CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

May 11, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

MIPS unveils RISC-V eVocore P8700 and I8500 multiprocessor IP cores

MIPS is dead, right? Well, there’s now very little done on the architecture itself, MIPS (the company) has decided to switch to RISC-V architecture, and unveiled the eVocore product lineup currently comprised of the eVocore P8700 and I8500 multiprocessor IP cores. The 64-bit cores are scalable from single-core multi-thread to a single cluster with multiple cores, and up to a multi-cluster, and target high-performance, real-time compute applications such as networking, data centers, and automotive. The eVocore P8700 comes with a 16-stage deep pipeline with multi-issue Out-of-Order (OOO) execution and multi-threading. MIPS claims it has single-threaded performance greater than what is currently available in other RISC-V CPU IP offerings, but did not provide any numbers. It will likely be used in the cloud and high-end servers as it can scale up to 64 clusters, 512 cores and 1,024 harts/threads. P8700 highlights: Multi-issue superscalar Out of Order (OOO) with Multi-threading 16-stage pipeline […]

May 10, 2022May 11, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Mini keyboards launched with ESP32-C3 or Raspberry Pi RP2040 MCU

Tiny Keyboards Raspberry Pi RP2040 or ESP32-C3

Last week, when I saw LilyGO T-Keyboard based on ESP32-C3, I didn’t think much of it and did not expect many people to be interested, so I skipped it. But earlier today I also noticed Solder Party launched a very similar-looking product – the BB Q20 Keyboard with Trackpad – based on Raspberry Pi RP2040 MCU. So after all, it might be worthwhile to look into those mini keyboards for makers. LilyGO T-keyboard Hardware specifications: SoC – ESP32-C3 single-core RISC-V processor with Wi-Fi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE connectivity Display – 0.99-inch TFT color LCD QWERTY keyboard Battery – 400mAh built-it battery Power Supply – 5V via USB port Dimensions – 6.9 x 5.3 x 1.7 cm The company promotes it as a mini Bluetooth keyboard for iOS and Android smartphones, as well as Windows machines, but also has plans to make it work with their T-Echo LoRa messaging hardware. […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM

May 10, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Retro-style computer features 5-inch round display, Framework laptop motherboard

Ubuntu 22.04 retro computer round display

After completing a DIY Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W handheld PC earlier this year, Penk Chen has designed another, rather odd but cool-looking, DIY computer. The “Mainboard Terminal” is a retro-style computer with a round display powered by the mainboard found in Framework modular laptop. The computer has been tested to work with Ubuntu 22.04 out of the box with just a few configuration tweaks for the display, but other operating systems should also work considering the mainboard is based on an Intel Core i5-1135G7, i7-1165G7, or i7-1185G7 Tiger Lake processor. There are four main off-the-shelf electronics components: Framework laptop mainboard ($399 and up) OLKB Preonic Keyboard MX Kit V3 key ($140) 5-inch round LCD with 1080×1080 resolution plus its HDMI adapter board (550 RMB = about $82) So most of the work consisted in designing the enclosure, and Penk released the STL design files on Github under an MIT […]

May 10, 2022May 10, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 27 Comments

You can now buy Khadas VIM4 SBC for $199.90

Khadas VIM4 single board computer was first unveiled last October with Amlogic A311D2 octa-core Cortex-A73/A53 processor, 8GB LPDDR4X, but it’s only been launched today, and you can now buy the Khadas VIM4 board for right under $200. It is an upgrade to Khadas VIM3 Pro launched with Amlogiv A311D hexa-core processor a few years ago, and our testing in Android 11 revealed the main benefit may be the upgrade GPU that delivered a 67% boost in 3DMark, but CPU multi-core performance and memory bandwidth will also see some benefits over Amlogic A311D, even against in overclocked systems like ODROID N2+. Here’s a reminder of Khadas VIM4 specifications: SoC – Amlogic A311D2 octa-core processor with 4x Arm Cortex-A73 cores @ up to 2.2 GHz and 4x Cortex A53 cores @ up to 2.0 GHz, Arm Mali-G52 MP(8EE) GPU, (Note: no NPU at this time) System Memory – 8GB LPDDR4X @ 2016 […]

