Marvell unveiled a more secure, graphics-rich Armada 1500 Plus SoC for Android 4.2.2 smart TVs “with Google services,” but never mentioned Google TV.
(more…)

DM&P Group has begun shipping an Arduino compatible boardset and mini-PC equipped with a new computer-on-module based on a new 300MHz x86 compatible Vortex86EX system-on-chip. The new SoC and COM are available as part of a $39 “86Duino Zero” boardset that mimics an Arduino Leonardo, in a $49 “86Duino Educake” mini-PC, and will soon be available in a more I/O-rich, $69 “86Duino One” boardset.
(more…)

Faraday Technology has begun shipping a system-on-chip dev kit aimed at developers of custom SoCs. The “SoCreative! IV” kit’s baseboard is built around Faraday’s A380 SoC, which boasts a dual-core ARM Cortex A9 processor, a Faraday-developed RISC core, and a high speed expansion bus for interfacing with FPGA daughtercards, and comes with Linux 3.3 and Android 4.x BSPs.
(more…)

At its investor meeting on Nov. 21, Intel exhibited its readiness to face the new realities of the “post-PC era.” Led by CEO Brian Krzanich, top executives outlined strategic efforts to speed its mobile Atom system-on-chips toward 14 and 10nm geometries, 64-bits, and integrated basebands, and to look beyond Windows on the client end, with increased focus on iOS and Linux-based OSes like Android and Chrome OS.
(more…)

At ARM TechCon, Cavium demonstrated an SDK for its upcoming ARMv8-based Project Thunder SoC family, and announced Ubuntu support for Project Thunder, while Cavium subsidiary MontaVista announced Carrier Grade Linux support for ARMv8. Meanwhile, Cavium and MontaVista joined Linaro and other companies in launching OpenDataPlane, an open source networking SoC interoperability standards organization for Linux.
(more…)

Echelon Corp. announced an Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) framework for peer-to-peer networking of embedded controllers. The IzoT multi-protocol stack is now available in an ARM-ready beta version and reference implementation optimized for the Linux-based Raspberry Pi SBC, and will soon be included in Marvell’s Easy Connect SDK for Marvell’s 88MC200 WiFi SoC.
(more…)

Altera announced a new high-end ARM/FPGA Stratix SoC, and also the first processor to be manufactured with Intel’s 14nm 3D Tri-Gate process. The Linux-friendly Stratix 10 SX SoC will incorporate a quad-core 64-bit ARM Cortex-A53 subsystem integrated with floating-point DSP blocks and gigahertz-speed FPGA fabric that offers twice the core performance of previous Stratix FPGAs, claims Altera.
(more…)

ARM announced an embedded version of its ARMv8 architecture that will add virtualization and lightweight Linux support to the next of generation Cortex-R processors. The ARMv8-R architecture is 32-bit, but borrows features from the 64-bit ARMv8-A such as hardware-based virtualization and a more advanced MPU, enabling safety-critical embedded applications like automotive computers to run RTOSes, bare metal code, and Linux and Android on a single processor.
(more…)

Freescale Semiconductor announced a new line of Linux-ready, embedded-focused QorIQ system-on-chips based on a new ARM-compatible, core-agnostic Layerscape architecture. The first three QorIQ LS1 SoCs offer dual ARM Cortex-A7 cores clocked at up to 1GHz, and include networking-, display-, and cost-optimized models featuring 2-3 Watts power consumption.
(more…)

Wind River announced Wind River Linux support for Cavium’s newly shipping Octeon III system-on-chips. Aimed at high-end networking applications, the 28nm-fabricated Octeon III SoCs offer as many as 48 MIPS64 cores clocked up to 2.5GHz, support MIPSr5 architecture features like hardware virtualization, and integrate accelerators for deep packet inspection (DPI), packet processing, security, search, and QoS.
(more…)

Imagination Technologies announced its first MIPS “Warrior” processor, aimed at mobile, consumer, and embedded devices. The MIPS Series5 Warrior-P processor is equipped with six newly announced 32-bit MIPS P5600 cores said to offer up to twice the performance of earlier 32-bit cores, and features 128-bit SIMD, hardware virtualization, enhanced security, and Linux-focused memory addressing.
(more…)

[Updated Oct 10] — Intel unveiled a family of embedded-specific Atom E3800 (Bay Trail-I) system-on-chips based on its 22nm Silvermont architecture, featuring TDPs ranging from 5 to 10 Watts, and offering interoperability with its Quark SoCs. The Intel Atom E3800 SoCs have already been tapped by a handful of companies for new computer-on-modules (COMs) and single-board computers (SBCs) of various shapes and sizes.
(more…)

Following up on last month’s announcement that it would open source its Power processor architecture, IBM announced that it will invest $1 billion in new Linux and open source technologies supporting Power-based systems. While the investment is primarily aimed at cloud and big-data applications, a new Power Systems Linux Center in France will also explore mobile and social computing applications.
(more…)

STMicroelectronics (ST), ViXS, and Sigma Designs have each announced new Linux-friendly system-on-chips for IPTV set-top boxes (STBs) incorporating dual Cortex-A9 cores. Some of ST’s STLinux-based “Cannes” and “Monaco” SoCs, as well as ViXS’s XCode 6400 SoC, support UltraHD video and streaming HEVC HD content, while Sigma’s SMP8734 supports Linux or Android on hybrid STBs and media players.
(more…)

On day one of the Intel Developer Forum (IDF), new Intel CEO Brian Krzanich revealed plans for a 32nm, Pentium ISA-compatible “Quark” processor requiring a tenth the power of Intel’s latest “Silvermont” Atom chips, and designed for low-power applications ranging from “Internet-of-Things” (IoT) apps to wearable computing. He also spoke of an upcoming 14nm “Broadwell” processor, and promised 7nm CPUs by 2017.
(more…)

Lego began shipping its hackable, Linux-based Lego Mindstorms EV3 robot for $350. Texas Instruments revealed that the robot is powered by its 300MHz ARM9-based Sitara AM1808 system-on-chip and CC2560 Bluetooth chipset.
(more…)

AMD unveiled an “ambidextrous” embedded roadmap based on a series of new system-on-chip (SoC) and accelerated processing unit (APU) products built from both ARM and x86 CPU cores. Planned for launch in 2014 are an ARM Cortex A57-based “Hierofalcon” SoC, a “Bald Eagle” APU using a new “Streamroller” x86 CPU, a multi-core x86 “Steppe Eagle” APU, and an “Adelaar” discrete Embedded Radion GPU.
(more…)

Intel kicked off a five month Yocto Project Innovation Challenge today, offering 254 prizes to developers who submit embedded Linux product or project ideas involving Yocto Project software running on Intel processors. Six types of prizes — ranging from $50 gift cards, to Yocto Project hoodies and blimps, to 480GB SSDs — will be awarded to winning contest entries between now and the end of the year, and all the ideas will be shared publicly.
(more…)

The Serial ATA International Organization (SATA-IO) has ratified the SATA 3.2 storage spec, adding support for a SATA Express spec that can piggyback on faster PCI Express lanes, and defining a new embedded single-chip microSSD. SATA 3.2 also embraces the tiny, SATA Express based M.2 form factor, which debuted in recent Intel and Samsung SSDs.
(more…)

AMD announced the most power-efficient model yet in its new line of Linux-ready AMD Embedded G-Series system-on-chips. The dual-core, 1GHz GX-210JA SoC offers a low 6W TDP and 3W “expected average power,” making it well suited for a wide range of fanless embedded devices.
(more…)