Milk-V, known for its work on the Milk-V Duo and high-end Pioneer board, has recently announced the Oasis as a mini-ITX RISC-V board in development. This board is expected to feature 16 cores and up to 64GB of LPDDR5 system memory.

The Milk-V Oasis aims to provide a “truly desktop-grade RISC-V PC” within a compact mini-ITX form factor. It is powered by the Sophgo SG2380 SoC, which includes 16 cores: twelve P (performance) cores clocked up to 2.5GHz, and four E (efficiency) cores clocked up to 1.6GHz. The SG2380 utilizes SiFive P670 cores for its design and also includes Imagination AXT-16-512 graphics.

In addition to the powerful CPU, the Milk-V Oasis will have an 8-core SiFive X280 NPU, up to 64GB LPDDR5-5500 memory, a plugable UFS module, a microSD card slot, an M.2 slot for NVMe SSD storage, four SATA ports, USB 3.0 connectivity, USB-C with DP Alt-Mode support, and dual 2.5Gb Ethernet.

The specifications of the Milk-V Oasis are intriguing, especially considering its price. Pre-orders are expected to start at $120 USD. However, it is important to note that the board is not expected to be ready for another ten months, and there are currently no pictures of the board available, only spec sheets and design documents. The SG2380 SoC itself is also still being finalized. The estimated shipping date for the board is Q3 2024.

Despite these limitations, Milk-V’s track record with shipping other RISC-V products instills hope that the Milk-V Oasis will be an exciting 16-core RISC-V board. The price is expected to be around $150 USD after the pre-order period, assuming everything goes according to plan. More information about the Milk-V Oasis can be found in their official announcementhttps://community.milkv.io/t/introducing-the-milk-v-oasis-with-sg2380-a-revolutionary-risc-v-desktop-experience/780.

Source: Phoronix.

PhotoPrism, the AI-Powered Photos App for the Decentralized Web, has just released its latest version: October 21, 2023. This app utilizes cutting-edge technologies to automatically tag and find pictures, all while staying out of your way. The best part is, you can run PhotoPrism at home, on a private server, or in the cloud.

The new update brings several exciting features and improvements. One of the highlights is the addition of search filters, allowing users to find pictures based on ISO number, focal length, aperture, and altitude. This enhances the search functionality and makes it easier to locate specific photos.

In addition to the search filters, the update also includes various user interface enhancements, updated translations, and fixes for recently discovered issues. The PhotoPrism team expresses their gratitude to all the contributors who submitted pull requests, helped with testing, and contributed in other ways.

Here’s a breakdown of what’s new in this version:

• Search: Added filters for ISO number, focal length, and aperture range. This enhances the search functionality, allowing users to find pictures based on specific criteria.
• Search: Added the alt:... filter, which enables users to search for pictures within a specific altitude range.
• Search: The cards view now displays ISO number, focal length, aperture, and exposure details, providing users with more information at a glance.
• Live Photos: Fixed Google HEVC motion photo playback and transcoding, ensuring a seamless experience for users.
• Live Photos: Improved indexing of related files with vendor-specific naming schemes, making it easier to organize and view live photos.
• Metadata: Updated offline map data for more accurate timezone lookups, ensuring precise metadata information.
• Metadata: Creation time is now calculated with UTC offset if the timezone is unknown, improving accuracy in metadata.
• Config: The creation of the default certificate is now skipped if HTTPS/TLS is disabled, streamlining the configuration process.
• Translations: German, Greek, and Romanian translations have been updated, providing a better user experience for users who speak these languages.

PhotoPrism continues to evolve and provide a powerful solution for managing and organizing photos. With its latest release, users can enjoy enhanced search capabilities, improved user interface, and various bug fixes. Whether you’re a server enthusiast, a Linux user, a DevOps professional, or simply someone who loves managing their photos, PhotoPrism is worth exploring.

For more information and to download the latest version, visit the PhotoPrism GitHub page.

Sophgo SG2380 is an upcoming 2.5 GHz 16-core RISC-V processor based on SiFive Performance P670 cores and equipped with a 20 TOPS AI accelerator using SiFive Intelligence X280 and Sophgo TPU. It will be featured in a $120 desktop-class mini-ITX motherboard in the second half of 2024. The RISC-V processor supports up to 64GB RAM, UFS 3.2 and SATA 3.0 storage, an Imagination GPU for 3D graphics, and a VPU capable of 4Kp60 video decoding. The system can manage locally deployed larger-scale LLMs like LLaMA-65B without the need for external NVIDIA or AMD accelerator cards.

