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Elegoo Gift Guide Is for a Complete Arduino Starter Kit with 20% discount

Posted on by Ayo Ayibiowu

Arduino is an open source software and electronics platform that has evolved the open hardware, DIY (do it yourself), makers, STEM, and the electronics industry. Arduino has grown to be one of the best learning platforms for young engineers and students. Using an Arduino a student new to electronics and embedded systems can easily build something interesting in less than 2 hours.

Despite the awesomeness and usefulness of the Arduino platform, it also comes with some challenges. Arduino has several add-ons like sensors, modules, shields, displays, and others that can be added to a project to increase its complexity and there are several add-ons that are available in the market from different makers. It can be overwhelming for beginners to get started with so many options. What if we could house all the necessary components in one box? Here, comes the Arduino kits. There are many Arduino starter kits available on the market and most of these kits are intended for electronics enthusiasts who just beginning their journey to Arduino. But how to choose the one that is right for you? Here we will take a look on Elegoo Arduino Starter Kit.

Arduino kits contain an Arduino Uno board or similar board and some other parts that can be used to teach electronics and programming in its simplest form to kids, students, makers, and others. At the same time, professionals can use Arduino for research purposes as the kits have been made to suit everyone. With these kits, one can build projects like smart homes, robots, weather station, fancy light controllers, Alexa clone and many more.

The Elegoo EL-KIT-001 is one of such Arduino kits that goes a step above of other available kits. This is because each component of the kit is clearly labeled, it includes a CD with various Arduino tutorials and includes more than 200 electronics components to build your own project. Elegoo Kit is made from a technology company based in Shenzhen China which I that’s justify its low cost and availability. Elegoo, also creates and sells various types of Arduino kits and pieces.

As said, Elegoo-El-KIT-001 UNO R3 is an Arduino starter kit that has over 200 components to cover most of your starter needs. The kit is compatible with most Arduino modules and Elegoo believes it is the most complete starter kit (I think it might be) out there. True to its’ name, the Elegoo starter kits come with a PDF that contains more than 30 tutorials on projects that deal with the use of every single material found in the kit.

Elegoo UNO R3 board
Elegoo UNO R3 board

The kit also comes with a CD that contains various sketches for a variety of projects. This is for people who are new to programming or even people who have not programmed an Arduino module before. The Arduino programming language is very similar to the C and C++ programming language. Examples of tutorials available include the 74HC595 Shift Register and LEDs, DC Motors and L293D Transistor project, and the LCD1602 Display module and others (this project basically allows the display of characters on the module)

I believe the Arduino has been one of the most revolutionary hardware innovation that has ever happened in the STEM and Electronic Industry. Below are some exciting benefits of building with the Arduino Platform:

  • Cost: It is a cheap way that allows people to learn.
  • Flexibility: Arduino projects are only limited to your imagination. Once you think it, you can create it.
  • Versatility: The programming language is easy, and beginners can easily adapt to it.
  • Multiple options: Anyone is allowed to re-created their version of the Arduino modules.
  • Connectivity and Cross Platforms: The software (IDE) can run on various operating systems such as Windows, Linux, and Mac.
  • Amazing community

Below are some components and parts available in the kit:

  • Arduino Compatible Uno Board.
  • Water/Rain Sensor.
  • 4 by 4 Matrix Keyboard.
  • IR Remote Controller.
  • IR Sensor.
  • RFID Cards and Receiver.
  • 16 by 2 LCD Display.
  • ADXL335 Accelerometer
  • Resistor & Capacitor Sets.
  • Servo and Stepper Motors.
  • Ultrasonic sensor.
  • Motion Sensor.
  • Breadboard.
  • Joystick module.
  • RGB Display Module
  • and so much more.

The kit is highly inexpensive considering the price of similar kits which don’t even have enough parts and can be bought on Amazon for $53.99 with half a year warranty. The kit on Amazon ships to customers only in the US and not eligible for international shipping. For customers outside the US, you can still purchase the kit for a slightly higher price of about $69.99 on the Elegoo online store here.

