CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

January 5, 2017May 20, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 58 Comments

ASUS Tinker Board is a Raspberry Pi 3 Alternative based on Rockchip RK3288 Processor

Regular readers may remember MQMaker MiQi board, a $35 (and up) development board powered by Rockchip RK3288 quad core ARM Cortex A17 processor, based on Raspberry Pi 3 form factor, but much faster according to benchmarks. Sadly, the board’s crowdfunding campaign was not that successful, possibly because of the “its’ a 2-year old processor” syndrome. But now, Minimachines has found that ASUS has designed a very similar board, dubbed Tinker Board, with an extra WiFi and Bluetooth LE module, audio jack, MIPI DSI connector, and a few other modifications. Asus Tinker Board specifications (bold highlights and strike-through show differences with MiQi board): SoC – Rockchip 3288 quad core ARM Cortex A17 up to 1.8 GHz with Mali-T764 GPU supporting OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0 /3.0, and OpenCL 1.1 System Memory – 2GB LPDDR3, dual channel Storage – 8 or 32 GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot Video output & Display I/F 1x HDMI 2.0 up to 3840×2160@60p […]

January 4, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

LeEco Smart Bicycles Run Android 6.0

LeEco, better known for their smartphones, has unveiled two bicycles at CES 2017 that run BikeOS – a version of Android 6.0 operating system tailored to cyclists – on a 4″ display attached to the bicycles. The bicycle supports GPS/GLONAS navigation for cyclists, ride & fitness logging, and includes a compass, a barometer, a light sensors, as well as wheel speed and crank speed meters. The bicycles can play music, and LeEco bike owners can talk to each other using the built-in walkie-talkie. The bicyckle’s display is powered by a Snapdragon 410 processor, includes a 6,000 mAh battery, and is rated IP54 against splashes and dust. The two models also includes two wheels, pedals, and other stuff you’d expect from bicycles: LeEco Smart Road Bike Aerodynamic Toray T700 carbon fiber frame, fork, seat post, handlebar and wheels 8.4 kg 11-speed one-by drivetrain Single chain ring up front, wide-range cassette in back […]

January 4, 2017January 4, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

$10 RTLDuino is an Arduino Compatible WiFi IoT Board based on Realtek RTL8710AF WiSoC

Last summer, we discovered a cheap RTL8710AF WiFi module with many of the same function as ESP8266, but with an ARM Cortex M3 core instead. The only problem is that it was not quite as easy to play with as ESP8266 boards, as at the time I started by playing with AT commands with B&T RTL00 RTL8710AF module, and later on, I got a more convenient PADI IoT Stamp with breakout board, but if you wanted to change the firmware you had to play with the SDK and a J-Link SWD debugger. Realtek RTL8710AF did not offer the convenience of Arduino IDE program like its big brother “RTL8195AM” from the same Ameba family. I know mbed is being worked on, but in the meantime things have changed for the better, as kissste informed me that RtlDuino implementation added Arduino support to RTL8710AF and RTL8711AM modules, and an NodeMCU-like board with […]

January 4, 2017January 4, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Qorvo GP695 “Smart Home” SoC Integrates 802.15.4, Zigbee 3.0, Thread, and Bluetooth LE

GreenPeak Technologies ultra-low power, short range RF communication technology company was acquired by Qorvo last year, and Qorvo has recently announced a GP695 system on chip (SoC) for smart home devices part of GreenPeak’s previous family of devices, and supporting multiple short range RF protocols. GP695 key features: MCU Core – ARM Cortex M4 Connectivity IEEE 802.15.4 ZigBee 3.0 Thread Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Qorvo Wi-Fi interference mitigation technology GP695 has been designed to be used in device such as a door locks, smart HVAC, smart security systems, connected video doorbells and intercoms, lightbulbs, smoke alarms, and leak detectors, and complements GP712 multi-protocol SoC designed for smart home gateways. Qorvo will feature live demonstrations of its smart home and IoT solutions at its booth during CES 2017, at Sands Expo, Halls A-D Booth #42114. There’s very limited public information, and no product page could be found in their website.

