CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

March 7, 2018January 30, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

WAGO PFC200 PLC Runs Embedded Linux, Supports Web and Mobile Visualization

WAGO is an international company with headquarters in Germany, designing electrical devices and automation systems. One of their latest product is WAGO PFC200 (PFC – Programmable Field Controller) designed for IIoT applications and running embedded Linux on an Arm Cortex A8 processor. WAGO PFC200 PLC key specifications & features: SoC – Arm Cortex A8 processor @ 600 MHz (CNXSoft: possibly Texas Instruments Sitara AM335x processor) System Memory – 256 MB RAM Storage – 256MB flash, SD card slot up to 32GB Fieldbus ports – 2x Ethernet; MODBUS, TCP/UD/RTU, CAN port, PROFIBUS Slave, Smart Grid and Serial RS-232/RS-485 Support for over 400 digital, analog, and specialty I/O modules Temperature Range – 0 to 50°C or -20 to 60°C depending on model All models support Modbus over TCP/UDP via their Ethernet port, but other Fieldbus ports are optional and depend on the exact model. The PLCs also come with a built-in Web […]

March 7, 2018March 7, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Emcraft Introduces NXP i.MX 8M SoM and $299 Starter Kit

I first discovered Emcraft Systems in 2011 through their work porting uCLinux to Arm Cortex M3/M4 microcontrollers, and since then the company has kept on working microcontroller software and hardware, but also moved to Arm Cortex A class solutions. Like most embedded systems companies, Emcraft engineers have also designed their own NXP i.MX 8M system-on-module, but while many have still not announced pricing, and/or show “in development” or “early product announcement” in their product page, Emcraft has started taking pre-order for their i.MX 8M SoM Starter Kit for $299, with shipping scheduled for May 21, 2018 or before. Let’s check out SOM-IMX8M specifications first: SoC – NXP i.MX8M Quad processor with 4x Cortex A53 cores, 1x Cortex-M4F core, and a Vivante GC7000Lite GPU System Memory – 512MB to 4GB DDR3L/LPDDR4 SDRAM Storage – 4 to 64GB eMMC flash Connectivity – Wireless module supporting 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac 2×2 MIMO WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2, […]

March 7, 2018March 7, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Nutaq PicoLTE IoT Kit Allows NB-IoT and LTE Cat M1 Devices Testing Anywhere

If you’ve been following cellular IoT news you must have read plenty of announced about NB-IoT and LTE Cat M1 (eMTC) hardware platforms bring LTE connectivity at lower power and somewhat lower cost than existing 3GPP networks. That’s all good, and you may have decided to go ahead with a commercial project, except none of the Telco are providing LTE IoT connectivity in your area just yet, or if it does, you may also want to test your device in bands not allowed/supported in your country (at a permitted power level). If that’s the case, Nutaq PicoLTE IoT Kit should help as an LTE NarrowBand & Cat M test measurement platform for IoT that can test NB-IoT and Cat-M1 devices in all frequency bands. Nutaq PICOLTE IoT kit key features: Supports M1 & NB-IoT devices Proven compatibility with M1 & NB-IoT devices from over 5 manufacturers Test multiple devices simultaneously […]

March 7, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 20 Comments

ASUS PRIME J4005I-C Gemini Lake Mini-ITX Motherboard is Selling for around 80 Euros

Slowly but surely we are starting to see some Intel Gemini Lake products for sale / pre-order such as Intel June Canyon NUC Mini PC/Kits, or Jumper EBook X1 laptop, and if are based in Europe, it’s now possible to purchase ASUS PRIME J4005I-C mini-ITX motherboard for under 80 Euros. The motherboard is equipped with an Intel Celeron J4005 dual core processor, two U-DIMM slots for up to 8GB RAM, SATA and mSATA for storage, HDMI/RGB/LVDS ports, Gigabit Ethernet, and more. ASUS PRIME J4005I-C specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron J4005 dual core processor @ 2.0 / 2.7 GHz with Intel UHD Graphics 600 up to 700 MHz; 10W TDP System Memory – 2x U-DIMM sockets up to 8GB DDR4 2400/2133 MHz Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory Storage 2x SATA 6Gb/s ports 1x M.2 Socket with M Key, type 2260/2280 storage devices support (PCIe mode) 128 Mb Flash ROM for UEFI AMI BIOS […]

