n-fuse LoRaWAN Concentrator mini PCIe Card Comes with either SX1301 or SX1308 Chip

LoRaWAN-Concentrator-Card-mPCIe

Most gateways are based on Semtech SX1301 chip, but the company unveiled a SX1308 chip for picocell gateways back in 2016 that’s supposed to be cheaper and used indoors. Designs have been slow to come to market, but a few have been launched recently including n-fuse LRWCCx-MPCIE LoRaWAN concentrator mini PCIe card  that comes with either SX1301 or SX1308 chip, and is compatible with Semtech’s Pico Gateway design. n-fuse LRWCCx-MPCIE key features & specifications: LoRa Connectivity SX1301/ SX1308 digital base band processor with dual SX1257 Tx/Rx front-ends Output power level up to 23 dBm u.FL connector (50 Ω impedance) for external antenna 868 MHz model Frequency Range – 863 to 870 MHz Sensitivity – Up to -124 dBm at SF7 (BW 125 KHz), up to -138 dBm at SF12 (BW 125 KHz) 915 MHz model Frequency Range – 915 to 928 MHz Sensitivity – Up to -125 dBm at SF7 […]

RAK8213 mini PCIe Card Comes with GNSS, NB-IoT & eMTC Connectivity

RAK8213 NB-IoT mPCIe Card

After launching their first wireless communication mini PCIe card with RAK833 LoRaWAN gateway card last month, RAK Wireless is back with another mPCIe card that supports GNSS (GPS, GLONASS), as well as cellular IoT connectivity thanks to Quectel BG96 NB-IoT + LTE Cat M1 module. RAK8213 mini PCIe card specifications: Wireless Connectivity Module – Quectel BG96 with LTE Cat. M1 (eMTC), LTE Cat. NB1 (NB-IoT), EGPRS, and GNSS Global bands support FDD-LTE – B1/ B2/ B3/ B4/ B5/ B8/ B12/ B13/ B18/ B19/ B20/ B26/ B28 TDD-LTE – B39 (for Cat M1 only) EGPRS – 850/900/1800/1900Mhz Max Data Rate – Cat M1: 375 kbps (UL/DL); Cat NB1: 32 kbps DK, 70 kbps (UL) micro SIM slot u.FL connectors for cellular and GNSS mPCIe connector with USB 2.0, I2C, UART, and PCM Misc – LEDs for network and power status Dimensions – 51 x 30.1 mm The card can be added […]

Banana Pi BPI-R64 Router Board is Powered by Mediatek MT7622, Supports 802.11ac WiFi, Optional PoE Module

Banana Pi BPI-R64

SinoVoIP launched several Banana Pi router boards in the past starting with Allwinner A20 based Banana Pi BPI-R1 in 2014, and followed by Banana Pi BPI-R2 board powered by a Mediatek MT7623 processor last year. Such boards normally include multiple Gigabit Ethernet ports, as well as at least one SATA connector, and in some cases an mPCIe connector for WiFi or LTE cards. THe company also launched Banana Pi BPI-W2 board a few months ago, but that model is more geared towards multimedia router use cases. The company has now unveiled Banana Pi BPI-R64 router board based on Mediatek MT7622 dual core Arm Cortex-A53 processor, five Gigabit Ethernet port, on-board 802.11ac WiFi, one “laptop” SATA port, as well as an optional PoE (Power-over-Ethernet) add-on board.Banana PI RPI-R64 board specifications provided by the company – which has not always shown to be accurate -: SoC – MediaTek MT7622 dual-core Arm Cortex-A53 […]

Beelink KT03 Client Computer is a $150 Barebone Mini PC with Two COM Ports

Beelink KT03

Beelink launched several Apollo Lake mini PCs in the last few years, and despite moving to Intel Gemini Lake family for some of their more recent models such as Beelink S2 or Beelink X45, the company has just launched a new Apollo Lake model. The new Beelink KT03 “client computer” is powered by an Intel Celeron J3455 processor, but differs from other mini PCs from the company, as it is sold barebone without RAM nor storage (nor OS), comes with two DB9 RS-232 connectors, and dual Gigabit Ethernet ports. Beelink KT03 specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron J3455 quad core Apollo Lake processor @ 1.5 GHz / 2.3 GHz (Turbo) with 12 EU Intel HD graphics 500 @ 250/750 MHz; 6W TDP System Memory – 1x SODIMM DDR3L socket, no EEC, 1333/1600/1867 MHz; supports  up to 8GB RAM Storage – 64Mbit SPI flash for UEFI/BIOS; support for internal 2.5″ SATA drives, […]

