CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

August 19, 2020August 19, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Keyboard FeatherWing Brings Keyboard & Display to Adafruit Feather Boards

Solder Party is a brand new Swedish startup founded by Arturo182 who previously designed several maker boards including the tiny Serpente R2 CircuitPython prototyping board, and its first product, named Keyboard FeatherWing, brings a QWERTY keyboard and 2.6” color LCD with resistive touch screen to any boards compatible with Adafruit Feather for factor. That means you can build a portable device that runs Linux via the Giant Board, features an FPGA (Orange Crab), or a wide range of connectivity options including WiFi, Bluetooth LE, LoRa, etc… depending on your chosen board. The solution actually brings a bit more than just a keyboard and color, as shown by the list of Keyboard FeatherWing key features: Display – 2.6” 320×240 16-bit color LCD with resistive touch screen (SPI) Storage – MicroSD card slot (SPI) User Inputs controlled by a Microchip SAMD20 MCU QWERTY keyboard (I2C) 5-way button 4 soft tactile buttons Expansion […]

August 18, 2020September 25, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Edge IoT Gateway Powers Networks in Smart Factories, Smart Cities

In case you wonder if Arm Cortex-A8 processors are still getting used in new products, you’ll be glad to learn AAEON has just launched SRG-3352 Edge IoT Gateway based on an unnamed Arm Cortex-A8 processor @ 800 MHz and designed to power networks for Smart Factories, Smart Cities, and more. AAEON SRG-3352 specifications: SoC – Unnamed Arm Cortex-A8 800 MHz RISC processor, possibly Texas Instrument Sitara AM335x processor System Memory – 1GB DDR3L Storage – 8GB eMMC flash, MicroSD slot Connectivity 2x Gigabit Ethernet (RJ45) Optional 802.11b/g/n/ac WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 4.2 via USB port Optional NB-IoT or 3G/4G LTE via mini PCIe card; SIM card socket Serial Ports – 2x RS-485 interface via Phoenix terminal blocks or D-Sub connectors USB – 1x USB 2.0 port, 1x Micro USB 2.0 port Misc – RTC with CR2032 Lithium battery, 4 user LEDs, Reset button, optional VGA output Power Supply – 9-30V […]

Graperain Samsung, Rockchip, and Qualcomm CPU modules, SBCs, and carrier boards

August 18, 2020August 18, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

Helium Hotspot LoRaWAN Gateway also Earns Cryptocurrency

We covered MatchX M2 Pro LPWAN Crypto-miner yesterday, and at first, I really thought that combining LoRaWAN gateway with cryptocurrency mining was really just a gimmick. But after talking with others, I found out that MXC Foundation HashDash used with the MatchX gateway was not the only such solution, and I was introduced to Helium Hotspot. A Helium Hotspot is a LoRaWAN gateway that also allows you to earn HNT cryptocurrency, and it could more than just prove a way to fund the deployment of public LoRaWAN networks, as as we’ll see below some people or companies are making some serious money, while others not so much. A DIY Helium Hotspot can also be made from a Raspberry Pi 3/4 and a RAK2245 Pi HAT. Helium Hotspot key features and specifications: SoC – Quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 application processor System Memory – 1GB RAM Storage – 64GB Storage Connectivity Ethernet Dual-band […]

August 18, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

MediaTek Dimensity 800U Processor Supports Dual 5G SIM Technology

Mediatek already has several 5G SoC’s from the mid-range Dimensity 720 to the premium Dimensity 1000+ 5G mobile SoC, with so far only Dimensity 820 and Dimensity 1000+ supporting dual 5G SIM technology. MediaTek Dimensity 800 processor has just gotten a new variant with Dimensity 800U getting all the same features plus 5G+5G Dual SIM Dual Standby (DSDS) technology, as well as support for dual Voice over New Radio (VoNR), and 5G two carrier aggregation (2CC 5G-CA). Dimensity 800U specifications: Octa-core Processor – 2x Arm Cortex-A76 @ Up to 2.4GHz, 6x Arm Cortex-A55 @ Up to 2GHz GPU – Arm Mali-G57 MC3 AI Accelerator – “Yes” Memory – Up to 12GB LPDDR4x @ 2133MHz Storage I/F – UFS 2.2 Display I/F – Up to 2520×1080 @ 120 Hz Camera ISP – 20MP+16MP dual camera, or 64MP single camera Max Video Capture Resolution – 3840 x 2160 Features – HDR-ISP, Multi-Frame […]

