CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

July 22, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 20 Comments

Cooler Master Launches Pi Case 40 for Raspberry Pi 4 on Kickstarter

Cooler Master, known for its PC cooling solutions and cases, has now launched a Raspberry Pi 4 case on Kickstarter. Cooler Master Pi Case 40 has already raised over $120,000 within a few hours, with the $27 Raspberry Pi 4 enclosure blasting pass the $10,000 funding target in about one hour. The aluminum case is unsurprisingly a fanless design and exposes a power button to easily power on and off the system without having to remove the power source from the Raspberry Pi. The button also happens to be reconfigurable to any other function so you can run whatever script you please after pressing the button. The neat part of the design is that GPIOs are re-routed to the side of the case with corresponding IO markings on the enclosure. The case also comes with a slit to allow both display and camera cables to be routed outside the enclosure, […]

July 22, 2020July 22, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

ATCwatch Arduino Firmware Works with PineTime, COLMI P8, “Da Fit” Smartwatches

Earlier this week, we wrote about fake heart rate sensors found in ultra-low-cost fitness trackers as reported by Aaron Christophel. It turns out he also maintains an open-source project specific to P8 watch, PineTime, and other smartwatches compatible with Da Fit Android app: ATCwatch Arduino firmware. The firmware provides a basic menu system, notifications, and the latest implementation enables direct HTTP or HTTPS GET requests to control IoT devices and get info from the Internet. The current firmware consumes about 150-200uA standby current, and last roughly 92 hours on a charge with heavy notification and usage. While it’s possible to connect an SWD St-Link V2 to flash the bootloader and firmware, it’s not necessary, as it’s possible to flash ATCwatch Arduino firmware without having to open the watch by using over-the-air update function with DaFlasherFiles for PineTime or P8 watch together with DaFlasher Android app. Once the update is done, […]

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

July 22, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

GuRu Launches Desk-Range Wireless Power Transfer Evaluation Kit

Several companies are developing wireless power at-a-distance solutions with various ranges, from desk power/charging to factory sensor power, including Energous and TransferFi. CNX Software has been contacted by another company working in the field with Guru Inc launching the GuRu mini evaluation kit capable of wireless power transmitting several watts within a desk using a 24 GHz chip. There are very few details about the internals of the transmitter and receiver, but the company told CNX Software GuRu developed its own 24GHz chip built in a standard CMOS process. The chip is said to use “Smart RF Lensing power transfer, enabled via highly focused, intelligently-controlled millimeter waves” in order to increase both power transfer and range by up to 10 times, as well as deliver smaller and cheaper devices. The (G3100-005-EVK) wireless power transfer evaluation kit is comprised of the following components/accessories: A generator unit (GU) suitable for desktop environment […]

July 21, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

WCH CH569 RISC-V SoC Offers USB 3.0, Gigabit Ethernet, High-Speed SERDES & HSPI Interfaces

RISC-V open architecture has made its way into low-cost low power general purpose MCUs such as Gigadevices GD32V or WCH CH32V103, Western Digital hard drives, some AI processors notably Kendryte K210, and even Linux capable boards including Microsemi’s PolarFire SoC Icicle kit. But more applications featuring RISC-V architecture are coming with, for instance, WCH CH569 RISC-V processor featuring USB 3.0, Gigabit Ethernet, DVP camera, and 1.25 SERDES block all managed by a RISC-V core clocked at 120 MHz. CH569 (and CH565) processor key features and specifications: CPU – RISC-V (RISC-V3A) core @ 120MHz with hardware multiplication and division, programmable interrupt controller, low-power two-stage pipeline Memory – 16KB 32-bit SRAM, 32/64/96KB configurable 128-bit SRAM Storage Internal – 448KB code flash, 32KB data flash External – SD/eMMC controller with single-wire, 4-wire, 8-wire data communication mode. Complies with eMMC card 4.4 and 4.5.1 specifications, and compatible with 5.0 specifications Networking – Gigabit Ethernet […]

July 21, 2020July 21, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 22 Comments

