200 uses the same Admin Panel as other GL.iNet routers such as the Beryl AX router we reviewed at the beginning of the year. You’ll be greeted by a wizard to let you select the language and set a new password for the Admin Panel, and once you’re done you’ll have access to the familiar GL.iNet Admin Panel 4.x.x. After completing the wizard, the system […]

March 4, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

IoT board supports WiFi, Bluetooth, NB-IoT, Cat-M and GNSS with ESP32-S3 and SIM7080G modules

LILYGO T-SIM7080G-S3 is an ESP32-S3 WiFi and Bluetooth IoT board with a SIMcom SIM7080G LTE Cat-M (eMTC), NB-IoT, and GNSS module for low-power long-range connectivity and asset tracking. The board also comes with a 18650 battery holder, a solar panel input, a microSD card slot, a camera port, and several I/Os and provides an alternative to the TTGO T-Beam ESP32 board that relies on LoRaWAN for long-range connectivity instead. LILYGO T-SIM7080G-S3 specifications: Wireless modules Espressif ESP32-S3-WROOM-1-N16R8 module with ESP32-S3 dual-core LX7 microprocessor @ up to 240 MHz with Vector extension for machine learning, 16MB flash, 8MB PSRAM, WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5 LE/Mesh SIMCom SIM7080G global multi-band Cat-M and NB-IoT module with GNSS Bands: Cat-M – B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B8/B12/B13/B14/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26 /B27/B28/B66/B85 NB-IoT – B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B8/B12/B13/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28 /B66/B71/B85 Data rate Cat-M – Uplink: 1,119 Kbps, downlink: 589 Kbps NB-IoT: Uplink: 150 Kbps downlink: 136 Kbps LTE RF Power Class: 5 (Typ. 21dbm) GNSS – GPS, GLONASS, […]

January 30, 2023January 30, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

FOSDEM 2023 schedule – Open-source Embedded, Mobile, IoT, Arm, RISC-V, etc… projects

After two years of taking place exclusively online, FOSDEM 2023 is back in Brussels, Belgium with thousands expected to attend the 2023 version of the “Free and Open Source Developers’ European Meeting” both onsite and online. FOSDEM 2023 will take place on February 4-5 with 776 speakers, 762 events, and 63 tracks. As usual, I’ve made my own little virtual schedule below mostly with sessions from the Embedded, Mobile and Automotive devroom, but also other devrooms including “Open Media”, “FOSS Educational Programming Languages devroom”, “RISC-V”, and others. FOSDEM Day 1 – Saturday February 4, 2023 10:30 – 10:55 – GStreamer State of the Union 2023 by Olivier Crête GStreamer is a popular multimedia framework making it possible to create a large variety of applications dealing with audio and video. Since the last FOSDEM, it has received a lot of new features: its RTP & WebRTC stack has greatly improved, Rust […]

September 12, 2022January 5, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 19 Comments

8K TV box powered by Amlogic S928X Cortex-A76/A55 processor showcased at IBC 2022

Amlogic S928X multi-core Cortex-A76/A55 8K media processor, which may have been initially known as S908X, is being showcased at ICB2022 in Amsterdam in the “SEI 8K Box” developed by SEI Robotics. Amlogic S908X/S928X was first discovered in a roadmap in 2019 and was expected to launch by the end of 2020 at the time. But after a long wait of nearly three years, the Amlogic S928X processor is finally showing in SEI 8K box with an HDMI 2.1a 8K video interface, supports for HDR and advanced audio codecs like Dolby Atmos and DTS, and support for Smart Home functions through an IoT module with WiFi 6E, Zigbee and more. SEI 8K box preliminary specifications: SoC – Amlogic S928X multi-core Cortex-A76/A55 processor, next-gen GPU (likely Mali-G610?); 12nm process System Memory – 64-bit DDR Storage – eMMC flash Video Output HDMI 2.1a up to 8Kp60 (7680 x 4320 resolution) with HDR10+/HLS, Dolby […]

September 5, 2022September 5, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Telink energy harvesting wireless module to enable batteryless remote controls