January 4, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Qualcomm Officially Unveils Snapdragon 835 Octa-core Processor for Smartphones, Mobile PCs, Virtual Reality…

Qualcomm first mentioned Snapdragon 835 processor in November, but at the time, they only disclosed it would be manufactured using 10nm process technology in partnership with Samsung, and claimed the obvious “faster and lower power consumption” compared the previous generation. The company has now provided much more info ahead of CES 2017. Snapdragon 835 key features and specifications: Processor – 8x Kryo 280 cores used into two clusters: performance cluster with 4x cores @ up to 2.45 GHz with 2MB L2 cache efficient cluster with 4x cores @ up to 1.9 GHz with 1MB L2 cache GPU – Adreno 540 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 3.2, OpenCL 2.0 full, Vulkan, DX12 DSP – Hexagon 682 DSP with Hexagon Vector eXtensions and Qualcomm All-Ways Aware technology Memory I/F – dual channel LPDDR4x Storage I/F – UFS2.1 Gear3 2L, SD 3.0 (UHS-I) Display – UltraHD Premium-ready , 4K Ultra HD 60 […]

January 3, 2017August 30, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 49 Comments

Banana Pi BPI-R2 Router Board Powered by Mediatek MT7623A Quad Core Processor Comes with 5 GbE Ports, SATA, and More

Banana Pi BPI-R1 board was launched in 2014 with 5 Gigabit Ethernet ports, SATA interfaces, and powered by Allwinner A20 board. SinoVoip is now about to launch an updated version – Banana Pi BPI-R2 – powered by Mediatek MT7623A quad-core Cortex A7 processor with 2GB RAM, 8GB flash, 5 Gigabit Ethernet ports, up to 2 SATA connectors, mPCIe, USB 3.0, and more. BPI-R2 board specifications: SoC – MediaTek MT7623A quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 processor @ up to 1.3 GHz with Mali 450 MP4 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 SDRAM Storage – 8GB eMMC flash (option 16/32/64GB), up to 2x SATA interfaces, micro SD slot up to 256GB expansion Video Output / Display I/F – HDMI 1.4 up to 1920×1200, MIPI DSI connector Connectivity – 5x 10/100/1000 Mb Ethernet port (via MT7530), Bluetooth 4.1 & dual band 802.11b/g/n WiFi (MT6625L module) USB – 2x USB 3.0 ports, 1x micro USB 2.0 […]

January 3, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Tiny Intrinsyc Open-Q 820 SoM Features Snapdragon 820 Processor, WiFi and Bluetooth

Intrinsyc has unveiled a new smaller version of their Snapdragon 820 based Open-Q 820 system-on-module, simply called Open-Q 820 µSOM bringing the module size from 82 x 42mm to 50 x 25mm, while keeping many of the features of the large SoM with 3GB LPDDR4, 32GB UFS 2.0 flash, 802.11ac WiFi, and Bluetooth 4.1. It competes with other small Snapdragon 820 modules such as Inforce 6601 micro SoM. Open-Q 820 µSOM specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 quad core Kryo cores with 2x cores @ up to 2.2GHz, and 2x cores @ up to 1.6GHz, Adreno 530 GPU, Hexagon 680 DSP System Memory – 3 GB LPDDR4 @ 1866 MHz Storage – 32 GB UFS 2.0 1-lane gear3 flash Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n/ac 2×2 MU-MIMO, Bluetooth 4.1, Qualcomm IZat Gen 8C GPS 3x board-to-board connectors with the following interfaces: Display 2x MIPI-DSI 4-lane, 60fps, up to 2560×1600 (single port), 4096×2160 (dual port) […]

January 2, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

$55 OpenMV Cam M7 Open Source Computer Vision Board is Powered by an STM32F7 Cortex-M7 MCU

I wrote about Jevois-A33 computer vision camera based on Allwinner A33 quad core Cortex A7 processor last week, and today, I’ve come across OpenMV Cam M7 open source computer vision board based on a much less powerful STMicro STM32F7 ARM Cortex M7 micro-controller, but with the advantage of consuming less power, and exposing some extra I/Os. OpenMV Cam M7 board specifications & features: MCU – STMicro STM32F765VI ARM Cortex M7 @ up to 216 MHz with 512KB RAM, 2 MB flash. External Storage – micro SD slot Camera Omnivision OV7725 image sensor supporting 640×480 8-bit grayscale images or 320×240 16-bit RGB565 images at 30 FPS 2.8mm lens on a standard M12 lens mount USB – 1x micro USB port (Virtual COM Port and a USB Flash Drive) Expansion – 2x 8-pin headers with SPI, I2C CAN bus, asynchronous serial bus (Tx/Rx), 12-bit ADC, 12-bit DAC, 3x I/Os for servo control; interrupts and PWM on […]