risc-v News - Page 2 of 67 - CNX Software

June 17, 2026June 28, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

Zhihe A210 octa-core RISC-V SoC with 12 TOPS NPU powers SoM-based development board

Last year, we noted three upcoming high-performance RISC-V SoCs to watch out for: Zhihe A210, SpacemiT K3, and UltraRISC UR-DP1000. The K3 has already been launched, and I’ll work on the K3-Pico-ITX SBC/mini PC review this coming weekend, while the UR-DP1000 is (still?) expected on the Milk-V Titan motherboard. However, we did not have that many details about the Zhihe A210 so far. This has now changed since documentation has surfaced for the Zhihe A210 and a development kit (A210 SODIMM V2) based on a carrier board and a system-on-module itself powered by the octa-core RISC-V processor. Let’s have a look at both. Zhihe A210 octa-core RISC-V SoC Zhihe A210 specifications: CPU – Octa-core RISC-V RV64GCV processor 4x 64-bit RISC-V C920 cores @ up to 2.3 GHz with 64 KB I Cache and 64 KB D Cache for each core, 1 MB L2 cache; note: 1.9 GHz is also shown […]

June 15, 2026June 16, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Linux 7.1 Release – Main changes, Arm, RISC-V, and MIPS architectures

Linus Torvalds has just released Linux 7.1 on LKML: So it’s only Sunday morning back home, but it’s Sunday afternoon where I am right now, so I’m doing the 7.1 release at the regular time – just not in the regular timezone. This obviously means that the merge window opens tomorrow, but I’ll be in yet another timezone by then, so timing will all be a bit irregular. Normally I try to front-load the merge window and do as much as possible the first few days – this time I’m not sure that will work out with my laptop and a couple of long flights without internet, but I’ve made sure that I have fetched the early pull requests (thank you – you know who you are), so I will be able to do some of it off-line. Anyway, possible slight hiccups in the merge window aside, the news today […]

June 12, 2026June 12, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Fortior FU75xx dual-core motor control MCU family combines 32-bit RISC-V core with 2nd-gen Motor Engine (ME2) core

Fortior FU75xx RISC-V motor control microcontroller

Motor driver IC specialist Fortior Technology has recently introduced the FU75xx dual-core motor control MCU family, pairing a 32-bit RISC-V core and the company’s proprietary 2nd-generation Motor Engine (ME2) core. The RISC-V core is used for parameter configuration and routine processing, while the ME core integrates FOC and CORDIC modules that enable fast calculation of FOC (as quick as 5µs) or square-wave control for sensored/sensorless BLDC/PMSM motors. The chips have an impressive list of peripherals (see specs below) and target high-speed computing and real-time control for robotics and motion systems, such as industrial servo drives, robotic joints, smart home appliances, and new energy vehicle systems. FU75xx MCU specifications: Dual-core CPU RISC-V core @ 48 MHz ME2 motor engine core @ 48 MHz with FOC module and CORDIC module Memory – 12kB SRAM, 4kB PRAM for program execution Storage – 64kB Flash with ECC and CRC, self-program and code protection I/Os […]

June 10, 2026June 10, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

OpenCV 5 release – New DNN engine with enhanced ONNX and LLM/VLM support, Intel, Arm, and RISC-V hardware optimizations

OpenCV 5 open-source computer vision library has recently been released with a brand-new DNN (Deep Neural Network) engine that provides better ONNX coverage and enables LLM/VLM support. The fifth version of the popular CV library also adds support for Intel, Arm, Qualcomm, and RISC-V hardware acceleration, improved 3D vision, and various new core features such as new data types, real N-dimensional and scalar support, and performance improvements. OpenCV 5’s DNN Engine OpenCV 4.x supports about 22% of ONNX operators, and the new DNN engine in OpenCV 5 brings coverage to over 80%. That means models with dynamic shapes that used to fail on OpenCV 4.x, should now work, as the 5.x engine was rebuilt around a typed operation graph with proper shape inference, constant folding, and operator fusion. The table below shows the main difference between OpenCV 4.x and OpenCV 5 Since it’s quite a big change, to make sure […]

May 29, 2026May 29, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Petros CH32H417M Alef – A Raspberry Pi Pico-sized RISC-V USB 3.0 camera board

