Lindenis V5 Allwinner V5 SBC is Designed for AI Video Processing, 4K Encoding

Allwinner V5 V100 is a new quad core Cortex A7 processor targeting 4K 30 fps (Linux)  cameras, and integrating AIE intelligent analytic acceleration engine handling motion detection, perimeter defense video diagnosis, and face detection.

Usually, it’s pretty hard to get a development board based on a new processor, but Lindenis V5 single board computer based on the processor is already available in China, and comes with 1 to 2GB RAM, HDMI 1.4 and MIPI DSI video outputs, dual MIPI CSI video inputs, Gigabit Ethernet and more.

Allwinner V5 SBC

Lindevis V5 SBC specifications:

  • SoC – Allwinner V5
    • Quad-core Arm Cortex-A7 processor @ up to 1,512 MHz with NEON, VFPv4 FPU
    • 4K @ 30 fps H.265/H.264 encoder and decoder
    • Dual ISP 13M@30fps + 8M@30fps
    • AIE (AI Engine) Architecture – Built-in with intelligent analytics acceleration engine with support for motion detection, perimeter defense, video diagnosis, face detection, flow statistics. Supports binocular depth map.
  • System Memory – 1 or 2GB RAM
  • Storage – Micro SD card (SDHC/SDXC) up to 256GB, eMMC flash module socket
  • Video Output / Display Interface
    • HDMI 1.4 type A up to 4K @ 30fps
    • 4-lane MIPI-DSI up to 1080p
  • Video Input – 2x MIPI-CSI2 camera interfaces (1.27mm pitch), 4 lanes per channel
  • Audio – 3.5mm Line in and Line out jacks, 2x microphones
  • Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, optional WiFi + Bluetooth SDIO 3.0/UART module via dual header
  • USB – 4x USB 2.0 host ports
  • Expansion Ports
    • 2x 20-pin “PI BUS” 2.54mm pitch GPIO Header, compatible with Raspberry Pi B+ J8 GPIO Header
    • 2x 3-pin ADC Header (2.54mm pitch)
    • 2x 7-pins I2S Header (2.54mm pitch)
  • Power Supply
    • 5V via micro USB port
    • 3.7V Li-Ion batter via VBAT battery connector (2.0mm pitch)
  • Dimensions – 130mm x 85mm

Lindenis V5 Camera BoardThe AIE appears to be further divided into two parts:

  • EVE – Embedded Vision Engine
    • Designed for rigid target (such as human face, head, shoulders and etc.) detection
    • 360p detection speed is more that 30fps
    • Minimum single-image detection of 64×64 pixel
    • Maximum 4K resolution input and internal scaling, supporting interesting region detection
  • CVE – Computer Vision Engine
    • Designed for moving target (car, pedestrian, animal and etc.) detection
    • D1 resolution is up to 10fps
    • Minimum 8×8 pixel for small object detection
    • Maximum image of 720p
    • Supports various intelligent analysis applications
    • Perimeter intruder detection supports maximum warning region numbers of 32
    • Perimeter intruder detection can classify people and car by combining calibration algorithm
    • Warning line detection supports maximum trip wires of 32-line
    • Warning line detection supports single/dual direction detection
Linbian OS Architecture
Linbian OS

The company provides support for Linbian OS based on Debian 9 and Linux 4.4, and that includes OpenCV, a Compute Library, support for Tensorflow and
GStreamer with hardware acceleration among others libraries and frameworks as shown above. You’ll find a fair amount of information in the Wiki, including the some hardware files (PDF)  like schematics and pinout diagrams,  as well as getting started guide for the SDK, and datasheets for all main components including Allwinner V5 processor.

Allwinner V5 Block Diagram
Allwinner V5 V100 Block Diagram – Click to Enlarge

Lindenis Tech. Ltd. website shows icons for both Taobao and Aliexpress, so that probably means eventually Lindenis V5 SBC should be available worldwide, but right now the board is only to be found on Taobao where it is sold for 499 CNY, or about $74 US. You’ll also find accessories over there such as the wireless module (AP6255 – 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2) and an 8MP 4K MIPI CSI camera module.

