Qualcomm Mesh Networking DevKit Supports Amazon AVS

Qualcomm Mesh Networking Devkit for Amazon AVS

The Qualcomm Mesh Networking Development Kit for Amazon AVS enables integration of Amazon Alexa Voice Services into mesh Wi-Fi systems. A somewhat recent blog post on Amazon Developer website explains the devkit is the first ever Amazon-qualified reference design for a mesh WiFi system with Alexa built-in. The reference platform is based on the Qualcomm IPQ4019 SoC, includes a rectangular 4-microphone array, far-field audio processing algorithms for noise suppression, acoustic echo cancellation, wake word engine, and the AVS Device SDK. Qualcomm Mesh Networking DevKit specifications: WiSoC – Qualcomm IPQ4019 quad core Arm Cortex-A7 processor @ 717 MHz with SIMD DSP, WiFi 5; 40 nm process technology System Memory – 1GB DDR3L RAM Storage – eMMC flash and microSD card Display I/F – LCD interface Connectivity WiFi Standards: 802.11ac Wave 2, 802.11ac, 802.11p, 802.11n Bands: 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz Peak speed: 1.733 Gbps Channel Utilization: 20/40/80 MHz, 5/10/20/40 MHz MIMO Configuration: […]

Snapdragon 730, 730G & 665 Mobile Platforms Target High and Mid Tier Devices

Snapdragon 730G

Qualcomm has announced three new processor / mobile platforms for high and mid-tier mobile devices. Qualcomm Snapdragon 730, 730G and 665 Mobile Platforms are designed to improve experiences in artificial intelligence (AI), gaming, camera, as well as general performance. Snapdragon 730 & 730G Both processors share many of the same features: Qualcomm Artificial Intelligence Engine AIE CPU – Octa-core Qualcomm Kryo 470 CPU @ up to 2.2 GHz AIE GPU – Qualcomm Adreno 618 GPU with support for OpenCL 2.0 FP, Vulkan 1.1, OpenGL ES 3.2, DX12 AIE DSP – Qualcomm Hexagon Vector eXtensions (HVX), Qualcomm Hexagon Tensor Accelerator, Qualcomm Hexagon 688 Processor, Qualcomm Hexagon Voice Assistant, Qualcomm All-Ways Aware technology Neural Processing: Qualcomm® Neural Processing SDK Display On-Device Display Snapdragon 730 – up to FHD+ (18:9), 2520×1080 resolution Snapdragon 730G – up to Quad HD+, HDR10, 3360×1440 External Display up to 4K resolution Camera Qualcomm Spectra 350 image signal […]

Qualcomm Robotics RB3 Development Platform is Powered by Snapdragon 845 SoC

96Boards TurboX 845 SoM

[Update: The board is now known as “Qualcomm Robotics RB3 Development Platform” instead of DragonBoard 845c”, the rest of the article is unchanged] Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 is one of the fastest Arm processors found in consumer devices, and if you ever wanted a development platform with access to various I/Os, you’d have to go with fairly expensive kits (>$1,000) such as Intrinsyc Open-Q 845 HDK. The good news is that there’s now a cheaper Snapdragon 845 development board, compliant with 96Boards CE specifications, thanks to Thundercomm’s Robotics DragonBoard 845c that combines with processor with 4GB RAM, 64GB UFS storage, and the usual 96boards ports and expansion headers. Robotics DragonBoard 845c specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 with 8x custom 64-bit ARMv8 CPUs up to 2.8 GHz Adreno 630 GPU  with support for OpenGL ES 3.2 + AEP, DX next, Vulkan 2, OpenCL 2.0 full profile, and RenderScript Hexagon 685 DSP […]

Snapdragon 8cx 5G Compute Platform Targets 5G always on, always connected PCs

Snapdragon 8cx 5G

Qualcomm announced Snapdragon 8cx processor for so-called always on, always connected mobile PCs in December 2018. The processor comes with eight Qualcomm Kryo 495 core, an Adreno 680 GPU with a 128-bit memory interface, NVME SSD, UFS 3.0 support, as well as a Snapdragon X24 4G LTE modem among other features. But the launch 5G cellular connectivity will start to (slowly) take off this year, so the company also revealed plans for Snapdragon 8cx 5G compute platform that brings the same processing power as 8cx processor but with an extra Snapdragon X55 5G modem. The company did not provide that many details about Snapdragon 8cx 5G in the press release, but we already know Snapdragon 8cx specifications as well as the key features of Snapdragon X55 2nd generation 5G modem, so we should already have a good idea about the platform. Qualcomm highlights the 7nm manufacturing process, multi-day battery life, and multi-gigabit […]

