The first Arm SystemReady IR certified platforms – NXP i.MX 8M Mini EVK & Compulab IOT-GATE-IMX8 gateway

NXP EVK Arm SystemReady IR

A few months ago, we noted SolidRun HoneyComb LX2K became a certified Arm SystemReady ES platform. SystemReady is a certification program by Arm that ensures systems just work with generic operating systems like in the x86 world. When we looked at the details of the program in the article, we noted there were different categories including SystemReady ES for embedded servers and SystemReady IR for IoT Edge applications. The first SystemReady IR platform – NXP i.MX 8 Mini evaluation kit Arm has just announced the first SystemReady IR platform had just been certified. That device is the NXP i.MX 8M Mini EVK, and that means that anyone that uses the i.MX 8M family of devices with the associated Board Support Package (BSP) can build platforms that will pass the same certification process and boot compliant Linux distributions with minimal integration effort. We can see more details about the certifications on Arm developer’s website. NXP i.MX 8M Mini EVK achieved certification with NXP 2021 Q2 pre-release firmware, version LF […]

NXP’s Ultra-Wideband (UWB) evaluation kits work with Apple U1 chip

UWB evaluation kits

The Fira Consortium was established in 2019 to provide an Ultra Wide-Band (UWB) ecosystem for real-time centimeter accuracy indoor positioning with companies such as NXP Semiconductors and Samsung Electronics on board. More companies have joined since then including Apple which designed its own UWB chip – the Apple U1 – found in recent iPhone 11 & 12 smartphones, as well as Apple Watch Series 6 to enable “Nearby Interaction“. If you’d like to develop UWB-enabled IoT applications, NXP has announced two beta UWB evaluation kits – developed with partners – compatible with Apple U1:  Murata Type2BP EVK and MobileKnowledge’s UWB Kit Mobile Edition. Murata Type2BP EVK Specifications: Wireless chips/modules Murata’s Type2BP ultra-small UWB module based on NXP Trimension SR150 Arm Cortex-M chip for IoT devices. 802.15.4z compatible and supports 3D AoA (Angle-of-Arrival) for extra precision. NXP QN9090 Arm Cortex-M4 Bluetooth 5.0 LE SoC with 640 KB flash, 152 KB RAM, […]

NXP unveils i.MX 8ULP Cortex-A35/M33 secure processors with optional Azure Sphere certification

NXP i.MX 8ULP-CS (cloud secured)

NXP may have just unveiled plans for i.MX 9 processor family with Arm Ethos U65 microNPU, and advanced security using the company’s EdgeLock enclave, but NXP also introduced new members to its popular i.MX 8 series with i.MX 8ULP and i.MX 8ULP-CS (Cloud Secured) processors. Both processors come with a mix of Cortex-A35 application processor(s) and Cortex-M33 real-time core, as well as Energy Flex low-power architecture and EdgeLock secure enclave, but i.MX 8ULP-CS includes Microsoft Pluton for secure cloud connectivity and lacks 2D/3D graphics and the HiFi 4 audio DSP. NXP i.MX 8ULP and 8ULP-CS key features and specifications: CPU i.MX 8ULP – Up to two Arm Cortex-A35 @ 1.0 GHz and Arm Cortex-M33 @ 216 MHz, i.MX 8ULP-CS – One Arm Cortex-A35 @ 1.0 GHz and Arm Cortex-M33 @ 216 MHz GPU (i.MX 8ULP only) – 2D GPU, and 3D GPU with support for OpenGL ES 3.1, OpenCLTM, Vulkan […]

NXP i.MX 9 processors to integrate Arm Ethos U-65 microNPU, EdgeLock secure enclave

NXP i.MX 9 Smart Cities

NXP i.MX 6 and i.MX 8 processors are widely used in industrial boards and systems-on-module, and the company has now teased a new family with i.MX 9 processors integrating Arm Ethos-U65 1 TOPS microNPU, as well as the company’s EdgeLock secure enclave for increased security. The company did not provide that many technical details, so we still don’t know which CPU cores, GPU, and exact peripherals will be found in the processor. But we do know the i.MX 9 processors will be manufactured with a 16/12nm FinFET class of process technology optimized for low power, and features the “Energy Flex” architecture that combines “heterogeneous domain processing (independent applications processor and real-time domains with a separate low-power multi-media domain), design techniques, and process technology to maximize performance efficiency”. That means most blocks of the processor can be turned off for low power audio or CAN networking use cases, and other industrial […]