Telink Energy Harvesting Multi protocol Wireless module TV remote control

Telink TLSR8273-M-EH is a multi-protocol wireless connectivity module with energy harvesting capabilities implemented through Nowi’s PMIC, and designed for batteryless devices (or ones with “forever batteries”) such as TV remote controls, but also wearables, and electronic shelf labels among others. The solution is based on a 48MHz RISC microcontroller that supports Bluetooth 5.1 LE, 802.15.4 (Zigbee/RF4CE/6LoWPAN/Thread), and 2.4GHz proprietary protocols. With a single module integrating all main components required for batteryless operation, Telink says its solutions reduce BOM and size, as well as supply chain complexity, and improves user-friendliness by removing the need for battery swaps. Telink TLSR8273-M-EH specifications: Core – 32-bit RISC microcontroller @ up to 48 MHz (CoreMark 1.25/MHz) Memory – 64 KB SRAM with 32 KB retention Storage – 512 KB flash RF Bluetooth 5.1 LE up to 2 Mbps, with AOA/AOD support, Bluetooth Mesh IEEE 802.15.4 radio for Zigbee, RF4CE, 6LoWPAN, Thread 2.4GHz proprietary protocols RX […]

September 4, 2022September 4, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Wi-SUN: An LPWAN standard for Smart Cities, Smart Agriculture, large scale IoT deployments

Wi-SUN is a standard (IEEE 802.15.4g) managed by the Wi-SUN Alliance and designed for Smart Cities, Smart Agriculture, and other large scale IoT deployments with a large number of devices thanks to the use of IPv6 mesh networking. The organization was founded in 2011 to “support the worldwide development of Wireless Communications Networks for Utilities, Smart Cities and IoT”, but due to the niche nature of target applications, it does not get that much press coverage and was only recently brought to my attention. Wi-SUN stands for “Wireless Smart Utility Networks”or “Wireless Smart Ubiquitous Networks”, and the standard aims to connect streetlights, cameras, weather stations, smart metering, utility transmission systems, and others to enable data-sharing between city services to improve their efficiency, save costs, and offer improves services to citizens. Wi-SUN FAN (Field Area Network) is the latest protocol managed by the Wi-SUN Alliance with over 95 million units shipped […]

August 12, 2022October 30, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

SONOFF NSPanel Pro Android control panel doubles as WiFi & Zigbee Smart Home gateway

ITEAD has introduced the SONOFF NSPanel Pro Smart Home control panel running Android 8.1 on a Rockchip PX30 quad-core Cortex-A35 processor and acting as a Smart Home gateway thanks to an 802.15.4 radio for Zigbee 3.0, and 2.4 GHz 802.11b WiFi for connectivity. The NSPanel Pro follows the ESP32-powered SONOFF NSPanel introduced just last year but offers much more flexibility with Android, 2GB RAM, 8GB eMMC flash, and also offers a slightly larger 3.95-inch capacitive touchscreen display with 480×480 resolution. SONOFF NSPanel Pro specifications: SoC – Rockchip PX30 quad-core Cortex-A35 processor with Arm Mali-G31 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB eMMC 5.1 flash Display – 3.95-inch capacitive touchscreen color TFT display with 480×480 resolution Audio – 1W speaker, digital microphone for two-way communication (intercom) Connectivity 802.15.4 radio with Zigbee 3.0 support. Matter and BLE Mesh scheduled for 2023 2.4 GHz 802.11b WiFi Sensor – Light sensor for […]

June 15, 2022June 20, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Nordic Thingy:53 is a dual-core Arm Cortex-M33 platform for IoT prototyping

As one should have expected after Nordic Thingy:52 and Thingy:91 IoT devkits were introduced in 2017 and 2019 respectively, the Norwegian company has now launched the Thingy:53 platform based on Nordic Semi nRF5340 dual-core Arm Cortex-M33 SoC for IoT prototyping with Bluetooth Low Energy, Thread, Matter, Zigbee, IEEE 802.15.4, NFC, and Bluetooth mesh RF protocols. The development kit also incorporates the nPM1100 PMIC and nRF21540 Front End Module (FEM), a power amplifier/low noise amplifier (PA/LNA) range extender, as well as multiple motion and environmental sensors, as well as a rechargeable 1350 mAh Li-Po battery for power. Nordic Thingy:53 specifications: SoC – Nordic Semi nRF5340 SoC with 128 MHz Arm Cortex-M33 Application core with 1 MB Flash + 512 KB RAM, and a 64 MHz Arm Cortex-M33 Network core with 256 KB Flash + 64 KB RAM Wireless connectivity RF front-end nRF21540 FEM Protocols – Bluetooth LE, Bluetooth Mesh, NFC, Thread/Zigbee, […]