Sophgo SG2380 specifications:

• CPU
  • 16-core SiFive P670 (RV64GCVH) 64-bit RISC-V processor @ up to 2.5GHz with RISC-V Vector v1.0, Vector Crypto
  • Cluster configuration – 12x 2.5 GHz performance cores, 4x 1.6 GHz efficiency cores
  • Full RISC-V RVA22 profile compliance
• GPU
  • Imagination AXT-16-512 high-mid-performance 3D GPU with support for Vulkan 1.3, OpenGL 3.0, OpenGL ES 3.x/2.0/1.1; 0.5 TFLOPS, 16 Gpixels, and 2 TOPS
  • 2D graphic engine
• Video Processing Unit (VPU)
  • Up to 4Kp60 10-bit H.265/HEVC, 8-bit H.264/AVC, 8-/10-bit AV1, 8-/10-bit VP9
  • No hardware video encoder
• AI accelerators
  • 8-core SiFive Intelligence X280 with support for BF16 / FP16 / FP32 / FP64, INT8 up to INT64
  • Sophgo TPU coprocessor through VCIX interface up to 20 TOPS @ INT8 compatible with OpenXLA/IREE
• Memory I/F
  • Up to 64GB RAM through a 128-bit DDR interface
  • Support for LPDDR4 and LPDDR4x 3733Mbps with in–line ECC
  • Support for DDR4 UDIMM, SODIMM @ 3200Mbps (no ECC)
• Storage I/F
  • “UFS 3.2” (Note: currently published standards are UFS 3.1 and UFS 4.0)
  • SATA 3.0
  • QSPI NOR/NAND flash interface
• Video Output
  • eDP 1.2 up to 4Kp60
  • DP 1.2 up to 4Kp60 (USB-C Alt mode)
  • HDMI 2.0 up to 4Kp60 with CEC and eARC support
  • MIPI DSI up to 2Kp60
  • Support for dual video output up to 4Kp60
• Camera
  • Sophgo AI ISP with dual pipe
  • 6x 2-Lane / 4 + 4 x 2 Lane image sensor input
  • Interfaces – MIPI CSI2, Sub LVDS, HiSPi
  • 2x I2C dedicated to image sensor interface
  • Up to 6x 2MP cameras
• Audio
  • HD Audio codec
  • 3x DMIC
  • 3x I2S, 1 of them share pin with HD Audio
  • 1x PCM
• Networking – Gigabit Ethernet (RGMII interface)
• USB
  • 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) with DP Alt Mode, Power Delivery capable
  • 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
  • 2x USB 2.0 interfaces
• PCIe – PCIe Gen3 with 8x+4x+2x+1x+1x Lanes
• Other peripheral interfaces
  • 3x SDIO/SD3.0
  • 2x CAN 2.0
  • 4x UART without traffic control function or 2x UART with traffic control function
  • 8x I2C, SMBUS supported
  • SPI/eSPI with 4 CS
  • LPC
  • PWM
  • Fan detect
• Security
  • Hardware AES/DES/SHA256
  • True Random Number Generator (TRNG)
  • Secure key storage, secure boot,
  • SiFive WorldGuard
  • 32Kb OTP flash
• Power Management – DVFS and ACPI support
• TDP – 5 to 30 Watts
• Junction temperature – -0°C to +105°C
• Package – FCBGA

Source: CNX Software – Embedded Systems News.

In this week’s issue of README Highlight (#42, 2023), we are taking a look at the following project: OpenTofu. OpenTofu is an open-source tool for building, changing, and versioning infrastructure safely and efficiently. It can manage existing and popular service providers as well as custom in-house solutions.

The key features of OpenTofu are:

• Infrastructure as Code: Infrastructure is described using a high-level configuration syntax, allowing it to be versioned and treated like any other code. It can also be shared and re-used.

• Execution Plans: OpenTofu generates an execution plan before making any changes, showing what it will do when called. This helps avoid surprises and allows for better control over infrastructure manipulation.

