Google Coral Dev Board mini SBC is now available for $100

Google Coral SBC was the first development board with Google Edge TPU. The AI accelerator was combined with an NXP i.MX 8M quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor and 1GB RAM to provide an all-in-all AI edge computing platform. It launched for $175, and now still retails for $160 which may not be affordable to students and hobbyists. Google announced a new model called Coral Dev Board Mini last January, and the good news is that the board is now available for pre-order for just under $100 on Seeed Studio with shipping scheduled to start by the end of the month. Coral Dev Board Mini specifications haven’t changed much since the original announcement, but we know a few more details: SoC – MediaTek MT8167S quad-core Arm Cortex-A35 processor @ 1.3 GHz with Imagination PowerVR GE8300 GPU AI/ML accelerator – Google Edge TPU coprocessor with up to 4 TOPS as part of Coral […]

NXP i.MX 8M Plus AI Systems-on-Modules and Devkits Launched by Variscite

NXP i.MX 8M Plus processor was unveiled at the very beginning of the year as the first i.MX processor with AI hardware acceleration provided by a 2.3 TOPS Neural Processing Unit (NPU) embedded in the chip. Apart from the upcoming Wandboard 8MPLUS SBC, we had not seen hardware powered by the new processor, but Variscite has now announced two NXP i.MX 8M Plus systems-on-modules – VAR-SOM-MX8M-PLUS and DART-MX8M-PLUS – and corresponding development kits. VAR-SOM-MX8M-PLUS CPU Module & Development Kit Specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX 8M Plus single, dual or quad-core Cortex-A53 processor clocked at up to 1.6 (Industrial/Extended) or 1.8GHz (Commercial), Cortex-M7 real-time core @ 800 MHz, 1080p H265/H264 encode/decode, AI/ML acceleration up to 2.3 TOPS, GC7000UL 3D GPU, GC520L 2D GPU System Memory – 1 to 4GB LPDDR4 Storage – 8 to 64GB eMMC flash Networking – 802.11 ac/a/b/g/n + BT 4.2/BLE module SO-DIMM Edge Connector Storage I/F – […]

Khadas Edge2 Arm mini PC

MatchX M2 Pro LPWAN Crypto-Miner Supports LoRaWAN and Cryptocurrency Mining

A few years ago, I received MatchX.io MatchBoX outdoor LoRaWAN gateway for review, and eventually tested it with RAK811 LoRa tracker once I got a node to play with, and made sure I did not break any local laws. But now the company has come up with an unusual gateway with its MatchX M2 Pro LPWAN Crypto-Miner that acts as a traditional LoRaWAN gateway, as well as a cryptocurrency miner. I’m a bit perplexed by the solution as miners are notoriously power-hungry, but let’s have a look. MatchX M2 Pro specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX 6UL (MCIMX6G2CVM05AB) single-core Arm Cortex-A7 processor @ up to 528MHz System Memory – 256MB DDR3 RAM Storage – 256MB NAND FLASH, optional SSD up to 32GB or industrial SD-Card Networking & Wireless Connectivity LoRa Radio – SX1302 chipsets, 16 frequency channels Supports EU868, US915, AS920, AS923, AU915, KR920, IN865 regions 2.4Ghz 802.11b/g/n WiFi 4 GPS […]

Congatec conga-SMC1 3.5″ Carrier Board is Designed for NXP i.MX8 SMARC Modules

Last year, Congatec introduced SMARC 2.0 compliant systems-on-modules based on NXP i.MX 8, i.MX 8M Mini and i.MX 8M Nano processors, together with Conga-SEVAL carrier board designed for evaluation and early software development, but is not suitable for deployment in the field. The company has now unveiled a standard 3.5″ carrier board – conga-SMC1 – that takes any of the company’s i.MX8 SMAC modules, in order to help their customers bring products faster to market thanks to a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) board. Congatec conga-SMC1/SMARC-ARM carrier board features and specifications: Supported SoM – conga-SMX8 (i.MX8), conga-SMX8-Mini (i.MX 8M Mini), or conga-SMX8-Nano (i.MX 8M Nano). Future SMARC 2.0 Arm-based modules should also be supported Storage –  1x SATA III (support of SATADOM VCC PIN 7 and PIN 8), 1x SATA power (+5V, +12V), MicroSD card socket, M.2 NVMe SSD support Display Interface 1x LVDS 18/24bit single/dual channel LVDS 2x optional eDP/DSI (dependent on […]

