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Neu-X300 – Edge Computing System Powered by 8th Generation Intel® Core™ Processor

Posted on by mixos

NEXCOM has launched Neu-X300, a high performance fanless computer, powered with 8th Generation Intel® Core™ i-series processors. With its 190mm x 200mm x 54.4mm size, the modern-looking Neu-X300 uses a TPM2.0 IC to enhance cyber security. By specifically choosing an i5 or i7 processor, Neu-X300 is further equipped with vPRO remote management capability. And with its versatile I/O interface design, it’s ideally suited to meeting the demands of smart city and miscellaneous electronic applications, such as digital signage, drive-through systems, and retail solutions.

Wide Range of High Performance CPU Options

Powered by 8th Generation Intel® Core™ Coffee Lake i3/i5/i7 socket CPU and Intel® UHD Graphics 630, Neu-X300 has exceptional processing abilities and can stream 3D visual effects. With the socket CPU, you’re able to determine and manage the level of CPU performance, based on business requirements, by easily replacing and upgrading from a wide range of Intel® 8th Generation i7/i5/i3 CPUs.

For the customer looking for streaming 2D/3D visual graphics, the Intel Core i3 is an excellent, budget-friendly choice. On the other hand, Core i5/i7 CPUs provides Turbo Boost to speed up tasks, achieving CPU benchmark scores 50% higher than i3s’. With facial identification and object detection systems, the Core i5/i7 CPU also suits the customer who demands more advanced computing performance, for smart cities and AI purposes.

Absolute Security and Easy Manageability

Neu-X300 is designed with both security and manageability in mind. It supports TPM 2.0 security mechanisms, which effectively reduce malicious attacks with greater crypto-agility. With its vPro technology, the Neu-X300 with i5/i7 CPU can additionally implement remote management, making operations more flexible. Used in chain stores’ drive-through services, for instance, the Neu-X300 could not only utilize the triple display capabilities for menus but also remote management to allow the command center to perform tasks like information updates and system reboots, rather than on-site. Moreover, NEXCOM offers its own PowerDigiS software to shorten deployment periods.

Main Features

  • 8th gen. Intel® Core™ socket type processor
  • HDMI 2.0 resolution 4K@60Hz
  • Storage M.2 M Key 2280
  • Support Vpro technology
  • Dual DDR4 SO-DIMM
  • TPM 2.0 IC on board
  • PCIe x16 slot for extra graphic card usage
  • Fanless design

Versatile I/O Interface

By reserving two RJ45 ports and one M.2 device for LAN, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth modules, the Neu-X300 possesses excellent wireless transmission abilities, making it ideal for smart city gateway applications. The rich I/O interface, which includes three HDMI, four USB 3.0, and one COM port, also makes the Neu-X300 the perfect solution for varied digital applications. Parking payment machines, for instance, could utilize the multiple USB and COM ports to connect various peripheral devices, like receipt printers, barcode scanners, and image capture cameras. But the Neu-X300 is not just limited to the aforementioned applications, as it can be your solution for menu boards, self-ordering systems, interactive kiosks, transportation information boards, and so on.

more information: www.nexcom.com

Piksey Atto: An incredibly tiny, Arduino compatible board with USB!

Posted on by mixos

This cost-effective, yet tiny USB dev. board is designed for makers. It can be soldered onto PCBs, used with a breadboard or by itself.

The author recently started creating DIY projects on their YouTube channel and they ran into a similar issue, time and again. Most of the sensors and modules that they commonly use are already very small in size but the Arduino compatible boards used to drive them were not so much. There are some development boards that are small in size but they all seem to have one issue or the other – either they do not have enough I/O pins, are not powerful enough or lack native USB support which limits the overall capabilities.

They designed Piksey Atto to take care of all these issues while also making it cheap enough to leave in projects. The board uses the ATmega32U4 microcontroller which is the same chip used in the Arduino Leonardo and Arduino Micro. This means that it is compatible with all existing sketches and works out of the box without having to install any board support packages. The Atto is smaller than a £1 coin and has everything you need to use it in your projects, including native USB support which allows you to use it to interact with your computer and much more!

The Atto has castellation holes which allow it to be used with proto-boards, PCBs and even breadboards (by first soldering header pins to it). This allows you to easily (and elegantly) add a microcontroller to prototypes or even finished projects. Check out the demo section below to see how we have used Atto with PCBs. Its small size has allowed us to create a nice little RGB LED coaster.

