CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

October 26, 2020October 26, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

STMicro launches cheaper STM32WB30 and STM32WB35 Bluetooth LE & Zigbee MCUs

STMicro introduced the first wireless STM32 microcontrollers in 2018 with STM32WB Cortex-M4/M0+ MCU family equipped with Bluetooth 5.0 and 802.15.4 radios, and they followed earlier this year with STM32WL Cortex-M LoRa SoC. The company has not just announced yet another wireless STM32 family but instead added the more affordable STM32WB35 and STM32WB30 chips that can be obtained for under $2 in quantities. The new STM32WB microcontroller enabled a low BOM cost thanks to their memory configuration. Specifically, STM32W30 comes with 256KB flash while STM32W35 features 512 KB flash, and both offer 96 KB of RAM. This compares to STM32WB55 will up to 1MB flash and 256KB of RAM. Apart from the lower memory and flash capacity, the new wireless MCUs have basically the same features as other members of the STM32WB family with 16-bit ADC, quad-SPI interface (STM32WB35 only), as well as Bluetooth Low Energy 5.0, Zigbee 3.0, and OpenThread […]

October 26, 2020October 27, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Modberry 500 CM4 DIN Rail Industrial Computer Features Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4

We’ve been writing about Techbase Modberry industrial embedded computers with DIN-Rail enclosures such as Modberry M500 or M2000 for several years. Most of their systems are powered by SBC’s like Raspberry Pi 4 or AAEON Up Squared, but they’ve also made models based on Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3+, and with the launch of Raspberry Pi CM4, the company has now introduced Modberry 500 CM4 industrial computer powered by Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 with up to 8GB RAM and 32GB eMMC flash. Modberry 500 CM4 key features and specifications: SoM – Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 with Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 processor @ 1.5 GHz, 1 to 8GB RAM, up to 32GB eMMC flash. Storage – Optional NVMe SSD via PCIe 2.0 (mini PCIe or optional M.2 slot) Video Output – Optional HDMI port Connectivity Optional Gigabit Ethernet port Optional Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 b/g/n/ac) & Bluetooth 5.0 Optional 5G, […]

October 25, 2020August 5, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

BL602 IoT SDK and $5 DT-BL10 WiFi & BLE RISC-V development board

Yesterday, we wrote about Bouffalo BL602 32-bit RISC-V WiFI and Bluetooth LE wireless SoC that should eventually compete with ESP8266 in terms of price but with more features, higher performance. and more resources like memory and storage. At the time, I noted I could not find any tools for the processor, but I was informed a BL602 SDK (Doiting_BL) and documentation had already been released on Github. The basic readme and a user manual are already available in English, but the main documentation is still in Chinese with various examples to configure GPIO, YART, WiFi, and Bluetooth. You’ll find the documentation in Github, as I could not find a website yet:

git clone https://github.com/SmartArduino/Doiting_BL

1	git clone https://github.com/SmartArduino/Doiting_BL

Go to Doiting_BL/docs/html folder and then open index.html in your browser to access the documentation. The SDK works both in Windows and Linux and relies on either Eclipse & OpenOCD or Freedom Studio & OpenOCD. A graphical software […]

October 24, 2020October 28, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 17 Comments

BL602/BL604 RISC-V WiFi & Bluetooth 5.0 LE SoC will sell at ESP8266 price point

Hisilicon Hi3861 may be the first RISC-V WIFI SoC we’ve reported on, but due to political uncertainties and security concerns, supplies may not be available outside of China. So alternatives are welcomed, and Nanjing-based Bouffalo Lab (not a typo, 博流智能科技 in Chinese) has recently introduced BL602 and BL604 32-bit RISC-V WiFi and Bluetooth LE SoC for low-power IoT applications that are supposed to compete against ESP8266 in terms of price but with higher performance and additional features. The BL602 will also be integrated into an upcoming Sipeed Longan-series board, and potentially a new IoT board from Pine64. BL602 / BL604 key features & specifications: MCU subsystem – 32-bit RISC-V CPU with FPU with dynamic frequency from 1MHz to 192MHz, L1 cache Memory – 276KB SRAM on-chip Storage 128KB ROM, 1Kb eFuse, and optional Embedded Flash on-chip XIP QSPI flash support Wireless Wi-Fi 4 – 802.11 b/g/n @ 2.4 GHz Bluetooth […]

