Microchip announces the PolarFire SoC Discovery Kit, a low-cost devkit for Linux and real-time applications

Microchip PolarFire SoC Discovery Kit

The SoC Discovery Kit is the latest addition to Microchip’s list of development kits for the PolarFire series. The series is the first SoC FPGA family powered by a deterministic, coherent RISC-V CPU cluster. They provide low power consumption, thermal efficiency, and defense-grade security for smart, networked systems. They also support a deterministic L2 memory system for Linux and real-time applications. Microchip launched the Icicle Kit for the PolarFire SoC in 2020 and it was followed by the Video and Imaging Kit which was intended for mid-bandwidth imaging and video applications. Now, Microchip has announced the Discovery Kit which is billed as a low-cost alternative to the Icicle. The Discovery Kit retains the full range of features needed for testing concepts quickly, developing firmware applications, and programming/debugging user code. According to Microchip, the kit will bring “a low-cost RISC-V and FPGA development for learning and rapid innovation” to new and […]

Duo 256M is a compact SBC based on SG2002 multi-architecture SoC

Duo 256M SBC

Duo 256M is a small board powered by SOPHGO SG2002 multi-architecture Arm/RISC-V/8051 SoC with 256MB of on-chip RAM and a 1 TOPS NPU, a microSD card for storage, a camera connector, a USB-C port for power and programming, and two headers for GPIO expansion. We covered the SOPHGO SG2002 (and SG2000)  Arm+RISC-V+8051 AI SoC earlier this month saying a couple of boards were expected very soon. We’ve already covered Sipeed LicheeRV Nano with optional Ethernet or WiFi 6, and now we’ll look at the Duo 256M designed by Milk-V Technology in more detail since it’s available now. Duo 256M specifications: SoC – SOPHGO SG2002 Main core – 1GHz 64-bit RISC-V C906 or Arm Cortex-A53 core (selectable) Minor core – 700MHz 64-bit RISC-V C906 core Low-power core – 25 to 300MHz 8051 MCU core NPU – 1 TOPS INT8, supports BF16 Integrated 256MB DDR3 (SiP) Storage MicroSD card slot 32Gbit NAND […]

LicheeRV Nano – A low-cost SG2002 RISC-V and Arm camera and display board with optional WiFi 6 and/or Ethernet

SG2002 camera development board

When I wrote about the SOPHGO SG2002 (and SG2000) RISC-V, Arm, and 8051 AIoT processor yesterday, I noted several boards were in development, but I had not noticed the Sipeed LicheeRV Nano (Beta) was already available for sale, so let’s have a closer look. It’s an inexpensive, tiny camera and display board running Linux with optional support for WiFi 6 and 10/100M Ethernet connectivity which somewhat reminds me of the Breadbee SBC based on MStar MSC313E Camera SoC. Sipeed also provides accessories such as a camera module and a touchscreen display to quickly get started. LicheeRV Nano specifications: SoC – SOPHGO SG2002 Main core – 1GHz 64-bit RISC-V C906 or Arm Cortex-A53 core (selectable) Minor core – 700MHz 64-bit RISC-V C906 core Low-power core – 25 to 300MHz 8051 MCU core NPU – 1 TOPS INT8, supports BF16 Integrated 256MB DDR3 (SiP) Storage – MicroSD card slot and SD NAND […]

SOPHGO SG2000/SG2002 AI SoC features RISC-V, Arm, and 8051 cores, supports Android, Linux, and FreeRTOS

SOPHGO SG2000 SG2002 block diagram

SOPHGO SG2000 and SG2002 are new SoCs featuring a bunch of RISC-V and Arm cores capable of running Linux, Android, and FreeRTOS simultaneously, and to maximize the fun an 8051 MCU core is also in the mix along with a 0.5 TOPS (SG2000) or 1 TOPS (SG2002) AI accelerator. More specifically we have one 1GHz C906 64-bit core capable of running Linux, one 1GHz Arm Cortex-A53 for Linux or Android, another 700 MHz C906 RISC-V core for FreeRTOS, and a 300 MHz 8051-core for real-time I/Os, as well as 256MB or 512MB SiP DRAM. The chip is designed for AIoT applications such as Smart IP cameras, facial recognition, and smart home devices. SOPHGO SG2000/SG2002 specifications: CPU cores 1x C906 64-bit RISC-V core @ 1GHz 1x C906 64-bit RISC-V core @ 700MHz 1x Arm Cortex-A53 core @ 1GHz MCU – 8051 8-bit microcontroller core @ 25 to 300 MHz with 6KB […]

