802.11ac Archives - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

May 14, 2019May 14, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 29 Comments

Khadas VIM3 Amlogic S922X Board to Support M.2 NVMe SSD, WiFi 5, and Bluetooth 5 Connectivity

Ever since the Amlogic S922X powered ODROID-N2 SBC launched last March, I keep reading praise for the processor and board which both deliver great performance at a relatively low price. Hardkernel was the only company that sold such a board so far, but this is about to change with some competition coming from Shenzhen Wesion with their upcoming Khadas VIM3 board that includes 2 to 4GB RAM, 16 to 32GB eMMC flash storage, a wireless module, support for M.2 NVMe SSD, and more. Even though more are planned in the future, two Khadas VIM3 models have been announced so far – Basic and Pro – with the following preliminary specifications: SoC – Amlogic S922X hexa-core processor with 4x Arm Cortex-A73 and 2x Cortex A53 cores, Arm Mali-G52 MP4 GPU, built-in Cortex-M4 core for “always-on” processing MCU – STMicro STM8S003 with Programmable EEPROM for power management, customizations, and boot media configuration System Memory & Storage VIM3 Basic – 2GB LPDDR4/4X RAM, …

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May 3, 2019May 3, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

Komikan is a Realtek WiFi 802.11ac Wave2 Module & Development Kit

8devices has been developping and selling WiFi modules such as their Rambutan Atheros module, and the now-discontinued Carambola module. The company is now back with Komikan, an 802.11ac Wave 2 + Bluetooth 4.1 module, as well as the corresponding Komikan development kit. Komikan 802.11ac Wave 2 Module Specifications: CPU – Realtek RTL8197FS MIPS 24Kc processor @ 1 GHz System Memory – 128 MB RAM Storage – 32MB flash Connectivity WiFi 4 802.11 b/g/n 2×2 MIMO via RTL8197FS WiFi 5 802.11ac Wave 2 2×2 MIMO via Realtek RTL8822BEH Bluetooth v2.1/3.0/4.1 Max output power – 22 dBm per chain Antenna – GPIO pins for external antenna Expansion via bottom pads – 44x GPIO, 2x USB, 4x UART (one for BT), RGMII, 2x SPI, PWM, MDIO, eMMC, JTAG, 2x I2S, PCM, 2x I2C, P-NAND Power supply – 3.3V, max power consumption 6W Dimensions – 37.5 x 21.3 mm The two integrated radios (2.4 and 5GHz) can achieve up to 1.166Gbps data rates, the …

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April 26, 2019April 26, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Mediatek MT7629 Dual Core Arm Processor to Power AC1900 Routers

MediaTek is working on a new dual core Cortex A7 processor that supports OpenWrt and targets AC1900 WiFi routers. That’s what I learned from a tweet by WidoraIoT detailing the main features of MediaTek MT7629 SoC as shown in the table below. So basically we have two Arm Cortex-A7 cores clocked @ up to 1.25 GHz, 8MB built-in? flash, HW accelerators and security/crypto engines, multiple Gigabit and Fast Ethernet interfaces, built-in support for 802.11n (WiFi 4) 3×3 MIMO and 802.11ac (WiFi 5) 3×3 MIMO, as well as various interfaces such as PCIe, USB 2.0, USB 3.0, and the usual slower I/Os like I2C, PWM and UART. A web search mostly shows code commits to Linux and U-boot, and we learn a few extra details such as MT7629 shares the same PCIe IP block as MT7622 dual core Cortex-A53 processor. It also reveals a forum post on Widora website with a table detailing the benefits of the upcoming processor. As I …

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February 7, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Ivy5661 Bluetooth 5 + 802.11ac WiFi IoT Board Up for Pre-order for $35

There are many WiFi and/or Bluetooth board designed for the Internet of Things thanks to ESP8266 / ESP32, and other solutions, but usually they all work in the 2.4 GHz frequency band which can be an issue in crowded environments. Last October, we covered ucRobotics Ivy5661 96Boards compliant IoT board that offers a dual core Arm Cortex-M4F MCU with 802.11ac WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5 connectivity. It was still under development at the time, but today, I’ve noticed it was listed on Seeed Studio for $35 with shipping scheduled for the end of February. ucRobotics Ivy5661 board specifications: SoC – UniSoC UWP5661 dual core Arm Cortex-M4 microcontroller @ 416 MHz manufactured with 28nm process Storage – 32Mbit NOR flash Connectivity (built in SoC) Dual band 802.11ac 2×2 MIMO WiFi 5 up to 866MHz; supports repeater mode, RTT indoor positioning Bluetooth 5 with support for high power mode, BT mesh, and AOD indoor positioning features USB – 2x Micro USB ports …

