CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

October 17, 2018October 23, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Qualcomm QCA64x8 and QCA64x1 802.11ay WiFi Chipsets Deliver 10 Gbps Bandwidth

WiFi has evolved in recent years with the introduction of 802.11ad and 802.11ax (now called WiFi 6). THe latter is now official, and in the last year several 802.11ax chipsets and WiFi 6 routers have been announced, but I’ve not heard much about 802.11ad with claims of up to 7Gbps bandwidth at 60 GHz when unveiled in 2016. The latter have been supplanted by 802.11ay, with Qualcomm having just unveiled QCA64x8 and QCA64x1 802.11ay chipsets capable of delivering 10Gbps and operating at a frequency of 60 GHz. According to Wikipedia, 802.11ay is not really a new standard, but just an evolution of 802.11ad adding four times the bandwidth and up to 4 MIMO streams. Qualcomm chipsets will enable 10+ Gps speeds with wire-equivalent latency, while keeping the power consumption low, and bring the ability to play 4K UltraHD videos over WiFi, virtual / augmented reality games, fixed wireless mesh backhaul, […]

October 17, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Arm ServerReady is a Compliance Program for Arm-based Servers

The Server Base System Architecture (SBSA) specification was unveiled in 2014 in order to standardize all Arm based servers and let them all run the same operating system images. However so far, manufacturers would just test specification requirements by themselves without having their claims fully tested and certificated. That’s why Arm has just unveiled the Arm ServerReady certification program for Arm based servers which relies on the Architecture Compliance Suite (ACS) for SBSA and SBBR (Server Base Boot Requirements) verification. Basically the servers must be able to boot standard operating systems and run the ACS. The servers that pass the ACS are then granted the Arm ServerReady certificate. The current Arm ServerReady version 1.0 certification utilizes ACS version 1.6 for testing SBSA version 3.1 and SBBR version 1.0 compliance. Ampere, HXT, Marvell, Qualcomm, as well as ODMs such as Femrice, Gigabyte and UIT have already received Arm ServerReady version 1.0 […]

October 17, 2018October 18, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

One Mix 2 Yoga Intel Core m3-7Y30 mini Laptop is up for Pre-order for $650

GPD Pocket 2 Kaby lake mini laptop is getting some competition with One Mix 2 Yoga pocket laptop featuring the same Intel Core M3-7Y30 processor, but coupled with 8GB RAM, and a 256 SSD, and equipped with the usual 7″ touchscreen display and QWERTY keyboard. The product is an upgrade to the company’s One Mix Yoga powered by an Intel Atom x5 processor, and contrary top GPD Pocket 2 and the upcoming Topjoy Falcon which relied/will rely on Crowdfunding for their launch, One Mix 2 Yoga can be pre-ordered directly for $649.99 on GeekBuying with shipping planned for next month. [Update: GearBest has it too for the same price] One Mix 2 Yoga specifications: SoC – Intel Core M3-7Y30 dual core / quad thread Kaby Lake processor @ 1.00 GHz / 2.60 GHz (Turbo boost) with 4MB cache, 24EU Intel HD graphics 615 @ 300 MHz / 900 MHz (Turbo […]

October 16, 2018October 16, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Arm Mbed Gets a Linux OS for Cortex-A Processors

Arm Mbed is known as a free, open source platform and operating system that makes it easier to design IoT products based on Cortex-M micro-controllers, but the company figured out it might be a good idea to make something similar for IoT devices based on Arm Cortex-A processor and that’s exactly what Mbed Linux OS is made for. Embedded & IoT devices normally need to be supported for many years, often optimized for cost and battery life, and make sure security patchsets are applying to your products. Companies often managed to do all those themselves but it’s not the most cost-effective solution, so instead Arm decided to leverage Linux and offer Mbed Linux OS optimized for IoT devices yo their customers. The solution comes with built-in security, device management (e.g. OTA firmware upgrades) via the Pelion IoT Platform, common development tools for faster time to market, and so on. Some […]

October 15, 2018October 24, 2018 by Ian W MORRISON (Linuxium) - 5 Comments

TopJoy Falcon Review – A Windows 10 Mini Laptop (Prototype)

