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Apache Mynewt RTOS for IoT Includes an Open Source Bluetooth 4.2 LE Stack for MCUs

The Apache Software Foundation has recently released version 0.9 Apache Mynewt open source real-time operating systems for micro-controllers under… an Apache 2.0 license. The RTOS works on STMicro STM32 Cortex-M4, and Arduino Zero / M0 Cortex-M0 boards, but they’ve also implemented the  first open source Bluetooth Low Energy stack for MCUs, starting with support for Nordic Semi nRF52 Cortex-M4 and nRF51 Cortex-M1 evaluation boards, and acting as a replacement for Nordic SoftDevice Bluetooth Smart / LE solution. The operating system competes with ARM mbed, the Zephyr Project, and RIoT, but the foundation claims it is the only one that’s both community driven and permissively licensed (Apache 2.0) project in the embedded space. The OS is modular and can be configured with a Go-like build and package management tool with components such as secure boot loader, flash file system and TLV storage mechanism, rich logging infrastructure, circular buffering schemes, and Bluetooth […]

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Marvell IAP220 “IoT” Processor Targets Low Power Touchscreen Enabled Appliances

After IAP140 quad core Cortex A53 processor found in Brillo compatible AndroMeda Box Edge, Marvell has recently introduced another IAP processor for the Internet of Things with IAP220 dual core Cortex A7 processor targeting “low power cost sensitive home automation, industrial, security, and wearable applications”. IAP220 SoC specifications: Processor – Dual ARM Cortex-A7 core up to 1.0 GHz GPU – 3D GPU with OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0 support MCU – ARM Cortex M4F Memory I/F – LP-DDR2/3, DDR3 Storage – eMMC and SDIO interfaces Display – MIPI video and command mode; LCD display Video – Full HD encode and decode with H.264, MPEG-4, H.263, MJPEG and more Camera – Digital video camera interface, 2x, 2-lane CSI Audio – I2S, TDM; support for multiple PDM (pulse-density modulation) microphones and speakers Sensor hub • Low power sensor processing Management I/O – SPI, GPIO, PWM? (the product brief says PWD instead), UART, 1-wire, I2C […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM
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Ingenic T10 is a MIPS Based Video Processor for 720p Cameras

Ingenic has been designing MIPS based SoCs using their Xburst processor engine for several years, which are found in tablets, development boards, and wearables. The company has now launched T10 smart video processor based on the same MIPS32 processor but mobile camera, security survey, video talking, video analysis and so on with image resolution up to 1280×960 (datasheet says 1280×1024), and videos up to 720p30 or VGA @ 30fps. Ingenic T10 specifications: CPU – XBurst single core MIPS32 processor up to 1GHz with FPU, 32KB L1 I-cache, 32KB L1 D-cache, and 128KB L2 unified cache. Memory – Embedded DDRII@400Mhz up to 512Mbit Encoder engine -H.264 baseline, main profile; MJPEG/JPEG Baseline Encode Performance Max resolution 1280×960 Up to H.264 960p@40fps encode H.264 multiple streams 720p@30fps + VGA@30fps + JPEG@15fps 960p@30fps + VGA@30fps + JPEG@15fps ABR/VBR/CBR/CQP 8 ROIs (Regions of Interest) 5-layer OSD with hardware ISP AE, AWB (automatic white balance), AF […]

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Unboxing and Teardown of ARNU Box Mach 10 64-bit Pure Linux TV Box based on Amlogic S905 SoC

While there are plenty of Amlogic S905 TV boxes, the vast majority is running Android, and albeit there’s been people successfully installing Linux or OpenELEC on such device, if you’d just like a TV box running Linux with 4K video playback without hassle, there’s almost no option. ARNU Box (previously ARMADA) has delivered such Linux TV boxes in the past, with products such as ARNU Box Mach 10 Pure Linux based on Amlogic S812 and running Linux based EmbER OS with Kodi 15, and I’ve now received the updated version simply called ARNU Box Mach 10 64-bit Pure Linux with Amlogic S905 processor instead. ARNU Box Mach 10 64-bit specifications SoC – Amlogic S905 quad core Cortex A53 @ 2 GHz with ARM Mali-450MP GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash + SD card slot Video Output – HDMI 2.0 (Up to 4k@60fps) Audio Output – […]