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January 19, 2019January 19, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 20 Comments

Orange Pi 3 Allwinner H6 SBC Comes with GbE, USB 3.0, mPCIe

When Shenzhen Xunlong Software launched their first Allwinner H6 development board, Orange Pi One Plus, many were disappointed as the board did not make use of some of the key features of H6 processor like USB 3.0 or PCIe, and RAM was limited to 1GB. A couple of weeks later, the company introduced Orange Pi Lite2 board with 802.11ac WiFi, a USB 3.0 port, HDMI 2.0a output, but no Gigabit Ethernet, nor PCIe interface, and again only 1 GB LPDDR3 memory. The good news is we now get a full-featured Allwinner H6 SBC thanks to Orange Pi 3 equipped with up to 2GB RAM, an optional 8GB eMMC flash, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11ac WiFi 5, four USB 3.0 ports, HDMI 2.0a, a mPCIe slot, and more. There are four variants of the Orange Pi 3 board with either 1 or 2 GB RAM, with or without eMMC flash that share the following specifications: SoC – Allwinner H6 V200 quad-core Cortex A53 …

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January 5, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

D-Link DWR-2010 5G NR Enhanced Gateway Targets the Home Market

It’s possible to use 3G/4G WiFi router either with built-in support or an external cellular USB dongle, but most people likely do so as a backup solution since fixed broadband Internet is usually cheaper and faster, obviously depending on your location. But things may be different with 5G connectivity as currently announced 5G modems, such as Qualcomm Snapdragon X50 or Samsung Exynos Modem 5100, promise download speeds of up to 5 to 6 Gbps. D-Link has unveiled 5G NR WiFi 5 gateway for the home market with D-Link DWR-2010 right before CES 2019. The 5G NR enhanced gateway supports download speeds that are over 40 times faster than the average fixed broadband speed of 70 Mbps in the US, so that would be close to 3 Gbps. D-Link DWR-2010 5G NR enhanced gateway key features: 5G connectivity Chipset – Qualcomm SDX55 (Snapdragon X55) Embedded 5GNR NSA module (3GPP Rel.15) Sub-6 GHz or mmWave frequency compatible in 200 MHz (2 x …

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December 24, 2018March 3, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Khadas Captain / Edge SBC Review – Part 2: Ubuntu 18.04

I received Khadas Edge Developer Package with Khadas Edge RK3399 module, Khadas Captain carrier board, and several accessories a few weeks ago, and after checking the hardware in the first part of the review, I’ve now taken the time to review software support, specially Ubuntu 18.04 on the board. Khadas Edge / Captain Firmware There are currently four main choices of firmware for Khadas Edge / Khadas Captain: Ubuntu 18.04 OS with LXDE desktop environment @ https://dl.khadas.com/Firmware/Edge/Ubuntu/ Android ROM @ https://dl.khadas.com/Firmware/Edge/Android/ with Android Nougat being a proper release, Android Oreo (available now) a temporary version that will not be supported, and Android P that will be released and supported by Rockchip later on in 2019 Armbian RK3399 for Khadas Edge that looks to be work-in-progress right now LibreELEC for playing videos on the platform I decided to focus on Ubuntu 18.04 for this review, and Karl who has he own sample will review the stable Android Nougat firmware that has …

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November 15, 2018November 15, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 33 Comments

Compact Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+ Launched for $25

The Raspberry Pi 3 B+ is likely the most popular maker board available today at $35, but it just got a little brother – Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+ – that should also enjoy good popularity with a $25 price tag. The new model features the same BCM2837B0 quad core processor @ 1.4 GHz, and dual band WIFI connectivity, just in a smaller form factor. Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+ specifications: SoC – Broadcom BCM2837B0 64-bit ARMv8 quad core Cortex A53 processor @ 1.4GHz with dual core VideoCore IV GPU System Memory – 512MB LPDDR2 Storage – micro SD slot Video & Audio Output – HDMI 1.4 and 4-pole stereo audio and composite video port Connectivity – WiFi 802.11 b/g/n/ac and Bluetooth 4.2 LE (via Cypress CYW43455 based module) USB – 1x USB 2.0 host port, 1x micro USB port for power Expansion 40-pin GPIO header MIPI DSI for Raspberry Pi touch screen display MIPI CSI for Raspberry Pi camera …

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