Qualcomm Announces Snapdragon X55 Second Generation 5G Modem

Snapdragon X55 5G Modem

Several 5G smartphones based on Snapdragon 855 processor and Snapdragon X50 5G modem have been announced, but AFAIK none have shipped to end users. But Qualcomm has already announced their second generation 5G NR (New Radio) modem with Snapdragon X55, which the company claims is “the world’s most advanced commercial multimode 5G modem”. Manufactured with a 7-nm process, Snapdragon X55 is a single-chip modem that supports 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G NR mmWave and sub-6 GHz spectrum bands with up to 7 Gbps download speeds and 3 Gbps upload speeds over 5G, and up to 2.5 Gbps download speeds over LTE (Category 22) The model supports TDD and FDD modes, is capable of Standalone (SA) and non-standalone (NSA) network deployments, and can handle dynamic spectrum sharing delivering both 4G & 5G services dynamically. The Snapdragon X55 5G modem pairs with the new QTM525 5G mmWave antenna module, as well as […]

Qualcomm Snapdragon 712 is an Incremental Upgrade to Snapdragon 710 Processor

Snapdragon 712

Last year, Qualcomm unveiled the Snapdragon 710 processor aiming to bring faster A.I. processing to mid-range smartphone with double the AI performance compared to Snapdragon 660. The company has now introduced an upgrade to the processor with Snapdragon 712 that delivers better battery management, auto-adjust settings for pictures, and improved understanding of voice cues. Qualcomm Snapdragon 712 mobile platform (SDM712) specifications with hightlights in bold showing differences against Snapdragon 710: CPU – 8x Qualcomm Kryo 360 CPU @ up to 2.3 GHz (in two clusters) GPU – Qualcomm Adreno 616 Visual Processing Subsystem supporting  OpenGL ES 3.2, OpenCL 2.0, Vulkan, DirectX 12 DSP – Qualcomm Hexagon 685 DSP with 3rd Gen Qualcomm Hexagon Vector Extensions (HVX),  Qualcomm All-Ways Aware Sensor Hub Memory I/F – LPDDR4x, 2x 16-bit up to 1866MHz, 8GB RAM Storage I/F – No info provided Display – Up to Quad HD+ Video Up to 4K Ultra HD […]

Huaxintong StarDragon 4800 Server SoC is Based on Qualcomm Centriq 2400 Processor

Qualcomm started shipping samples of their Arm based Centriq 2400 server processors in 2016, before launching mass production the next year with three parts including Qualcomm Centriq 2460 48-core processor. Development seemed to go along nicely until Qualcomm allegedly decided to exit the server market in the middle of last year. The story got confusing when GIGABYTE still decided to launch their H221-Q20 server powered by Qualcomm Centriq 2400 processor last November, which would not make sense if Qualcomm is really existing the server market, and parts would not become unavailable after a short. But today, as I read the slides of GIGABYTE presentation at the HPC Asia workshop that took place on January 14-16, I realized Centriq 2460 is still alive but just changed owners… So the GIGABYTE H221-Q20 server is compatible with StarDragon 4800… What is that? StarDragon sounds familiar, a bit like Qualcomm Snapdragon. It turns out […]

Qualcomm 9205 NB-IoT & Cat M1 LTE Modem Lowers Costs, Power Consumption

Qualcomm 9205

Qualcomm has introduced a new LTE IoT chipset with Qualcomm 9205 LTE modem that supports Cat M1 (eMTC), NB2 (NB-IoT), 2G/E-GPRS fallback, as well as GNSS. Qualcomm 9205  comes at a lower price, smaller footprint, and up to 70% lower power consumption in standby mode compared to its predecessor (MDM9206). Qualcomm 9205 LTE modem key features and specifications: Processor / OS – Arm Cortex A7 up to 800MHz with support for ThreadX and AliOS Things real-time operating systems Connectivity Standards 3GPP release 14 Category M1 and NB2; 2G/E-GPRS fallback where Cat M1 / NB2 is not available. Category M1 mode supports voice for applications such as monitored security panels, and mobility for applications such as asset trackers. RF transceiver Bandwidth support from 450 MHz to 2100 MHz Built-in RF front-end, a first in the cellular IoT space Geolocation Integrated GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems)  support for GPS, Beidou, Glonass, and […]