Exclusive Offer

Elegoo is offering a promotion coupon for purchasing their Arduino kit. The coupon is as follows:

  • Discount : 20% OFF
  • Coupon Code: 3PBN7LP6
  • Product link: http://ow.ly/JtyS30mCS5P
  • Start Date: 15/11/2018  08:00 AM PST
  • End Date: 22/11/2018  11:59 PM PST

Variscite launches NXP iMX8X based VAR-SOM-MX8X System on Module

Posted on by mixos

Variscite has announced the launch of a new i.MX 8X-based Module. The VAR-SOM-MX8X product family supports NXP i.MX 8QuadXPlus / 8DualXPlus / 8DualX processors with up to 4 1.2GHz Cortex™-A35 cores. The module provides efficient power/performance architecture, built-in safety features and highly integrated multimedia support.

This highly integrated solution is designed to support a wide range of high-reliability and power-efficient applications, from industrial automation & control to defense, telematics, medical, building control, robotics and failover displays/HMI. The SoM interfaces options and multimedia features include Camera Interfaces, DSI / LVDS, Parallel LCD, Vivante GC7000Lite GPU for 2D and 3D graphics acceleration, 4K H.265 Decode, 1080p H.264 Encode/Decode, dual GbE, certified Wi-Fi/BT, CAN/CAN-FD, USB3.0 and serial interfaces.

Thanks to the integration of ARM’s most efficient Cortex™-A35 cores with its Cortex-M4F real-time co-processor, the VAR-SOM-MX8X offers high processing capabilities in a power-optimized platform.

The VAR-SOM-MX8X is a part of Variscite’s Pin2Pin product family and is pin-compatible with Variscite’s VAR-SOM-MX6, VAR-SOM-SOLO/DUAL and the upcoming VAR-SOM-MX8. By offering Pin2Pin families, Variscite’s customers benefit from a high level of scalability, extended lifetime availability and reduced development time, cost and risk.

Availability and pricing

The VAR-SOM-MX8X Evaluation Kits are now available for early access orders.

Variscite pin2pin product families – Two highly scalable product families based on NXP processors:

VAR-SOM-MX8X key features:

  • NXP iMX8X 1.2GHz Dual / Quad Core Cortex™-A35
  • Real-time 264MHz Cortex™-M4F co-processor
  • Integrated security and fail-safe features
  • 24-bit parallel LCD, LVDS/DSI
  • 2D/3D graphics acceleration
  • Up to 4GB LPDDR4, 64GB eMMC
  • 4K H.265 Decode, 1080p H.264 Encode/Decode
  • HQ audio in/out
  • 2x Gigabit Ethernet, 2x USB 3.0, PCI-E
  • Camera in: 1x MIPI-CSI2, 1x parallel CSI 8/10-bit
  • Certified Wi-Fi 802.11 ac/a/b/g/n + BT4.2/BLE
  • Analog Input, CAN/CAN-FD, UART, SPI, I2C, SD/MMC, Touch
  • Temperature range -40 to 85° C
  • OS: Linux, Android
  • Up to 15 years longevity

VAR-SOM-MX8X block diagram

The VAR-SOM-MX8X Evaluation Kits are now available for early access orders. Please contact Variscite team for further details.

UNI: World’s Most Advanced True Wireless Earbuds

Posted on by mixos

360-hour Battery Life with Charging Case | Superior Sound Quality | IPX-7 Waterproof | Bluetooth 5.0

UNI TWS is the world’s most advanced true wireless earbuds designed with superior Hi-Fi sound and ultra-long playtime. It’s your perfect workout companion with secure fit and an IPX-7 waterproof rating.

Tired of running out of juice when you need your music the most? The UNI charging case has a 3500 mAh premium built-in battery. Once fully charged, the charging case can support 360 hours of playtime for the earbuds. Every time you finish listening just put the earbuds back into the case to be recharged. For 3 to 4 hours of use a day, a fully charged charging case will let you enjoy wireless music for up to a month between charges!

Features:

  • 1st Wireless Charging Earbuds
  • Over 360-hour Battery Life
  • Superior Sound Quality
  • IPX-7 Waterproof
  • Powered by aptX
  • Ergonomic Design
  • Low Latency Bluetooth 5.0
  • Intuitive Touch Sensor

Wireless Charging

Avoid the hassle of wires and power up quickly by simply placing the UNI charging case on the charging pad. Or, use your smartphone’s Qi charging pad to get UNI juiced-up and ready to rock.

Backup Power

Never worry about dead batteries again! With a massive 3500mAh capacity battery, the UNI charging case can provide additional charging power for your smartphone or other mobile devices. It’s a reliable emergency power supply in times of need.