QNAP QSW-1105-5T 2.5 Gbps Ethernet Switch Targets Home Users

While Gigabit Ethernet has reigned supreme in the home over the years, 2.5 Gbps, 5 Gbps, or even 10 Gbps Ethernet has been used for a while in the enterprise. But if you intended to upgrade your home network to 2.5 Gbps Ethernet (aka 2.5GbE) possibly with an ODROID-H2+ single board computer in the mix, you may have found 2.5GbE switches are pretty expensive going for several hundred dollars. But QNAP has just launched its first 2.5Gbps Ethernet switch specifically designed for home users with a price in the $100 range, and available in Amazon UK for 108 GBP or in Taiwan for 2,999 NTD. QNAP QSW-1105-5T 2.5 Gbps Ethernet Switch specifications: Ethernet 5x 2.5GbE NBASE-T RJ45 ports (unmanaged) with link/activity LED’s 16K MAC address table Switching capacity – 25Gbps Jumbo Frames – 9K Supported Standards IEEE 802.3 Ethernet IEEE 802.3u 100BASE-T IEEE 802.3ab 1000BASE-T IEEE 802.3bz 2.5GBase-T IEEE 802.3x […]

July 21, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

KitDuino Proto – An Arduino Compatible Board with a Built-in Prototyping Area

At the initial stage of development, many people would connect their Arduino board to a circuit build on a breadboard, and once this is done, some may either want to design their own board or for simpler circuits, simply move from the breadboard to a perfboard with components soldered to it. With Microchip ATMega32U4 based KitDuino Proto you could do that directly on the Arduino board itself since it comes with a small prototyping area. KitDuino Proto specifications: MCU – Microchip ATMega32u4 8-bit AVR MCU @ 8 MHz with 32 KB flash program memory, 2.5 KB SRAM, 1 KB EEPROM Expansion Arduino Leonardo compatible headers 6-pin SPI header Built-in 15 x 13 prototyping area. 3.3V or 5V I/Os Misc – Power LED, Tx/Rx LEDs, 1x user LED Power Supply 5V via Micro USB port (3.8V after regulation) 7+V via DC barrel jack or Vin pin for stable 5V rail 3.3V […]

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

July 20, 2020July 20, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Waveshare Launches an Affordable 7-Color e-Paper Display

Most e-paper displays are black or white with sometimes red or yellow color being added to the mix. But E-Ink has recently launched several color e-Paper display at prices that will not make it affordable to most projects. Waveshare has launched its fair share of e-Paper displays in the past, and now the company is coming with a relatively affordable 5.65″ color e-Paper display with seven different colors for $74.99 plus shipping. Main features and specifications: Display 5.65″ display (114.9 × 85.8mm) Resolution – 600 × 448 pixels Viewing angle – >170° ACeP (Advanced Color ePaper) 7-color with black, white, green, blue, red, yellow, and orange Greyscale – 2 levels Full refresh time – 15s Dot pitch – 0.1915 × 0.1915mm Host Interface – 3-wire SPI or 4-wire SPI Operating voltage – 3.3V/5V Power Consumption 50mW (typ.) during refresh Standby current – <0.01uA (almost none) Dimensions – Board – 138.5 […]

July 20, 2020August 8, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

PolarFire SoC Icicle 64-bit RISC-V and FPGA Development Board Runs Linux or FreeBSD (Crowdfunding)

We got some more details about PolarFire RISC-V FPGA SoC late last year, and we were promised a Linux capable 64-bit RISC-V & FPGA development board with PolarFire SoC Icicle kit in Q3 of 2020. We are already in July 2020. So where is the board? Oh, look! It’s right here on Crowd Supply where it is offered for $499, and shipping is expected to start in mid-September. PolarFire SoC Icicle specifications: SoC FPGA – PolarFire SoC MPFS250T-FCVG484EES penta–core RISC-V CPU subsystem (1xRV64IMAC, 4xRV64GC) with 254K LE non-volatile fabric, 784 18 × 18 math blocks, secure boot, 4x 12.7 Gbps SERDES, FCVG484 package (19 × 19 mm, 0.8 mm pitch) System Memory – 2GB LPDDR4 x32 Storage – 1 GBit QSPI Flash, 8GB eMMC Flash or SD card slot (multiplexed) Video Output – HDMI 2.0 (removed from final board) Connectivity – 2x Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth USB – 1x […]