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Imagination Solution to FCC Rules for WiFi Routers: Run OpenWrt / DD-WRT and the WiFi Driver in Separate Virtual Machines

About a year ago, discussions started about new rules from the FCC that could prevent routers from installing open source third party operating systems such as OpenWrt or DDWRT. Despite the FCC assurance that the rules were meant to prevent some users from illegally tweaking the RF settings, and that it would not have to impact installing of open source alternatives, the reality is that companies such as TP-Link ended up locking their routers up due to the new rules, while Linksys would only ensure OpenWrt/ DD-WRT compatibility on some of their routers, but not all. Companies are probably doing that due to the extra work that would be required to separate the RF settings which need to be locked, and the rest of the firmware. But Imagination Technology’s prpl security group has a solution for their MIPS Warrior P-Class processors using hardware virtualization. In order to show the concept […]

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Frosted OS is an Open Source POSIX Operating System for Cortex-M Micro-controllers

Frosted, which stands for “Free Operating Systems for Tiny Embedded Devices”, is an OS with a POSIX-compliant system call API, borrowing the Linux kernel kconfig for configuration, and currently supporting ARM Cortex M0,M3,M4, and M7 MCU including Texas Instruments Stellaris LM3S, STMicro STM32F4/F7, and NXP LPC17XX micro-controllers. The developers are focusing on IoT applications, as well as porting retro-games such as Doom. The kernel relies on libopencm3 for hardware abstraction, and the operating system can be built with GCC ARM for Frosted using the source code released under a GNU GPLv2 license. The Wiki explains how to build and run the OS on either Qemu (in a Linux computer) used LM3S target, or an STM32F4 Cortex -M4 or STM32F7 Cortex-M7 board. The team also uploaded showing a video of Doom (fdoom) running on STM32F7 board, and possibly adapted from stm32doom port. If you are interested in joining the project you can […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025
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Jide Remix Pro is a Remix OS 3.0 2-in-1 Laptop Powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 Processor

Remix OS appears to getting more and more attention, and is now found in an increasing number of hardware platforms. Jide has also been working on the new Remix OS 3.0 version based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow, and showcased it in Jide Remix Pro 2-in-1 laptop / tablet reference design powered by Snapdragon 652 octa-core processor. Jide Remix Pro specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 (APQ8074) octa core processor with 4x Cortex A72 cores @ 1.8 GHz, 4x Cortex A53 cores, and Adreno 510 GPU System Memory – 3GB  RAM  Storage – TBD internal storage; micro SD card slot Display – 12″ IPS display with 2K resolution (2160×1440) Camera – 8 MP rear camera; 5MP front-facing camera Audio – 2x speakers; combo audio jack Connectivity – dual band WiFi, Bluetooth 4, optional 4G-LTE with SIM card slot (replacing micro SD slot), GPS, USB – 1x USB 2.0 port, 1x USB type C […]

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Unboxing and Teardown of NEXBOX A5 TV Box Powered by Amlogic S905X Processor

NEXBOX A5 is one of the first Android 6.0 TV boxes based on Amlogic S905X processor capable of 4K H.265, H2.64 and VP9 video decoding. The company sent a sample for review, and I’ll start by taking pictures of the device and board in the first part of the review, before fully testing its performance and features in the second part.NEXBOX A5 Unboxing I got the device in a black package with NEXBOX logo, and “Android 6.0 TV Box” text. I received the TV box with the default cofiguration (2GB RAM / 16GB flash), but they also have a cheaper model with 1GB and 8GB flash. Some of the new feature brought by this device has shown on the bottom of the package such as VP9, Android 6.0 and HDR (High Dynamic Range) support. I don’t think I’ll be able to test the latter, since my TV does not support […]

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