ble News - Page 3 of 54 - CNX Software

February 14, 2024February 14, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Flipper Zero gets a Raspberry Pi RP2040-powered video game module

Flipper Zero hardware & wireless hacking tool can now be used as a proper game console thanks to a Raspberry Pi RP2040-powered video game module that mirrors the display of the device on a larger monitor or TV via DVI/HDMI video output, and also adds a 6-axis motion tracking sensor. The Flipper Zero has been in the news in recent days, notably with Canada’s government banning the device due to car theft (although it only seems feasible on older cars), and today the company has announced the launch of a video game module developed in collaboration with Raspberry Pi Ltd. Video game module specifications: MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller clocked up to 133 MHz with 264 kB SRAM Video Output – DVI-D at 640х480 with 60 Hz refresh rate. It also supports HDMI. USB – USB Type-C port connected to the microcontroller. Acts as a USB device […]

February 13, 2024 by Tomisin Olujinmi - 5 Comments

NRFICE is a Bluetooth FPGA board in the Arduino UNO form factor (Crowdfunding)

The NRFICE FPGA is a Bluetooth FPGA board designed for edge computing and IoT applications. It is built upon a combination of the dual-core nRF5340 Bluetooth SoC and the Lattice ICE40UP5K FPGA. The ICE40 UltraPlus is a low-power, high-performance FPGA for edge computing and artificial intelligence projects and the nRF5340 is a Bluetooth 5.3 SoC that supports Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Bluetooth Mesh, Thread, NFC, and Zigbee. Through the Nordic nRF5340, NRFICE can load a project directly into the iCE40 FPGA, bypassing the usual extensive toolchain setup. This enables a new class of FPGA development, where bitstreams can be hosted in the cloud, selected by a user on their phone, and loaded wirelessly to the board. It features a built-in J-Link OB for easy debugging and programming without the need for emulator dongles and is similar to the previously covered Segger emPower evaluation board in this regard. This board supports […]

January 25, 2024 by Debashis Das - 1 Comment

Waveshare ESP32-S3-LCD-1.28 development board with 1.28-inch IPS round LCD is available for $15

The Waveshare “ESP32-S3-LCD-1.28” is an ESP32-S3-based display board featuring a 1.28-inch round LCD screen with a 240×240 resolution, driven by the GC9A01 display driver chip. It also includes a Li-ion battery charger, a QMI8658 6-axis IMU (for motion tracking), a USB Type-C connector, and wireless capabilities. This board is quite similar to others like the Lilygo T-RGB, Round Display for XIAO, ESP32-S3 Round SPI boards. However, it’s thinner and more affordable. Waveshare ESP32-S3-LCD-1.28 development board specifications: Wireless MCU – ESP32-S3 Xtensa 32-bit LX7 dual-core, up to 240MHz frequency. Display: 1.28-inch round IPS LCD. Resolution – 240×240 pixels. 65K color. Display Chip – GC9A01A. IMU Parameters: Sensor – QMI8658 Accelerometer resolution – 16-bit; Range (Optional): ±2, ±4, ±8, ±16g. Gyroscope resolution – 16 bits; Range (Optional) – ±16, ±32, ±64, ±128, ±256, ±512, ±1024, ±2048°/sec. Memory: Built-in 512KB SRAM. 384KB ROM. Onboard 2MB PSRAM. External 16MB Flash memory (W25Q128JVSIQ). Wireless Connectivity: […]

January 24, 2024January 24, 2024 by Tomisin Olujinmi - No Comments

Renesas releases the DA14592, a new dual-core Cortex-M33/M0+ BLE chip with integrated flash

The DA14592 System-on-Chip (Soc) is Renesas’ “lowest power consumption and smallest, multi-core Bluetooth LE device.” According to the company, this chip’s design was achieved by making careful tradeoffs between on-chip memory and die size. The chip offers an ultra-low power mode that uses only 2.3mA when transmitting radio signals at 0dBm and consumes 1.2mA to receive radio signals. It also supports a hibernation mode that uses about 90nA and can extend the operating life of battery-powered products. The active mode is best for processing-intensive products and uses 34µA for every MHz of CPU clock. Projected key applications for the DA14592 chip include crowd-sourced location (CSL) tracking as used in Apple’s Airtags, remote control units, human interface devices, asset tracking, IoT end nodes, data logging, connected health, and activity tracking. Renesas DA14592 specifications: CPU cores: Cortex-M33F running at up to 64MHz as application core Cortex-M0+ at 64MHz as configurable MAC Memory: […]

January 23, 2024January 23, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

LILYGO T-Panel – A 4-inch HMI display and WiFi, BLE, and 802.15.4 gateway based on ESP32-S3 and ESP32-H2