Firefly Team Mailbag – Rockchip Development Boards and Accessories

ROC-RK3328-CC

T-Chip Intelligent Technology Co. is a hardware and software technology services company, and a few years ago they setup the “Firefly Team” to provide development boards running Android and/or Linux distributions to the maker community. If I remember correctly the company started with Firefly-RK3288 development board powered, as its name implies, by Rockchip RK3288 processor. Since then they’ve launched several other Rockchip development boards and modules, which I’ve covered on this blog. The company decided to send me some of their recent boards and accessories, so let’s have a look at what I received in my “mailbag”. I’ve also taken a few photos for those who did not watch the video or prefer close up photos. ROC-RK3328-CC “Renegade” Development Board The first board is ROC-RK3328-CC “Renegade” board which was first launched via a crowdfunding campaign by Libre Computer.  Both companies have been collaborating on some boards, and Libre Computer makes […]

LM-902 USB3.1 Gen2 to NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD Enclosure Sells for $43

Yesterday, I wrote about ASMedia ASM2362 USB 3.1 Gen2 to PCIe NVMe SSD chip that will allow for connecting NVMe SSD into (largish) USB stick enclosures delivering up to 10 Gbps raw throughput. The post generated several comments including that JMicron Technology was also showcasing their own solution at Computex 2018 with JMS583 USB 3.1 Gen 2 to NVMe PCIe Gen3 bridge controller, and that enclosures were already for sale in China. If it is for sale in China, it should also be for sale on Aliexpress, or at least on Taobao. Bingo! LM-902 “USB 3.1 to PCI-e SSD NVMe” enclosure offers just that for $42.93 including shipping  on Aliexpress. Listed features and specifications: Storage I/F – NVMe M.2 M-key socket with PCIe 3.1a USB – USB 3.1 Gen2 type C up to 10 Gbps Features Supports TRIM to the SSD USB Type-C multiplexer& configuration channel(CC) logic NVM Express 1.3 USB […]

ASM2362 USB 3.1 Gen2 to PCIe Chip is Designed for USB NVMe SSD Drives

ASM2362

Most USB enclosure or expansion drive are designed with a SATA interface that tops out at 6 Gbp. That’s fine in most cases,  but if your host computer comes with USB 3.1 Gen2 SuperSpeed 10 Gbps (SuperSpeed+) port capable of even better performance, ASMedia now has a solution for faster USB drives with their ASM2362 USB 3.1 Gen2 to PCIe NVMe SSD chip. The solution is pretty new, and ASMedia has not setup a product page on their website yet, but they showcased a demo at Computex 2018.  In the photo above a Samsung 960 Pro SSD M.2 is connected to  another USB board  ASMedia – likely based on AS3142 Gen2 xHCI Host Controller – itself connected to a computer with a USB 3.1 Gen2 port.  The photo below shows CrystalDiskMark benchmark results comparing ASM2362 USB to NVMe solution to a standard USB to SATA enclosure. While the USB to […]

RAK833 is an Industrial Grade mini PCIe LoRaWAN Gateway Card

Mini-PCIe-LoRaWAN-Gateway

The most obvious way to setup your own LoRAWAN network is to get an off-the-shelf Gateway such as MatchBox, which can be easily installed, and configured using the built-in web interface. But if you need something more flexible, Rakwireless RAK833 could be an interesting option, as an industrial grade LoRaWAN gateway that you can just insert into an advanced router or computer’s mini PCIe slot. RAK833 card specifications: LoRa Connectivity Semtech SX1301 Digital Baseband Chip for outdoor LoRaWAN macro gateways 2x Semtech SX1255/7 Tx/Rx front-end 49x LoRa demodulators, 10 parallel demodulation paths Frequencies – 433 MHz, 470 MHz, 868 MHz, and 915 MHz Tx Power – Up to 25 dBm Rx Sensitivity – -140 dBm Host Interface – 52-pin mPCIe edge connector with USB and SPI (via FT2232H) signals; Supply Voltage – 3.3V compatible with 3G/LTE mPCIe cards Dimensions – 50.95 x 30 mm The card ships with an external […]