CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

March 20, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

RAK Wireless Launches RAK7258 Indoor LoRa Gateway for $149

RAK Wireless has just launched a new indoor LoRa gateway with their RAK7258 model featuring Semtech SX1301 8-channel digital baseband chip. The OpenWrt gateway supports Ethernet with PoE, 2.4GHz WiFi, optional NB-IoT, LTE Cat M, LTE 4G module, and is fully compatible with LoRaWAN 1.0.2. The gateway supports all main LoRa regions including EU433, CN470, EU868, US915, and AS923. RAK7258 gateway specifications: SoC – MediaTek MT7628 MIPS 24KEc processor @ 580 MHz System Memory – 128MB DDR2 RAM Storage – eMMC flash, microSD card slot Connectivity 10/100 Ethernet with PoE 802.11 b/g/n WiFi 4 with internal antenna LoRa via RAK833 mini PCIe card + RP-SMA antenna Cellular – Extended NB-IoT, Cat M, LTE 4G, supported by default; nano SIM card slot USB – 1x USB 2.0 host port Console – RJ45 RS-232 port Misc – 6x status LED Power Supply – 12V/2A (default) or 42-57V DC PoE Dimensions – 180 […]

March 20, 2019March 20, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

MT3620 Mini Dev Board is a Cheaper Microsoft Azure Sphere Board

Announced nearly one year ago, Microsoft Azure Sphere is an ecosystem comprised of Azure MCUs with Microsoft Pluton Security System, Linux based Azure Sphere OS, and a secure cloud service called Azure Sphere Security Service. The first official Azure development board – MT3620 Development Board for Azure Sphere – was launched last year for $84.95. The kit may not have attracted a large number of developers, so there’s now a cheaper version – MT3620 Mini Dev board – going for $34.90 on Seeed Studio. Note that’s a pre-order and shipping is scheduled for May 13, 2019. MT3620 Mini dev board specifications: CPU Module – AI-Link WF-M620-RSA1 module with Mediatek MT3620AN single core Arm Cortex-A7 processor @ 500 MHz with 4MB SRAM, dual core Arm Cortex-M4F real-time core @ 200 MHz with 64KB RAM, Pluton security sub-system, and WiFi. Storage – 2x 8MB dual channel quad SPI (TBC) Connectivity – Dual band […]

March 20, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Espressif “Chip 7” WiSoC May Support 5GHz WiFi

Espressif Systems has not released any new chips since the launch of ESP32 WiFi & Bluetooth SoC in 2016. But it looks like an new chip may be right around the corner, as John Lee from Espressif Systems teased us with a photo featuring a module equipped with “Chip 7” that should be released “soonish”. We really don’t know much about the chip except it comes in a 56-pin QFN package (4x 14 pins), and it won’t most likely be named Chip 7 once it is released. One Twitter user left a comment mentioning that it “looks like a bodged RF Filter. 5GHz mod?”. This reminded me of the potential ESP32-D0CD / ESP32-D2CD processors with dual band (2.4 + 5 GHz) WiFi. When I say “potential” it simply refer to the fact that ESP32 nomenclature has a “CD” connectivity option for WiFi ac/c/b/g/n and Bluetooth dual mode. But Espressif never […]

March 19, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

eWelink Camera App Recycles Your Old Smartphone into a Remote Camera

Old devices often end up in drawers or shelves collecting dust, but as we’ve seen before there are better ways to recycle your unused gadgets, from giving it to friends or family to selling them on eBay, or re-purposing them for specific purpose. For example, we’ve previously covered Haven open source app that transforms smartphones into smart security cameras or baby monitors. eWelink, the default app used with Sonoff wireless switches, smart plugs and light-bulbs, now happens to support a similar feature. So if you’re using the stock firmware on your Sonoff device and control them with the Sonoff app, you don’t need an extra app to use your old smartphone(s) as IP camera(s). It looked easy enough to setup, so I gave it a try. First you need to download & install eWelink Camera app, only available as an apk at this time, in your old phone. Once the […]

