NXP – ARMdevices.net

Coffee with Toradex CEO, COO and CMO

Charbax — Thu, 18 Nov 2021 08:49:48 +0000

I had the pleasure of an impromptu chat with Toradex’s CEO (Samuel Imgrueth), COO (Stephan Dubach) and CMO (Daniel Lang) set against a gorgeous locale close to the Toradex headquarters in Switzerland. We talked about Toradex’s history, key focus and offerings and a lot more.

NXP i.MX RT106A Arm Cortex-M7 MCU for Alexa

Charbax — Mon, 28 Oct 2019 06:38:21 +0000

Turnkey, low cost i.MX RT solution speeds time to market. Cloud-based voice assistants, led by Amazon’s Alexa, have become common in many homes, embedded in smart speakers like Amazon’s Echo products. Soon, the newly emerging trend to build voice assistants directly into smart devices such as light switches, ceiling fans, appliances, smoke detectors, and thermostats, will make voice control ubiquitous throughout the home. Voice assistants conveniently and unobtrusively located throughout the home enable a family’s entire network of connected smart devices to be controlled by voice commands from any room. For example, “Alexa, turn off all the lights,” or even more powerful routines can be created such as, “Alexa, good morning,” which can turn on music, start the coffee pot, adjust the thermostat settings, and more.

Today, a few smart home device and appliance makers are introducing versions of their products with built-in voice assistants. Until now, the technology required to embed cloud voice assistants has required a powerful multicore microprocessor unit (MPU), similar to the application processor in smart phones, with large Flash and SDRAM memories, and complex power management. Such implementations have not been a fit for cost sensitive consumer devices, which has impeded the proliferation of smart home devices with built-in voice.

At Embedded World this week, NXP Semiconductors announced the first MCU based implementation of an Alexa client, based on a new member of NXP’s popular i.MX RT crossover processor family of devices. This new solution enables device makers to build Alexa into products using a low cost, low power microcontroller unit (MCU), a device that is typically already required in any connected smart home product, meaning that OEMs can now add voice to their products at very low incremental cost (not much more than the cost of the microphones). Running on Amazon FreeRTOS, NXP’s new MCU-based AVS solution leverages the power of AWS IoT Core to minimize the processing resources needed to build Alexa into a product. Compared to previous implementations running Linux with large memory footprints, requiring more than 50 MB RAM and several Giga-Bytes of Flash, NXP’s MCU solution needs less than 1 MB of on-chip RAM and fewer than 16 MB of Flash, significantly reducing cost and size.

The i.MX RT106A (“ten-sixty-a”), has a 600 MHz Arm Cortex-M7 processor, 1 MB of on chip SRAM, an LCD display, camera interface, advanced security and flexible communication, combined with a complete turnkey AVS software solution and a production ready hardware design, to enable OEMs to quickly and easily add Alexa to their product designs.

With this solution, device makers realize further benefits of shorter time to market, lower development and lifetime costs. It brings together the Alexa Voice Service, AWS IoT Core, and Amazon FreeRTOS to provide complete and best-in-class security, deployment, and device monitoring.

NXP’s i.MX RT MCU-based AVS solution is available as a complete kit for evaluation, development and prototyping. The hardware consists of two small, 30 mm x 40 mm (1.2” x 1.6”) boards. The MCU system on module (SoM) carries the i.MX RT106A processor, 32 MB of HyperFlash memory, a Wi-Fi/Bluetooth module and an optional NXP A71CH secure element. The audio board has three MEMS microphones and connects to a speaker driven by NXP’s TFA9894D smart audio amplifier. The hardware ships with software that includes everything necessary for a developer to, out-of-the-box, connect to the Alexa Voice Service and immediately start prototyping. This one-stop-shop software package includes far-field voice processing (echo cancellation, noise suppression, beam forming, barge-in), an Alexa wake word inference engine, an AVS client application, API and all necessary drivers.

Samples of the i.MX RT106A processor and the SLN-ALEXA-IOT solution kit are available to qualified early access customers now.

NXP i.MX 8X, CODESYS, EtherCAT, OPC UA, Android, RIMAC at the Toradex Booth

Charbax — Tue, 09 Jul 2019 10:12:26 +0000

Toradex’s NXP i.MX 8X based System on Module. The i.MX 8X SoCs comes with up to 4x Cortex-A35 and 1x Cortex-M4. The Cortex-A35 is an extreme power-effective 64bit Arm Core, the M4 is used to offload real-time tasks, check for errors to increase safety, and check for errors to further lower the power consumption.
The RAM and cache on the 8X can be protected with ECC (Error Correction Code) which make these SoMs ideal for critical applications such as Industrial Automation, Medical, Railways, etc.
Toradex shows the Colibri iMX8X running a GPU accelerated Qt application. The Apalis iMX8X with ECC will be available soon The Industrial 4.0 demo shows a Real-time Time Motion Control Application. A Toradex Apalis iMX6 powers the Midi-Eagle Computer from Diamond Systems featuring dual ethernet interfaces A CODESYS Soft PLC Stack is running on top of real-time Linux with a motion controller software. The motors are connected via EtherCAT. The system also utilizes an OPC-UA Server from Matrikon The demo was put together by the experienced Toradex Partner BE.Services.
RIMAC, famous for its insanely fast electric cars, demonstrates how the pin-compatibility of the Toradex SoM allows them to simply upgrade from an Apalis iMX6 to an Apalis iMX8QM.
Kynetics is providing Android support for Toradex modules. They show off Android on the i.MX 8 QuadMax but also on the i.MX 7 utilizing the integrated Cortex-M4 Core.
This allows it to run on the Cortex M4 Core an RTOS such as FreeRTOS and offload tasks.
Kynetics also provides an over-the-air (OTA) solution called Update Factory for IoT applications based on Eclipse hawkBit.

Toradex https://www.toradex.com/
Diamond Systems Midi-Eagle Computers http://www.diamondsystems.com/products/midieagle
Matrikon OPC UA https://www.matrikonopc.com/
BE.services https://www.be-services.net/
RIMAC and Toradex https://www.toradex.com/applications/automotive-infotainment/rimac
Kynetics https://www.kynetics.com/android-bsp/toradex

Torizon industrial Linux software platform from Toradex

Charbax — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 23:35:34 +0000

At Embedded World 2019, Toradex shows off its brand new Linux Platform called Torizon, for the first time. Torizon is an open source project based on the Yocto Project, it comes free with Toradex System on Modules (SoMs) including NXP i.MX 6, 7 and 8 SoCs. Torizon is ideal for developers who like to take advantage of the extensive Linux ecosystem, but don’t like to spend time on low-level Linux development. Torizon is built for the requirements of modern industrial embedded/IoT applications in mind. It uses Docker for software containerization, features an Automotive Grade Remote Update Client, supports real-time and has built-in security features. In the video, Samuel, CEO of Toradex, shows the integration with Visual Studio and highlights how it simplifies life for those moving from the Windows and Windows Embedded Compact ecosystem. In the second demo, you can see Debian running in Docker Containers. The last demo shows off the safe and secure over-the-air (OTA) updates and a possible backend to manage a fleet of devices. The update client is Uptane-compatible.

If you’d like to know more about Torizon, you can join Toradex’s Webinar:
https://www.toradex.com/webinars/introducing-torizon-easy-to-use-industrial-linux-platform

If you’d like to learn more about the AI Wall at the end, see my previous video here.

Foundries.io Zephyr microPlatform (ZmP) at Embedded World 2019

Charbax — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 10:53:52 +0000

Foundries.io demonstrates OpenThread on Zephyr with Blockchain data publishing controlling Smart Lights and Candy Dispenser – Foundries.io showcases their Zephyr microPlatform (ZmP) using OpenThread and 802.15.4. Providing an OpenThread gateway which acts as a smart speaker enabling users to issue voice commands like “Hey Google, turn it on” to turn on a light, or “Hey Google, start it” to dispense candy. The connected lights will be running ZmP with OpenThread, and the candy dispenser will using 6lowpan over BLE.