Graphene Enhanced Sound

UNI features a customized driver made with graphene – a highly conductive, flexible, and strong material consisting of latticed carbon atoms bonded in a hexagonal pattern. This advanced material allows UNI to produce mids and highs that are rich in details and perfectly balanced with the bass tones.

aptX Powered High Fidelity Audio

UNI achieves CD quality high fidelity sound by employing aptX technology. aptX audio enables Bluetooth wireless devices to deliver High Definition (HD) audio. It works by preserving sound data during transmission by constantly sampling audio between one moment in time and the next to accurately reproduce the best audio even after compressing and decompressing. It is also uses low battery consumption & has low latency for the best possible wireless listening experience.

Waterproof

UNI TWS earbuds are 100% IPX7 rated waterproof inside and out for sports and protection from harsh environments. This means the earbuds can be fully submerged in water up to 1 meter (3.3 feet) deep for 30 minutes. So now you don’t have to worry when you’re swimming, surfing, or hiking in the rain.

Crowdfunding

The project is live on www.indiegogo.com and already 1164% funded with 30 days left. Perks start at $69.

LT3094, −20V, 500mA, Ultralow Noise, Ultrahigh PSRR Negative Linear Regulator

Posted on by mixos

Analog Devices announces the Power by Linear LT3094, an ultralow noise, ultrahigh power supply ripple rejection (PSRR), low dropout voltage, 500mA negative linear regulator that targets applications requiring the lowest noise performance. It features industry-leading 0.8µVRMS integrated output noise (10Hz to 100kHz), providing the quietest environment for precision measurements of low level signals. The LT3094 features very low 2nV/√Hz spot noise (at 10kHz), minimizing phase noise when powering sensitive communications circuitry. PSRR performance is exceptional over a wide frequency range: low frequency PSRR exceeds 100dB out to nearly 4kHz and high frequency PSRR exceeds 70dB at 2MHz. The LT3094’s high PSRR greatly reduces ripple and noise when used as a post regulator for switching power supplies.

The LT3094 utilizes a proprietary LDO architecture – its precision current source reference followed by a high-performance unity gain buffer results in virtually constant noise, PSRR and load regulation performance, independent of output voltage. This architecture permits easy paralleling of multiple LT3094s to further increase output current, spread heat on a printed circuit board and decrease output noise. In addition, it allows the output voltage to be programmed down to 0V.

Delivering up to 500mA output current, the LT3094 has a low 235mV typical dropout voltage at full load. It features a –2V to –20V input voltage range and a 0V to –19.5V output voltage range with ±2% tolerance over line, load and temperature. The device’s wide input and output voltage ranges, high PSRR and ultralow noise performance are ideal for powering noise-sensitive applications such as LNA power, very low noise instrumentation, high speed/high precision data converters, power medical applications such as imaging and diagnostics, RF switch negative supplies, PA biasing, precision power supplies and as a post regulator for switching power supplies.

Summary of Features: LT3094

  • Output Current: 500mA
  • Ultralow RMS Noise: 0.8µVRMS (10Hz to 100kHz)
  • Ultralow Spot Noise: 2nV/√Hz at 10kHz
  • Ultrahigh PSRR: 74dB at 1MHz
  • Wide Input Voltage Range: –2V to –20V
  • Output Voltage Range: 0V to –19.5V
  • Programmable Current Limit
  • Low Dropout Voltage: Typically, 235mV at Full Load
  • Programmable Power Good & Fast Start-Up
  • Bipolar Precision Enable/UVLO Pin
  • VIOC Pin Controls Upstream Regulator to Minimize
  • Power Dissipation & Optimize PSRR
  • Minimum Output Capacitor: 10µF Ceramic
  • Thermally Enhanced 12-Lead MSOP & 3mm × 3mm DFN Packages

The LT3094 is a complementary negative version of the 20V, 500mA, 0.8µVRMS LT3045 ultralow noise LDO and the two devices when used together combine for an ultralow noise bipolar power supply solution.

