GOWIN Semiconductor Category - CNX Software

October 31, 2025November 20, 2025 by Debashis Das - 2 Comments

ESP32JTAG – An open-source wireless JTAG and logic analyzer (Crowdfunding)

EZ32 ESP32JTAG is an open-source, wireless JTAG and logic analyzer tool that can debug both MCUs and FPGAs. It features a 16-channel 250 MHz logic analyzer and integrated UART interface, designed to replace tools such as ST-Link or Saleae analyzers in a single compact, wireless solution. The device is built around an ESP32-S3 dual-core SoC and a small FPGA with 5k logic gates and 1 Mbit of internal RAM to handle high-speed signal processing. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi 4, Bluetooth 5.0, and USB Type-C, and a small 1.83-inch LCD displays system information such as IP address and status. The ESP32JTAG is also equipped with four configurable 4-wire ports for JTAG, SWD, UART, and logic analyzer mode, and supports target voltage monitoring. EZ32 ESP32JTAG specifications: Wireless MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3 CPU – dual-core Tensilica LX7 @ up to 240 MHz with vector instructions for AI acceleration Memory – 512KB RAM, 8MB […]

September 8, 2025September 6, 2025 by Debashis Das - 2 Comments

KIWI 1P5 – A low-cost GOWIN GW1N industrial FPGA board with onboard USB-JTAG/UART

The OneKiwi KIWI 1P5 is a low-cost FPGA board built around the GOWIN GW1N-UV1P5 device. Priced at $14, it is designed for prototyping, digital logic design, and educational applications. The FPGA offers 1.5K LUT4 logic elements, 72Kbit of block SRAM, 96Kbit of on-chip flash, and a single PLL. The board comes with 40 user I/O pins via dual-row 2.54 mm headers, along with an onboard USB-C port for power. Debug and communication are handled by an onboard GOWIN USB-JTAG debugger and USB-to-UART bridge, while user interaction is done through two buttons and two LEDs. Additionally, a DIP switch enables external FPGA programming. OneKiwi KIWI 1P5 specifications: SoC – Gowin GW1N-UV1P5 1,584 Logic Units 96Kbit Block SRAM 256Kbit User Flash 2x PLL 6x I/O Banks Up to 125 user I/Os No embedded hard processor USB USB Type-C port for power and USB to UART USB Type-C port for debugging (USB to […]

May 27, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Sipeed Tang Console – A GOWIN GW5AST/GW5AT board with 60K or 138K LUT for FPGA development and retro gaming

Sipeed Tang Console is an FPGA development based on GOWIN GW5AST SoC FPGA with 138K LUTs and a hard RISC-V core or GW5AT FPGA with 60K LUTs, designed as a generic FPGA development and retro gaming platform. The Tange Console offers HDMI and RGB LCD display connectors, two USB ports for joystick or other peripherals, and plenty of expansion options with two 40-pin headers for SDRAM, GBA, and custom expansion, two PMOD connectors for joysticks or custom modules, and a 16-pin Raspberry Pi PCIe FFC connector. The “Tang Console” is also integrated into the “Tang Retro Console” as a complete gaming console kit with enclosure, joysticks, and accessories. Sipeed Tang Console specifications: SoM(one or the other) Sipeed Tang Mega 138K SoC FPGA – GOWIN GW5AST-LV138FPG484A with 138,240 LUT4 1,080 Kb Shadow SRAM (SSRAM) 6,120 Kb Block SRAM (BSRAM) Number of BSRAM – 340 298x DSP slices 12x PLLs 16x global […]

December 2, 2024 by Debashis Das - No Comments

$20 ATOMIC Display Base is a low-cost HDMI display driver for M5Stack’s ESP32-based Atom IoT controllers

M5Stack has recently launched the M5Stack ATOMIC Display Base, an HDMI display driver designed to emulate traditional SPI TFT-LCD data output using Gowin GW1NR-9C FPGA and a built-in LT8618SX RGB-to-HDMI chip and designed to work with the company’s Atom IoT controller family based on ESP32 wireless microcontrollers. The module supports up to 720p (1280×720) image output with a 24-bit color depth and has an average frame rate of 12–16 FPS. Additionally, it can be paired with ATOM series hosts for various memory and application needs. These features make this compact device suitable for industrial control displays, smart home information screens, educational and conference presentations, and remote monitoring displays. The only downside of this device is that it requires a display with adaptive resolution scaling to avoid compatibility issues. M5Stack ATOMIC Display Base (HDMI display driver) specifications FPGA – Gowin GW1NR-9C (PDF datasheet) FPGA with 8,640 LUTs used to simulate SPI TFT-LCD data […]

