risc-v News - Page 2 of 59 - CNX Software

September 8, 2025September 8, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

SiFive introduces 2nd Gen Intelligence RISC-V AI CPUs: X160, X180, X280 Gen 2, X390 Gen 2, and XM Gen 2

SiFive Intelligence X180 Gen 2 Core Complex

SiFive has just launched its 2nd Generation Intelligence family, featuring five new RISC-V-based products: the new X160 Gen 2 and X180 Gen 2, and upgraded X280 Gen 2, X390 Gen 2, and XM Gen 2 processors, all featuring scalar, vector, and matrix processing (XM only) capabilities designed for AI workloads. The original Intelligence X280 64-bit RISC-V CPU was introduced in 2021, following the Intelligence X390 NPU in 2023, and the Intelligence XM Series in September 2024. The X160 Gen 2 (32-bit) and X180 Gen 2 (64-bit) are entry-level AIoT CU cores targeting edge compute and IoT applications for automotive, autonomous robotics, industrial automation, and smart IoT applications. The upgrade models get support for the RVA23 profile and a few other changes. SiFive X160/X180 Gen 2 CPUs Key features and specifications: Scalar processing Intelligence X160 Gen 2 – 32-bit RISC-V ISA (RV32I) Intelligence X180 Gen 2 – 64-bit RISC-V ISA (RV64I) Dual […]

September 4, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

ESP32-H2-Zero mini Zigbee, Thread, and BLE USB-C board is based on ESP32-H2 RISC-V SoC

Waveshare ESP32-H2-Zero is a tiny USB-C development board based on Espressif Systems’ ESP32-H2 RISC-V SoC with Zigbee, Thread, and Bluetooth LE (BLE) connectivity. It’s specifically based on the ESP32-H2FH4S chip with 4MB Flash memory, and features two 9-pin headers and castellated for I/Os, plus four additional pads. It also features a ceramic antenna instead of an external antenna, as well as BOOT and Reset buttons. ESP32-H2 Mini specifications: SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-H2FH4S CPU – 32-bit RISC-V SoC clocked at up to 96 MHz Memory – 320 KB SRAM, 4 KB LP memory Storage – 128 KB ROM, 4MB flash Wireless 802.15.4 radio with Zigbee 3.0, Thread 1.3, and Matter support Bluetooth 5.2 LE/Mesh USB – USB Type-C port for power, programming, and debugging Expansion 2x 9-pin header and castellated holes with up to 15x GPIO, 5x ADC, UART, Fast SPI, JTAG, and power signals (5V, 3.3V, GND) 4x pads […]

August 29, 2025August 29, 2025 by Debashis Das - 10 Comments

Sipeed NanoKVM Pro – A 4K IP-KVM with ATX and Desk versions, PiKVM/NanoKVM firmware support

The Sipeed NanoKVM Pro is a compact 4K IP-KVM with PiKVM/NanoKVM firmware support and is designed for BIOS-level remote management of servers and desktop PCs. It is primarily used in data centers, IT administration, and home labs for remote power cycling, system installation, and secure batch management. It comes in two variants, where the desk variant adds user-facing controls similar to the GL.iNet Comet Pro KVM over WiFi solution, and the ATX version is built for internal chassis or rack installation. Both modules come with 4K video capture with HDMI loopout, ultra-low 50–100 ms latency, USB keyboard/mouse emulation, GbE LAN, Wi-Fi 6, optional PoE, and 32GB eMMC storage with 1GB LPDDR4X RAM. Additionally, it features a customizable touchscreen, LED sync strip, multi-node batch management, and even AI-based smart assistant features. These features with NanoKVM & PiKVM support make it suitable for both simple PC use and demanding server environments. Sipeed […]

August 20, 2025August 20, 2025 by Debashis Das - 3 Comments

Waveshare ESP32-P4-ETH development board supports Ethernet and PoE

Waveshare ESP32 P4 ETH Edge AI dev baord with ESP32 P4 and Ethernet

Waveshare ESP32-P4-ETH is a compact ESP32-P4 development board with Ethernet and PoE support, which looks very similar to the Olimex ESP32-P4-DevKit minus the pUEXT connector. However, we’ve also covered other ESP32-P4 boards with Ethernet (and other features) such as the ESP32-P4-Module-DEV-KIT, the ESP32-P4-NANO board, and the GUITION JC-ESP32P4-M3-DEV. Design wise, the board also looks very similar to the Wiznet boards based on Raspberry Pi RP2xxx microcontroller such as the W55RP20-EVB-Pico, the W6300-EVB-Pico2, and the W5100S-EVB-Pico2 boards, but you can also run multimedia workloads with MIPI camera and display interfaces, hardware video encoding, audio processing, AI speech functions, and advanced security features on the ESP32-P4-ETH board. Waveshare ESP32-P4-ETH specifications: SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-P4 CPU Dual-core 32-bit RISC-V HP (High-performance) CPU @ up to 400 MHz with AI instructions extension and single-precision FPU Single-RISC-V LP (Low-power) MCU core @ up to 40 MHz Memory 768 KB HP L2MEM (for dual-core CPU), 32 […]