The LT3094 is available in thermally enhanced 12-lead 3mm × 3mm DFN and MSOP packages, both with a compact footprint. The E- and I-grade versions are available from stock with an operating junction temperature of –40°C to 125°C. A future high temperature H-grade version will be rated from –40°C to 150°C. For more information, visit www.analog.com/LT3094

USB Type-C/PD Controller IC Enables 3A Current Delivery

Posted on by mixos

13th November 2018 – FTDI Chip has introduced the USB power delivery technology necessary to go beyond the powering of consumer electronics products and support the elevated current levels required by larger items of electronic equipment. The FT4233H is an advanced bridge IC with USB Type-C connectivity and USB power delivery (PD) Rev. 3.0 controller capabilities – supporting applications up to 100W.

Through use of the FT4233H, it will be possible for currents of reaching 3A to be provided to connected hardware (power tools, lights, household appliances, etc.). All the negotiation and power gauging activities are taken care of directly, via the IC’s integrated 32-bit PD Policy Engine and USB Protocol Engine elements (with no USB specific firmware programming being required). This means the system microcontroller does not have to get involved in such functions and system performance is thus not impacted upon.

Supporting USB High-Speed data rates (480Mbps), the USB bridge function of this device is compatible with the quad high-speed USB to multi-purpose bridging offered by the company’s previous generation FT4232H device – including UART, I²C, JTAG, Bit-Bang or SPI via its integrated MPSSE Engine, on up to 4 independently controllable channels. Support of two Type-C ports is encompassed, with a configurable port that can act as either a power sink or source (or in a dual role capacity) supporting Fast Role Swap, and the other port serving solely as a sink.

The FT4233H USB bridge IC relies on a single 3.3V power source for both VCC and VCCIO. It is supplied in a 76-pin QFN package. An operational temperature range spanning from -40°C to +85°C is supported.

At this year’s Electronica, FTDI Chip will be demonstrating how next generation USB power delivery can be achieved using this ground-breaking new device. Come to Stand 155 in Hall B5 to see this technology in action.

More information can be found at: https://www.ftdichip.com/products/ics/ft4233h.htm

Micro camera module fits space-constrained devices

Posted on by mixos

AMS, a leading worldwide supplier of high performance sensor solutions, today announced the pre-release of the NanEyeM, a miniature integrated Micro Camera Module (MCM) assembly with a tiny footprint at the image sensor end of just 1mm2. With its compact design and convenient interface, the NanEyeM is easy to integrate into space-constrained industrial and consumer designs, providing new embedded vision capabilities in products such as smart toys and home appliances.

The NanEyeM offers a high-resolution 100kpixel, 10-bit digital readout, and features a Single-Ended Interface Mode (SEIM). Like a standard Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI), the SEIM channel is easy to implement in any host processor and provides a cost-optimized solution without the need for LVDS deserialization. The maximum frame rate over the SEIM interface is 58 frames/s at a clock rate of 75MHz.

The NanEyeM features a custom multi-element lens which greatly improves the effective resolution of the sensor and reduces distortion compared to competing sensors that have a single-element lens. The MTF (Modulation Transfer Function) is >50% in the corners, distortion is <15% and color aberration is <1Px.

The slave configuration in SEIM enables control of the frame rate via the host application processor, down to rates of a single frame per second or even slower. Synchronization of two or more cameras – a useful capability in applications such as eye tracking or stereo vision – can easily be performed by providing a centralized clock from the application processor.

The NanEyeM also offers an Idle mode which reduces power consumption in applications, such as presence detection, that require only a small number of frames per minute.

ams will offer a reference implementation of image acquisition and processing functions on a standard Arm® core-based processor to reduce the customer’s development effort and accelerate time to market.

Designers who wish to add high-resolution video capability in space-constrained enclosures have until now been hampered by the size of the industrial image sensors on the market. The introduction of the NanEyeM module opens up new possibilities to add camera capability in the smallest spaces,” said Tom Walschap, Marketing Director in the CMOS Image Sensor business line at ams. ‘Provided in an easy-to-use module format with a convenient digital output, designers can quickly add camera capability with little development effort.

The NanEyeM image sensor will be available for sampling in Q2 2019.

http://www.ams.com

New Infineon IFX007T – An easy-to-use high power motor driver

Posted on by mixos

Infineon Technologies is launching the IFX007T NovalithIC™ motor driver for industrial applications. The IFX007T smart half-bridge provides an easy and efficient way to drive brushed and brushless motors, integrating a p-channel high-side MOSFET, an n-channel low-side MOSFET and a driver IC into one package. Along with a microcontroller and power supply, no other devices are necessary to drive a motor.