March 19, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

HiFive1 Rev B Board Gets FE310-G002 RISC-V Processor, WiFi & Bluetooth Module

SiFive launched what may have been the very first RISC-V development board in 2016 thanks to their HiFive1 Arduino compatible board powered by Freedom E310 (FE310) open source RISC-V processor. The company has now launched an upgrade version of the processor and board. Meet FE310-G002 processor and HiFive1 Rev B development board. HiFive1 Rev B development board specifications with new features highlighted in bold or stricken-through: MCU – SiFive Freedom E310-G0002 32-bit RV32IMAC processor @ up to 320+ MHz (1.61 DMIPS/MHz) Storage – 32 Mbit SPI flash (was 128 Mbit in the first version) Connectivity – ESP32-SOLO-1 WiFi & Bluetooth module I/Os 19x Digital I/O Pins 19x external interrupt pins 1x external wakeup pin 9x PWM pins 1/3 SPI Controllers/HW CS Pins I/O Voltages – 3.3V or 5V supported; note: bidirectional level shifters removed so FE310-G002 can drive the I/O pins directly at 3.3V only. USB – 1x micro USB […]

March 19, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

UP Xtreme Board to Feature Intel Whiskey Lake Processor

AAEON launched their UP board family back in 2015 with the original board featuring an Atom X5 Cherry Trail processor. Since then they’ve launched other models all based on processors with 10W or lower TDP (Thermal Design Power) such as UP Squared Apollo Lake development board. But the company has now upped the ante by going with Intel Core-U series Whiskey Lake processors (15W TDP) in their upcoming UP Xtreme single board computer (SBC) that will feature some of those Core i3/i5/i7 processors. UP Xtreme specifications: SoC- Intel Dual/Quad Core “Whiskey Lake” Core i3/i5/i7 processor @ 1.8 GHz (Boost frequnecy up to 3.9GHz for i3/i5, up to 4.6 GHz for i7) with Intel UHD graphics 620; 15W TDP System Memory – Up to 16GB dual-channel DDR4 memory (soldered on-board) Storage – 16GB to 128GB eMMC 5.1 flash, 1x SATA connector with power connector Video Output 1x eDP with backlight control […]

March 19, 2019September 6, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 39 Comments

NVIDIA Introduces $99 Jetson Nano Developer Kit

NVIDIA Tegra X1 octa-core Arm processor with a 256-core Maxwell GPU was introduced in 2015. The processor powers the popular NVIDIA Shield Android TV box, and is found in Jetson TX1 development board which still costs $500 and is approaching end-of-life. The company has now introduced a much cheaper board with Jetson Nano Developer Kit offered for just $99. It’s not exactly powered by Tegra X1 however, but instead what appears to be a cost-down version of the processor with four Arm Cortex-A57 cores clocked at 1.43 GHz and a 128-core Maxwell GPU. Jetson Nano developer kit specifications: Jetson Nano CPU Module 128-core Maxwell GPU Quad-core Arm A57 processor @ 1.43 GHz System Memory – 4GB 64-bit LPDDR4 @ 25.6 GB/s Storage – microSD card slot (devkit) or 16GB eMMC flash (production) Video Encode – 4K @ 30 | 4x 1080p @ 30 | 9x 720p @ 30 (H.264/H.265) Video […]

March 18, 2019October 16, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Getting Started with Temperature & Humidity Sensors on ESP8266 using ANAVI Thermometer

ANAVI Thermometer Air / Humidity / Water

ANAVI Thermometer was launched on CrowdSupply in January. It is an ESP8266 WiFi board with a built-in DHT22 temperature and humidity sensor, support for external DS18B20 waterproof temperature sensor, as well as other sensors thanks to three I2C sensors. I received the ANAVI Thermometer starter kit last month, and I’ve only found time to play with it in the last few days. I’ll start with a unboxing, assembly guide, before showing it action, and I’ll try to make it interface with Home Assistant over MQTT. ANAVI Thermometer Starter Kit Unboxing The kit comes with ANAVI Thermometer board, a plastic stand, a USB to TTL debug board, an I2C OLED display, a few nuts and bolts, and a couple of KiCad and ANAVI stickers. Leon ANAVI also added a traffic light board and LEDs, but it’s not normally part of the kit 🙂 ANAVI Thermometer board include an ESP8266 module, AM2302 […]