The Atto was designed with makers in mind and here are some of the specs worth noting:

  • Core: ATmega32U4 microcontroller running at 16MHz
  • Memory: 32KB Flash, 2.5KB SRAM, 1KB EEPROM
  • Digital I/O: 11
  • Analog Input: 4
  • PWM Channels: 4 (+ more with software)
  • Communication: USART/SPI/I2C (TWI)
  • Operating Voltage: 5V
  • Dimensions:  0.5″x0.8″ (12.70mmx20.32mm)
  • Weight: 1.3g (0.04oz)
  • Software: Works out of the box with the Arduino IDE 1.0+ (Win/OSX/Linux)

The project is live on Kickstarter with a 7,000 GBP goal, or about $9100 US. Rewards are scheduled to ship in June 2020.

SiTime Low-Power Oscillators in tiny packages

Posted on by mixos

SiTime Corporation’s general-purpose low-power oscillators are custom programmable by Digi-Key. Production qty’s are available within 48 hours of purchase. Digi-Key’s custom programming capabilities shorten engineers’ design cycles enabling faster time to market. These oscillators offer a perfect combination of low power consumption, excellent stability, small size, and fast start-up. Parts are also available in a SOT23 package which offers excellent board-level solder-joint reliability and enables low-cost, optical-only board-level inspection. Now system designers have lower frequency options based on programmable MEMS timing technology. This technology is ideal for industrial sensor applications because of its low-frequency range, low power consumption, and resilience to radio-frequency interference (RFI) and mechanical stressors.

Traditionally, system designers have been limited to very few frequency options if they wanted less than a megahertz output frequency. With conventional quartz devices, the crystal resonator is cut from the blank material in a specific size, angle, and shape to achieve each frequency. Due to manufacturing constraints, quartz vendors select a limited number of frequencies to support, especially in the lower frequency range. MEMS technology provides robustness against shock, vibration, and RFI. Resistance to mechanical force is due to the miniaturization of MEMS. The mass of a MEMS resonator is 500 to 3,000 times smaller than a quartz resonator.

Features

  • Configurable feature set
  • Wide range of frequencies
  • Very small packaging
  • Low power consumption
  • FlexEdge™ configurable drive strength
  • Field programmability
  • SOT23 option
  • Short lead times

more information: www.sitime.com

TDK announces world’s first MIPI standard SoundWire microphone

Posted on by mixos

TDK Corporation introduces the world’s first MIPI Standard SoundWire® microphone for mobile, IoT and other consumer devices. This multimode microphone pushes the boundaries of digital microphone acoustic performance while providing advanced feature sets with very low power.

Highlights

  • T5808 is a 66 dB SNR/135 dB AOP digital microphone in a 3.5 × 2.65 × 0.98 mm package
  • Supports up to seven individually configurable microphones on a single audio bus
  • SoundWire 1.1 compliant based on Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) Alliance open standards

The T5808 SoundWire microphone features 66 dBA SNR and 135 dB SPL AOP at 650 µA in high quality mode (HQM), and decreases power consumption to 215 µA in low power mode (LPM). The T5808 microphone also features concurrent mode (CCM), enabling simultaneous audio streams from HQM and LPM that can seamlessly transition back and forth without audio glitches.

Key features

  • 5 × 2.65 × 0.98 mm surface-mount package
  • Low power: 215 µA in Low-Power Mode
  • Extended frequency response from 40 Hz to >20 kHz
  • Sleep Mode: 10 µA
  • High power supply rejection (PSR): −91 dB FS
  • Fourth-order Σ-Δ modulator
  • Digital pulse density modulation (PDM) output
  • Compatible with Sn/Pb and Pb-free solder processes
  • RoHS/WEEE compliant

The SoundWire Standards Committee, who created the MIPI standard for SoundWire, includes technology leaders in application processors, audio DSPs and codecs, and other ICs. SoundWire is a standard audio bus that supports multiple audio devices including microphones, speakers, codecs and class D amplifiers. SoundWire revolutionizes how audio devices and ICs communicate by integrating audio and control data for up to 11 devices (e.g. 7 mics, 4 speakers) on a single bus.

more information: www.invensense.com

Meet the NanoPi R2S from FriendlyElec

Posted on by Emmanuel Odunlade

In a bid to achieve full rate dual Gigabit, the FriendlyElec’s team is currently working on its latest open-source IoT application artifact which is an upgraded version of the NanoPi R1S SBC & Gateway, called the NanoPi R2S.

In contrast to the NanoPi R1S which came with 512MB RAM, an Allwinner H3 / H5 processor and a USB 2.0 to Ethernet Controller to mention a few, the new NanoPI R2S is based on the Rockchip RK3328 processor and is expected to come with more system memory including a 1GB DDR4 RAM, along with support for the 4G LTE via Huawei 8372H-155 USB dongle and two Gigabit Ethernet ports (with one deployed for WAN and the other for LAN) each capable of attaining close to 1Gbps.