August 10, 2025August 10, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Debian 13 “Trixie” released with Linux 6.12, official 64-bit RISC-V support

Debian 13 “Trixie” has just been released with Linux 6.12 LTS, GNOME 48 desktop environment (default), GCC 14.2 compiler, and over 14100 new packages for a total of 69830 packages. This follows the Debian 12 Bookworm release in June 2023 with Linux 6.1. While we had previously tested Debian 12 on RISC-V, Debian 13 is the first release that officially supports 64-bit RISC-V. Debian 13 will serve as the base for Ubuntu, Raspberry Pi OS, and many other Linux distributions. Other Debian 13 highlights: Hardening against Return-Oriented Programming (ROP) exploits and Call/Jump-Oriented Programming (COP/JOP) attacks on amd64 and arm64 targets. HTTP Boot Support – The Debian Installer and Debian Live Images can now be booted using “HTTP Boot” on supported UEFI and U-Boot firmware. Improved manual pages translations (especially Romanian and Polish) BDIC Binary Hunspell Dictionary Support Spell-checking support in Qt WebEngine web browsers (Privacy Browser and Falkon); implemented through BDIC […]

August 7, 2025August 7, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

VisionFive 2 Lite low-cost RISC-V SBC launched for $19.90 and up (Crowdfunding)

StarFive VisionFive 2 Lite is a low-cost, credit card-sized RISC-V SBC powered by a 1.25 GHz JH7110S quad-core 64-bit processor and equipped with 2GB to 8GB RAM, and a microSD card slot for storage. It’s the little brother of the VisionFive 2 Pico-ITX SBC introduced in 2022, but in a more compact Raspberry Pi-like form factor with an M.2 2242 socket for storage, Gigabit Ethernet, optional WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.4, four USB ports, HDMI 2.0, MIPI DSI and CSI connector, and a 40-pin GPIO header. VisionFive 2 Lite specifications: SoC – StarFive JH7110S (a low-cost version of the JH7110 clocked up to 1.25 GHz) CPU – Quad-core 64-bit RISC-V (SiFive U74 – RV64GC) processor @ up to 1.25 GHz GPU – Imagination BXE-4-32 GPU supporting OpenGL ES 3.2, OpenCL 1.2, Vulkan 1.2 VPU 4Kp60 H.265/H.264 video decoder 1080p30 H.265 video encoder JPEG encoder/decoder System Memory – 2GB, 4GB, or […]

August 5, 2025August 6, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Sipeed NanoCluster palm-sized cluster board takes up to 7 system-on-modules

Sipeed NanoCluster is a palm-sized cluster board with seven slots for Raspberry Pi CM4/CM5, Sipeed LM3H (Allwinner H618), and/or Sipeed M4N (AXera AX650N AI SoC) system-on-modules, and other compatible SoMs might also work. The board handles inter-module communication through an 8-port RISC-V-based Gigabit switch, and supports up to 60W USB-C PD or PoE (optional) power. The NanoCluster also offers independent UART and power control for each module, and is suitable as an entry-level/educational platform for HomeLab users working with distributed computing, Kubernetes, Docker, and edge computing. Sipeed NanoCluster specifications: Supported SOMs Raspberry Pi CM4 – Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 SoC @ 1.5 GHz with VideoCore VI GPU, 1GB to 8GB RAM, up to 64GB eMMC flash (optional) Raspberry Pi CM5 – Broadcom BCM2712 quad-core Cortex-A76 SoC @ 2.4 GHz with VideoCore VII GPU, 1GB to 16GB RAM, up to 64GB eMMC flash (optional) Sipeed LM3H – Allwinner H618 quad-core Cortex-A53 […]

July 28, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Linux 6.16 Release – Main changes, Arm, RISC-V, and MIPS architectures

Linus Torvalds has just announced the release of Linux 6.16 on LKML: It’s Sunday afternoon, and the release cycle has come to an end. Last week was nice and calm, and there were no big show-stopper surprises to keep us from the regular schedule, so I’ve tagged and pushed out 6.16 as planned. It’s worth noting that the upcoming merge window for 6.17 is going to be slightly chaotic for me: I have multiple family events this August (a wedding and a big birthday), and with said family being spread not only across the US, but in Finland too, I’m spending about half the month traveling. That means that I will try very hard to get most of the merge window done the first week before my travels start, and I already ended upgiving a heads-up on that to the people who tend to send me the most pull requests. […]