Hantro H1 hardware accelerated video encoding support in mainline Linux

Hantro H1 Block diagram

With the increasing need for video encoding, there are some breakthrough developments in hardware-accelerated video encoding for Linux. Bootlin has been working on the implementation of Hantro H1 hardware accelerated video encoding to support H.264 encoding on Linux which follows the company’s work on the previously-released open-source VPU driver for Allwinner processors. Hantro H1 Hardware Hantro H1 is a common hardware H.264 encoder, it can also do VP8 and JPEG. It is found in a few ARM SoCs including a lot of Rockchip (RK3288, RK3328, RK3399, PX30, RK1808) and NXP (i.MX 8M Mini). Depending on the version, it can support up to 1080p at 30 or 60 fps. Here we can see different blocks used for encoding. Hantro H1 is a stateless hardware implementation which means it has no microcontroller or firmware running. As can be seen in the diagram, it has a pre-processor that can do things like cropping, […]

NXP IW620 2×2 Wi-Fi 6 & Bluetooth 5.1 Chip Targets Gaming, Audio, Industrial and IoT Markets

IW620 WiFi 6 Chip PCIe Host Interface

NXP has announced the IW62X WiFi 6 & Bluetooth 5.1 family of chips designed for high-end gaming, audio, industrial and IoT markets. The family currently consists of IW620 and IW620S parts with respectively PCIe and SDIO host interfaces. Both chips integrate dual-band Power Amplifiers (PAs), Low Noise Amplifiers (LNAs), and switches in order to reduce the board-level BOM (Bill of Materials). IW62X key features and specifications: Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) 2×2 Wi-Fi 6 DB (802.11ax) 1024 QAM, 80MHz Peak Throughput: 1.2 Gbps Improved wideband noise & MU-MIMO performance Advanced active channel scanning 802.11s, EasyMesh 802.11mc Bluetooth & Bluetooth Low Energy 5.1 BLE 2Mbps + Long Range BLE direction finding with Angle of Arrival (AoA) and Angle of Departure (AoD) BLE Mesh Antenna support 2×2 5G 1×1 2.4G + BT Multimode energy-efficient support (TWT, Micro AP, TX Power Control, Wi-Fi Direct, BT5.1) Host Interfaces IW620 – PCIe 1.0 IW620S – SDIO 3.0 […]

Interview – NXP Linux BSP and Timesys Vigiles Maintenance Service & Security Updates

NXP Linux BSP Maintenance Workflow

I’ve been interviewing Ed White, Manager of NXP’s Professional Support and Engineering Services, and Akshay Bhat, Director of Engineering, Security Solutions at Timesys by email to find out more about NXP Linux BSP development process, and how Timesys can help to keep it updated and secure with its Vigiles service. Q1. CNX Software readers recently discussed NXP Linux BSP update status. One person specifically noted Linux 4.14.98 used in the BSP was well over a year old, and there were various opinions about the topic, including one person suggesting NXP only provides a stable BSP and it was the ultimate responsibility of the customer to merge Linux security patchsets. Could you explain the typical development process for NXP Linux BSP, and why the company chose not to update the patchsets regularly? Answer: The kernel strategy for NXP’s i.MX family BSPs closely follows the annual cadence of kernel.org’s LTS kernel selection. […]

NXP LPC551x/S1x Arm Cortex-M33 MCU Family Launched with LPC55S16 Development Board

LPC55S16-EKV Development Board

NXP has announced the general availability of LPC551x/S1x Arm Cortex-M33 MCU family with low power consumption, embedded security, pin-, software- and peripheral-compatibility. The LPC551x/S1x family is manufactured using a  cost-effective 40-nm NVM process technology and targets industrial and general embedded markets. An LPC55S16 based development board – PLC55S16-EVK – is also offered for evaluation and software development. NXP LPC551x/S1x MCU Key features and specifications: CPU – Arm Cortex-M33 core @ up to 150 MHz delivering over 600 EEMBC CoreMarks and consuming as low as 32uA/MHz Memory and Storage – Up to 256 KB on-chip flash; up to 96 KB SRAM; 128 KB boot ROM Peripherals CAN FD / CAN 2.0 Dual-USB with on-chip PHY, supporting both HS and FS modes SDIO and up to 9 FlexComm interfaces (configurable as either SPI/I2C/I2S, UART) Up to 64x GPIO pins 16-bit ADC with five differential channel pair Comparator with five input pins and […]

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