The Zephyr Project at Embedded World 2019

Charbax — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 10:48:39 +0000

The Zephyr Project joins some 1,000 exhibitors at Embedded World in Nurnberg, Germany, with Zephyr Project members including Antmicro, Foundries.io, Intel, Nordic Semiconductor, NXP and SiFive, with offer interactive IoT demos powered by the Zephyr RTOS, which supports multiple hardware architectures and is built with safety and security in mind.

The Antmicro and Renode demo showcases how the open source Renode simulation framework that can be used to test multi-node Zephyr setups, including ARM and RISC-V based platforms. Using human-readable scripts and configuration, Renode allows you to easily create complex CI installations, enabling better testability of real products. You will see how to test production-ready code without the hassle of connecting multiple pieces of hardware together against corner-case conditions unachievable in testing rigs.

NXP i.MX 6SoloX (UDOO Neo) with RPMsg Protocol, a Multicore demo with Linux running on A9, Zephyr running on M4 – This demonstration shows how to leverage asymmetric co-processors of modern SoCs on the example of i.MX6SoloX and Udoo Neo board. The embedded Cortex-M4 core is running Zephyr RTOS which implements various low speed serial peripherals (UART, SPI, I2C) in software using GPIO. Cortex-M4 communicates with the embedded Cortex-A9 core running Linux Kernel using the RPMsg protocol. On the Linux side a kernel module is used to present implemented serial peripherals to the user space as regular serial, SPI or I2C interface (e.g. /dev/ttySx). The benefits of such approach consist in the possibility of extending existing set of peripherals without any additional hardware cost and the possibility to place selected peripheral at virtually any available GPIO pin. Thanks to exporting the interfaces to the user space, it can be accessed for example by a Python script.

Intel S1000 Speech Kit showcases basic Alexa functionality

Nordic Semiconductor Gaming Mouse, Zephyr on an nRF52-based low-latency, high report rate gaming mouse prototype

Zephyr on the Nordic nRF91 Development Kit, including a BLE to LTE gateway

SiFive Demo, Zephyr Running on a SiFive HiFive1 Development Board

Zephyr running as a guest on ACRN Hypervisor

Toradex shows Deep Learning Accelerators, Edge AI with Gyrfalcon, Xnor.ai, Movidius and More

Charbax — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 13:30:23 +0000

Toradex shows their deep learning inference solutions at Embedded World 2019, using power-efficient, Arm-based System on Modules, as machine learning and deep learning using neural networks progress is accelerating with successful new applications in computer vision for the embedded world. Toradex simplifies the integration of these technologies into products with its System on Modules, training deep learning models on high-performance computers with frameworks like TensorFlow, with optimizations needed to improve performance on low-power embedded Linux devices such as the ones Toradex partners with Au-Zone, Xnor.ai and Antmicro and others to bring to the embedded market. Implementing these dedicated neural network accelerators can boost the performance of embedded devices while keeping power consumption low, as shown in Toradex’s solutions with Intel Movidius Myriad and Gryfalcon Lightspeeur. Toradex partners with Allied Vision to showcase the brand-new Alvium industrial MIPI CSI-2 camera as a crucial component in the pasta detection demo which uses an Apalis System on Module featuring the NXP i.MX 8 QuadMax SoC with Cortex-A72, Cortex-A53 and dual OpenCL-capable GPU. To learn more about the demo, see CNX-Software’s blog post. A real-world application example of deep learning is Manta, a camera-based drowning detection system from Coral Detection Systems which is solar-powered, and the video analytics are done on a Toradex Apalis module featuring a Nvidia TK1 SoC with a CUDA-enabled GPU. If a person is at risk of drowning, the system can alert its user acoustically or via smartphone.

TechNexion shows i.MX8M Mini, Intel Apollo Lake, Qualcomm QCA9377, QCA6174 at Embedded World 2019

Charbax — Mon, 11 Mar 2019 09:42:11 +0000

TechNexion shows their lineup of new devices based on the ultra low-power NXP i.MX8M Mini in their ultra-small PICO form factor combining ARM Cortex-A53 and an M4 microcontroller at embedded world 2019, it supports Android, Linux, Yocto, Ubuntu OS is only 37 x 40 mm and at a low cost. The SoM integrates a fully certified wireless module PIXI-9377 based on Qualcomm QCA9377. They also show their Qualcomm QCA9377, QCA6174 devices and more. TechNexion announces two new SoM families: AXON and FLEX. AXON is a product family of small form factor (58 x 37 mm) modules designed for specialized embedded applications requiring another dimension of I/O flexibility. AXON-IMX8M-MINI is also based on NXP i.MX8M Mini applications processor and features AXON Fabric programmable logic, a specialized IC that provides additional functions including nearly infinite pinmuxing, allowing for true pin-to-pin compatibility between SoC versions. FLEX series, on the other hand, is a low-cost family making use of low-cost LPDDR4 SO-DIMM connector. FLEX-IMX8M-MINI (69.6 x 35 mm) offers HD multimedia streaming and integrated 3D graphics at a price point for the cost sensitive market. TechNexion launches several products based on Intel Apollo Lake processor family (Intel Atom x5-E3930, x5-E3940 or x7-E3950) that can be easily deployed in diverse industrial applications ranging from manufacturing robots and machinery, to radar and sensors on ships, trains and automobiles, to in-vehicle experience, video systems and more. TC-1010-APL and TC-1560-APL Multi Touch HMIs come in 10.1” and 15.6” sizes. On the other hand, TCK3-APL is a ruggedized box PC fully customizable to handle your projects with IoT integration. TechNexion also shows their expanded lineup of fully certified (CE / ETSI / FCC / IC / RCM / TELEC) PIXI and STIX series combo wireless communication modules based on Qualcomm QCA9377 and QCA6174 solutions. The modules are available in several M.2 and in the mini-PCIe form factor.

Geniatech in 2018, Android TV, Snapdragon 820 board, NXP, RK3399, MediaTek, IoT Gateway and more

Charbax — Mon, 03 Dec 2018 20:49:49 +0000

Geniatech shows Google-certified Android TV boxes, development boards for the embedded market, IoT Smart Gateway solutions and more. The Geniatech Android TV Set-top-box solutions, now run a full real Android TV UI on AmLogic S905X in the Geniatch ATV495Max, the AmLogic S905D ATV598Max with the DVB-T2 and ATSC. Also selling the Android TV HDMI Sticks ATV135Max and ATV195Max with a larger Wi-Fi antennae. Geniatech also has some Smart Home Smart Gateway products to manage home IoT. Geniatech also does Snapdragon 410 based 96Boards compatible development board, they do NXP i.MX6 with HDMI input and i.MX7 SOM boards too (for the headless Smart Gateway and Smart audio market), they develop their SOM platform for IoT Gateway, Rockchip RK3399 based board with HDMI input and output with Power over Ethernet. Geniatech also does entry level MediaTek powered IoT gateways with Zigbee, Lo-Ra connecting up with Ethernet or Wi-Fi. Geniatech also shows their AmLogic T-962E powered quad 4K HDMI input with 1 HDMI output digital signage for commercial use with overlay picture in picture support.

Arrow shows latest 96Boards and Mezzannine boards

juliusaugustus — Wed, 21 Nov 2018 14:58:16 +0000

Arrow shows some of their latest 96Boards and Mezzanine boards such as the Renesas ANT96 board based on the Renesas RZ Family Renesas RZ/G1E processor featuring a dual-core Arm Cortex-A7. Novtech Meerkat i.MX7D and Chameleon Cyclone V Altera/Intel FPGA board. NextBiometrics NB-2023-S fingerprint sensor mezzanine board, STM32 Sensor mezzanine board and more. Arrow has more than 5 Mezzanine boards in the pipeline and at least 2 base boards too. Oxalis Layerscape LS1012A.

Kodi Playback with Standard V4L2 Stack

Charbax — Mon, 29 Oct 2018 03:55:55 +0000

Full upstream implementation of Hardware accelerated video decoding (mainly H264) with the generic V4L2 Mem2Mem API, Zero-copy rendering with DRM Atomic kernel Drivers, DMA-BUF transferred from V4L2 to DRM, FFmpeg V4L2 Mem2Mem integration with Kodi, Kodi GBM Display for Atomic Direct to plane rendering.