While most of the features feel like an upgrade, the NanoPi R2S will not be spotting an On-board wiFi due to unclear reasons and it certainly makes things feel like a downgrade on that end. However, instead of the On-board WiFi, friendlyELEC recommends the use of the RTL8821CU USB dongles which will be supported out-of-the-box by the default firmware.

NanoPi R2S Layout

Asides dropping the WiFi and possible memory increases, most of the other features of the new board seem quite similar to the earlier one, although there is a 10-pin I / O in the R2S which cannot be found in the NanoPi R1S board.

Some of the highlight features and specifications  of the new R2S include:

  • Rockchip RK3328 quad-core Cortex-A53 @ 1.5 GHz
  • 1 Gigabit Ethernet (WAN) @ 941 Mbps, 1 Gigabit Ethernet (LAN) @ 941 Mbps
  • MicroSD slot and SPI flash footprint for storage
  • 1GB DDR4 RAM system memory
  • 1 x Ethernet port using the GMAC from the chip, 1 x Ethernet port relying on a USB 3.0 to Ethernet controller
  • 1 micro USB port (power + slave)
  •  1 USB Type-A host port
  • Debug Serial Port: 3.3V TTL level and 3Pin 2.54mm pitch pin header
  • 5V DC / 2A power supply via Micro USB por
  • tTemperature range of 0℃ to 80℃
  • Supports Ubuntu – Core, U-boot, OpenWrt as software/operating systems
  •  completely open-source for secondary development of personal NAS and enterprise IoT

While the NanoPi R2S board is not yet available with no release date specified, it is certain the board will come at a price more expensive than the NanoPi R1S due to the increased memory and the USB 3.0 to Ethernet controller.

More about the board can be found on its wiki page.

Serpentine – Tiny CircuitPython-Based Development Board

Posted on by Emmanuel Odunlade

CircuitPython’s user base is growing even though a lot of people believe Micropython is a better route. It enjoys the rigorous backing 0f one of the major drivers of the Maker community (Aka Adafruit) and recently has been the “embedded Python” stack of choice for several open-source development boards. One such board is the Serpentine boards created by the popular Arturo182.

Serpentine (Credits: Tindie)

According to the board’s description on Tindie, the Serpentine boards are “a low-cost development boards designed to be used with Adafruit’s CircuitPython”. The boards are based on Microchip SAMD21 Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller and they bear a striking resemblance to the Digisparks boards which the description on Tindie mentioned as the inspiration for the serpentine, “both in form-factor as well as use-cases”. The Serpentine comes with a 256KB of flash, 32KB of RAM and a 4MB flash which is used for storing CircuitPython code and program files. The board operates on a 3.3V power and Logic level but it comes with a 250mA LDO regulator which ensures it can be powered off a USB port.

Highlight features of the board include:

  • ATSAMD21E18A 32-bit Cortex-M0+ running at 48MHz
  • 256KB flash and 32KB RAM
  • 4MB Flash for storing files and CircuitPython code
  • 6 highly customizable GPIOs
  • 250mA LDO
  • 3.3V logic and power
  • Powered either from USB or external source
  • User-controlled RGB LED
  • Mounting holes on the Serpente female Type-C board
  • Castellated edges so the boards can be used as modules easily

One of the major swings in board designs in 2019 was the migration from MicroUSB ports to USB TypeC ports. It became a hugely popular thing with existing boards creating board revisions with USB Type C ports, and new boards adding it to the options.  Serpentine was also created with this in mind as it comes in three versions with the only difference being the USB Connectors. The three versions include the standard Serpente board which comes with a female USB Type-C connector, the Serpente Plug C which comes with a male USB Type-C connector, and the Serpente Plug which uses the board itself as a Type-A USB plug.

The Serpentine boards are available on Tindie for $15 and have so far been bought by 183 people with all 5-stars review.

More information on the board’s features, application and ordering perks can be found in its Tindie Page. 

Acromag Combines A/D, D/A, Digital I/O and Counter/Timer Channels on AcroPack

Posted on by mixos

Acromag adds another military-grade measurement and control module to its AcroPack series of ruggedized mini PCIe I/O modules. The new AP730 multi-function I/O module performs analog input, analog output, discrete I/O and counter/timer functions. A variety of carrier cards can host up to four modules and are available in PCIe, VPX, XMC, CompactPCI-Serial, and mini-ITX embedded computing platforms. These boards are designed for commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) applications in defense, aerospace, and industrial systems to provide a high-density mix of I/O signal interfaces in compact computing environments. With the AP730’s single-module combination of analog and digital I/O functions, system integrators can use remaining carrier mezzanine slots for serial, Ethernet, avionics, and CAN interfaces, or FPGA signal processing with other AcroPack modules.

