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BioDigitalPC Credit Card Sized Pluggable Computer Fits into Desktop Docks, AIO Monitors, Datacenters-in-a-Suitcase, and More

We’ve seen in the past at last two projects development CPU cards aimed for easy upgrade a replacement, starting with EOMA-68 standard currently with products based on ARM processors and mostly targeting the consumer market, followed more recently by Intel Compute Card that focuses on the smart devices and enterprise markets. But I’ve recently found out a third company has been doing pluggable CPU cards for a little while: Arnouse Digital Device Corporation (ADDC) with their BioDigitalPC cards designed for the military and small businesses, and pluggable into desktop docks, phones, all-in-one monitors, and even portable datacenters that fit into a suitcase. The company also has “reader boards” that you can integrate into your own products / enclosures. Everything is shown in the diagram below. The latest generation (Gen 9) of BioDigitalPC cards are based on Intel Atom Bay Trail-I single, dual or quad core processors with 2 to 8 […]

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Intel NUC6CAYS NUC Powered by Celeron J3455 Apollo Lake Processor is now Available for $233

Intel unveiled plans for two Apollo Lake NUCs, respectively NUC6CAYS & NUC6CAYH, in summer 2016. The former comes with 2GB memory and 32GB storage with Windows 10 Home preloaded, while the latter is a barebone system. The company has now started to sell the Windows 10 models on Amazon US for $232.99 with free shipping (if you happen to live in the US). Here’s a quick reminder of the main specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron J3455 quad core processor @ 1.5 GHz to 2.3 GHz (burst) with 12EU Intel HD graphics 500 @ 250 to 700 MHz (10W TDP) System Memory – 2GB DDR3L-1600 SO-DIMM RAM, upgradeable up to 8GB DDR3L-1866 Storage – 32GB eMMC flash, 2.5″ SATA3 bay for 9.5mm hard drives or SSDs, SDXC slot with UHS-I support Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60 Hz, VGA Audio – Up to 7.1 channels via HDMI, […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM
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Mecool BB2 Pro Review – TV Box with DDR4 Memory – Part 2: Android Firmware, Benchmarks, Kodi

Most Android TV box comes with DDR3 or DDR3L memory, but Mecool BB2 Pro comes instead with 3GB DDR4 memory that’s supposed to offer 50% increased memory bandwidth. That’s why I was interested in reviewing the box. I’ve already checked out BB2 Pro hardware in the first part of the review, so the second part will focus on the firmware, video playback in Kodi 17, and benchmarks to find out if there’s any improvement over other Amlogic S912 using DDR3 memory. It’s not the first DDR4 box I’ve tested however, as Eweat R9 Plus powered by Realtek RTD1295 processor also included DDR4 memory, but based on my tests, there’s was no noticeable differences with Zidoo X9S based on the same processor, but with DDR3 memory. But this time, we’ll see if it is any different with Amlogic platforms. First Boot, Settings and First Impressions I connect a USB 3.0 hard […]

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Mediatek MT2533D is a Bluetooth 4.2 SiP for Smart Headphones & Hands-Free Systems

There used to be a time when most products were based on a general purpose MCU or processor that you would interface to over chips like audio codecs, memory chips, flash storage, etc…, but in order to cut costs, application specific SoCs have become quite common over the year, so we’ve had mobile application processors for several years already, but more recently we got “wearables” SoCs and “Smart Home” SoCs, and Mediatek has launched MT2533D “headphone” SiP (System-in-Package) combining a Cortex-M4 MCU, 4MB PSRAM, an audio codec, and a dual mode Bluetooth subsystem. Mediatek MT2533D specifications: MCU –  ARM Cortex-M4 @ up to 208MHz with 32KB L1 cache, FPU, MPU, AES 128/192/256 crypto engine and TRNG Memory – 160kB SRAMs, 4MB pseudo SRAM Storage – 4MB flash Wireless Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.2 dual mode (classic and low energy) Audio AAC/SBC for Bluetooth audio CVSD/mSBC for Bluetooth speech PCM playback: 8-48kHz […]

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Rockchip RV1108 Visual Processor is Designed for 1080p & 2K Camera Applications

Rockchip has joined other companies in developing camera SoCs with their RV1108 Visual Platform based on a single Cortex A7 core, a CEVA XM4 visual processing DSP, and capable of H.264 video encoding up to 1440p30 / 1080p60. Rockchip RV1108 main features and specifications: CPU – ARM Cortex A7 @ up to 1.0 GHz DSP – embedded CEVA XM4 vision processor up to 600MHz Video Encoder – 2K/H.264, high definition & low bit rate Camera – MIPI CSI and DVP interfaces Image processing – Low-light-level night vision imaging: 8MP professional image processing unit Audio Processing – Audio Codec supporting up to 8-way MIC array, 3A? phonetic algorithms, such as echo cancellation, noise suppression; Video Out/Input – HDMI OUT, CVBS OUT, MIPI DSI, CVBS IN Networking – 10/100 Ethernet PHY The processor is expected to be used in drones, IP cameras, car dashcams, sports/action cameras, as well as other applications such […]

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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) […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025
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Ten Most Popular Posts of 2016 on CNX Software and Some Stats

The last day of the year is a good time to look back at what the year brought us, and I have to say it has been a fun and interesting year on CNX Software. The TV boxes news cycle has been dominated by Amlogic products, but most products have now switched to 64-bit ARM SoC, with 4K and HDMI 2.0 support, and price have kept going down, so you can now get a 4K TV box for as low as $20, although many people will prefer spending a bit more for extra memory and support. Intel based Bay Trail & Cherry Trail mini PCs have continued to be released with Windows, and in some cases Ubuntu, but the excitement seems to have died off a bit, maybe with the expectation of upcoming Apollo Lake mini PCs that should be more powerful. The year have been especially fruitful in the […]

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Allwinner V3s Dual Camera SoC Comes with 64MB DRAM

Most SoCs have a very limited amount of internal SDRAM just enough to load the bootROM code, but a few integrated a few MB of RAM on-chip such as Renesas RZ/A1H with 10MB on-chip DRAM, in order to reduce costs for some applications that may not require external RAM. Allwinner V3s, designed for dual camera solutions, appeared to be such an SoC with 64MB (512Mbit) on-chip DDR2 RAM, but the block diagram seems to imply it is a System-in-Package (SiP) instead. Nevertheless you still get a single chip with an ARM Cortex A7 processor, two ISPs, a video engine, 64MB RAM, and more. Allwinner V3s main features & specifications: CPU – ARM Cortex-A7 @ up to 1.2 GHz Memory – Integrated 64MB DDR2 DRAM Storage I/F – SD 2.0, eMMC 4.41, SPI NAND flash, SPI NOR flash Audio Codec – 92dB audio codec supporting 2x ADC channels and 2x DAC […]

Boardcon CM3588 Rockchip RK3588 System-on-Module designed for AI and IoT applications