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Jezetek E Ink with Note 7.8″, 10.3″, 13.3″, P10C, P68K-1, P78C

Charbax — Tue, 16 Oct 2018 05:33:45 +0000

Jezetek E-Book Reader and writer there’s the 7.8″ P78C Supporting styling writing as well so that would make it 7.8-inch E-ink 1404*1872 Capacitative Touch. With memory 8GB EMMC and Ram 1GB, battery 3000mAh. There’s also a 10.3″ P10C model with 8GB of internal storage space and 1GB of RAM, same as the P78C. The cool thing about this model is it’s the first 10.3-inch front light. Jezetek 13.3-inch model too, the P133A. Based on Android 4.4.2, but it looks like it’s still a major work in progress, especially when it comes to the hand writing features. The P78C and P10C both have iMX6 processors, but the P133A has the new iMX7 processor. (text by flatslap5657 of Fiverr)

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Linux microPlatform, secure IoT updates with Foundries.io and Toradex

Charbax — Sat, 13 Oct 2018 20:44:07 +0000

At Linaro Connect Vancouver 2018, Foundries.io and Toradex discuss Linux microPlatform, what microPlatform is and how it helps Toradex to build their next generation Software Platform.

Linux microPlatform is an open source, minimal, secure, updatable Operating System based on OpenEmbedded / Yocto Project. Toradex ports the microPlatform to its Arm-based System on Modules and it uses it as the basis for its future Software Planform called Torizon.

Linux microPlatform modularized the embedded software stack utilizing Docker Containers, and so it provides a robust and simple to update platform. It includes a secure Uptane-compliant over-the-air update solution using OSTree.

Founderies.io provides continuous updates to Linux microPlatform, as they believe the latest software is the most secure software.

Toradex also elaborates on its plans to simplify developers’ lives with its Torizon platform leveraging Linux microPlatforms, such as simplifying application development, enabling a modern DevOps workflow and easing migration from Windows-based systems.

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AOSP TV OP-TEE DRM integrations on HiKey, TI X15, iMX8M, Poplar

Charbax — Sat, 08 Sep 2018 15:49:29 +0000

Peter Griffin and his colleagues of the Linaro Home Group demonstrate some of their latest advancements with AOSP TV such as their OP-TEE DRM integrations, Playready, Widevine, ClearKey on HiKey, TI X15, iMX8M, Poplar using AOSP and Linux, Chromium and WPE. DRM Secure Data Path on i.MX8M.

TechNexion shows worldwide pre-certified IoT modules at Computex 2018

Charbax — Wed, 13 Jun 2018 07:05:58 +0000

TechNexion shows off their new products at Computex 2018: pre-certified IoT modules, Android Things development kits, IP69K embedded systems and more. The booth tour starts with Android Things development kit PICO-PI-IMX7 live demo, based on NXP i.MX7 Dual applications processor and ARM Cortex-A7 architecture has been the go-to development kit since the official Android Things launch at Google I/O in May. The company also demonstrates PICO-IMX8M SoM based on NXP i.MX8M processor and Cortex-A53 + M4 architectures that delivers a whooping 4K UltraHD video performance with HDR and pro audio fidelity for multimedia applications. TechNexion is also launching CE, ETSI, FCC, IC, RCM and TELEC pre-certified IoT wireless communication modules and development kits: PIXI-9377 based on Qualcomm QCA9377, PIXI-6174 based on Qualcomm QCA6174 that deliver high transmission rates, low latency and improved range in noisy industrial environments. The company is showcasing a fully waterproof TWP-1010-IMX6 HMI based on NXP i.MX6 ARM Cortex-A9 processor that was specially designed to withstand extreme environments and cleaning with a jet spray. TWP series likewise includes models based on Intel Braswell architecture. TEK5-APL box PC based on Intel Atom x5-E3930, x5-E3940, x7-E3950 and Apollo Lake architecture, enclosed in a fully ruggedized enclosure for use in a vehicle.

Bero shows AOSP TV 8.1, Gemini PDA, Android with newer kernels at Linaro LMG/LHG hacking room

Charbax — Sat, 24 Mar 2018 09:55:47 +0000

Bero (Bernhard Rosenkränzer) and his colleagues from the Linaro Mobile Group (Android) and the Linaro Home Group (TV Boxes) are working in the hacking room at Linaro Connect to prepare some demos for Demo Friday including AOSP TV on 8.1 (while most Android TV runs on 7.1), updating the Linux kernel on Android phones to some newer kernel version, and Bero also gives his opinions on the multi-Linux booting Gemini PDA amazing keyboard phone which he has purchased (see my video on Gemini PDA Linux support here)

Toradex at the Qt booth at Embedded World 2018

Charbax — Mon, 19 Mar 2018 15:34:54 +0000

Toradex and The Qt Company highlight their long-standing partnership. Risto Avila from The Qt Company provides an overview of interesting demos using Toradex such as the fast boot demo which boots in 1.2 seconds based on the Apalis iMX6Q SoM and Qt 5.7 with support for 3D GPU with OpenGL ES 3.0; the fact that the Toradex SoM won Qt’s battle of the boards; Qt’s readymade images for Toradex, and much more. Toradex Partner Atechnology emphasizes Toradex’s focus on its partner network.

Toradex also showcased its demo showcasing its new Apalis iMX8 SoM running Qt 3D Studio – the SoM based on NXP’s i.MX 8QuadMax processor. The Apalis iMX8QM offers one click OS installation via the Toradex Easy Installer and offers dual Arm Cortex-A72, quad Arm Cortex-A53, and dual Arm Cortex-M4. The Apalis iMX8QM also contains on-board dual-band 802.11ac 2×2 MU-MIMO Wi-Fi and is Bluetooth 5 ready. This SoM offers advanced hardware security and safety features, and is ideal for signal processing, computer vision and HMI applications. You can sign up for early access for the Apalis iMX8QM here.

E Ink booth tour at CES 2018

Charbax — Thu, 15 Mar 2018 22:58:10 +0000

E Ink shows and talks about its latest innovations in consumer electronics, architecture, healthcare, retail and fashion at CES 2018, to bring dynamic elements to generally static environments such as architecture and design, as well as discuss how its ePaper technology is being integrated into smart cities and connected devices, famous for eReaders, also revolutionizing the digital signage, healthcare and retail industries as well. Bus signs, electronic shelf labels, medical devices, products featured include the E Ink DAZZLE wall, the world’s largest media façade on the San Diego International Airport parking garage, featuring 2,100 tiles of E Ink’s Prism technology. A dress designed by Bergmeyer featuring E Ink Prism which won Best in Show at IIDA Fashion Show in October, 2017. A reconfigurable Retail Price Tag, a thin, batteryless price tag containing Powercast’s power harvesting technology that enables quick price changes using a typical handheld UHF RFID reader for wirelessly updating the display, the LTS Smart Patch transdermal therapeutic system that delivers medication to patients in a convenient and controlled manner, ReMarkable E Ink tablet offering paper-like reading, pen input writing and sketching, Onyx Boox Note, Onyx Boox Max2 (which I filmed here), Sony Digital Paper and more.

NXP i.MX8M now available, i.MX 8M Mini announced on 14nm

Charbax — Tue, 13 Mar 2018 21:35:47 +0000

NXP launches the i.MX 8M Quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 with ARM Cortex-M4 for audio (pro audio fidelity with more than 20 audio channels each @384KHz and DSD512 audio), voice and video (4K with HDR (Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG)), fully supported on NXP’s 10 and 15-year Longevity Program. At Embedded World 2018, NXP partnered with 8 development board providers who all launched their boards with i.MX8M support.

NXP also announced their new i.MX 8M Mini, their first embedded multi-core heterogeneous applications processors built using advanced 14LPC FinFET process technology. The i.MX 8M Mini family of processors features up to four Arm Cortex-A53 cores running at up to 2GHz and an ARM Cortex-M4 based real-time processing domain at 400+MHz.

