Morse Micro MM8108-M20 high-power Wi-Fi HaLow module delivers up to 28.5 dBm Tx output power

Morse Micro MM8108-M20 is a high-power Wi-Fi HaLow module based on the MM8108 SoC and a high-power amplifier delivering up to 28.5 dBm transmit output power, alongside a surface acoustic wave (SAW) filter tuned for the 902-928 MHz band of the North American market. Other MM8108 modules, such as the Quectel FGH200M Wi-Fi HaLow module, are limited to 26 dBm Tx power, but US and Canada regulations enable higher power transmissions, and by extension longer range. The obvious downside of the MM8108-M20 is that it might be outright illegal or may require a special license in other countries. Morse Micro...

Interesting project: Turn Ethernet + PoE into a Wi-Fi Hotspot with ESP32-POE-ISO!

Need to share a wired internet connection over Wi-Fi, but want a compact solution powered through PoE? Here’s an interesting open-source project that transforms an ESP32-POE or ESP32-POE-ISO into a Wi-Fi NAT router using the Arduino IDE. 🔹 Converts Ethernet internet to a Wi-Fi access point🔹 Powered via Power over Ethernet (PoE)🔹 Based on Arduino […]

Olimex brings LTE Cat 1 bis connectivity to embedded Linux systems

Olimex’s USB-LTE4G-EU is a compact USB modem designed to provide 4G LTE connectivity for IoT, industrial, telemetry, and embedded Linux applications. The device is based on the Quectel EG800K-EU cellular module and supports LTE Cat 1 bis technology, which is increasingly being adopted in connected devices requiring moderate data throughput, low power consumption, and long-term […]

DEBIX expands its SBC lineup with Model D and R3576-01 boards

DEBIX has expanded its single-board computer lineup with the DEBIX Model D and DEBIX R3576-01, two Arm-based platforms targeting different embedded and industrial applications. The Model D is built around NXP’s power-efficient i.MX9131 processor, while the R3576-01 uses Rockchip’s RK3576 octa-core SoC with an integrated NPU for machine learning workloads. The DEBIX Model D is […]

Wifi Time

[Hardware] Fake GPS module using NTP over WiFi

On Reading SRAMs in IR Images, and Establishing Bounds on Trust

Last month’s name that ware demonstrates that even though non-destructive IR imaging is not capable of resolving an individual bit cell, at least at 22nm it is still possible to constrain the number of bits in an SRAM macro.

An important step in establishing trust in a computer is measuring all of its state and confirming that nothing is amiss. A typical trusted boot would make a point of zeroing and/or patterning & hashing all the known bits of memory in a system. This process helps constrain the amount of malicious or foreign code that could be hiding in the system.

Physical...

Name that Ware, May 2026

The Ware for May 2026 is shown below.

This month’s ware is on a theme similar to last month’s but about…50 years older. Lots of things change over the years, but the geometric organization of an array never goes out of style. On the other hand, I increasingly miss things that were designed for repair, containing self-documenting features like this one.

Huge thanks again to FETguy and Renew Computers in San Rafael, CA for contributing this gem!

Winner, Name that Ware April 2026

Seems like I overestimated people’s interest in looking at silicon images! Congrats to k8 for attempting the challenge, I appreciate the participation. email me for your prize!

Recall that the list of possible memory dimensions is limited to a list of 28 possible types of memories. Given that, here’s the mapping of macros to memory types:

In addition to naming the winner and...

Microcode inside the Intel 8087 floating-point chip: register exchange

In 1980, Intel introduced the 8087 floating-point chip, a co-processor that made floating-point operations up to 100 times faster. This chip was highly influential, and today most processors use the floating-point standard introduced by the 8087.

The 8087 uses complicated algorithms to accurately compute functions such as square roots, tangents, and exponentials. These algorithms are implemented inside the chip in low-level code called microcode. I'm part of a group, the Opcode Collective, that is reverse-engineering this microcode. In this post, I take a close look at the microcode for one of the 8087's instructions—FXCH—and explain how the microcode works. The FXCH (Floating-point Exchange) instruction exchanges two floating-point...

It's hard to justify buying a Framework 12

My nephew just graduated high school, and wants a laptop. When he decides what computer to buy, price (or more precisely, value) is the most important attribute.

Apple's MacBook Neo upended the 'value laptop' equation—Apple's not supposed to be both the cheapest option and the best value... but it seems like that's squarely where the Neo landed for the good-but-cheap laptop category.

My nephew is also my godson, and to kick off his computing journey, I thought I'd let him choose from a Framework 12 I bought to test, or the MacBook Neo I bought a couple months ago to use around...