Share this:

Support CNX Software! Donate via cryptocurrencies, become a Patron on Patreon, or purchase goods on Amazon or Aliexpress

ROCK 5 ITX RK3588 mini-ITX motherboard
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
The comment form collects your name, email and content to allow us keep track of the comments placed on the website. Please read and accept our website Terms and Privacy Policy to post a comment.
36 Comments
oldest
newest
tkaiser
tkaiser
6 years ago

And yet another Allwinner no one ever has heard of (at least googling for sun8iw12p1 results in zero hits). Seems this is really a 1.5Ghz chip: https://github.com/lindenis-org/kernel/blob/v5-official/arch/arm/boot/dts/sun8iw12p1.dtsi

Tsvetan
Tsvetan
6 years ago

This is very new chip, the “SDK” linux with binary blobs is sold for $500 I’m waiting to see what software this board will come with. This is the first Allwinner chip with H265 hardware encoding. John Smirl knows more (I guess he will post here) as he deals with cameras and video apps.

tkaiser
tkaiser
6 years ago

I was wrong above (most probably searched for the wrong term). Parts of sun8iw12p1 stuff were already released with other BSPs, e.g. DRAM initialization: https://github.com/Allwinner-Homlet/H3-BSP4.4-bootloader/tree/master/uboot_2014_sunxi_spl/sunxi_spl/dram/sun8iw12p1

Yep, looking forward to Jon’s comments but based on his time zone we’ll have to wait a few more hours 🙂

Mark Birss
Mark Birss
6 years ago

There is reference also to a V3 board?
http://wiki.lindeni.org/index.php/SDK_Download_and_Build

All available platforms:
0. eagle(Allwinner-V5,sun8iw12p1,arm)
1. petrel(Allwinner-H3,sun8iw7p1,arm)
2. cuckoo(Allwinner-V3,sun8iw8p1,arm)

tkaiser
tkaiser
6 years ago

This is just standard output of this specific Allwinner BSP build script and those birds are SoC names not boards 🙂

Jon Smirl
6 years ago
theguyuk
theguyuk
6 years ago
Jon Smirl
6 years ago

Here what I know about the V5. The chip was announced about 18 months ago. It has been shipping during that time in low volume, I suspect production issues. Apparently now it is more easily available. The only price quote I have heard is $15. I suspect that is higher than the final price since it was from the limited availability period. Search for “allwinner v5 dv100” and you’ll find a V5 based camera that has been out for a year now. The focus of camera chips is on the coprocessors, not the main CPU. This chip has quad Cortex-A7… Read more »

csjamesdeng
csjamesdeng
6 years ago

I would like to share some information. V5 is started to design in early 2016. The chip has tow packages, V100 and DV100. V100 is designed for high-level camera solution.DV100 is designed for SDV. SDV enter mass production in April 2018. The chip has a long development cycle, mainly because the chip has many new features and performance improvements to previous chip – V3. Regarding price, now the price of high-volume purchases is less that $10. As I understand it, V5 as second generation for smart encoding and intelligent video processing, which represents the progress and determination of Allwinner in… Read more »

Jon Smirl
6 years ago

csjamesdeng, what is this reference to the V3? Is there a newer V3 SDK? I would truly like to get rid of Camdroid. Also, are you planning an V3/S3 boards?

All available platforms:
0. eagle(Allwinner-V5,sun8iw12p1,arm)
1. petrel(Allwinner-H3,sun8iw7p1,arm)
2. cuckoo(Allwinner-V3,sun8iw8p1,arm)

csjamesdeng
csjamesdeng
6 years ago

No new version from Allwinner anymore, I guess. I planning to develop a new SDK for V3/S3 and a DVB (design verification board). Kernel uses official 3.4 version, maybe upgrade to mainline in the near future. Rootfs uses buildroot. Toolchain uses Linaro version. Will refactor the userspace API of VE, display, etc. . Planned for release in November. Looking forward to your suggestion and advice.

Jasbir
Jasbir
6 years ago

Are the api for EVE and CVE documented anywhere? The datasheet has little information on the capabilities.