Zephyr Project with Linaro, Open Source Foundries, Nordic, Intel, Bluetooth Mesh demos

Charbax — Thu, 08 Mar 2018 22:31:25 +0000

The Zephyr Project is a scalable real-time operating system (RTOS) supporting multiple hardware architectures with more than 82 development boards supported already, with additional hardware support being added regularly, optimized for resource constrained devices, and built with security in mind. The Zephyr Project wants to be the open source “Linux of Embedded”. Zephyr Project members include Linaro and the Open Source Foundries, Intel, NXP, Synopsys, Nordic Semiconductor, DeviceTone, runtime.io, Texas Instruments, Oticon and more. This video features functional prototype devices using the Zephyr kernel, including a functional Bluetooth Mesh network, a low energy Bluetooth controller, and an OpenThread demo. Other demos include the World’s first Bluetooth 5.0 qualified, open source low energy Bluetooth Controller that features open source code from Application to Radio, a BlueZ Bluetooth Host stack, a Zephyr kernel, low energy link layer, OS Host Controller Interface, the Nordic Semiconductor nRF52, and the Arm Cortex M4F + Bluetooth 5 and Radio SoC. This demo will take a closer look at the different layers that make up a full BLE protocol stack helps explain this capability. Bluetooth Mesh in action on BBC micro:bit boards available since Zephyr OS v1.9 showcases the many-to-many BLE communication, how every node can be a relay and the user interface. A functional Bluetooth Mesh Network with Lightweight Machine to Machine Device Management showcases the Cloud Device Management System using Linux-based IoT gateways and Zephyr-based IoT devices for real-world project prototypes and smart objects. A demonstration of OpenThread integration, benefits from the Zephyr infrastructure and how it works with Nordic nRF52840 and OpenThread 6loWPAN Thread Stack. The flow of IP traffic is handled seamlessly by both the Zephyr native IP stack and OpenThread: 802.15.4 traffic received by radio driver is forwarded to the OpenThread stack, where it is processed by the 802.15.4 MAC, 6loWPAN and IPv6 layers implemented in OpenThread.

TechNexion Android Things dev kits, modules, embedded systems at the Embedded World 2018

Charbax — Wed, 07 Mar 2018 19:38:22 +0000

TechNexion shows off its Android Things development kits, modules, embedded systems and more new products at the Embedded World 2018. The TechNexion product lineup has grown once again in size. The company is showcasing Android Things development kits based on PICO-PI-IMX7 Low-cost system on modules that are modular, scalable and versatile. The Android Things development boards are based on the NXP i.MX7 applications processor. TechNexion is also launching several wireless communication modules, including PIXI-41Z and the PIXI-9377 low-cost, certified, 1×1 802.11 AC/BT4.1 module that deliver high transmission rates, low latency and improved range.

TechNexion is a provider of embedded systems and system-on-modules, in 2017, TechNexion was chosen by Google as a partner to develop the reference design for its Android Things development kit. That kit based on the PICO-PI-IMX7 board has been the go-to development kit distributed at developer shows and used for demoing the potential of Android Things.

The New TechNexion PIXI series is a communication module that delivers all IoT multi-mode communication needs in one ultra-compact and secure module series. It is specifically designed to enable better transmission rates, lower latency, better range and higher resistance to interference when two or more communication protocols – for example, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or Thread – are needed to run concurrently on one system-on-chip. Multiple communication protocols in one chip means users can collect more data from disparate communication protocols, while also having the flexibility to use the right protocol to suit the type of data and distance from your hub.

Panel PCs – TechNexion has three human-machine-interface (HMI) panel computing series: TC, TEP and TWP. The TEP Series is available with either ARM or x86 architecture and has an IP65 anodized aluminum enclosure and a flux mounted projective capacitive touch, high brightness LCD display – ranging from 5 to 15.6 inches. The TWP Series is a fully waterproof, IP69K, panel PC designed to withstand extreme temperatures, high vibration, and cleaning with a jet spray. It is also available with either ARM or x86 architecture – ranging from 10 to 15.6 inches. The TEP-1560-IMX6 is their 15” panel computer based on i.MX6 and the TWP-1560-IMX6 is their NEW model that is waterproof, stainless steel, panel computer.

Fanless Box PCs – The TEK Series fanless computing systems are enclosed in a compact, fully ruggedized enclosure, and are perfect for controlling versatile end-equipment.

System-on-Modules – TechNexion continues to expand its SoM options through its two series, EDM and PICO. These series have an exhaustive range of options around size, processor capability and connector type enabling the creation of almost any kind of embedded device. They are designed to be scalable and come with fully open source software – Linux and Android – and schematics.

WandPi-8M community board – TechNexion were also showing the latest version of their community development board. It is based on NXP’s i.MX8M Quad application processor with ARM Cortex-A53 + M4 architecture to deliver 4K UltraHD with HDR video quality with pro audio fidelity. The WandPi-8M is available for pre-order and is expected to ship in Spring of this year.

Diamond Systems Zeta SBC, Ethernet switch solutions, Sabre enclosures at Embedded World 2018

Charbax — Wed, 07 Mar 2018 18:09:32 +0000

Diamond Systems founder Jonathan Miller shows the company’s newest products at Embedded World 2018 including the COM-based Zeta SBC, EPSM-10GX (used to connect to a carrier board) and EPS-24G2X Ethernet switch solutions. As Miller explains, the EPS-24G2X brings out all the signals including those for the two 10G SFI ports. There is a lot of Ethernet available via this solution. It’s all about communication, sharing information and so some people want more ports. The switches discussed are examples of those found in unmanned vehicles as well as many other rugged applications. Included in these new products is the EPS-12GMini, one of the world’s smallest 12-port Ethernet switches is a two-board design enabling its small form factor for on-board vehicle use (military and industrial).

The rugged enclosure called SABRE is the newest of Diamond Systems’ enclosures, this rugged box provides protection in the harshest environments and enables complete solutions for their customers. The one on display, Sabre, at this show is for the COM Express Mini form factor and it accommodates the 12-port switch. On the front is a set of three military connectors. Next is a an Industrial MIDI enclosure with a variety of I/O brought out to the front which accommodates an Eagle SBC which uses Toradex Apalis ARM modules and Diamond Eagle carrier board that goes inside along with a variety of I/O (serial ports, CAN ports, connectors, display, analog). Diamond has an ongoing relationship with partner Toradex who I also filmed at EW2018 here

More boards on display in their booth includes the Analog I/O modules: DMM-16-AT along with DMM-16RP-AT which is bus agnostic. Eaglet, a more compact version of the earlier noted Eagle SBC. The discussion turns to PC/104 where Miller notes the longevity of the product and long value it has had as a form factor. A little later, PCIe MiniCards are shown and discussed as used: I/O; CAN module, Analog I/O module; Ethernet and digital I/O.

Pandora box with connectors on the board for connecting directly into the box. Plug in and go. Typically used on a controller.

Products shown on the right half of the booth are proven designs that they have had on the market now already for a while. A large part of the sales are based on these designs and are custom in some fashion depending on customer’s request.

Next for Diamond are more small things, COM Express, small form factors and more. You can read more about their solutions at http://diamondsystems.com

Toradex Apalis iMX8QM, NXP i.MX 8QM, and more demos at EW2018

Charbax — Wed, 07 Mar 2018 17:00:19 +0000

Toradex booth tour at Embedded World 2018 featuring their new Toradex Apalis iMX8 QM System on Module (SoM) based on the NXP’s i.MX 8QuadMax processor. Toradex’s demos featuring the Apalis iMX8QM includes one with Qt 3D Studio. The Apalis iMX8QM offers one click OS installation via the Toradex Easy Installer and offers 2x Arm Cortex-A72 cores, 4x Cortex-A53 cores, and 2x Cortex-M4 cores. The Apalis iMX8QM also contains on-board dual-band 802.11ac 2×2 MU-MIMO Wi-Fi and is Bluetooth 5 ready. This SoM offers advanced hardware security and safety features, and is ideal for signal processing, computer vision and HMI applications. Interested third parties can sign up for early access for the Apalis iMX8QM here

In addition, Toradex is also showing their soon to be available Toradex Colibri iMX8X SoM, based on NXP’s i.MX 8X processor. With 2-4x Arm Cortex-A35 cores and 1x Cortex-M4 core, the SoM is ideal for industrial automation, HMI, robotics, building applications and healthcare. The Colibri iMX8X also contains on-board dual-band 802.11ac 2×2 MU-MIMO Wi-Fi and is Bluetooth 5 ready.