March 6, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Innocomm WB10 NXP i.MX8M Quad SoM Comes with WiFi, Bluetooth, and Ethernet Connectivity

Taiwan based Innocomm Mobile Technology has been working on their own NXP i.MX 8M quad core system-on-module – namely WB10 – which includes a wireless module with WiFi and Bluetooth, as well as a Gigabit Ethernet transceiver. The module connects to the carrier board through three 80-pin board-to-board connectors exposing many of the I/Os provided by the latest NXP processor. WB10 module specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX8M Quad processor with 4x Cortex A53 cores, 1x Cortex-M4F core, and a Vivante GC7000Lite GPU System Memory – 2GB LPDDR4-3200 Storage – 8GB eMMC flash Connectivity Gigabit Ethernet transceiver Wireless module supporting 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac 2×2 MIMO WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2, two u.FL antenna connectors on-module Power Management & Audio Codec – ROHM PMIC 3x 80-pin board-to- board (1.27mm pitch) connectors exposing: Display Interfaces – HDMI 2.0a with support for 4K HDR, MIPI DSI Audio Interfaces – 4x SAI, S/PDIF Rx/Tx, DSD512 Camera Interfaces – […]

March 6, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Arm Introduces Mali-G52 & Mali-G31 GPUs, Mali-D51 Display Processor, and Mali-V52 Video Processor for Mainstream Devices

Arm has just announced four multimedia Mali IP blocks to be found in SoC for mainstream devices: Mali-G52 GPU with 30% faster performance over Mali-G51, and 3.6x better machine learning performance Mali-G31 GPU that’s 20% smaller, and 20% more efficient than Mali-G51, supports OpenGL ES 3.2 and Vulkan APIs Mali-D51 display processor 30% power saving, 50% lower latency compared to Mali-DP650 Mali-V52 video processor supporting 4K60/4K120 content Mali-G52 GPU Arm may have introduced Project Trillium for object detection and machine learning a few weeks ago, but the solution is better suited to premium devices, so the company’s Mali-G52 bitfrost mainstream GPU aims to fill the void for mid-range devices with up to 3.6 times faster machine learning capability over Mali-G51. Based on the first illustration, Mali-G52 will probably be coupled with DynamIQ Cortex A75/A55 processors. Other benefits of the new GPU include 30% more performance density, and 15% better energy […]

March 6, 2018March 6, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

C.H.I.P, PocketCHIP & Voder’s Maker Next Thing Co. Is Still Up and Running (Correction)

[Update: Next Thing Co. CEO (Dave) contacted me to inform me the company was not closed, but there was just several unfortunate events: DNS problem with the site leading to the blog issue Next Thing Co Facebook page was closed months ago (due to too many requests from different sources) The Google Maps listing is not managed by Next Things Co themselves. I’ve left the rest of the post unchanged. (except the last sentence) ] Next Thing Co. introduced the $9 C.H.I.P computer powered by Allwinner A13/R8 in 2015, and worked with Free Electrons (now Bootlin) to bring mainline Linux to the platform. They also launched PocketCHIP portable Linux game console based on the module, and lateron introduced C.H.I.P Pro WiFi + BLE module based on Allwinner GR8 processor, and found in their Voder (previously Dashbot) car dashboard assistant. I’m actually still using a C.H.I.P board as a printer server, […]

March 6, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Over 40 Android Phone Models Ship Infected with Trojan

If you want to buy a cheap Android phones, one way is to go to some Chinese e-retailers and purchase the phone that matches your requirements. Most phones will work reasonably well, but one thing that’s common to most/all Chinese manufacturers is lack of firmware updates and concerns for security. So you may only get 2 or 3 firmware update during the lifetime of your phone, if any, and usually the Android security patch is rather old. But Dr.Web discovered several Android smartphone models that ships with a Trojan (Android.Triada.231), in other words, the stock firmware is already infected with malware. The company found over 40 injected models, but the list may still grow Android.Triada trojans infect the Zygote process, which is used to launch all applications in Android. Once the module is infected, it becomes possible to download and launch software without the user’s knowledge. The 231 variant of […]