• Resource Graph: OpenTofu builds a graph of all resources and parallelizes the creation and modification of non-dependent resources. This ensures efficient infrastructure building and provides insight into dependencies.

• Change Automation: Complex changesets can be applied to infrastructure with minimal human interaction. The execution plan and resource graph help operators understand what changes will be made and in what order, reducing potential errors.

The OpenTofu repository contains the OpenTofu Core, which includes the command line interface and the main graph engine. To learn more about compiling OpenTofu and contributing suggested changes, refer to the contributing guide. Bug reports and enhancement requests can also be submitted following the same guide.

If you find a vulnerability or potential vulnerability in OpenTofu, please follow the Security Policy for reporting it. The project uses the Mozilla Public License v2.0.

For more information about OpenTofu, you can visit their Manifesto and their About page. You can also join their Slack community or check out their weekly status updates on the project’s GitHub repository.

The Mixtile Cluster Box is a server enclosure designed for small business applications and edge computing. It consists of four Mixtile Blade 3 Pico-ITX single board computers (SBCs), each powered by a Rockchip RK3588 processor. The SBCs are connected to the enclosure via a 4-lane PCIe Gen3 interface through a U.2 to PCIe/SATA breakout board.

The Cluster Box has been recently released by Mixtile, following the company’s work on the software and technical details. It is available for purchase on Mixtile’s website for $339, excluding the SBCs.

The specifications of the Mixtile Cluster Box include support for up to four Mixtile Blade 3 SBCs, each with up to 32GB LPDDR4 RAM and up to 256GB eMMC flash storage. The enclosure also features a control board running OpenWrt 22.03, with a MediaTek MT7620A MIPS processor, 256MB DDR2 system memory, and 16MB SPI flash storage.

The Cluster Box includes an ASMedia ASM2824 PCIe switch with four PCIe 3.0 4-lane ports. It also provides storage interfaces through four U.2 breakout boards, with four NVMe M.2 M-Key slots (PCIe 3.0 x2 each) and four SATA 3.0 ports. Networking capabilities are offered through a Gigabit Ethernet port.

The enclosure is equipped with two 60mm fans for cooling and a power button with a blue LED indicator. It is powered by a 19 to 19.5V/4.74A power supply through a DC jack. The dimensions of the Cluster Box are 213 x 190 x 129 mm, and it is made of a metal case with SGCC steel materials. It has an operating temperature range of 0°C to 80°C and a storage temperature range of -20°C to 85°C. The relative humidity ranges from 10% to 90% during operation and 5% to 95% during storage.

Users can access the Mixtile Cluster Box through OpenWrt using SSH or a web interface. The Rockchip RK3588 boards come preloaded with a customized Linux system with Kubernetes. Control of each Mixtile Blade can be done through OpenWrt using a command called “nodectl,” which allows users to list active nodes, rescan nodes, power on/off nodes, reboot nodes, flash firmware, and enter the console of a specific node.

For more technical details and a getting started guide, users can refer to the documentation website provided by Mixtile.

Overall, the Mixtile Cluster Box offers a compact and powerful solution for building a four-node server cluster with Rockchip RK3588 SBCs. With its PCIe connectivity, storage options, and OpenWrt software, it provides a versatile platform for various server, Linux, DevOps, and home lab applications.

Source: CNX Software – Embedded Systems News.

SD Association (SDA) has announced the new SD 9.1 specification that doubles the speed of microSD Express memory card speed up to 2GB/s, defines four new SD Express Speed Classes to ensure guaranteed minimum sequential performance levels, and adds support for multi-stream access and related power and thermal management to assure the guaranteed performance.

The new SD 9.1 specification doubles the speed of microSD Express cards, with a maximum speed of 1,969 MB/s achievable over a PCIe Gen4 x1 interface. The cards remain backward compatible with the existing microSD card standard at the lower UHS speeds. The specification also introduces four SD Express classes with minimum guaranteed speeds.

Three new features have been defined in the SD 9.1 specification: power management through maximum power values, thermal management with specific thresholds, and an access rule for multi-stream recording.

While several companies have announced microSD and SD Express cards, they are not yet commercially available. It remains to be seen whether these types of SD cards will be widely adopted.

The press release and white paper provide additional details about the new features added to the SD 9.1 specification.

Source: CNX Software – Embedded Systems News.