Toradex also showcases some of their other demos such as a Deep Learning demo featuring its Toradex Apalis TK1 SoM in collaboration with its partner Vertex.AI, the demo highlights Vertex.AI’s Vision deep learning and object detection software, and is a complete end-to-end deep learning demo, showcasing pasta detection. Additionally, Toradex has a demo in collaboration with its partner, Roboception, which integrates Toradex’s Apalis TK1 SoM for high-performance onboard processing, the demo has onboard SLAM for indoor and outdoor navigation, accurate visual-intertial motion estimation, and standard interfaces for an intuitive WEB-GUI.

Toradex also has a range of demos highlighting its Toradex partner ecosystem. From CODESYS’ real-time SoftPLC with EtherCAT, Crank’s low- and high-end UI, DiSTI’s safety focused HMI, Green Hills’ INTEGRITY RTOS on Colibri iMX6, Antmicro’s Android on Vision Kit, Acontis’ optimized EtherCAT, TES’ 3D Surround View/Guiliani, Mender.io’s over-the-air updates, Christmann’s Apalis computer cluster, Gumstix’s voice control carrier board, MVTec’s HPeek and more.

To stay up-to-date with news from Toradex, you can sign up to their newsletter here.

Latest from the Linaro Digital Home Group at Linaro Connect San Francisco 2017

Charbax — Tue, 03 Oct 2017 00:14:37 +0000

Mark Gregotski, DIrector of the Linaro Digital Home Group, provides an update on the latest work in open source for the Digital Home Group that LHG is working on including the adoption of OP-TEE (Open Portable Trusted Execution Environment) with DRM integrations including PlayReady DRM PK v3.3 on AOSP 8.0 on the HiKey960 development board and Widevine for Linux and for Android AOSP. NXP demonstrates some of their work, NXP has recently joined the Linaro Digital Home Group. The LHG group has worked to integrate V4L2 with gstreamer and ffmpeg to improve media playback on ARM offloading all the computation onto the video codec hardware of the SoC.

Purism Librem Debian phone, fully open source, Librem 11, 13, 15 Laptops

Charbax — Fri, 29 Sep 2017 16:37:51 +0000

Purism Phone is crowdfunding at https://puri.sm/shop/librem-5/ ($847’454 raised thus far) runs PureOS based on Debian Free/Libre and Open Source software and a GNU+Linux Operating System, it can run most GNU+Linux distributions, it’s runs many other upstream projects, it’s world’s first ever IP-native mobile handset with end-to-end decentralized communications via Matrix, with a 5″ display, Security focused by design, Privacy protection by default, works with 2G/3G/4G, GSM, UMTS, and LTE networks with an i.MX8 or i.MX6 CPU separate from Baseband with open-source GPU drivers, Hardware Kill Switches for Camera, Microphone, WiFi/Bluetooth, and Baseband. Purism also has a track record of delivering fully open source Intel powered laptops the Librem 11 2-in-1, the Librem 13 and the Librem 15.

TechNexion Factory Tour

Charbax — Fri, 16 Jun 2017 13:11:09 +0000

TechNexion is a design and manufacturing company showing in this video its engineering team, that designs IoT smart devices, development boards for the needs of projects like the ARM powered Android Things ecosystem by Google or Amazon Alexa Voice-Recognition development platform and its advanced manufacturing capabilities. In the video, we get a direct glimpse of how ARM modules and systems are designed and how much automation is being utilized in a smart SMT factory. The video tour takes you through all production stages from the module design to SMT manufacturing to post production functional testing. The factory churns out up to 250K PCBA per month. Filmed on location at the TechNexion factory in Taipei, Taiwan in June 2017.

Android Things Development Board by TechNexion

Charbax — Sun, 04 Jun 2017 18:21:52 +0000

TechNexion shows the Android Things ARM Powered development platform designed to enable energy-efficient, secure and portable applications for Google’s Internet of Things ecosystem strategy. The development platforms provide hardware that developers need to speed up their IoT projects on the Android Things platform as well as onto other supported platforms such as Ubuntu, Debian, Yocto Project, regular Android and more. TechNexion also continues to build on its complete lineup of System on Modules designed for modular, versatile, scalable and low-power applications that can be easily integrated into other devices for all types of IoT development.

Netronix solar E Ink Bus Timetable, 13.3″ Mobius e-reader, 6.8″, Shelf Labels, 32″ color

Charbax — Sun, 04 Jun 2017 18:03:41 +0000

Netronix shows some of their latest E Ink devices, including color E Ink, ePaper Bus Stop that can be solar powered, electronic shelf labels and the 13.3″ Flexible Mobius e-reader and the 6.8″ E Ink device with digitizer.

Android Things on TechNexion Pico i.MX7D, i.MX6UL and soon i.MX8M

Charbax — Fri, 19 May 2017 22:26:08 +0000

Google Android Things launch partner, TechNexion Pico Pi SoM is an ARM Powered Google Android Things IoT development System on Module, the NXP Pico i.MX7D Dual Core ARM Cortex-A7 with ARM Cortex-M4, NXP Pico i.MX6UL and soon also it will be with 64bit i.MX8M Quad Core ARM Cortex-A53 and ARM Cortex-M4. These TechNexion Android Things System on Modules can dock into a Raspberry Pi form factor for development and expansion of advanced IoT projects using Android Things, you can read more about Android Things at http://iot.google.com and https://developer.android.com/things/hardware/developer-kits.html

you can see the TechNexion Android Things SoM at the Google I/O keynote about Android Things 19 minutes, 50 seconds into the video here:

Toradex at Microsoft Booth with Azure IoT Hub, Windows 10 IoT Core and Windows Embedded Compact

Charbax — Fri, 19 May 2017 20:41:12 +0000

At the Microsoft booth, Toradex demonstrated its multiplatform system connected to the Microsoft Azure IoT Hub – the Cloud Parking demo. Toradex System on Modules (SoMs) were employed in the access control, license plate recognition and the payment system, the communication between them made only through the internet, using only the Azure services. Linux, Windows 10 IoT Core, and Windows Embedded Compact are used as Operating Systems on the modules. Additionally, an interesting Toradex showcase included their new Heterogeneous Multicore Low Power demo featuring the Colibri iMX7D based on the NXP i.MX 7 Dual Core SoC.

Hololens at Microsoft Embedded World Booth Tour and Toradex, Azure Windows 10 IoT Core

Charbax — Fri, 19 May 2017 20:35:50 +0000

My first time trying on the Microsoft Hololens headmounted augmented reality system running on an Intel cherrytrail system selling at $3000 on the Microsoft store. In this video I walk around the Microsoft booth at Embedded World, checking out some of Microsoft’s partners including Microtronics smart bicvcle running Silicon Labs ARM Cortex-M system through Windows Server. This video features Toradex at 4:13 into the video demonstrating its multiplatform system connected to the Microsoft Azure IoT Hub where Linux, Windows 10 IoT Core, and Windows Embedded Compact are used as Operating Systems on the modules featuring Heterogeneous Multicore Low Power Colibri iMX7D based on the NXP i.MX 7 Dual Core SoC.

Onyx BOOX Max Carta 13.3″ Flexible E Ink 2200×1650

Charbax — Sat, 15 Apr 2017 17:40:08 +0000

Onyx unveils the world’s first 13.3″ Flexible high-resolution E Ink Carta device, for the first time shown to the public, with an amazing 2200×1650 resolution, fast handwriting for annotations and notes, beautiful rendering of A4 documents, pdf, epub and any other formats compatible with e-readers on Android. This is just one of the whole range of E Ink Carta devices shown by Onyx, they also have 6″ devices, 6.8″, 9.7″ and the 10.3″ device and the 9.7″ ONYX Typewriter that I also filmed in this other Onyx video, ONYX also shows that it will be possible to mirror or extend a laptop display (or any other HDMI source) onto an upcoming 13.3″ ONYX device and also ONYX has an amazing 9.7″ ultra-light device with capacitive buttons in the works featured at the end of this video.