Each AP730 module features a high-density mix of 28 I/O channels and 32-bit counter/timers in a 30 x 70mm card. Eight differential analog inputs (0-10V, ±10V ranges) feed a 16-bit A/D converter capable of sampling at nearly 800KHz. Four analog output channels have individual 16-bit D/A converters with a 7.5µS settling time. Programmable I/O ranges, sequencing, interrupts, memory allocation, and other controls are supported, as well as external triggering. The bidirectional digital I/O is configured as two 8-channel groups with TTL-compatible thresholds and programmable change-of-state or level interrupts. Counter/timers perform quadrature, frequency, and period measurement functions plus pulse width modulation and waveform generation operations. DMA transfer support efficiently moves data between module memory and the PCIe bus to unburden the system CPU and increase performance.

“Increasing demand for more efficient size, weight, and power (SWaP) computing is driving the need for high-density, multi-function I/O modules like the AP730,” stated Robert Greenfield, Acromag’s Business Development Manager. “The compact yet rugged AcroPack mezzanine is ideal for interfacing a mix of signals in the tightest footprint on PCIe servers, VPX chassis or small form factor computers.”

AcroPack mezzanine modules improve on the mini PCI Express architecture by adding a down-facing 100-pin connector that securely routes the I/O through a carrier card without any loose internal cabling. Carrier cards for rack-mount, field-deployable, industrial chassis, desktop, and small mezzanine computing platforms let you combine up to four I/O function modules on a single computer board. More than 25 models are available for data acquisition, signal processing, test & measurement, command/control, and network communication applications. Software tools support embedded applications running on Linux®, Windows®, or VxWorks® operating systems.

more information: www.acromag.com

Designing in MOSFETs for safe and reliable gate-drive operation

Posted on by mixos

The MOSFET gate-source threshold voltage (VGS-th) and maximum gate-source voltage(VGS-max) are key parameters that are critical to the reliable operation of MOSFETs. The threshold voltage represents the voltage at which the MOSFET starts to turn on, whilst the maximum gate-source voltage is the maximum gate-source voltage that the MOSFET can withstand safely. VGS-max ratings vary between suppliers and between MOSFETs, which can make it difficult to choose appropriate MOSFETs for the application. This application note aims to provide the designer with enough knowledge to appreciate these differences and to select an appropriate MOSFET. We also present a new methodology demonstrating where higher VGS-max rating voltages may be applied for Nexperia’sautomotive grade MOSFETs.

Designing in MOSFETs for safe and reliable gate-drive operation – [PDF]

Inside the digital clock from a Soyuz spacecraft

Posted on by mixos

Ken Shirriff published an interesting article on his blog. He writes:

We recently obtained a clock that flew on a Soyuz space mission.1 The clock, manufactured in 1984, contains over 100 integrated circuits on ten circuit boards. Why is the clock so complicated? In this blog post, I examine the clock’s circuitry and explain why so many chips were needed. The clock also provides a glimpse into the little-known world of Soviet aerospace electronics and how it compares to American technology.

Inside the digital clock from a Soyuz spacecraft – [Link]

Network Clock using ESP8266 and OLED display

Posted on by mixos

There are several situations where using an RTC could adversely affect your project by increasing cost, size, time accuracy or IO requirements. To prevent this, especially in ESP/WiFi-based or other clock-reliant projects, makers usually turn to obtain time information from NTP servers. I recently came across a project by BitsandBlobs which used standalone NTP Servers and I felt it might be one of the best ways to introduce to this concept. So for today’s tutorial, we will build an NTP Based Network Time Clock based on “BitsandBlobs” build.

NTP (Network Time Protocol) is an internet protocol used for synchronizing clocks on computer networks within a few milliseconds of universal coordinated time (UTC). Using this protocol, devices can request and receive UTC data from an NTP server which usually receives precise time from an atomic clock.

The WiFi capabilities of the ESP8266 based Wemos D1 mini will be used in obtaining time information from a public NTP server and it will be displayed in a user-friendly manner on an OLED display.

At the end of this project, you would know not only how to obtain time information from NTP servers, but also how to use the WemosD1 for your WiFi projects.

Network Clock using ESP8266 and OLED display – [Link]

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