For many years, Infineon has followed this unique NovalithIC integrated approach for automotive applications. The IFX007T now allows industrial customers to benefit from this experience. It is qualified according to JESD47I and can be used to drive motors with supplies up to 40 V and peak currents up to 55 A. The broad application range includes pumps, healthcare, home and garden appliances as well as industrial automation, fans, and many more.

Ease-of-use is a key benefit of the integrated solution. It becomes apparent during the customer’s manufacturing process. Customers save layout and manufacturing effort while reducing stray inductances and external components. Additionally, only three general purpose microcontroller pins are needed to control a full H-bridge.

The IFX007T has integrated self-protection, including over-temperature and cross-current protection. Within an H-bridge configuration, the half-bridge approach provides logic redundancy – if one device fails, the other can still stop the motor.

Another key benefit is the flexible motor control. The IFX007T can be used in either half-bridge, H-bridge or three-phase configurations. Furthermore, the motor speed can be adjusted via pulse width modulation (PWM) up to 25 kHz. Active freewheeling is possible from either the high side or the low side. An adjustable slew rate enables reduction of electromagnetic emissions.

 Features

  • Path resistance of max. 12.8 mΩ @ 25°C (typ. 10.0 mΩ @ 25°C) – High side: max. 6.5 mΩ @ 25°C (typ. 5.3 mΩ @ 25°C) – Low side: max. 6.3 mΩ @ 25°C (typ. 4.7mΩ @ 25°C)
  • Enhanced switching speed for reduced switching losses
  • Capable for high PWM frequency combined with active freewheeling
  • Switched mode current limitation for reduced power dissipation in overcurrent
  • Current limitation level of 55 A min.
  • Status flag diagnosis with current sense capability
  • Overtemperature shutdown with latch behavior
  • Undervoltage shutdown
  • Driver circuit with logic level inputs
  • Adjustable slew rates for optimized EMI
  • Operation up to 40 V
  • Green Product (RoHS compliant)
  • JESD47I Qualified

Availability: The IFX007T is now available. Further information is available at https://www.infineon.com/novalithic.

Radxa’s Rockpi4 based on RK3399 Launches For $39

Posted on by Tope Oluyemi

Radxa has released specs for a $39 “Rock Pi” Raspberry Pi lookalike board with a Rockchip RK3399, USB 3.0, M.2, HDMI 2.0, and native GbE, plus optional WiFi, BT, and PoE. The Rock Pi runs Linux or Android. It closely matches the RPi 3 layout, just like the RK3399-based NanoPi M4, and it seems it may be the most affordable RK3399 based SBC right now, with a starting price of $39 with 1GB RAM. The Rock Pi Model A sells for $39 (1GB), $49 (2GB) and $65 (4GB) respectively. The Model B, which includes PoE and a WiFi-ac/Bluetooth 5.0 wireless module will sell for $49 (1GB), $59 (2GB) or $75 (4GB). The only real difference between model A and model B is that the latter includes a wireless module, and optional support for PoE. The ports on the 85 x 54mm Rock Pi are placed at the right side, where Pi lovers would expect them to be. Unlike the RPi 3B or 3B+, the GbE port is standard, offering at least 939Mbps. Like the 3B+, it supports Power-over-Ethernet using the same official Raspberry Pi PoE HAT. The specs are almost similar to those of the $75 (2GB) NanoPi M4.

Rock PI 4B

The most significant difference with NanoPi M4 is that the Rock Pi has an M.2 storage slot for NVMe SSDs, but lacks the M4’s 24-pin GPIO interface, which extends the 40-pin connector found on both boards. The NanoPi M4 also has standard wireless (but no PoE) and offers 4x USB 4.0 host ports instead of the 2x 3.0 and 2x 2.0 on the Rock Pi.

The Rock Pi 4 seems to be the most affordable RK3399 SBC yet, even cheaper than the smaller, more limited (1GB only) $50 NanoPi Neo4. It also offers a microSD slot and an empty eMMC socket in addition to the M.2. A key selling point of the RK3399, is the HDMI 2.0 port. The board is equipped with 2-lane MIPI-DSI and -CSI interfaces for dual displays and camera attachments, respectively. Other available features include an audio jack with mic, an RTC, and a USB Type-C port for a wide-range of input power.