Distributors can contact Onyx International here:
Onyx International Inc.
Andreu
[email protected]
Skype: andreu.onyx
Mobile: +86 133 6004 2413
http://www.onyx-international.com/en/

Onyx E Ink Laptop and 10.3″ Flexible E Ink Mobius Reader, Onyx Typewriter and Onyx 10.3″ Boox Buddy

Charbax — Sat, 15 Apr 2017 16:32:09 +0000

Onyx Typewriter has up to 25 days battery life in use (up to 50+ days battery life in standby according to Onyx), it is the world’s first E Ink Laptop. The screen can be perfect to type texts outdoors, during the day in the sunlight, in the park, on your boat, on your balcony, on the beach, to get some natural sunlight while doing work! Of course the E Ink Laptop cannot replace your existing laptop, this is why a smart UI is going to be required. Onyx Typewriter runs Android so a smart app/instance could potentially make this great.

Onyx 10.3″ BOOX Buddy from Onyx (at 7min27sec in this video) is one of the most amazing E Ink devices that I have even seen, amazingly light, thin, the E Ink display is flexible! Flush with the bezels, has a digitizer annotations support and capacitive touch, extremely beautiful and check how quick the stylus input is, it feels nearly like writing with a pen on paper!

These new awesome Onyx devices are two of the coolest new devices in the world. Here are just two, but there is more (check my other Onyx video featuring Onyx BOOX Max Carta 13.3″ 2200×1650 Flexible E Ink device here) could enter mass production and be released in the months to come, when they can be perfected for release. Hopefully the price for these will be affordable, that might depend on the popularity and demand for these special E Ink displays, as the highest cost of these devices is the E Ink display and E Ink prices their displays cheaply only if the volumes are going to be big enough.

Distributors can contact Onyx International here:
Onyx International Inc.
Andreu
[email protected]
Skype: andreu.onyx
Mobile: +86 133 6004 2413
http://www.onyx-international.com/en/

365km/h electric car, Rimac Concept One with Toradex Apalis Systems inside

Charbax — Fri, 07 Apr 2017 11:30:35 +0000

Toradex shows off Rimac Concept One at the Qt booth at Embedded World 2017. RIMAC Automobili Concept One is an ultra-fast electric super car with a top-speed of 365km/h, a 0-60mph acceleration of only 2,5 seconds, 1224HP, 1600Nm Torque. RIMAC chose Qt and Toradex as they provided a true ‘out-of-box’ experience to create one of the most advanced In-Vehicle Infotainment (IVI) systems and instrument clusters on the market, from scratch. The car uses several Apalis System on Modules throughout the car. This video also talks about Toradex’s Heterogeneous Multicore Low Power and Fast Boot.

Project developers and industry insiders can contact Toradex here:
[email protected]
http://toradex.com

SCEWO stairclimbing wheelchair from ETH Zurich using Toradex at Embedded World 2017

Charbax — Thu, 23 Mar 2017 11:02:31 +0000

SCEWO is a stairclimbing wheelchair equipped with a Toradex Apalis iMX6 SoM – born from a master’s degree thesis from Zurich University (ETH), which demonstrates what can be done using Toradex Computer on Modules (CoMs)/System on Modules(SoMs) in safety-critical applications. Other engaging demos included TAQ, the balancing robot, featuring Toradex’s Colibri iMX7 SoM with NXP i.MX 7 processor, a rover using the Apalis TK1 SoM with the NVIDIA TK1 to recognize street signs, and many more at Toradex’s booth at Embedded World 2017. Toradex also mentioned its launch of two new SoMs based on NXP i.MX 8QuadMax and NXP i.MX 6ULL: Apalis iMX8 and Colibri iMX6ULL respectively. The Colibri iMX6ULL offers a low-cost and power efficient platform, along with integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, targeting the emerging IoT and connected market; and the Apalis iMX8 offers high-performance and powerful graphics for Computer Vision applications.

Project developers and industry insiders can contact Toradex here:
[email protected]
https://www.toradex.com

Zephyr Project, open source OS for IoT

Charbax — Mon, 20 Mar 2017 19:11:42 +0000

Matt Locke, Director of the Linaro IoT and Embedded Group (LITE) and Maureen Helm of NXP, one of the maintainers of the Zephyr Project which is a Linux Foundation hosted open source collaboration project, uniting leaders from across the industry to build a best-in-breed small, scalable, real-time operating system (RTOS) optimized for resource constrained devices, across multiple architectures. The Zephyr Project’s goal is to establish a neutral project where silicon vendors, OEMs, ODMs, ISVs, and OSVs can contribute technology to reduce the cost and accelerate time to market for developing the billions of devices that will make up the majority of the Internet of Things of the future.

The Zephyr Project is perfect for building simple connected sensors, LED wearables, up to modems and small IoT wireless gateways. Because the Zephyr OS is modular and supports multiple architectures, developers are able to easily tailor an optimal solution to meet their needs. As a true open source project, the community can evolve the project to support new hardware, developer tools, sensor and device drivers. Enhancements in security, device management capabilities, connectivity stacks and file systems can be easily implemented.

NXP i.MX8, ARM Cortex-A72, ARM Cortex-A53 and ARM Cortex-M4

Charbax — Sat, 18 Mar 2017 18:17:22 +0000

NXP i.MX 8 series of applications processors is a feature and performance scalable multicore platform that includes single-, dual- and quad-core families based on the ARM Cortex-A72, ARM Cortex-A53, ARM Cortex-A35 and ARM Cortex-M4 based solutions with advanced graphics, imaging, machine vision, audio, voice, video and safety critical applications also including its Vivante GC7000LiteXS/VX GPU. NXP i.MX8 supports Android, Linux, FreeRTOS, QNX, Green Hills, Dornerworks XEN and more with 10-year long term support for the chip provided by NXP.

Secure IoT updates bootloader on NXP FRDM-K64F ARM Cortex-M4

Charbax — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 23:26:41 +0000

David Brown at Linaro demonstrates the mcuboot project. mcuboot started as the bootloader for the Mynewt project. David has ported this to Zephyr, and the bootloader is now its own project.

Voice control powered by NXP i.MX ARM Processors in Amazon Echo, Google Home and more

stromium — Sun, 05 Mar 2017 00:56:52 +0000

NXP Semiconductors has on display the Amazon Echo, for which they are partners. An NXP representative explains the different applications for which NXP provides solutions, and how voice recognition can be run on multi-core ARM processors for power-efficient computing. The IMX 6, 7 and 8 series cover the full range from low-power to high-performance solutions, with applications for the 8 being consumer high-performance video and audio, automotive, and heavy industrial usage. NXP supplies everything from the CPU to the I/O to the software. The Kindle series use IMX 6 and 7 processors, for example. NXP talks about the upcoming i.MX8 Quad max, i.MX8M for multimedia and another i.MX8 coming for the embedded world.

Micro:bit CTO and CEO interview

Charbax — Fri, 10 Feb 2017 06:49:30 +0000

Johnny Austin is the CTO of the micro:bit foundation, they have distributed about 1 million units for free to every school kid age 12 in the UK, who use them to learn programming. The retail price is £13 in the UK. Micro:bit Foundation has announced three new Founding partners to join the current six. The British Council, Amazon and Lancaster University will be joining the BBC, Nominet, ARM, IET, Microsoft and Samsung. Zach Shelby is the CEO and he talks about how they are working to make the micro:bit available worldwide to everyone who wants to use it. The micro:bit is now available in 32 countries, with resellers in eleven. The micro:bit Foundation with element 14, the distributor of the BBC micro:bit, announced resellers in six new countries. This means educational organisations, teachers, kids, parents and makers will now also be able to locally purchase the BBC micro:bit in Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Netherlands and Finland.

Diamond Systems ARM Computing EAGLE I/O-Rich SBCs and Carrier Boards

Charbax — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 19:04:36 +0000

Diamond Systems, a global supplier of compact, rugged, I/O-rich embedded computing solutions for real-world applications in a broad range of markets, unveiled its EAGLE family of compact, rugged ARM single-board computers and carrier boards designed to work with the Toradex Apalis family of ARM computer-on-modules (COMs), see my Toradex at ARM Techcon video here.

