CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

March 29, 2021March 29, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

PanVk – Panfrost gets a Vulkan driver

We’ve followed with interest the progress of the Panfrost open-source driver for Arm Mali Midgard and Bifrost GPUs which has gotten more traction over time with official support from Arm and is getting closer to OpenGL ES 3.0 compliance with work on OpenGL ES 3.1 on the way. But Collabora has now started working on PanVk driver for the more recent Vulkan graphics API, as part of the Panfrost project. This is very early stage, but the 3D cube demo above appears to be rendered with Panfrost’s PanVk Vulkan driver on Wayland in a Khadas VIM3 board based on Amlogic A311D hexa-core Cortex-A73/A53 processor with a Mali-G52 GPU. As noted in the announcement, getting a useful Vulkan driver will take time as : The driver lacks almost all core features that would make it usable for real-world applications Optimizations are left on the side for now The code base is […]

March 29, 2021June 18, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Station P2 Arm mini PC offers dual GbE, M.2 & SATA SSD, up to 8GB RAM (Crowdfunding)

Last week, we noted Firefly launched the first RK3568 system-on-module with Core-3568J AI Core and a corresponding full-featured development kit. But the company has been working on another interesting Rockchip RK3568 based device with Station P2 mini PC. Most Arm mini PCs need to make compromises when it comes to interfaces having to rely on USB bridges, but Station P2 feels very much like standard x86 based mini PC, albeit with a slower processor, thanks to native interfaces, or implemented through PCIe, with M.2 and SATA 3.0 SSD/HDD, dual Gigabit Ethernet, as well as WiFi 6, several USB 3.0/2.0 ports, and support for up to 8GB RAM among other features. Station P2 mini PC specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3568 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor @ up to 2.0 GHz with Arm Mali-G52 2EE GPU with support for OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0/3.2, OpenCL 2.0, Vulkan 1.1, 0.8 TOPS NPU for AI acceleration, 4Kp60 H.265/H.264/VP9 […]

March 29, 2021March 28, 2021 by Saumitra Jagdale - No Comments

Axiomtek’s Compact Fanless Embedded System Features Intel Processors

Axiomtek has announced eBOX560-52R-FL, which is a palm-size fanless embedded system featuring Intel Core and Celeron Whiskey Lake-U processors. We also saw ICP Germany’s fanless Linux embedded system featuring NXP i.MX 8M processor. This device was dedicated to IoT gateways and data acquisition applications. In contrast, the eBOX560-52R-FL fanless embedded system is for more diverse use cases including machine and logistics automation, station gate controls, and ticket vending machines. The eBOX560-52R-FL fanless embedded system comes with two independent 4K Ultra HD displays via DisplayPort++ and HDMI ports. The device features 2 GbE LAN for faster communication and networking, as well as one M.2 Key E 2230 for the Wi-Fi module. The embedded system can endure up to 50G shock and 3Grms vibration thus suitable for industrial applications. The operating temperature of the device ranges from -10°C to +50°C with 0.7 m/s airflow whereas the storage temperature ranges from -20°C to […]

March 28, 2021April 1, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Semiconductors lead times in March 2021

As we previously mentioned previously there is a serious chip shortage that will lead to supply issues and higher prices for single board computers and other electronics products. A few days ago, Hardkernel had o increase the price for ODROID boards using DDR4 memory with increases of $3 to $4 for ODROID-N2+, ODROID-C4, and ODROID-HC4 boards. But besides price increase, some semiconductors will not be available at any price with extended periods as lead times of up to 52 weeks have been reported as shown in the table below, obtained from a trusted, anonymous source, which I have translated from Chinese. Every manufacturer is impacted, but items highlighted in red are severely impacted. Since include processors from Qualcomm, STMicroelectronics, and NXP, as well as Broadcom wireless chips which are found in nearly every SBC with WiFi or Bluetooth through Ampak modules. Here’s the source image in Chinese for reference.

