Posts Categorized: Opal-6

Posted by Martin Welford & filed under Opal-6, Windows CE.

Windows Embedded Compact Support for Opal-6 Solo

Yes – we are still here! 

It has been a long time since our last post, but there has been a lot going on in the background at Device Solutions.  We have been working on some exciting projects with great customers. 

GuruCE have also been hard at work and have a new BSP release for i.MX6.   It now supports the Opal-6 SOLO along with Dual-Lite, Quad and QuadPlus variants.

Check out the post from GuruCE for all the details, including download links, and contact us to get hold of an Opal-6 Development Kit to kick start your new WEC project.

 

 

Posted by Martin Welford & filed under Opal-6, Operating System Partners, Windows CE.

Windows Embedded Compact on the Opal-6 QuadPLUS!

The team at GuruCE have another i.MX6 WEC 7 and 2103 release ready to go!

Along with many other features and enhancements, this release adds support for the Opal-6 Quad and QuadPlus modules.  One of the key features of Opal-6 is the ability to scale – from a single core, through to the powerful QuadPlus for demanding graphics applications.

Check out this video GuruCE put together to show the difference in capabilities between the Quad and QuadPlus.

Posted by Martin Welford & filed under Linux, Opal-6.

Linux 4.1.15 on Opal-6

We have a BETA release of Linux 4.1.15 available for Opal-6!

Apart from an update to Linux v4, this is also the first release to support the Opal-6 QUAD SoM.

All the details are on the release page.  There will be a further update early June which will include new documentation.

Drop us a line of you need hardware to try it out!

Posted by Martin Welford & filed under Opal-6, Windows CE.

Windows Embedded Compact on Opal-6 QUAD

GuruCE have a new release for Windows Embedded Compact 7 and 2013.

This is the first release to support the i.MX6 QUAD version of Opal-6.

It also has multi-monitor support and other graphics enhancements.

WEC7mm

The image above shows WEC7 running on the Opal-6Q and our development kit.  It is driving an LVDS display at 1024×768 and the monitor via HDMI at 1920×1080.  The monitor is the primary panel and has the shell task bar. The secondary LVDS panel shows a couple of control panel applets we have dragged across from the primary display.

For more details, check out the GuruCE release notes and download the official release here.

Posted by Martin Welford & filed under Opal-6.

Opal-6 Quad!

Opal-6 Quad

Christmas came early for us!

Opal-6 now has more than just the i.MX6 Solo and DualLite options. 

Our i.MX6 Quad prototypes are in-house and we will have samples for customer testing early in the New Year. 

The power supply on Opal-6 also has more than enough head-room to support the QuadPlus variant with enhanced graphics.  Drop us a line if you want to be one of the first to get the Quad, or to discuss Opal-6 for your new project.

Posted by Martin Welford & filed under Linux, Opal-6, Windows CE.

RS485 on the Opal-6 Development Kit

Our last post looked at CAN bus on the Opal-6 Development Kit and how easy it is to connect to and get a prototype working.  In this post, we want to highlight the RS485 implementation, which also uses the push-wire wire connectors.

Opal-6_RS485

The Opal-6 Dev Kit includes an RS485 transceiver on UART2.  If your products interface to other devices using RS485, then getting everything talking with Opal-6 will be easy.  Just connect your device – no soldering required.

When it comes to software, the Linux driver takes care of managing the transmit enable line.  Just go ahead and use UART2 and it will work in RS485 mode with our dev kit image.

RS485 is also supported in Windows Embedded Compact 2013.  To get this working, simply enable the fRtsControl option to be RTS_CONTROL_TOGGLE when you are opening the COM port and the driver will take care of the rest.

Do you use RS485 in your devices?  Is this a helpful feature for you?  Let us know in the comments, or contact us to talk more about how Opal-6 could help you take the hassle out of your new product development.

Posted by Martin Welford & filed under Opal-6, Uncategorized, Windows CE.

CAN Bus – Quick and Easy on Opal-6

We have customers using CAN for a wide variety of applications.  Vehicle-based devices are the most common, and these range from earth moving machinery, to busses to boats.  It is also used on non-moving industrial devices as an easy and reliable way for parts of a physically distributed system to communicate.

The Opal-6 IoT Development Kit includes CAN PHYs and super-quick push-wire connectors to enable rapid prototyping of applications. 

We have put together a short video showing the key features along with a quick look at a demo application running under Windows Embedded Compact 2013

The WEC 2013 source code is here.

If you are using Linux, the SocketCAN API is a good way to access the CAN bus.

If CAN is a requirement for your next project, or if you think it might be a useful feature to include, drop us a line so we can talk further about getting you up and running.

Posted by Martin Welford & filed under Opal-6, Windows CE.

NEW Microsoft Windows Embedded Compact BSP Release for Opal-6

Opal-6_250fps

GuruCE have been hard at work on their latest BSP release for WEC 7 and 2013 for i.MX6. 

This release includes a big performance boost, GPU driver update and improved display support.  Chose between HDMI or LVDS display output in the bootloader.  HDMI will autodetect the resolution.

The demo image includes several GPU demo applications and GuruCE have done a video showing it running on several boards.  Opal-6 (based on the i.MX6 DualLite) managed to beat even the quad core modules and record an impressive 250+fps with one of the demos!.  

If you are looking for 3D graphics on a single display, the DualLite might deliver the performance you need without the cost and power issues of going to one of the higher-end i.MX6 options. Contact us to find out more, or request a development kit.

Posted by Martin Welford & filed under Opal-6.

Introducing Opal-6!

It’s time a for a sneak peak at what we have been cooking up in the lab…
Meet our latest module – Opal-6!

Opal-6-Top-Large Opal-6-Bottom-Large

Opal-6 has been designed for high-performance applications in demanding environments.

The Opal-6 SoM wraps up a Freescale i.MX6 Solo or DualLite with DDR3, eMMC, Ethernet PHY and power supply components. The custom footprint is 60mm x 60mm and uses 2 x 168-pin Hirose connectors to bring out almost all of the i.MX6 signals.

Opal-6_DevKit-Top-Small

The i.MX6 is great for graphics & multimedia based applications AND connectivity.  Yes – that would be the IoT word you have been hearing everywhere :-)
The Opal-6 Dev Kit includes HDMI and dual LVDS display options. Internet connectivity is via Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi and cellular. The cellular modem connects via PCIe and there is also dual SIM support. One SIM is a new solder down version enabled for global roaming, giving you connectivity right out of the box.

There are interfaces for industrial and automotive applications via CAN, RS485 and 5V I/O. These are on push-wire connectors. Our aim is to make it really quick to prototype your design.

Operating system support includes Linux support from Timesys and the new Windows Embedded Compact 2013 BSP from GuruCE.

Full details and technical docs will be on the web site in the coming weeks. Development kits are sampling in December. Email sales@device.solutions to reserve your kit.