Also when will the board be available on aliexpress?

Jon Smirl
6 years ago
csjamesdeng
csjamesdeng
6 years ago

Hi Jasbir, the board available on aliexpress now, https://www.aliexpress.com/store/4504082

Jon Smirl
6 years ago

How can you get around the closed source libisp that is in the 3.4 kernel? If you could get Allwinner to release source for that it would be possible to fully support V3 in mainline. Without that source everyone is stuck with 3.4. 3.4 is a problem for us because it predates Bluetooth LE.

V3 is actually a quite good chip for the price. But the Camdroid SDK is killing it for use in broader applications. Maybe Allwinner can breathe some new life into this chip by releasing the libisp source and getting it into mainline.

csjamesdeng
csjamesdeng
6 years ago

Regarding the source, We’ll figure it out。

ronnie9ball
ronnie9ball
5 years ago

Okay, Jon Smirl, you have had 5 months to dev. What is your current appraisal of this rig?

Jon Smirl
5 years ago

This is a very good 4K camera implementation. We are not using the binocular depth vision function, but other people appear to be using it without problems. The software is in decent shape, it is easy to download Debian and have it work. Source of everything you need is on github. Downside. The chip implements HAAR AI. HAAR has been eclipsed by CNN. The HAAR hardware does work, and it works in real-time. But you are pretty much stuck with the dozen or so HAAR classifiers that Allwinner has prebuilt. This is not Allwinner’s fault, the AI industry just went… Read more »

Jon Smirl
5 years ago

The Mediatek MT8183 may end up being a better AI chip. But it hasn’t shipped yet and we don’t have a price for it. Price could be anywhere from $5 to $50. At $5 it is a hot product, at $50 you’ll only see it in Chromebooks.

ronnie9ball
ronnie9ball
5 years ago

Jon, theguyuk,
Thank you, both. I am not ready to buy hardware just yet. But, this is really interesting to me. I was thinking I might have to put a workstation with a high end video card in place to do what I need until I saw this article and all of the comments.

Jon Smirl
6 years ago

I tried building their SDK. It uses ARM qemu and wants networking enabled for the vm. Anyone know how to setup the networking?

Jon Smirl
6 years ago

I got it to build by editing /etc/resolv.conf inside the chroot tree. Not the correct fix but at least I can get further.

James
James
6 years ago

I wish more hacker boards would have dual 3.5mm audio jacks and a hardware audio codec.

Jon Smirl
6 years ago

there are two obvious blobs in the kernel tree:
./modules/nand/sun8iw12p1/libnand_sun8iw12p1.a
./drivers/video/fbdev/sunxi/disp2/hdmi/libhdmi_sun8iw11.a

we have open source alternatives for both of those, right?

jernej
jernej
6 years ago

HDMI should work already with mainline (maybe some adjustments are needed), but there is no NAND driver, at least for Linux.

Jon Smirl
6 years ago

I guess NAND doesn’t really matter now with EMMC flash.

Jerry
Jerry
6 years ago

How’s the image quality and capabilities compared to rpi cam?

csjamesdeng
csjamesdeng
6 years ago

Depends on applications and scenes. Allwinner V5 is designed for camera solution with professional image effects.

DurandA
6 years ago

Are you aware of a similar board with HDMI-in?

csjamesdeng
csjamesdeng
6 years ago

Lindenis V5 can implement HDMI-in function by a sub-board connected to MIPI-CSI2.

tkaiser
tkaiser
6 years ago

Something like an ADV7611 would be sufficient for this?

csjamesdeng
csjamesdeng
6 years ago

ADV7611 should work with DVP. TC358743XBG/TC358749XBG/TC358840XBG should work with CSI2.

Jeffrey Lee
Jeffrey Lee
4 years ago

Has anyone gotten the CSI2 camera ports to work?

Jeffrey Lee
Jeffrey Lee
4 years ago

If anyone has, we are in a bind and could use some help, even if paid. Even looking for a CSI2 driver if you have one to start from. We are building the interface for a custom camera.

Khadas VIM4 SBC