March 27, 2021March 28, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

$30 Raspberry Pi CM4 IoT Router Carrier Board Mini offers Dual Gigabit Ethernet

We’ve recently written about Seeed Studio’s “Dual Gigabit Ethernet Carrier Board for Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4” that offers dual Gigabit Ethernet, and two USB 3.0 ports for software router applications, but it can also be used for IoT, Smart Home, and camera projects, as well as HTPC maker thanks to micro HDMI output and MIPI DSI/CSI connector. It is sold for an affordable $45, exceeding the Raspberry Pi CM4 module. But if all you want to do is get a dual Gigabit Ethernet WiFi router or IoT gateway, DFRobot has now introduced a more compact and cheaper carrier board for Raspberry Pi CM4: “Compute Module 4 IoT Router Carrier Board Mini“. CM4 IoT Router Board Mini specifications: Compatible Module – Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 / 4 Lite with Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 processor, up to 8GB RAM, up to 32GB flash, optional 802.11b/g/n/ac WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 […]

March 26, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

ESP32-C3-DevKitM-1 RISC-V WiFI & BLE board to launch for $8, modules for $1.8+

ESP32-C3 may be one of the most expected RISC-V processors in the IoT world, as it’s eventually expected to sell for the same price as ESP8266 and offers both WiFi and Bluetooth LE connectivity. Some engineering samples of the chip. modules and boards were distributed to developers shortly after the announcement at the end of the last year, but now it appears ESP32-C3-DevKitM-1 board will become available for $8 next month from distributors such as Mouser or DigiKey. Since I’ve never written about ESP32-C3-DevKitM-1 board let’s check out the specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-C3-MINI-1 with ESP32-C3FH4 (105°C) or ESP32-C3FN4 (85°C) 32-bit RISC-V single-core processor, up to 160 MHz, 4 MB embedded flash, 384 KB ROM, 400 KB SRAM (16 KB for cache), 8 KB SRAM in RTC Connectivity – 2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi 4 & Bluetooth LE 5.0 USB – 1x Micro USB port for power and programming via USB-UART […]

March 26, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

It’s now easier to customize Raspberry Pi OS images

When I need to flash a Raspberry Pi OS image, I usually download the image from the Raspberry Pi website before flashing it to a MicroSD card with either balenaEtch or USBimager. The Raspberry Pi Foundation released the Raspberry Pi Imager last year, but I never used it, except to try it out, because at the time, it would just flash the image to the MicroSD card like other tools, and since I’m working with SBCs from different vendors it did really not bring any benefits to me. But with the v1.6 release, the Raspberry Pi tool has become more useful to advanced users, notably those who like to set up the image in a headless Pi. Before we had to flash the image, mount the MicroSD card, and go edit /boot/config.txt to enable SSH and other settings. Now, it’s possible to do the same from Raspberry Pi Image v1.6 […]

March 26, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Snapdragon 780G 5G SoC announced with 12 TOPs AI performance, triple ISP, WIFI 6E

Qualcomm has just announced an update to its Snapdragon 765G 5G processor with Snapdragon 780G 5G mobile platform equipped with Qualcomm Spectra 570 triple ISP (Image Signal Processor) and a 6th generation Qualcomm AI Engine that delivers up to 12TOPS AI performance, or twice that of Snapdragon 765G 5G SoC. As a “G” part, Snapdragon 780G comes with Snapdragon Elite Gaming features to improve the gaming experience with updateable GPU drivers, ultra-smooth gaming, and True 10-bit HDR gaming. Snapdragon 780G also updates its 5G modem with Snapdragon X53 with peak download speeds of 3.3 Gbps on sub-6 GHz frequencies, and supports premium Wi-Fi 6/6E and Bluetooth audio features offered on Snapdragon 888 premium SoC. Snapdragon 780G 5G (SM7350-AB) key features and specifications: CPU – Octa-core Kryo 670 processor with 1x Arm Cortex-A78 @ 2.4GHz, 3x Arm Cortex-A78 @ 2.2GHz, 4x Arm Cortex-A55 @ 1.9GHz GPU – Adreno 642 with support […]