CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

August 11, 2015August 11, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

ee203 Real-time Current Monitor Supports 1 μA to 1A Range, Outputs Data to Oscilloscope

Measuring current can be tricky, as I found out during my various attempts at measuring power consumption of TV boxes, as when the current gets too high, your measurement setup impedance may be too high (cables or multimeter), and the voltage delivered to the device under test too low for it too keep running, while accuracy may be an issue while measuring very low currents. EE Equipment ee203 Current Monitor solves some of these issues for people working on low power embedded systems as it can measure currents between 1 μA and 1A, and even output data to an oscilloscope to see real-time power consumption of the devices. Key features for ee203 current monitor: 6 Decades of Current Range: 1 μA – 1 A (2A fuse) No Range-Switching Interruptions or Delays Wide System Voltage Range 1.5V – 5.5V (12V Max) USB interface for calibration, control, and data logging View Current […]

August 11, 2015August 12, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Eny EMP01 is a $170 mini Android Projector Powered by Rockchip RK3128 Quad Core Processor

Eny Technology has brought another product to market with EMP01 an Android 4.4.2 mini projector based on Texas Instruments DLP projector – as most other low cost projectors on the market – and Rockchip RK3128 quad core Cortex A7 processor with a Mali-400MP2 GPU. Eny Eny EMP01 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3128 quad core ARM Cortex A7 @ 1.2GHz with ARM Mali-400MP2 GPU System Memory – 1 GB DDR3 Storage – 8 GB NAND flash + micro SD slot (up to 32GB) Projector Technology – Texas Instruments DLP Brightness – 100 lumens Contrast ratio – 2000:1 Standard resolution – WXGA 854*480 Throw ratio: 1.19:1 (76″ @ 2 meters) Projector size – 30 to 120″ Aspect ratio – 4:3, 16:9, 16:10 Video Output – HDMI output Video Codec – H.263, H.264, H.265, VC-1, RV, VP6/VP8, Sorenson Spark, MVC, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 up to 1080p Audio Output – HDMI and 3.5,, for earphone, loud speaker Connectivity – Dual band Wi-Fi 802.11 […]

August 11, 2015August 11, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Freescale i.MX6 DualPlus and QuadPlus SoCs Gets Faster 2D and 3D Graphics, Higher Memory Bandwidth

Freescale unveiled three new models for its i.MX 6 family processor for consumer, industrial and automotive markets in May. Two models are an upgrade to existing i.MX6 Quad and i.MX6 Dual processors, as the new i.MX 6QuadPlus and i.MX6DualPlus processors features four and two Cortex A9 cores, together with improved 2D and 3D GPUs delivering around 50% faster performance, an “optimized” SDRAM controller, more SRAM, and a prefetch and resolve engine. The third model, i.MX 6UltraLite, features a single ARM Cortex A7 core and hardware security, and targets applications such as electronic Point Of Sales (ePOS). That means there are now 9 i.MX6 processors, and today, I’ll focus on the two new “Plus” versions. Since they are based on the original i.MX6 Quad and i.MX6 Dual processors, the best way to have a look at these is to compare them to their predecessors. Features i.MX 6QuadPlus i.MX 6Quad i.MX 6DualPlus […]

August 11, 2015August 11, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Google Plans Vulkan API Support for Android, Imagination Shows a Demo

Vulkan graphics API is the successors to OpenGL and OpenGL ES API, which will support multi-threaded rendering, move some of the complexity to the applications, and simplify graphics drivers, which may not be a bad things since these tend to be closed source, and bugs may be hard to get fixed. Google, which is now a subsidiary of a new company called Alphabet, has recently announced that Vulkan will be implemented in future versions of Android, although OpenGL ES will still be supported, so developers can select their preferred graphics API for their apps, as Vulkan will be more complex for application programmers than OpenGL ES. Separately, Imagination technologies showcased their Vulkan driver for PowerVR Rogue GPU on the Nexus Player powered by an Intel SoC including a PowerVR G6430 GPU, and compare the Vulkan demo to the same demo using OpenGL ES 3.0 drivers. The difference between Vulkan and OpenGL […]

August 11, 2015August 11, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Hardkernel ODROID-C1+ Development Board is Now Shipping for $37

We already knew Hardkernel was working on ODROID-C1+ development board, an update the popular ODROID-C1 board with the same Amlogic S805 processor, storage and memory, but with a standard HDMI port replacing the micro HDMI port, I2S support, better micro SD card and HDMI-CEC support, an micro USB OTG port that can be used to power the board, and an included heatsink. The board is now up for sale for $37, or just $2 more than the original ODROID-C1 board. ODROID-C1+ specifications: SoC- Amlogic S805 quad core Cortex-A5 processor with a quad core Mali-450MP2 GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – eMMC 4.5 HS200 module socket for up to 64GB storage, and UHS-1 SDR50 micro SD slot Video & Audio Output – Type A HDMI port with CEC support Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet USB – 4x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x micro USB OTG port Expansion Headers 40-pin Raspberry […]