Lichee Console 4A RISC-V devkit testing – Part 2: benchmarks and features in Debian 12

Sipeed Lichee Console 4A RISC-V devkit review

When checking out the hardware of the Lichee Console 4A portable RISC-V development terminal in the first part of the review, I noted that I had some troubles with the display that did not work properly. I did a little massage to “fix” the display, but unsurprisingly it ended up not being a long-term solution. So I had to open a case a few times and ended up breaking the wires to the fan… Each time I reassembled the device, the display only worked for a few seconds or minutes if at all. So I decided to test the system by keeping it open, as the display is working reliably that way. So I won’t be able to do a proper review testing the device on the go, but I still tested all features and benchmarked the T-Head TH1520 mini laptop with Debian 12, and will report my findings in […]

FOSDEM 2024 schedule – Open-source embedded, mobile, IoT, robotics, RISC-V, etc..

FOSDEM 2024

FOSDEM – which stands for Free and Open Source Software Developers’ European Meeting – is a free-to-participate event where thousands of developers meet in Brussels on the first week-end of February to discuss open-source software & hardware projects. FOSDEM 2024 will take place on February 3-4 with 880 speakers, 818 events, and 66 tracks. Although I won’t attend, I’ve created a virtual schedule like every year with sessions most relevant to the topics covered on CNX Software from the “Embedded, Mobile and Automotive” and “Open Hardware and CAD/CAM” devrooms, but also other devrooms including “FOSS Mobile Devices”, “ Energy: Reimagining this Ecosystem through Open Source”, “RISC-V”, and others. FOSDEM Day 1 – Saturday, February 3, 2024 10:30 – 10:55 – Screen Sharing on Raspberry Pi 5 Using VNC in Weston and Wayland with the Yocto Project and OpenEmbedded by Leon Anavi In 2023, embedded Linux developers received eagerly awaited news: […]

This new ESP32-C6-based IoT development board supports solar battery charging

FireBeetle 2 ESP32 C6 IoT Development Board with Wi Fi 6, Bluetooth 5, Solar Powered

DFRobot’s FireBeetle 2 ESP32-C6 is an IoT Development Board with 802.11ax (now called Wi-Fi 6), Bluetooth 5, Zigbee 3.0, Thread 1.3, and flexible power options including USB Type-C, 5V DC, and a CN3165 Lithium Ion battery charger for solar-powered systems. This isn’t the first solar-based board we’ve covered. We’ve also explored boards like Conexio Stratus, Wisblock Kit 2, and RAK8211-NB iTracker along with other solar-powered devices such as solar-powered laptops, solar-powered headphones, and even a solar-based power supply. FireBeetle 2 ESP32-C6 IoT Development Board Specifications: Processor – ESP32-C6 RISC-V single-core, 160 MHz Memory SRAM – 512KB ROM – 320KB Flash – 4MB RTC SRAM – 16KB USB – USB 2.0 CDC Wi-Fi Protocols – IEEE 802.11b/g/n, IEEE 802.11ax (20 MHz-only non-AP mode) Bandwidth – Supports 20 MHz and 40 MHz at 2.4 GHz Modes – Station, SoftAP, SoftAP+Station Frequency – 2.4GHz Frame Aggregation – TX/RX A-MPDU, TX/RX A-MSDU Bluetooth Protocol […]

How I “fixed” the display on Lichee Console 4A terminal

How to fix Lichee Console 4A display

When I wrote a hands-on post about Lichee Console 4A RISC-V development terminal I noted the display would sometimes have strange effects or simply go black. I’ve now fixed the issue, and I was just probably unlucky since the issue must be rare, but I’ll still document it in case somebody encounters a similar problem and for fun! First, the video below shows what I would see on my terminal after using it for a few minutes. Since then, the display has gone completely dark, and all I see is the backlight, but I can still access the device through an SSH terminal. It looks like a bad connection issue, but I still contacted Sipeed and they told me it must have been the display connector. So I turned off the device and reopened the enclosure to remove and reinsert the cable for the display as shown in the photo […]

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