Rock Pi 4B back view

The Rock Pi can run Android 9.0, and “some Linux distributions. The official supported Linux distribution is Debian and Ubuntu. Community supported Linux distribution includes Libreelec, Armbian. The major advantage of relying on Raspberry Pi form factor is that you can use/re-use Rasperry Pi add-ons, including official ones, and for example, the official Raspberry Pi 7″ display and the Raspberry Pi Camera V2 IMX219 have all been successfully tested on Rock Pi boards. For clarity, compatibility here refers to hardware, but not software, as Raspberry Pi 3 images won’t work out of the box on Rock Pi 4. Initial / WiP documentation is available on Radxa wiki, as well as a dedicated website.

Power up and Android TV navigation

Specifications listed for the Rock Pi include:

  • Processor — Rockchip RK3399 (2x Cortex-A72 at up to 2.0GHz, 4x Cortex-A53 @ up to 1.5GHz); Mali-T860 MP4 GPU
  • Memory/storage: 1GB, 2GB, or 4GB LPDDR4 RAM (dual-channel), eMMC socket for 8GB to 128GB (bootable), MicroSD slot for up to 128GB (bootable), M.2 socket with support for up to 2TB NVMe SSD
  • Wireless — 802.11b/g/n/ac (2.4GHz/5GHz) with Bluetooth 5.0 with antenna (Model B only)
  • Networking — Gigabit Ethernet port; PoE support on Model B only (requires RPi PoE HAT)
  • Media I/O: HDMI 2.0a port (with audio) for up to 4K at 60Hz, MIPI-DSI (2-lane) via FPC; dual display mirror or extend with HDMI, MIPI-CSI (2-lane) via FPC for up to 8MP camera, 3.5mm audio I/O jack (24-bit/96KHz), Mic interface
  • Other I/O: 2x USB 3.0 host ports, 2x USB 2.0 host ports, USB 3.0 Type-C OTG with power support and HW switch for host/device
  • Expansion — 40-pin GPIO header (see pinout diagram); M.2 slot for SSD (see mem/storage)
  • Other features — RTC with optional battery connector
  • Power: 5.5-20V input, USB Type-C PD 2.0, 9V/2A, 12V/2A, 15V/2A, 20V/2A, Qualcomm Quick Charge support for QC 3.0/2.0 adapter, 9V/2A, 12V/1.5A, 8mA to 20mA consumption
  • Operating temperature — 0 to 80°C
  • Dimensions — 85 x 54mm
  • Operating system — Android 9.0; “some” Linux distros

More information may be found on Radxa’s Rock Pi product page and this blog post.

Three RK3399 open-spec SBCs launched including AI capability Model

Posted on by Tope Oluyemi

Three open-spec SBCs have been launched on Indiegogo. They are the RK3399-based Khadas Edge SBC, a new Edge-1S model that uses the AI-enhanced RK3399Pro SoC and an Edge-V model that replaces the Edge’s MXM3 connector with 40-pin GPIO and adds MIPI-DSI and -CSI. Shenzhen Wesion’s Khadas project exhibited the Khadas Edge SBC in July, which runs Linux or Android on Rockchip’s hexa-core RK3399 SoC. Now Khadas is in business with Indiegogo with a $50K flexible funding campaign for the Khadas Edge and two new models. The Edge-V version has a similar footprint to the Amlogic based Khadas Vim and Khadas Vim2. There’s also an Edge-1S model that runs on Rockchip’s new neural chip enhanced RK3399Pro SoC.

 

Khadas Edge SBC

The Khadas Edge-V is built for general purpose hacking and home theater applications. The Edge and Edge-1S are designed for professional embedded development and deployment, like applications for computer clusters, drones, and augmented reality gear. Initial packages for the Khadas Edge and Khadas Edge-V are of similar price and includes a free accessory bundle. The Edge initial package gives you a free Edge IO debugging daughter-card and Edge heatsink while the Edge-V package offers a free Khadas Vim-style heatsink.