August 10, 2015August 10, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

ps_mem Shows Programs RAM Usage in Linux

There are several ways to see how much RAM is used in a Linux system with tools like free, vmstat, top, etc…, but today I’ve come across ps_mem which displays the RAM used for each program in a neat way. The post on lintut.com explains how to install it on Centos / Fedora:

yum install ps_mem -y

1	yum install ps_mem -y

As a Ubuntu user, I immediately tried apt-get install ps_mem, but there isn’t such package. After running apt-file search, I found it in w3af-console package:

sudo apt-get install w3af-console
sudo chmod +x /usr/share/w3af/core/controllers/profiling/ps_mem.py
sudo ln -s /usr/share/w3af/core/controllers/profiling/ps_mem.py /usr/sbin/ps_mem

sudo apt-get install w3af-console

sudo chmod +x /usr/share/w3af/core/controllers/profiling/ps_mem.py

sudo ln -s /usr/share/w3af/core/controllers/profiling/ps_mem.py /usr/sbin/ps_mem

Another way to install the script is to simply get it from Github. Running the command without options will list of programs with RAM usage from the smallest to the largest:

sudo ps_mem
 Private  +   Shared  =  RAM used	Program 

  4.0 KiB +  33.0 KiB =  37.0 KiB	inetutils-inetd
  4.0 KiB +  35.0 KiB =  39.0 KiB	rpc.idmapd
  4.0 KiB +  39.5 KiB =  43.5 KiB	rpc.mountd
  4.0 KiB +  48.5 KiB =  52.5 KiB	rpc.statd
  8.0 KiB +  62.0 KiB =  70.0 KiB	atieventsd
 44.0 KiB +  46.5 KiB =  90.5 KiB	rtkit-daemon
 96.0 KiB +  18.5 KiB = 114.5 KiB	cat
............
150.5 MiB +   5.1 MiB = 155.6 MiB	gimp-2.8
186.5 MiB +   9.5 MiB = 196.0 MiB	plugin-container
270.8 MiB +  12.1 MiB = 282.9 MiB	compiz
348.5 MiB +  19.0 MiB = 367.5 MiB	nautilus
409.3 MiB +   3.4 MiB = 412.7 MiB	thunderbird
393.8 MiB +  28.0 MiB = 421.8 MiB	Xorg
  2.1 GiB +  11.0 MiB =   2.1 GiB	firefox
---------------------------------
                          5.0 GiB
=================================

sudo ps_mem

Private + Shared = RAM used Program

4.0 KiB + 33.0 KiB = 37.0 KiB inetutils-inetd

4.0 KiB + 35.0 KiB = 39.0 KiB rpc.idmapd

4.0 KiB + 39.5 KiB = 43.5 KiB rpc.mountd

4.0 KiB + 48.5 KiB = 52.5 KiB rpc.statd

8.0 KiB + 62.0 KiB = 70.0 KiB atieventsd

44.0 KiB + 46.5 KiB = 90.5 KiB rtkit-daemon

96.0 KiB + 18.5 KiB = 114.5 KiB cat

............

150.5 MiB + 5.1 MiB = 155.6 MiB gimp-2.8

186.5 MiB + 9.5 MiB = 196.0 MiB plugin-container

270.8 MiB + 12.1 MiB = 282.9 MiB compiz

348.5 MiB + 19.0 MiB = 367.5 MiB nautilus

409.3 MiB + 3.4 MiB = 412.7 MiB thunderbird

393.8 MiB + 28.0 MiB = 421.8 MiB Xorg

2.1 GiB + 11.0 MiB = 2.1 GiB firefox

---------------------------------

5.0 GiB

=================================

You can also check the full command line for the programs: sudo ps_mem -s Private + Shared = RAM used Program 4.0 KiB + 31.5 KiB = 35.5 KiB /sbin/getty -8 38400 tty5 4.0 KiB + 32.0 KiB […]

August 10, 2015September 22, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

MeegoPad T04 Cherry Trail mini PC Sells for $136

Right after writing about MeegoPad T03 TV stick, I noticed another product on Amazon, namely MeegoPad T04 which for once is not based on a Bay Trail processor, but instead the newer Intel Atom x5-Z8300 Cherry Trail quad core processor, and which sells for $139 on Aliexpress or $136 on Amazon US. [Update: T04 is now sold on Gearbest for $123.99 with MGT04 coupon] Since the descriptions on Amazon and Aliexpress can’t be fully trusted, these are only tentative specifications for MeegoPad T04, which are quite similar to the ones listed for Tronsmart Ara x5: SoC – Intel Atom x5-Z8300 “Cherry Trail” quad core processor @ 1.44 GHz (Bust freq: 1.84 GHz) with Intel Gen8 HD graphics (2W SDP) System Memory – 2 GB Storage – 32 GB eMMC + micro SD slot Video Output – HDMI Audio I/O – HDMI, 3.5mm microphone jack Connectivity – Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, […]

August 10, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

MeegoPad T03 TV Sticks Runs Windows 8.1 and Android 4.4, Features an Improved Thermal Design

If you were expecting a new processor for MeegoPad T03, you’ll be disappointed that hardware-wise the third MeegoPad hardware specifications are basically the same as MeegoPad T01 and T02, but the new version of the stick should not get as hot as the first two versions, and runs a dual boot image with Windows 8.1 and Android 4.4, that can be upgraded to Windows 10, contrary to some other dual boot Bay Trail devices. MeegoPad T03 specifications are indeed mostly the same of the previous models: SoC – Intel Atom Z3735F “Bay Trail” quad core processor @ 1.33 GHz – 1.83 GHz with Intel HD graphics Gen 7 System Memory – 2 GB DDR3L Storage – 32 GB eMMC + micro SD slot up to 64GB Video & Audio Output – HDMI 1.4 Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 USB – 1x USB 2.0 host port, 2x micro […]