CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

June 29, 2018July 14, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

LoStik USB Dongle Adds LoRa Connectivity to any Computer or Linux Board (Crowdfunding)

We’ve covered plenty of hardware with LoRa radio from gateways, to Arduino shields, tracker boards, and mini PCIe cards, but after reading an article on Time4EE this morning, I realized we never wrote about any LoRa USB stick. LoStik – previoulsy LoRa Stick – is an open source hardware USB dongle based on Microchip RN2903 / RN2483 LoRa module, and offered on CrowdSupply for $39. LoStik specifications: USB – USB 2.0 port LoRa Connectivity Microchip RN2903 – 915 MHz for US, Canada, South America and Australia Microchip RN2483 – 868 Mhz for Europe Receiver Sensitivity – down to -146 dBm TX Power – adjustable up to +18.5 dBm Range – up to 15 km coverage in suburban and up to 5 km coverage in urban areas Misc – 2x user LEDs Power Consumption – 140 ma typical TX, 20 ma idle (with power LED) Dimensions – 80 mm x 25 […]

June 28, 2018April 13, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Visual Studio 2017 with an Embedded Linux Arm Device

This is a non-sponsored guest post written by Marc Goodner: Principal Program Manager, Microsoft, and Jeremias Cordoba: Innovation Engineer, Toradex. Today many embedded devices run some flavor of Linux as their primary operating system. This poses a challenge to developers who run Windows on their development machine. This article explains a new way to use the latest Visual Studio for C++ development on an embedded Arm Devices from a Windows Host PC using containers for the build environment. The device we are deploying to is from the Toradex Colibri Family of System on Modules using the NXP i.MX 6ULL SoC, which features an Arm Cortex A-7. As a demo project, we will connect a Bluetooth Sensor with the Toradex Colibri Module. Please note that Visual Studio support for this case is in an early state, you will see improvements from Microsoft and Toradex in the coming months. Prerequisites Colibri i.MX 6ULL […]

June 28, 2018July 13, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Air-T Artificial Intelligence Radio Transceiver SDR Platform Combines NVIDIA Jetson TX2 and Xilinx Artix-7 FPGA (Crowdfunding)

If often write about low end and cheaper hardware on this blog, but not in this post. Deepwave Digital Air-T (Artificial Intelligence Radio – Transceiver) is a high-end software defined radio platform with continuous frequency coverage from 300 MHz to 6 GHz. The board combines AD9371 RFIC transceiver providing up to 2 x 2 MIMO of 100 MHz of receiving bandwidth, a Xilinx Artix-7 FPGA, and NVIDIA Jetson TX2 module. Air-T hardware specifications & key features: Software-defined Radio Analog Devices 9371 2×2 MIMO transceiver 2 x RX channels (100 MHz each) 2 x TX channels (100 MHz each) Auxiliary RX channels: Observation & Sniffer. Note: Can use either Observation or Sniffer at one time; utilizes one of the RX channels NVIDIA Jetson TX2 for processing 256 NVIDIA CUDA core GPU 6 CPU cores – 2x NVIDIA Denver2, 4x Arm Cortex-A57 8GB RAM 32GB eMMC flash Xilinx Artix-7 FPGA with75k logic […]

June 28, 2018June 28, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

MintBox Mini 2 Apollo Lake Linux Mini PC Launched for $300 and Up

Mintbox Mini 2 / Mini 2 Pro (MB2M) Linux mini PC based on Intel Celeron J3455 Apollo Lake processor and running Linux mint 19 was first announced in March of this year. Compulab has now announced availability of both models, as well as some extra add-on boards: PoE Ethernet device FACET card, 2.5″ HDD FACET card, and GPIO + serial + CANbus FACET Card. The main specifications have not changed with the main differences between the two models between the memory and storage capacities: SoC – Intel Celeron J3455 quad core processor @ 1.5 / 2.2 GHz with 12 EU HD graphics; 10W TDP System Memory & Storage MB2M – 4GB DDR3L-1866 (upgradeable to 16GB via 1x 204-SO-DIMM slot) + 64GB M.2 SSD + micro SD slot MB2M Pro – 8GB DDR3L-1866 (upgradeable to 16GB via 1x 204-SO-DIMM slot) + 120GB M.2 SSD + micro SD slot Display – mini DP […]