The product line is composed of two models, the full-size, full-featured Eagle and its smaller sized, low-cost Eaglet. For greatest convenience, customers may purchase a fully configured off the shelf solution from Diamond, including a select ARM module and heat sink installed, or they may purchase the baseboard and ARM module separately for greater configuration flexibility and lower unit cost. Development Kits, including the fully configured SBC, pre-configured Linux OS on a microSD card, and a full cable kit, are available from Diamond Systems.

Key highlights of the Eagle/Eaglet family are long product lifetime, configuration flexibility, and a wide range of I/O.

You can read the press release and access links to EAGLE product web pages, datasheets, photos here.

Since 1989, Silicon Valley-based Diamond Systems Corporation has provided compact, rugged, board- and system-level real world embedded computing solutions to companies in a broad range of markets, including transportation, energy, aerospace, defense, manufacturing, medical and research.

The company is renowned as an innovator of embedded I/O standards and technologies; it was an early adopter of PC/104 module technology, originated the FeaturePak I/O module and RSODIMM rugged memory module standards, and holds a patent for a unique analog I/O autocalibration technique.

Diamond’s extensive product line includes compact, highly integrated single board computers (SBCs); an extensive line of expansion modules for analog and digital I/O, wired and wireless communications including multiprotocol serial ports and Ethernet switches, GPS, solid-state disk, and power supply functions; and complete, rugged, system-level solutions.

Interested developers can contact Diamond Systems directly here:
Mark Wilson
Marketing Manager
[email protected]
Diamond Systems Corporation
http://diamondsystems.com

Toradex NXP i.MX7 and NVIDIA TK1 Demos at ARM TechCon 2016

Charbax — Fri, 27 Jan 2017 10:24:55 +0000

Toradex is showcasing the popular TAQ balancing robot featuring a Colibri iMX7 SoM based on NXP’s new heterogeneous multicore i.MX7 processor with Dual-Core ARM Cortex-A7 and additional ARM Cortex-M4 core for low-power, real-time or connected-standby IoT. Amid Toradex’s broad product portfolio is the new high performance Apalis TK1 SoM based on NVIDIA’s Tegra K1 featuring a Quad-Core ARM Cortex-A15 processor with 192 CUDA cores for high-end computer vision and 4k video applications for example. Other demos include an impressive Qt Linux fast boot demo featuring an automotive cluster on Apalis i.MX6.

Project developers can contact Toradex here:
[email protected]
http://www.toradex.com

NXP shows Connectivity, Embedded, Mobile and Automotive Technology

juliusaugustus — Wed, 21 Dec 2016 15:21:57 +0000

NXP connectivity technology is incorporated in a variety of devices such as embedded, automotive, and mobile devices. NXP technology is used in a NFC ring which can be used to activate an electric motorcycle or other vehicles. Most cars in the world use NXP technology for connectivy and other automotive functions. NXP also offers wireless charging technology called Qi. NXP amplifiers can be turn a phone speaker into a microphone to improve audio quality and noise cancellation of smartphones. NXP is the market leader in NFC technology.

NXP S32V vision processor for self-driving cars

stromium — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 23:13:19 +0000

An application engineer from NXP demonstrates here their S32V234 automotive-grade image recognition processor that is meant to be used in autonomous self-driving vehicle applications. The board uses 4 Cortex-A53 cores , and an “Apex” signal processor that allows the image to be split into parts and processed on with algorithms in addition to an ISP for filtering. The demonstration is a camera feed processed to show object tracking, with relative motion speed and direction indicated. The board is also meant to recognize traffic signals , and supports 4 cameras with specific framerates for 360° vision processing.

NXP HomeKit SDK on Kinetis K64F ARM Cortex-M4 development board

stromium — Sat, 26 Nov 2016 19:39:40 +0000

NXP here is displaying their development system for Apple HomeKit. It consists of an RGB LED lightbulb being controlled through the setup using Bluetooth LE, with Siri integration. It uses an ARM Cortex-M4 CPU. Also on display is a Point-of-Sale kit (SLN POS RDR). Lastly we see NXP’s modular IoT gateway that supports Zigbee, WiFi, Ethernet, and NFC.

Technologic Systems at ARM Techcon 2016

stromium — Sat, 26 Nov 2016 19:07:49 +0000

Arizona-based Technologic Systems makes boards for embedded applications using ARM CPUs and Linux support packages. Their field applications engineer displays a range of boards with Marvell, NXP, FreeScale Semiconductor, and Cavium processors. Their BAT12 system on display is meant to provide power backup for a few hours in case of loss. They also display their range of LCD monitors with full computers built onto the back of them.

E Ink for Productivity, Onyx N96ML, 9.6″ E Ink Android Reader with digitizer

Charbax — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 01:52:12 +0000

One of the potential segment for devices that I am quite excited about, is the E Ink based large screen connected stylus touch e-reader. Provided it gets the perfectly smart implementation, it can unlock a world of being more productive reading and annotating all kinds of texts, in all kinds of fields of study, professionalism, creativity and curiosity. Reading on an E Ink display has already been proven by Kindle to be an awesome experience. Make use of customized Android for E Ink devices, WiFi and Bluetooth, and the potential for this device can be really great and for me is quite exciting. This is the Onyx N96ML, a 9.6″ 1200×825 E Ink Pearl display with stylus touch and front light, running on the NXP Freescale i.MX6Solo Lite for E Ink, running Onyx’s advanced customized Android UI for E Ink. You can buy it for $379 at Amazon.com

iNet Smart Sonic Toothbrush, Smart Food Scale, Smartwatch, VR and POS with Datamini

Charbax — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 00:13:27 +0000

iNet is one of the leading design houses in Shenzhen, here presenting their latest IoT Smart Devices, their smart connected toothbrush, their smart food scale, smart kitchen scale, for potentially healthier more accurate better tasting cooking, smart doorbell with camera video call, the smart weight scale. iNet also shows their all-in-one VR using the octa-core Allwinner H8vr. iNet also shows their special VR which is powered through the gamepad remote controller. They also show the smart car mirror, also showing bluetooth temperature and pressure monitors for car tires, smartwatches with transparent display. An NXP54101 powered classical smartwatch with bus payment, NFC/smartcard, wireless charge. MIPS ingenic Android Smartwatch. And also a POS system with fingerprint, smart card reader, nfc, and more developed with Datamini on MediaTek and Intel x86.

$49 NXP Hexiwear, IoT and Wearables development platform

Charbax — Sun, 30 Oct 2016 19:27:35 +0000

Hexiwear platform enables IoT edge node and wearable development. Completely open-source and developed by MikroElektronika in partnership with NXP. The Hexiwear hardware includes the low power, high performance Kinetis K6x Microcontroller based on ARM Cortex-M4 core, the Kinetis KW40Z multimode radio SoC, supporting BLE in Hexiwear. The Hardware features included 6 on-board sensors such as Optical Heart Rate Monitor, Accelerometer and Magnetometer, Gyroscope, Temperature, Humidity, light and Pressure sensors. Hexiwear also includes Color OLED Display, Rechargeable battery and External flash memory. Hexiwear is supported with its own application for Android and iOS, so users can connect the device to the cloud straight out of the box, without any additional software development required. Hexiwear uses FreeRTOS, the Kinetis software development kit (SDK) and the Kinetis Design Studio IDE. It’s available for $49 at http://www.hexiwear.com/shop/

ARM Cortex-M33, ARM Cortex-M23, ARMv8-M, TrustZone, IoT Technology Suite

Charbax — Sat, 29 Oct 2016 00:47:39 +0000

ARM launches their first ARM Cortex-M processors based on ARMv8-M architecture with ARM TrustZone technology,
IoT subsystem with ARM CoreLink system IP for fastest, lowest-risk path to silicon, Secure SoC designs fortified by TrustZone CryptoCell technology, Complete wireless solution with ARM Cordio radio IP for 802.15.4 and Bluetooth 5, Cloud-based service for secure management of IoT devices via ARM mbed Cloud, Optimized implementation on ARM Artisan IoT POP IP for the TSMC 40ULP process.