August 17, 2020August 17, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

MatchX M2 Pro LPWAN Crypto-Miner Supports LoRaWAN and Cryptocurrency Mining

A few years ago, I received MatchX.io MatchBoX outdoor LoRaWAN gateway for review, and eventually tested it with RAK811 LoRa tracker once I got a node to play with, and made sure I did not break any local laws. But now the company has come up with an unusual gateway with its MatchX M2 Pro LPWAN Crypto-Miner that acts as a traditional LoRaWAN gateway, as well as a cryptocurrency miner. I’m a bit perplexed by the solution as miners are notoriously power-hungry, but let’s have a look. MatchX M2 Pro specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX 6UL (MCIMX6G2CVM05AB) single-core Arm Cortex-A7 processor @ up to 528MHz System Memory – 256MB DDR3 RAM Storage – 256MB NAND FLASH, optional SSD up to 32GB or industrial SD-Card Networking & Wireless Connectivity LoRa Radio – SX1302 chipsets, 16 frequency channels Supports EU868, US915, AS920, AS923, AU915, KR920, IN865 regions 2.4Ghz 802.11b/g/n WiFi 4 GPS […]

August 17, 2020August 18, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Nordic Semi nRF21540 RF front end module Extends the Range of nRF52/nRF53 Bluetooth SoC’s

A little while ago, we wrote about RFCat N32 board integrating Meshtek-H52 module with nRF52832 2.4GHz multi-protocol SoC and a Skyworks power amplifier increasing power by up to 30 times to extend the wireless range to up to 200 meters. It turns out Nordic Semi outed its own range extender module late last year with nRF21540 RF front end module (FEM) that integrates a power amplifier (PA) and low noise amplifier (LNA) optimized to boost the link budget of the nRF52 and nRF53 multi-protocol wireless SoCs. nRF21540 key features and specifications: Supported wireless standards Bluetooth Low Energy (incl. Bluetooth mesh) Thread and Zigbee (802.15.4) Proprietary 2.4 GHz Output Power – Adjustable in small increments up to +21 dBm Receive Gain – +13 dB with 2.5 dB noise figure Antennas – 2x antenna ports for antenna diversity Host Interface – I/Os, SPI, or a combination Supply Voltage – 1.7 V to […]

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

August 17, 2020August 17, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Developer Board 4 V3 Brings Gigabit Ethernet to 96Boards Snapdragon 410E SBC

The original 96Boards CE compliant Dragonboard 410c development board launched in 2015 was followed by Geniatech Developer Board IV the following with many of the same features plus the addition of a Fast Ethernet port and an RTC battery, and an 85x60mm form factor all of which made it non-compliant with the 96Board specs. Geniatech has now introduced a new Developer Board 4 V3 version, that like the V2 model integrates a Gigabit Ethernet port and WiFi 5 connectivity, but the design has been modified get closer to 96Boards CE compliance with 85x54mm dimensions, and the same ports’ arrangement as on 96Boards CE boards, excluding the Ethernet RJ45 jack that is out of (96Boards CE) specs. Geniatech Developer Board 4 V3 specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 410E (APQ8016E) quad-core ARM Cortex A53 processor @ 1.2 GHz with Adreno 306 GPU System Memory – 1 or 2 GB LPDDR3 @ 533MHz […]

August 16, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Using an Old Cassette Tape to Enclose a Battery-powered Raspberry Pi Zero

Raspberry Pi Zero Cassette Tape Enclosure

If you’re old enough you may have a stock of old cassette tapes that may or may not work anymore. The good news is that if you have time on your hands, you could recycle those as a Raspberry Pi Zero enclosure, including even other components like a small battery, battery charging board, and display. That’s exactly what Martin Mander did with his Cassete Pi IoT scroller project that receives notifications via IFTTT service and displays them as scrolling text on a small display connected to the Raspberry Pi Zero W. Here’s the detailed list of components used in this project: Raspberry Pi Zero Wireless Pimoroni LiPo SHIM LiPo/LiIon power supply shim for Raspberry Pi boards Adafruit Micro Lipo charger board with micro USB port Pimoroni 11×7 LED Matrix 150 mAh Li-Polymer Battery Cassette Tape DPDT Slide Switch Vibration motor Once assembly is done, you can flash a Micro SD […]

Boardcon LGA3576 Rockchip RK3576 System-on-Module designed for AI and IoT applications