XPU Labs’ Petros CH32H417M Alef is a Raspberry Pi Pico-sized board based on the WCH CH32H417M RISC-V USB 3.0 microcontroller and taking a 2MP OV2640 camera module through the MCU’s digital image interface (DVP). The board comes with 896KB SRAM and 960KB Flash from the WCH microcontroller, two 20-pin GPIO headers following the Raspberry Pi Pico’s pinout, a 6-pin SWD and UART6 header for debugging, and a Reset button. Petros CH32H417M Alef specifications: MCU – WCH CH32H417MEQ6 MCU QingKe RISC-V5F up to 400 MHz QinKe RISC-V3F up to 144 MHz GPU – Graphics Processing Hardware Accelerator GPHA Memory – 896KB SRAM Storage – 960KB Flash Camera I/F – 40-pin B2B connector with DVP @ 144MHz, SPI, I2C and ADC interfaces for 2MP Phos Ayin OV2640 camera module USB – 1x USB 3.0 Type-A port (5Gbps, tested up to 430 MB/s) for data, power, and firmware flashing Debugging – 6-pin SWD and […]

May 29, 2026 by Debashis Das - 1 Comment

u-blox ALMA-B2 Bluetooth 6.0 and 802.15.4 module features Nordic nRF54LM20 Edge AI wireless MCU

ALMA B2 series (Open CPU) Stand alone Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) modules

u-blox has recently announced the ALMA-B2 standalone BLE 6.0 and 802.15.4 module family built around the Nordic Semi nRF54LM20 Cortex-M33 wireless microcontroller with a dedicated NPU for low-latency Edge AI applications. There are four specific product variants in the u-blox ALMA-B2 series: ALMA-B201, ALMA-B206, ALMA-B211, and ALMA-B216, all of which support Bluetooth 6.0 and Bluetooth Channel Sounding for distance measurement. They also support IEEE 802.15.4, including Thread, Zigbee, and Matter, as well as Nordic’s proprietary 2.4 GHz protocol and NFC. The company also mentions that the nRF54LM20B-based ALMA-B211 and ALMA-B216 variants include an Axon NPU that performs machine learning tasks up to 15 times faster and with greater energy efficiency than running the same tasks on the main processor alone. u-blox ALMA-B2 Series Specifications: Wireless SoC – Nordic Semiconductor nRF54LM20A (for ALMA-B201 and B206) or nRF54LM20B (for ALMA-B211 and B216) CPU Arm Cortex-M33 application processor clocked at up to 128 MHz RISC-V […]

May 27, 2026May 29, 2026 by Debashis Das - 4 Comments

MuseLab nanoCH32H417 – A $17 WCH CH32H417 RISC-V MCU development board with USB 3.0, Fast Ethernet

nanoCH32H417 Development Board with Displa

Designed by MuseLab, the nanoCH32H417 is a development board for the WCH CH32H417 dual-core RISC-V MCU, which we covered earlier this year for its USB 3.0 (5 Gbps), UHS, and Fast Ethernet support. At that time, only the official CH32H417 development board was available, but this board adds a third-party option. The board exposes various features of the MCU, including one USB 3.0 port, two USB Type-C ports, a 100Mbps Ethernet interface, and a MicroSD card slot. It also simplifies the prototyping workflow by integrating a WCHLink-E debugger directly onto the board, meaning you won’t need to wire up an external programmer to flash the MCU or view serial output. MuseLab nanoCH32H417 specifications: MCU – WCH CH32H417QEU6 MCU QingKe RISC-V5F up to 400 MHz QinKe RISC-V3F up to 144 MHz GPU – Graphics Processing Hardware Accelerator GPHA Memory – 896KB SRAM Storage – 960KB Flash Storage – MicroSD card slot Display […]

May 26, 2026May 26, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

WCH BLE Analyzer Pro USB Bluetooth LE sniffer gains Linux software with Wireshark (pcap) support

Last November, we wrote about the WCH BLE Analyzer Pro, an inexpensive (~$20) USB Bluetooth LE sniffer and analyzer, which looked useful and good value for reverse engineering and debugging. One downside is that the WCH BLE Analyzer software was only made for Windows 7 to 11, but Xecaz decided to look into it and reverse-engineered the USB protocol to write Linux software using libusb that outputs a standard pcap compatible with popular tools such as Wireshark, or as he puts it: “WinChipHead forgot to ship a Linux driver. We forgot to ask permission.” As a reminder, the BLE Analyzer Pro features three CH582F Bluetooth LE RISC-V microcontrollers and a CH334 USB hub, supports Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) 4.0/4.2/5.0, and connects to the host through its USB-C port. The Linux “driver” for the BLE Analyzer Pro tool can be found on GitHub. Building and installing the software is quick and […]