PicoCore MX8MN is a Tiny NXP i.MX 8M Nano Computer-on-Module

The PicoCore MX8MN Nano carries the NXP i.MX 8M Nano F&S Elektronik Systeme has announced the development of the smallest i.MX 8M based CoM yet: the PicoCore MX8MN Nano. Previously we had reported on the Congatec Conga-SMX8 Nano which was a fairly small CoM compliant with SMARC 2.0 standard. The PicoCore MX8MN is based on the NXP i.MX 8M Nano CPU with 1 to 4 Arm Cortex-A53 cores and a Cortex-M7 real-time core. The Nano is set to carry up to 8GB RAM and 32 GB eMMC, with optional WiFI/BT and support for -40º C to 85º C temperature ranges. Similar to Predecessor The PicoCore MX8MN Nano is very similar in structure to the PicoCore MX8MM Mini CoM, but with a different i.MX 8M Mini processor featuring the same Arm Cortex-A53 cores, but the Cortex M4 real-time core is changed to a more powerful Cortex-M7 core in the MX8MN Nano. […]

Toradex Launches New Verdin Arm SoM Family Starting with iMX8M Mini/Nano Modules

So far, Toradex had two Arm-based system-on-module families with the smaller, lower-power Colibri and more powerful Apalis modules. The Colibri form factor was first defined in 2005, and the company is still maintaining it, but since then new interfaces have emerged, so Toradex has now designed a new low-power module family called Verdin. Toradex Verdin modules offer more I/Os with a 260-pin edge connector, include a battery-ready design with a wide input voltage range (3.3 to 5V), low power 1.8V IOs, the ability to easily extend power management to carrier board peripherals, and off-the-shelf thermal solutions. The modules are also tested for EMC, shock and vibration tolerance, and “Toradex Direct Breakout” is said to simplify signal routing on carrier boards as high speed, impedance critical signals are routed from the source IC to the edge connector on the Verdin module in such a ways to limit complexity on the carrier […]

UP 7000 SBC

NXP i.MX 8M Plus Processor Targets AI Applications with a 2.3 TOPS Neural Processing Unit

NXP has just announced its first i.MX processor with a dedicated neural processing unit (NPU) at CES 2020. The NXP i.MX 8M Plus SoC is built upon the existing i.MX 8M Nano family with a quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor running at up to 2GHz, an independent real-time Cortex-M7 microcontroller @ 800MHz, and a Vivante 3D GPU, but adds a 2.3 TOPS NPU to the mix. The NPU will enable advanced machine learning inference at the industrial and IoT (Internet-of-Things) edges for applications such as people and object recognition for public safety, industrial machine vision, robotics, hand gesture, and emotion detection with natural language processing. NXP i.MX 8M Plus key features and specifications: CPU – Quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 2.0 GHz with 512KB ECC cache Real-time MCU – Arm Cortex-M7 @ up to 800 MHz GPU – Vivante GC7000UL 3D GPU, Vivante GC520L 2D GPU DSP – HiFi […]

Google Coral mPCIe and M.2 Cards for Sale, New Coral Dev Board Mini and Modules Coming in 2020

Google introduced Coral development board and USB accelerator with Google Edge TPU last year. The development board was comprised of a baseboard and Coral system-on-module with an NXP i.MX 8M quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor and the Edge TPU. Since then ASUS announced Tinker Edge T and CR1S-CM-A SBC based on the Coral module, and yesterday, I noticed Seeed Studio started selling mPCIe and M.2 AI accelerator card with Google Edge TPU, while today, Google announced upcoming Coral products for 2020. Coral Mini PCIe and M.2 Accelerators Coral Mini PCIe card specifications: Half-mini PCIe card with PCIe Gen2 x1 Supply voltage –  3.3VDC +/- 10 % Dimensions – 30.00 x 26.80 x 2.55 mm Weight – 3.6 g Temperature Range – Storage: -40 ~ 85°C; operating: -20 ~ 70°C Relative humidity – 0 ~ 100% (non-condensing) Op-shock – 100 G, 11ms (persistent); 1000 G, 0.5 ms (stress); 1000 G, 1.0 ms […]

Khadas VIM4 SBC