May 9, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Bee Motion ESP32-S2 PIR motion sensor offers GPIOs, over a year of battery life

Smart Bee Designs’ Bee Motion is an ESP32-S2 board with a PIR motion sensor, some GPIOs for expansion, and promising over a year of battery life under the right circumstances. If the name “Bee Motion” rings a bell, it’s because we covered the Bee Motion Mini board last month with an ESP32-C3 processor and a PIR sensor, but no USB port for programming and no expansion ability. It was just designed to be used as a battery-powered wireless PIR motion sensor. The Bee Motion expands the use cases of the solution, although it only features WiFi connectivity, and loses Bluetooth LE. Bee Motion specifications: Wireless module – Espressif ESP32-S2-MINI-1 module with Espressif ESP32-S2FH4 single-core 32-bit LX7 microcontroller @ up to 240 MHz, RISC-V ultra-low-power co-processor, 320 kB SRAM, 128kB ROM, 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 connectivity, 4MB flash, PCB antenna PIR sensor – Passive infrared motion sensor with dome lens, 5-meter […]

May 9, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Android 13 Beta for TV available for Google ADT-3 devkit

Google released the first Android 13 Developer preview in February, and we know quite a lot about Android 13 including virtualization support, as well as security and privacy updates. But the company has now released Android 13 Beta for TV (aka Android 13 for Android TV) for Google ADT-3 developer kit and the Android Emulator for TV in Android Studio. The beta release allows app developers to test their apps and provide feedback on the latest release before it is released to customer devices. Google does not provide any changelog specific to Android 13 for Android TV, but you’ll find the OS image for ADT-3 and installation instructions on the release page. Mishaal Rahman tried it on his ADT-3 box expecting some new features, but he noted that expanded PiP support, low power standby ( which could disable wakelocks and cut off network access to apps in order to preserve […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025

May 9, 2022May 9, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 37 Comments

$95 Banana Pi BPI-R2 Pro 5-port Gigabit Ethernet router board is powered by Rockchip RK3568 SoC

Banana Pi BPI-R2 Pro is an update to the Banana Pi BPI R2 router board that replaces MediaTek MT7623A quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 processor with a much more powerful Rockchip RK3568 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor. The Banana Pi BPI-R2 Pro board looks very similar to the first generation R2 board with the same dimensions, 2GB RAM, HDMI & DSI display interfaces, five Gigabit Ethernet ports, one SATA port, two USB 3.0 ports, and one mPCIe socket, but it also adds one M.2 socket, support for MIPI CSI cameras, and extra storage with a 16GB eMMC flash. Banana Pi BPI-R2 Pro specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3568 quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 processor @ 2.0 GHz with Mali-G52 GPU, 0.8 TOPS NPU System Memory – 2GB LPDDR4 (option for 4GB) Storage – Onboard 16GB eMMC Flash (option for 32 and 64GB), MicroSD card slot, 1x SATA III port, SPI flash for network boot Networking 5x Gigabit Ethernet […]

May 8, 2022May 12, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Canaan K510 CRB RISC-V AI development kit ships with dual-camera module and LCD display

Canaan K510 dual-core RISC-V AI development board

Last summer, Canaan introduced the Kendryte K510 tri-core RISC-V AI processor, now also known as Canaan K510, as an updated version of the Kendryte K210 with a much higher 3 TOPS of performance, but at the time, there were no development board and SDK. But I’ve now just been informed of the availability of the Canaan Kendryte K510 CRB (customer reference platform) AI development kit with camera module and LCD display, as well as a software development kit with U-Boot, Linux, and AI tools which can be used to develop smart audio and computer vision applications. Kendryte K510 CRB-Kit development kit specifications: SoC – Canaan Kendryte K510 dual-core RISC-V64 CPU up to 800MHz and 1x RISC-V DSP up to 800MHz for up to 3 TOPS AI performance, ultra-low-power wake-up VAD, H.264 video encoding up to 2 channels @ 1080p60 System Memory – 512 MB LPDDR3 @ 1600 MHz Storage – […]