T-Panel 4-inch ESP32-S3 and ESP32-H2 gateway

LILYGO T-Panel is both a 4-inch HMI display and IoT gateway based on ESP32-S3 WiFi 4 and Bluetooth LE 5 microcontroller and an ESP32-H2 module with Bluetooth LE 5 and an 802.15.4 radio for Zigbee, Thread, and Matter connectivity. Last year, Espressif introduced the ESP-Thread Board Router/Zigbee gateway board with ESP32-S3 and ESP32-H2 to show how both chips could be combined to create IoT gateways. But I don’t think I had seen a company design a product based on both ESP32-S3 and ESP32-H2 until I saw the T-Panel which also includes an RS485 interface and Qwiic expansion connectors for good measure. T-Panel specifications: Wireless chips/modules Wireless SoC – ESP32-S3R8 dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller @ 240 MHz 2.4 GHz 802.11n WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE connectivity Memory – 8MB PSRAM Wireless module – ESP32-H2-MINI-1 module MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32-H2 32-bit RISC-V microcontroller at up to 96 MHz with 320 […]

January 20, 2024January 21, 2024 by Debashis Das - 14 Comments

This new ESP32-C6-based IoT development board supports solar battery charging

FireBeetle 2 ESP32 C6 IoT Development Board with Wi Fi 6, Bluetooth 5, Solar Powered

DFRobot’s FireBeetle 2 ESP32-C6 is an IoT Development Board with 802.11ax (now called Wi-Fi 6), Bluetooth 5, Zigbee 3.0, Thread 1.3, and flexible power options including USB Type-C, 5V DC, and a CN3165 Lithium Ion battery charger for solar-powered systems. This isn’t the first solar-based board we’ve covered. We’ve also explored boards like Conexio Stratus, Wisblock Kit 2, and RAK8211-NB iTracker along with other solar-powered devices such as solar-powered laptops, solar-powered headphones, and even a solar-based power supply. FireBeetle 2 ESP32-C6 IoT Development Board Specifications: Processor – ESP32-C6 RISC-V single-core, 160 MHz Memory SRAM – 512KB ROM – 320KB Flash – 4MB RTC SRAM – 16KB USB – USB 2.0 CDC Wi-Fi Protocols – IEEE 802.11b/g/n, IEEE 802.11ax (20 MHz-only non-AP mode) Bandwidth – Supports 20 MHz and 40 MHz at 2.4 GHz Modes – Station, SoftAP, SoftAP+Station Frequency – 2.4GHz Frame Aggregation – TX/RX A-MPDU, TX/RX A-MSDU Bluetooth Protocol […]

January 19, 2024January 19, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

8 Euros ESP32-H2-DevKit-LiPo is an open-source hardware Bluetooth 5 LE and 802.15.4 (Zigbee/Thread/Matter) board

Olimex ESP32-H2-DevKit-LiPo is an open-source hardware board based on ESP32-H2-MINI-1-N4 wireless module with Bluetooth 5 Low Energy (LE) and an 802.15.4 radio for Zigbee, Thread, and Matter connectivity, and that can be powered by a LiPo battery. The ESP32-H2 RISC-V microcontroller is coupled with 4MB flash in the wireless module, and the board comes with two rows of 15 pins for up to 19 GPIOs with alternate functions such as ADC, SPI, UART, I2C, etc… plus pUEXT and Qwiic/Stemma connectors for expansion modules. The board also features two USB-C ports, one for connected directly to the ESP32-H2 and the other for USB to UART programming/debugging. ESP32-H2-DevKit-LiPo specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-H2-MINI-1-N4 MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32-H2 32-bit RISC-V microcontroller at up to 96 MHz with 320 KB SRAM, 128 KB ROM, 4 KB LP memory, Bluetooth 5.2 LE/Mesh and 802.15.4 (Zigbee/Thread/Matter) radios. Storage – 4MB flash storage PCB antenna Dimensions […]

January 11, 2024January 13, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Arduino and Silicon Labs collaborate to bring Matter to Arduino boards and IDE

Arduino and Silicon Labs have joined hands to both bring Matter-compatible SiLabs wireless microcontrollers to the Arduino IDE and then design an upcoming Arduino Nano based on SiLabs MGM240 Arm Cortex-M33 microcontroller with Matter, Thread, Zigbee, and Bluetooth LE protocols. Available now: Arduino Core for Silicon Labs devices The first phase of the collaboration involves getting Arduino core for Silicon Labs development boards so that compatible devices can be programmed in the IDE. The good news is that it’s available now and works with four existing wireless boards: SparkFun Thing Plus Matter MGM240P based on MGM240PB32VNA Arm Cortex-M33 MCU with Matter, Thread, Zigbee 3.0, and Bluetooth 5.3 LE connectivity SiLabs xG27 Dev Kit based on EFR32BG27C140F768IM40 Arm Cortex-M33 MCU with Bluetooth LE 5.3, Bluetooth Mesh, Proprietary 2.4 GHz connectivity SiLabs xG24 Explorer Kit based on EFR32MG24B210F1536IM48 Arm Cortex-M33 MCU with Bluetooth 5.3 LE, Bluetooth Mesh, Matter, OpenThread, Zigbee, Proprietary 2.4 […]