New Khadas Edge-V SBC

Other extra-cost accessories include a $9 bundle that gives you a heatsink and an Edge IO daughter-board, which enables serial debug and easier GPIO expansion. Other accessories include a fan with USB-C adapter ($14), a camera with LiPo battery ($19), and the Khadas Captain carrier board option, which is designed primarily for gaming console configurations. The Captain Carrier costs $39 with a free, 5-inch, HD multitouch screen, and seems to work only with the MXM3-equipped Edge and Edge-1S models, not the Edge-V. The Edge Basic and Edge-V Basic are available for $99 with 2GB LPDDR4 and 16GB eMMC 5.1. There’s also a Pro (4GB/32GB) model for $149 and a Max version (4GB/128GB) for $199. Once the initial packages. are exhausted, the price remains the same, but without the free accessories.

An experimental version of the AI-enhanced Edge-1S model is available for $299 and includes free Edge IO and Captain Carrier boards, a 24W USB Type-C adapter, and a 3705 Cooling Fan. This “high risk” board is set to ship in January just like the other models, but only if the campaign reaches $200,000, if not it will be delayed. Another stretch goal ($350K) is for a NextC Case, and if the campaign reaches $500K, Khadas will give away the NextC case free with every Edge and Edge-1S, and offer a free DIY Case for the Edge-V. The Edge boards will ship with schematics and other open source files just like the Khadas Vim boards.

Captain Carrier board

They all support Android P, mainline Linux (including Ubuntu), and LibreELEC. The Edge board also has softer pushbuttons and a new fan header that supports the “cooler and quieter 3705 cooling fans. There are 4x new PMOS logic chips for bi-directional power input and output.

It could power the Captain Carrier Board via USB-C PD, or the Captain could power the Edge via the 12v barrel jack and battery module,

says Khadas. There are also improved heatsink and 3705 cooling fan options. The Edge-1S is similar to the Edge except for the new RK3399Pro SoC, which inputs a Neural Network Processing Unit (NPU) with 8- and 16-bit processing.

The NPU offers up to 2.4TOPS performance according to Rockchip’s original announcement, and up to 3.0TOPS, 800MHz performance according to Khadas. The NPU supports Tensorflow, Caffe, MLlib, and other deep learning models for AI applications such as face recognition, object detection and tracking. The Edge-1s board adds 1GB (Basic) to 2GB (Pro and Max) of dedicated RAM for the NPU. The Captain Carrier has a real-world GbE port and dual gamepads, as well as several features that the Edge-V model has . These include an APDS-9960 sensor module, a microSD slot, and a storage-ready M.2 2280. The Captain Carrier share other features with the Edge-V, like the eDP interface and MIPI-DSI and -CSI connections.

The Captain Carrier is fitted with an audio jack, touch-panel interface, IR, buzzer, RTC header, Li-Po battery charging circuit, and more. The Edge-V has a different layout from the Edge and Edge-1. The Edge-V has new four-lane MIPI-CSI, MIPI-DSI, and eDP 1.3 interfaces. The MIPI-CSI connector supports dual 13-megapixel cameras. The Edge-V adds a touch-panel connector, an RTC, an IR receiver, a sensor module with gesture control, and 6x-axis motion tracking. It’s unknown if there’s a real GbE port, or as with the Edge, only the PHY, as listed in the specs. The photos show an empty RJ45 socket.

More information may be found on the Khadas Edge Indiegogo page and the Khadas website.

3D TLC NAND Flash technology enters the Industry

Posted on by mixos

3D TLC NAND flash based products are already dominating in SSD for consumers. Sophisticated NAND FLASH manufacturing technology, new advanced FLASH controllers and firmware now allow using 3D TLC NAND in industrial grade SSDs.

Apacer introduces a new ST170 series in 2.5″ SSD, M.2, mSATA, MO-297, CFast and uSSD form factors.

To make products reliable and simultaneously provide high performance, they use:

  • Error Correction/Detection
  • Power Failure Management
  • Flash memory Bad-Block Management
  • Global wear levelling – all spare blocks in all flash chips in the product are managed together in a single pool. Controller tries to distribute the writes evenly to all flash memory blocks. You can judge the efficiency of algorithm from SMART attributes Max. erase count and Avg. erase count.
  • End-to-end data protection – a feature that extends error control to cover the entire path from the host computer to the drive and back, and ensures data integrity at multiple points in the path to enable reliable delivery of data transfers
  • SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology)
  • Thermal sensor – regularly check SMART attribute Temperature and decrease SSD workload to avoid rising SSD temperature above 70°C
  • Page-level flash translation layer
  • Hyper cache technology – portion of the available capacity is used as SLC (1bit-per-cell) NAND flash. Only two values are written (0, 1) instead of eight.
  • Over-provisioning – certain portion of the SSD capacity is reserved exclusively for increasing garbage collection (GC) efficiency, especially when the SSD is filled to full capacity or it is under heavy mixed (sequential-random) workload.
  • TRIM support – the command enables the operating system to inform the SSD flash controller of blocks that contain unnecessary data, typically data that the operating system has deleted. The controller then erases the unnecessary blocks and releases them for use.