June 28, 2018June 28, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

SD Express Adds PCIe and NVMe Interfaces to SD Cards for up to 985 MB/s Transfer Rates

SD cards are known for the convenience, portability, and relatively cheap prices, but not so much for their performance which can be pretty poor especially for the cheaper and lower capacity models, and when fast random I/O is needed. The SD Association have been working on helping customer buy performant cards for their needs with – for instance – the app performance class introduced in SD 5.1 specification, which defines minimum random read and write speeds in Class A1 and Class A2 micro SD cards. However, the association has gone a step further with SD Express found in SD specification 7.0 that adds PCIe and NVMe interfaces to the legacy SD card interface. SD Express will enable theoretical data transfer rate up to 985 MB/s via PCIe 3.0, as well as advanced memory access mechanisms such as Bus Mastering, Multi Queue (without locking mechanism) and Host Memory Buffer thanks to […]

June 27, 2018July 5, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Beelink X45 Basic/Premium NUC Clone Launched for $220 and Up

Last week, we started to read about Beelink X series mini PCs powered by Gemini Lake processors, and with a design similar to Intel NUC mini PCs. Three models will be available at first with Beelink X45 Basic/Premium based on Intel Celeron J4105 processor with respectively 4GB/64GB and 6GB/128GB RAM/storage configurations, and Beelink X55 with a more powerful Intel Pentium Silver J5005 processor, 8GB RAM, and a 128GB SSD. The Beelink X45 models have now showed up on GearBest with pricing starting at $219.99 shipped, but you can bring that down to just under $200 with GBmidyear2018 coupon. Beelink X45 Premium model sells for $259.99 before applying any coupon. [Update: Banggood lists Beelink X45 for $172.99 shipped] Beelink X45 Standard/Premium specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron J4105 quad core Gemini Lake processor clocked @ 1.50 GHz / 2.50 GHz (Turbo) with Intel UHD Graphics 600; 10W TDP System Memory / Storage […]

June 27, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Canonical Releases Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Certified for Intel NUC

In the x86 world, the theory is that you can take a single Linux distro image should work on any x86 compatible hardware. But for Atom-class processors however, including Bay Trail, Cherry Trail, Apollo Lake and Gemini Lake it has not always been the case, especially with features like audio output, Bluetooth, touchpad, and others. That’s why for example, Linuxium (Ian Morrison) decided to write isorepin.sh script in order to respin Ubuntu ISO images for such platforms and fix various issues. However, it appears Canonical and Intel have decided to take matters into their own hand, and have now released Ubuntu 16.04 LTS certified for Intel NUC mini PCs, kits, and boards for IoT deployment. Canonical made available both Ubuntu Desktop and Ubuntu Core images. Most supported devices are based on Intel 7th generation Intel Core processors: NUC7i5DNKPC Mini PC with Intel Core i5-7300U NUC7i3DNKTC Mini PC with Intel Core […]

June 27, 2018June 27, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Qualcomm IPQ8078 based H3C WA6628 802.11ax WiFi Enterprise Router Supports up to 1000 Concurrent Clients

802.11ax WiFi aims to deliver aggregate throughput up to 10 Gbps, and better manage use cases with many users providing with up to 4 times average throughput per user compared to 802.11ac. We’ve already seen some ASUS 802.11ax routers, but if you ever have to organize an event with hundreds or thousands of users, or setup WiFi in crowded places like airports or train stations, Qualcomm IPQ8078 (datasheet) powered H3C WA6628 802.11ax enterprise router could be an interesting as the company claims its 12 stream channels can serve data to up to 1000 client devices simultaneously. The WA6628 routers comes with a 10G Ethernet port, built-in Bluetooth, and is said to improve wireless network transmission rates by at least three times compared to 802.11ac Wave 2 access points. Some of highlights of Qualcomm IPQ8078 SoC / WA6628 router include: 8×8 MU-MIMO doubles the number of devices which can be concurrently […]