CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

March 19, 2020January 18, 2021 by Dejan Petrović - 3 Comments

MikroElektronika Launches Fusion for ARM & EasyPic MCU Development Boards

During Embedded World 2020 (EW2020), some companies withdrew their presence, while some were at the event. MikroElektronika presented several new boards and among them Fusion for ARM v8 and EasyPic v8 development boards. While we already wrote about Fusion fo TIVA, we haven’t covered any EasyPic board yet. Development boards from MikroElektronika allow rapid prototyping in the most efficient and effortless way. Fusion for ARM v8 Fusion for ARM v8 belongs to the Fusion family of development boards. It has integrated the world’s first embedded debugger/programmer over WiFi, while the CODEGRIP WiFi license is available as an add-on feature. The board is designed to be used in almost every environment retaining full debugging and programming access. The CODEGRIP currently supports more than 1600 microcontrollers from different vendors. The Fusion board integrates a new MCU card standard. It is a low profile standard where sockets consist of two connectors (male/female) which […]

March 19, 2020November 3, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Purism Librem Mini Linux Mini PC is Powered by an Intel Core i7-8565U Whiskey Lake Processor

Purism has been known for its Linux-based secure and privacy-focused laptops for years, and more recently they developed Librem 5 Linux smartphone with the same philosophy in mind. But now the company has introduced Librem Mini based on an Intel Core i7 Whiskey Lake processor with up to 64GB DDR4 RAM and running PureOS Linux distribution, and Coreboot based PureBoot bootloader that disables and neutralizes Intel Management Engine (IME). Librem Mini specifications: SoC – Intel Core i7-8565U quad-core/octa-thread Whiskey Lake processor @ 1.8 GHz / 4.6GHz (Turbo) with Intel UHD Graphics 620; 15W TDP System Memory – 2x SO-DIMM slot for up to 64GB DDR4-2400 RAM Storage – 1x SATA III 6Gbps SSD/HDD (7mm thickness), 1x M.2 SSD (SATA III/NVMe x4) Video Output – 1x HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60Hz, 1x DisplayPort 1.2 up to 4K @ 60Hz Audio – 3.5mm audio jack (Mic & Headphone), digital audio […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM

March 18, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 19 Comments

A Typical Day Working from Home

If I read the news right, a couple of you guys and gals have to stay at home for the next few weeks either twiddling your thumbs or working from home. In the suburbs of Chiang Mai, life is pretty normal right now, we haven’t been ordered to stay home, and virtually nobody is wearing masks except the few who want to protect themselves against the air pollution. In the area I live, few are concerned about the coronavirus, but I do have extensive experience working from home so I thought it may be interesting sharing a typical schedule. It’s stating the obvious but once you start working from home, your house is also your office, and it can be hard separating the two. So I’d recommend setting a room for work only, or if not possible a space reserved for work, and setup a schedule to introduce some routine. […]

March 18, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

$11 DIGOO DG-R611 WiFi Repeater Comes with Two External Antennas

Low-cost WiFi routers such as A5 V11 mini router have been around for many years. The cheaper ones are usually powered by a USB charger sold separately, and support 2.4 GHz WiFI with a single antenna. But I’ve just noticed DIGOO DG-R611 WiFi repeater with support for dual-antenna, data rate up to 300 Mbps, and integrated power supply. It is sold for under $11 on Banggood and Aliexpress, and may be worth a closer look. DIGOO DG-R611 specifications: SoC – Realtek RTL8196E RISC processor @ 400 MHz System Memory – TBD Storage – TBD Networking Wired – 10/100M Ethernet port Wireless 2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n WiFi 4 up to 300 Mbps Two 2dBi antennas Wireless Transmit Power – 20dBm(MAX EIRP) Repeater, Access Point (AP), or Media bridge modes supported Wireless Security – 64/128-bit WEP, WPA/WPA2, WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK (TKIP/AES) Power Supply – Integrated 110-230V with US, EU, or UK plug Dimensions […]

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

reMarkable 2 is a $399 e-Paper Tablet with Pressure Sensitive Pen

reMarkable digital notepad and e-reader was unveiled in 2016, and designed to feel like using actual paper sheets. The device came with a single-core Cortex-A9 processor, a 10.3″ E-Ink display with 1872×1404 resolution, and WiFi connectivity to backup your notes and/or drawings to the cloud or mobile phone. The company is now back with reMarkable 2 e-Paper tablet equipped with a faster and more efficient dual-core Cortex-A7 processor, 1GB RAM, a second-generation CANVAS 10.3″ e-Paper display with the same 1872×1404 resolution but lower latency. The second-generation e-Paper tablet also benefits from a thinner design and much-improved battery life. reMarkable 2 specifications: SoC – Dual-core Arm processor @ 1.2 GHz (possibly NXP i.MX 7Dual processor) System Memory – 1GB LPDDR3 RAM Storage – 8GB internal storage good for around 100,000 pages Display – 10.3″ monochrome digital paper “CANVAS” capacitive touch display partially based on E-Ink Carta technology with 1872×1404 resolution (226 […]

March 18, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Updating the BIOS (System Firmware) from the Device Manager in Windows 10

Device Manager: Firmware->Acer Inc System Firmware

I recently started having problems playing YouTube videos in Firefox and Chrome in Ubuntu 18.04. The video would load, and I could see frames at any time, but it would just not play. I soon discovered that killing PulseAudio, and the video would play without audio. I also noticed I had Dummy Output in Sound settings. I tried all usual tricks to fix this, but still no luck. Then I discovered I had audio just after booting my computer, but after a while, there would be no audio at all. This seems to match the time by which the AMD GPU drives crashes (just warning), something that had happened ever since I installed Ubuntu on my Acer laptop. After more failed attempts, I decided to try to update the BIOS using Windows 10. A 10-minute task, right? I would just have to replace the hard drive with one pre-loaded with […]

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

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

4.2″ and 7.5″ NFC-powered e-Paper Displays Work without Battery

e-Paper displays have great readability under sunlight, and only consume power when updated. But their refresh rate is limited, and most displays are fairly expensive. One way to reduce the cost is to completely remove the battery from the display, and update it through NFC providing both data and power. I’ve just found out about that possibility through 4.2″ and 7.5″ displays offered by Waveshare. All you need is a compatible NFC smartphone, or the company’s ST25R3911B NFC Board to power the display and transfer your image of choice. This works best for signs you may need to infrequently update such as menus, daily schedules, conference badges, labels, etc… Waveshare NFC-powered e-Paper display key features and specifications: Screens 7.5″ display 800×480 resolution 2-level greyscale 170° viewing angle Refresh Time – 5s + data transfer time 4.2″ display 400×300 resolution 2-level greyscale 170° viewing angle Refresh Time – 4s + data […]

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