Error Correction/Detection

When application writes data to SSD, flash controller writes the data, firmware information and ECC (error correction code) to flash memory. Controller writes 40-bit BCH (Bose-Chaudhuri-Hocquengham) ECC per 1KB of data for SSD from SM210-25 series, for example. When controller reads the data from flash memory, it uses ECC to check the data validity and correct errors.

 ST170 series uses low-density parity-check (LDPC) as ECC code. For normal reading that doesn´t modify reference voltage connected to memory cell gates (hard decoding), it provides slightly better error correction than BCH code. If controller can’t correct errors in data, soft decoding mode is used. In this mode, the controller reads the data from the flash multiple times with different reference voltages connected to memory cell gates. Soft decoding has a much better error correction capability, but multiple readings mean slower read performance.

You can check Error Correction/Detection status by reading the SMART attribute Bad Cluster Table Count.

Flash Memory Bad-Block Management

When a flash memory chip leaves factory, it contains a minimal number of initial bad blocks. There is no currently known technology that produces flash chips free of bad blocks. In addition, bad blocks may develop during program/erase cycles. Since bad blocks are inevitable, the solution is to keep them under control.

To check the current bad block count, the user should read SMART attribute Total later bad block count.

Power Failure Management

The best way to prevent damage to data during a sudden power outage is to prevent its occurrence. It is not always possible, and therefore ST170 series provides several protection mechanisms to avoid data corruption.

1. Mapping Table Protection

The mapping table contains records that map logical addresses to the physical address of flash memory pages. Page-level mapping provides excellent random write speed but requires a lot of RAM to store mapping table. During the write operation, the controller writes data and mapping information to flash and then it updates the table in RAM.

In case of power loss, there isn’t enough time to write mapping table to flash, so it is lost. After power resume, the controller sequentially reads every NAND flash block, retrieves the logical address mapping and rebuilds the mapping table. If the mapping table is not successfully rebuilt in the initial reading, the controller keeps reading until the mapping table is recovered.

2. Last Write Protection

Flash memory can’t be overwritten, so to update page P1 in block B1 firmware writes new version P1’ to block B2. If a power failure occurs during the writing of the page P1’, operation may or may not finish successfully. After power resume, the ECC firmware detects and if possible, corrects the error in page P1’. If correction is impossible, firmware previous version P1 is used and garbage collection algorithm takes care of the invalid P1’ page.

3. HyperCache

Series doesn’t use DRAM cache which, in case of power blackout, losses data because there isn’t enough time to write data from cache to flash. Hyper cache is used instead of it.

Check if bad block count increases (SMART attribute Total later bad block) when attribute Unexpected Power Loss Count increases. If so, you should make precaution to avoid power loss occurrence.

SMART

SMART is an abbreviation that stands for Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology. It monitors the important SSD parameters for taking proactive measures to prevent its failure.

Full list of supported parameters are provided in datasheets. The meaning of some important attributes was described above. The other important parameters are:

Lifetime left – value in percentage, 100% means a new SSD, 0% fully utilized – such SSD should be replaced immediately. ST170-25 doesn’t provide this information, however attribute Avg. erase count can be used to estimate lifetime left.

Lifetime left = (1 – Avg. erase count/PE Cycle) x 100, PE Cycle=3 000 (the same value as for MLC flash based products)

SSD Protect Mode

• 0: R/W – normal status
• 3: Read Only
• 7: Unusual Read Only (Occurs when free blocks are insufficient or encountering excessive later bad blocks)

SSD protects itself by setting to read-only mode to avoid data corruption, if Avg. erase count exceeds 3 000 PE cycles or event described for parameter value = 7 occurs.

SATA PHY Error Count – indicates problems with communication. They can be caused by defective cable or connectors for example.

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