Farnell element14 launches Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+
An upgrade to the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B has a more powerful CPU, offers faster Ethernet and dual-band wireless networking, says Farnell element14.
Claimed to be the fastest and most powerful version yet, the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ is built on a quad-core Broadcom BCM2837 64-bit application processor running at 1.4GHz.
The Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ is over 15 per cent faster than the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B. Enhancements enable the board to be used as an embedded device. These include dual-band wireless LAN. This is a networking device from Cypress Semiconductor. It delivers 2.4 and 5.0GHz IEEE 802.11ac wireless LAN and Bluetooth 4.2 capability. There is also improved thermal management, faster Ethernet (Gigabit Ethernet over USB 2.0, maximum throughput of 300Mbit per second) and Power over Ethernet (PoE) -enabled RJ45 providing PoE support via a PoE HAT add-on board.
The wireless sub-system also comes with modular compliance certification, which allows the board to be designed into end products with reduced requirements for wireless compliance testing. This reduces both cost and time to market, says Farnell element14.
The faster, more powerful board is offered at the same price as the previous model. Peter Wenzel, global director of Raspberry Pi, single board computers, and software at Premier Farnell and Farnell element14 adds: “The Raspberry Pi family, coupled with our wide range of popular and exclusive accessories, provides hobbyists, makers, engineers and business of all sizes with a solution for every stage of the development process.”
Eben Upton, CEO of Raspberry Pi Trading said: “When we launched the Raspberry Pi 3 two years ago, we expected to see an increase in its use as an embedded product, especially in IoT related projects”. He adds that this version has faster processing, faster wired networking and improved wireless connectivity; and with modular compliance certification, together with the same support hrough communities and forums.
Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ offers backwards compatibility by following the same mechanical footprint as the Pi 2 and Pi 3 Model B, and also includes 1-Gbyte LPDDR2 SDRAM, 40pin extended GPIO, CSI camera port for connecting the Raspberry Pi camera, DSI display port for connecting the Raspberry Pi touchscreen display, four USB 2 ports, four pole stereo output and composite video port, full size HDMI, H.264, MPEG-4 decode (1080p30). H.264 encode (1080p30) and OpenGL ES 1.1, 2.0 graphics.
PoE will be provided via an official PoE add-on board that will be available to buy from Farnell element14 from the summer 2018.
The Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ is available to buy as a standalone board and as an exclusive element14 Starter Pack including a 16-Gbyte micro-SD card with new out-of-the-box software (NOOBS) pre-installed, the official Raspberry Pi 2.5A Power Supply, and the official Raspberry Pi Case.