ARM Cortex-M23 and Cortex-M33 are the first embedded processors based on the ARMv8-M architecture, bringing the proven secure foundation of ARM TrustZone to the most constrained IoT nodes. The majority of the top ten global MCU suppliers have already licensed one or both processors. Lead partners include Analog Devices, Microchip, Nuvoton, NXP, Renesas, Silicon Labs and STMicroelectronics.

The highly versatile Cortex-M33 features configuration options including a coprocessor interface, DSP and floating point computation, with increased performance and efficiency relative to Cortex-M3 and Cortex-M4. The Cortex-M23 takes security to the most constrained devices, building on the standard set by Cortex-M0+ as an ultra-low power microprocessor in a tiny footprint
The new Cortex-M processors are backwards compatible with ARMv6-M and ARMv7-M architectures for direct and fast porting, accelerating product development. TrustZone CryptoCell-312 fortifies the SoC with a rich set of security features protecting the authenticity, integrity and confidentiality of code and data.

Read the full press release here: https://www.arm.com/about/newsroom/arm-accelerates-secure-iot-from-chip-to-cloud.php

TechNexion ARM industrial modules, NXP i.MX7D dual-core ARM Cortex-A7 with ARM Cortex-M4

Charbax — Wed, 08 Jun 2016 12:47:09 +0000

TechNexion is a Taiwanese company under European Management with own manufacturing facilities in Taipei, Taiwan. Florian Wohlrab, Marketing manager at TechNexion shows us around their booth at COMPUTEX 2016. The first thing to see is their tiny Modules which pack an ARM based NXP i.MX6/7 CPU (UltraLite/Solo/DualLite/Dual/Quad) with RAM, Memory and WiFi on just 36mm x 40mm. They are also the only one running a NXP i.MX7 live demo at their booth. The NXP i.MX7D is with 2x Cortex-A7 and a Cortex-M4 this a tiny, ultralow power, that can be used for vending machines, industrial applications or generic headless systems. TechNexion is also committed to the open source EDM standard for ARM Modules. Their boards are fit for Digital Signage, rugged industrial Applications and many more. Technexion can scale up to the NXP i.MX6 QUAD Plus, which will be available shortly. They also have some cool ARM bassed systems like their BoxPC the TEK Series. This Box PC’s have MiniPCIe slots with SIM-Card holder inside and also M.2 Slots for memory upgrade. Technexion also supports USB Type-C and for automation a VGA connector as well a HDMI to fit it for Digital Signage as well. Inside is a modular system which allows you to switch e.g. Power input between 12V/24V/10~30V/PoE (Power over Ethernet). TechNexion HMI series ranges from 7” to 10” and 15” again with NXP processors. All the Software is freely available on their website with no need to register.

You can Contact TechNexion here: [email protected]
TechNexion Website: http://www.TechNexion.com

DS-TAGS E Ink BAGTAG with NXP enables Smart Luggage Tag

Charbax — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 12:24:14 +0000

DS-TAGS (http://www.dstags.com) shows off their new BAGTAG solution at the NXP booth. BAGTAG enables passengers on airplanes and the travel industry to speed up the luggage check-in process at airports, it includes a secure electronic E Ink bag tag, an Android/iOS app & SDK and a cloud-based platform that allows secure end-to-end data service. With BAGTAG airlines can now offer “off-airport” baggage check-in, which allows travelers to beat the queues at an airport or terminal thanks to a revamped baggage drop-off process of less than 8 seconds. BAGTAG will become available later this year.

DS-TAGS BAGTAG has “10-year battery life” using an ultra-low power ARM Cortex-M0 to drive a 4” E-INK display. The device powers off instantly when the tag is updated while passively providing routing information to the airline infrastructure due to the bi-stable feature of E Ink. The BAGTAG’s superior barcode readability and integrated UHF results in improved read-rates, reduce the chance of misplaced luggage. A traveler can update the BAGTAG themselves with their own smartphone via either NFC or Bluetooth LE. The security of the device is handled by a secure element provided by NXP, much like the payment card industry is using today.

NXP shows common usages in society for their NFC

Gennie — Wed, 17 Jun 2015 01:33:35 +0000

NXP show their latest NFC and wireless technology on Computex 2015,NFC enabled vending machine, with NFC mobile phone or other wireless devices, customer can purchase or sell products in more secured and faster way. With a swipe of NFC-equipped entrance passes, customer can traveling with bikes, buses, and metros very convenient.

Bainisha Body Motion Capturing using Printed Electronics

Charbax — Thu, 14 May 2015 23:36:06 +0000

Bainisha is a high-tech start-up dedicated to the development of a new paradigm in Body Motion Capturing. This interview, taken at the IDTechEx event on Wearable Technology, shows some of the product they are working on. Based on a thin hyper-stretchable film version of an Inverse Artificial Muscle, it delivers a set of new and hitherto unattained functionalities in terms of accuracy, speed & differentiation. The on-body concept guarantees an Absolute Body References Frame and hence sets a new standard for Medical Quality Data. Because the system has no “wake-up”-threshold and no filtering and/or damping combined with a +kHz capturing speed, it allows capturing such minute displacements as muscle tremor, pre-natal contractions, fatigue induced tremble etc… as well as explosive kinetics. Learn more about the technology and event at http://www.wearabletechnologyinsights.com

Enfucell Printed Battery Powering Golf Sensor, Temperature Sensors and More

Charbax — Mon, 11 May 2015 10:22:35 +0000

Enfucell is a customized battery supplier to the printed electronics industry. The company has developed SoftBattery®, a thin, flexible and eco-friendly printed power source and at the IDTechEx Printed Electronics Europe event in Berlin it showcased a range of products based on this battery. It includes a powered wireless golf sensor patch which was developed in a joint project with Qualcomm. The patch is attached to a golf club head for measuring acceleration and angular velocity. The acquired data is transferred via low energy Bluetooth (BLE) to an application on a mobile device. Enfucell battery powers the BLE data transmission without additional capacitor demonstrating the highest peak power capability in the industry. Battery is also fully integrated to the system.

The disposable patch is helping golf players to improve their swing. This is the first time that a player can actually get feedback from the club head. A fully integrated printed battery enables thin and light construction which does not interfere with the normal stroke. Thanks to the BLE communication, data can be analyzed on site on the driving range during a training session. The data is collected to and processed on an Android tablet.

A similar patch can be tailored for other racquet sports, shooting, bowling, etc. Enfucell is looking for partners for commercializing the product. The new product platform completes Enfucell application range with previously introduced temperature logger (collaboration with NXP) and iontophoresis patch (collaboration with The Ionto Team, Spain). Also these products have fully integrated Enfucell battery technology. All of these are shown in the video. To learn more see http://www.PrintedElectronicsWorld.com

NXP shows Worlds Smallest 5V Qi Wireless Charger

Charbax — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 04:27:21 +0000

NXP Semiconductors demonstrates their new Qi wireless charging transmitter device, which integrates all the circuits for a 5V mobile phone charger in an extremely small package measuring only 5-mm square. Using the NXP solution, fewer than 10 external components are needed to build a complete low-power 5V Qi A5/A11 wireless charging transmitter, alongside the Qi coil and resonant capacitors. The small footprint of the NXP NXQ1TXA5 system-on-chip means that the whole transmitter sits on a PCB of less than 1.5 cm-square with components on a single side. This opens up interesting possibilities for innovative wireless charging pad designs, including fitting the transmitter within the center of the Qi coil.

Text from press release

NXP Environmental Mobile Sensor Platform demo

Charbax — Sat, 01 Mar 2014 21:40:14 +0000

Stefan Crijns demonstrates how NXP’s Mobile Sensor Platform allows mobile users to intelligently measure the temperature and humidity of the environment around them.

NXP NFC for Payments at Mobile World Congress 2012

Charbax — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 11:10:33 +0000

NXP shows and talks about how NFC is being implemented throughout the smartphones industry to provide for identification and their other chip for authentication technology.

NXP Cortex-M series solutions

Charbax — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 18:02:44 +0000

NXP offers as wide variety of Cortex-M products from Cortex-M0 to Cortex-M4, here in this video are some demonstrations.