The Topjoy Falcon is a mini laptop reminiscent of netbooks and similar to the recent GPD Pocket 2 or One Mix Yoga devices. Marketed as an 8 inch (203mm) pocket-sized computer with the following specification: Intel Pentium Silver N5000 CPU 8G RAM 256G SSD disk 1920*1200 FHD IPS touch screen 6000 mAh battery for up to 8 hours working time 1 x USB A 3.0, 1 x USB Type-C 1 x 3.5mm headphone jack 1 x Mini HDMI port Active cooling 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0 Backlit keyboard Windows 10 Home Weight 550g (1lb 3oz) Fits easily in your pocket Although you would need a large pocket as whilst It is physically small consisting of an approximately 8″ by 5.2” and about 0.7” thick (203mm x 132mm x 18mm) when closed it is in reality too big for the average pocket. It will soon be available on Kickstarter with an early bird price of $399 and an expected retail price of […]

October 15, 2018April 1, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Rockchip PX30 Processor Powers Android 8.1 Car Infotainment Systems

Rockchip RK3326 and RK3308 are the first Arm Cortex A35 processors from the company, and are designed for smart AI solutions such as smart speakers and smart displays. It turns out RK3326 processor has a sibling called Rockchip PX30 with most of the same features, but with dual VOP (Video Output Processor) support to handle up to two independent displays, as well as an Ethernet MAC and a USB host block. Rockchip RK30 key features and specifications: CPU – Quad-core Arm Cortex-A35 GPU – Mali-G31 MP2 GPU Memory I/F – DDR4/DDR3/DDR3L/LPDDR3/LPDDR2 Storage I/F – MLC NAND, eMMC 4.51, Serial Nor FLASH Video 1080p H.265/H.264/VC-1/MPEG/VP8 video decoder 1080p H.264/VP8 video encoder Display Interfaces – MIPI-DSI/LVDS/RGB interface, dual VOP Audio I/F – 1x8ch I2S/TDM, 1x8ch PDM, 2x2ch I2S Camera I/F – MIPI CSI and DVP; built-in 8MP ISP Networking – 10/100M Ethernet Other Peripherals – SDIO3.0, USB2.0 HOST & OTG, 4x I2C, […]

October 14, 2018August 6, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

STLink-V3 Modular Debugger & Programmer for STM32/STM8 Adds I2C, SPI, CAN Interfaces

STLink is the in-circuit debugger and programmer for STMicro STM32 and STM8 micro-control working with SWIM and JTAG/SWD interfaces. ST Microelectronics has now introduced STLink-V3 which also provides a Virtual COM port interface allowing the host PC to communicate with the target microcontroller through one UART, as well as bridge interfaces (SPI, I2C, CAN, GPIOs) which can be used for programming of the target through the bootloader for example. Key features of STLink V3 debugger: Stand-alone probe with modular extensions Self-powered through a USB connector (Micro-B) USB 2.0 high-speed compatible interface Direct firmware update support (DFU) JTAG / serial wire debugging (SWD) specific features:3 V to 3.6 V application voltage support and 5 V tolerant inputs Flat cables STDC14 to MIPI10 / STDC14 / MIPI20 (connectors with 1.27 mm pitch) JTAG communication support SWD and serial wire viewer (SWV) communication support SWIM specific features (only available with adapter board MB1440):1.65 […]

October 13, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 15 Comments

CH330N is a New USB to Serial Chip in an SOP8 Package

Earlier this month we covered Air602 low cost Arm WiFi module, and while it’s not clear whether it will ever compete with ESP8266 due to software support, some readers noticed an interesting new chip on the corresponding development board: WCH CH330N USB to serial chip with features similar to CH340, but less pins (e.g. DTS, and CTS are missing), and available in a tiny SOP8 package. CH330N comes with built-in crystal oscillator, and supports baud rate from 50 bps to 2 Mbps. You’ll find more hardware technical details in the datasheet in Chinese. CH330(N) works with CH340/CH341 driver as pointed out by Icenowy Zheng who made a small USB to TTL debug board based on the chip to practice PCB drawing with KiCAD. She also mentioned the USB ID and behavior of CH330 is the same with CH340. CH330 / CH330N chip is still nowhere to be found on Aliexpress, […]