October 23, 2020October 23, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

E3K all-in-one wireless bio-sensing platform supports EMG, ECG, and EEG sensors (Crowdfunding)

Over the year, The maker community has designed several platforms to monitor vital signs with boards like Healthy Pi v4 or HeartyPatch both of which are powered by an ESP32 WiFi & Bluetooth wireless SoC. WallySci has designed another all-in-one wireless bio-sensing platform, called E3K, that also happens to be powered by Espressif Systems ESP32 chip, and can be connected to an electromyography (EMG) sensor to capture muscle movements, an electrocardiography (ECG) sensor to measure heart activity, and/or an electroencephalography (EEG) sensor to capture brain activity. The board also has an extra connector to connect a 9-axis IMU to capture motion. E3K main board which the company refers to as “Data Communication and Processing Unit” (DCPU) comes with the following specifications: Supported wireless board – ESP32-DevKitC with ESP32-D0WD-V3 dual-core 32-bit LX6 microprocessor, up to 240 MHz, Integrated 520 KB SRAM, 16 MByte SPI flash. 2.4 GHz WiFI 4, and Bluetooth […]

October 23, 2020October 27, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

ClearFog CX CN9K Mini-ITX 10GbE/5GbE networking SBC runs Linux or FreeBSD

Last year, SolidRun introduced ClearFog CX LX2X networking single board computer offering up to 100GbE via NXP LX2160A 16-core Cortex-A72 communication processor that followed ClearFog CX 8K ARMADA 8040 networking board launched the year before. The Israeli company is now working on two ClearFog CX CN9K networking SBC’s powered by CEx7 CN913x system-on-module featuring Marvell Octeon TX2 CN913x quad-core Cortex-A72 processor and offering multi-gigabit Ethernet with various 10Gbps, 5Gbps, and Gigabit Ethernet ports. ClearFog CN9132 Pro The higher-end version of the ClearFog CX CN9K boards is ClearFog CN9132 Pro with the following specifications: CEx7 CN9132 COM Express Type 7 module SoC – Marvell OCTEON TX2 CN9132 quad-core Arm Cortex A72 up to 2.2 GHz (Industrial temperature up to 2.0 GHz) System Memory – Up to 16GB SO-DIMM DDR4 up to2400MT/s (not included by default) Storage – Up to 32 GB eMMC flash, SPI NOR flash COM Express Type 7 board-to-board […]

October 23, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Intel Elkhart Lake COM’s offer up to 3x 2.5GbE, SIL2 functional safety

Since the launch of the Intel Elkhart Lake IoT Edge processor family, we’ve covered several COM Express modules based on the new low power SoCs including TQ Embedded TQMxE40C1/C2 and Congatec conga-MA7 & conga-TCA7. But despite the processor supporting 2.5GbE, all the computers-on-module we’ve covered so far would only offer Gigabit Ethernet connectivity. But Eurotech CPU-161-19 and CPU-161-20 COM Express Compact Type 6 modules support up to three 2.5 Gbps Ethernet interfaces using COM Express with proprietary expansions, and CPU-161-20 is the first module we’ve seen taking advantage of Intel Atom x6000FE parts with Functional Safety (FuSa) support making the module certifiable with SIL2 Safety Integrity Level (IEC 61508-2:2010) and/or Cat 3 PL=d (ISO 13849-1). As we may infer from the photos above and below, both modules share many of the same features, except for the added functional safety on CPU-161-20. CPU-161-19/20 specifications: SoC CPU-161-19 module Atom x6212RE dual-core processor @ […]

October 22, 2020October 22, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Lanmodo Vast Pro dashcam helps you drive more safely at night (Crowdfunding)

Lamodo Vast Pro Dashcam Night Vision System

There are plenty of dashcams on the market to record accidents or other events that may happen while driving or while your car is parked. Lanmodo Vast Pro is another of those systems but features a wider screen and a night mode that helps drivers see clearer and further at night or other adverse conditions (rain, fog, snow, etc…), leaving more time for the driver to take corrective action and prevent an accident. The system is equipped with a 1080p HDR camera using a Sony CMOS sensor, as well as an optional Full HD rear camera with a 170-degree field-of-view, and up to 128GB of storage good for around 28 hours of continuous recording. Lanmodo Vast Pro key features and specifications: SoC – Unknown Storage – MicroSD card up to 128 GB (28 hours of continuous of front came, or 14 hours with rear camera as well) Display – 8-inch […]