November 20, 2024November 23, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2024 – International deals and coupons

While Black Friday and Cyber Monday used to be a US-only event, it changed many years ago, and we’ve been writing about international Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals and coupon codes since 2014, since a large portion of our audience cannot benefit from promotions on Amazon’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday events that will take place from November 21 until December 2 this year. So I’ve gathered some international Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2024 deals and discount coupon codes from relevant manufacturers and popular online stores such as Aliexpress, Banggood, and others. Aliexpress Black Friday and Cyber Monday event Aliexpress’ Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2024 event has already started. There are three periods: Nov 19-21 PST – Warm Up event where users can find and add items to the cart before purchasing during the main event. Nov 22-30 PST – “On Sale” event with discounts up to […]

November 19, 2024November 18, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

High-speed data acquisition with Raspberry Pi Pico 2’s HSTX interface and HDMI to USB 3.0 video capture dongle

Raspberry Pi Pico 2 high-speed data acquisition

We previously explained the HSTX high-speed serial transmit interface of the Raspberry Pi RP2350 microcontroller was mostly useful for video outputs and display interfaces since it can only transmit, and not receive data. But Steve Markgraf found another use case for the HSTX interface – high-speed data acquisition – combining a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 board with the DVI Sock board for Pico and one of those cheap MS2130-based HDMI to USB 3.0 video capture dongles. He managed to stream out up to 75 MB/s of real-time data from an overclocked RP2350 to a host computer with a USB 3.0 port. The Adafruit Feather RP2350 HSTX board should also work, but also not been tested. Steve’s “hsdaoh-rp2350” data acquisition over HDMI firmware is based on the dvi_out_hstx_encoder example from Raspberry Pi using the HSTX interface for DVI output and code by Shuichi Takano implementing the HDMI data island encoding required […]

June 28, 2024July 1, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Sipeed Tang Mega 138K Dock is a lower-cost GOWIN GW5AST FPGA + RISC-V development board

The Sipeed Tang Mega 138K Dock is a low-cost version of the Tang Mega 138K Pro development board launched last year with the GOWIN GW5AST FPGA + RISC-V SoC, two SPF+ cages, a PCIe 3.0 x4 interface, and DVI Rx and Tx ports. The new Tang Mega 138K Dock keeps a GW5AST FPGA SoC but with a 484-ball package that fits on a smaller system-on-module, and does without the SPF+ cages, replaces the PCIe 3.0 x4 interface with a PCIe 2.0 x4 interface, and only uses a single HDMI port for DVI Rx or Tx. Sipeed Tang Mega 138K system-on-module Let’s first have a look at the specifications of the SoM itself: SoC FPGA – GOWIN GW5AST-LV138FPG484A with 138,240 LUT4 1,080 Kb Shadow SRAM (SSRAM) 6,120 Kb Block SRAM (BSRAM) Number of BSRAM – 340 298x DSP slices 12x PLLs 16x global clocks 24x HCLK 8x transceivers at 270Mbps to […]

June 26, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

GOWIN GW5AT-15 low-cost FPGA provides high-speed video interfaces up to 4K at 120 FPS

GOWIN Semiconductor has just announced the “Arora V” GW5AT-15 FPGA designed for high-speed video interfaces up to 4K at 120 FPS in space-constrained consumer and automotive applications. Manufactured with TSMC’s 22nm LP process, the new FPGA offers high-performance 12.5 Gbps SerDes, PCIe 3.0, MIPI CPHY, and DPHY interfaces. The GW5AT-15 FPGA also provides 15K LUTs of programmable logic, 118kbit of shadow SRAM, 630kbit of block SRAM (BSRAM), optional 64Mbit or 128Mbit of pseudo-SRAM (PSRAM), and optional 8Mbit of NOR Flash in a tiny 4.9mm x 5.3mm WLCSP package. Target applications include AR/VR headsets, 4K gaming tablets, and car infotainment systems. GOWIN GW5AT-15 FPGA specifications: FPGA Fabric 15120 logic elements (LUT4) 118kbit of shadow SRAM 630kbit of block SRAM (BSRAM) arranged as 35 x 18kbit 28x DSP slices, 12x DSP Lite slices PSRAM GW5ART-15: 64Mbit (in MG132P package) or 128Mbit (in CM90P package) of pseudo SRAM (PSRAM) GW5ANRT-15: 64Mbit PSRAM DDR […]