CanMV-K230 is a credit card-sized development board for AI and computer vision applications based on the Kendryte K230 dual-core C908 64-bit RISC-V processor with built-in KPU (Knowledge Process Unit) and various interfaces such as MIPI CSI inputs and Ethernet.

The CanMV-K230 development board features the following specifications:

• SoC – Kendryte K230
  • CPU
    • 64-bit RISC-V processor @ 1.6GHz with RISC-V Vector Extension 1.0, FPU
    • 64-bit RISC-V processor @ 800MHz with support for RV64GCB instruction set
  • AI accelerator
    • KPU with support for INT8 and INT16
    • Compatible with TVM, TensorFlow, Pytorch, ONNX
    • Typical network performance: Resnet 50 ≥ 85fps @ INT8; Mobilenet_v2 ≥ 670fps @ INT8; YoloV5S ≥ 38fps @INT8;
  • “DPU” using 3D structured light depth calculation up to 1280x800 @ 30fps
  • VPU – Video encoding/decoding for H.264/H.265/JPEG/MJPEG up to 4Kp40/4Kp20
• System Memory: 512MB LPDDR3
• Storage – QSPI flash, microSD card slot
• Display – HDMI port, MIPI DSI connector up to 1080p60
• Audio – 3.5mm audio jack
• Camera – Up to 5MP camera, up to 3-ch MIPI CSI inputs
• Networking
  • 10/100Mbps Ethernet RJ45 port
  • WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 4.0 via AP6212 wireless module
• USB – 1x USB 2.0 OTG Type-C port port
• Expansion – 40-pin GPIO header with up to 29x GPIOs, 5x PWM, 4x I2C, 2x UART
• Misc – Buttons, RGB LED
• Power Supply – 5V via USB-C port
• Dimension – 85 x 56 mm

The Kendryte K230 processor offers higher efficiency compared to the K510 and K210 SoCs, with Mobilenet V1, Resnet 50, and YoloV5S achieving up to 341 FPS/TOPS. While the documentation for the CanMV-K230 development board is mostly available in Chinese at this time, there are over 30 AI demos available for users to experiment with. Overall, the CanMV-K230 development board provides a compact solution for AI and computer vision applications, with the Kendryte K230 processor delivering improved performance and efficiency.

Source: CNX Software – Embedded Systems News.

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.

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.

SiFive has introduced two new IP blocks, the Intelligence X390 NPU and the Performance P870 RISC-V core, which are designed for SoCs targeting Generative AI and ML applications.

The Performance P870, previously covered by CNX Software, is a high-performance core that supports the RVA23 RISC-V profile specification, Vector 1.0, and Vector Crypto. It features a six-wide, out-of-order 64-bit core and can be configured with up to a 32-core cluster. The P870 offers over 12 SpecINT2k6/GHz and a 50% peak single-thread performance improvement compared to the previous generation SiFive Performance P670. It also includes SiFive features such as 2x 128b VLEN RVV, vector crypto and hypervisor extensions, IOMMU and AIA, non-inclusive L3 cache, and RISC-V WorldGuard security. The P870 is fully compatible with Google’s platform requirements for Android on RISC-V and supports Linux.

The SiFive Intelligence X390 NPU is built on the U7-Series core with a 64-bit RISC-V ISA and an 8-stage dual-issue in-order pipeline. It supports the RISC-V Vector extension and features a 1024-bit VLEN, 512-bit DLEN, single/dual vector ALU, and the Vector Coprocessor Interface eXtension (VCIX) for direct connectivity of external hardware accelerators. The X390 NPU offers a 4x improvement in vector computation compared to the Intelligence X280 NPU, thanks to its single-core configuration, doubled vector length, and dual vector ALUs.

SiFive envisions the P870 and X390 being paired in powerful RISC-V SoCs with up to 32 cores and 8 AI accelerator cores (along with optional custom accelerators) to enable generative AI in data centers. The company promises a full AI solution with optimized libraries, as well as OpenXLA and NN models. Additionally, the Performance P870 is suitable for DPU, storage, networking, 5G applications, and automotive SoCs. In the automotive market, the P870-A RISC-V core can be integrated with the Intelligence X280 AI accelerator and SiFive S7-A cores for ASIL B/D compliance, supporting applications such as standalone ADAS, central compute, and in-vehicle infotainment (IVI).

SiFive also suggests that the P870 and X390 may find their way into consumer applications like edge AI security cameras, mobile devices, wearables, and smart TVs, although no specific details were provided.

For more information, please visit the product page and press release.

Source: CNX Software – Embedded Systems News.

Phoronix reports that the latest Linux kernel patches have been released for the Milk-V Pioneer board, a 64-core RISC-V micro-ATX board with impressive features such as two PCIe x16 slots. The board is built around the Sophon SG2042 SoC, which boasts 64 RISC-V CPU cores clocked at up to 2.0GHz, shared 64MB L3 cache, and support for quad-channel DDR4-3200 memory. The Sophon SG2042 has a TDP of 120W.

In addition to its 64-core CPU, the Milk-V Pioneer board offers four DDR4 memory slots, dual M.2 slots, three PCIe x16 slots using x8 lanes, five SATA ports, eight USB 3.2 ports, and dual 2.5Gb Ethernet ports. It is designed for micro-ATX enclosures and works with a conventional 24-pin ATX power supply. Overall, the Milk-V Pioneer is an incredibly interesting RISC-V development board that is currently in the process of being released to the market.

The Milk-V team has been working on upstreaming the Linux kernel support for the Milk-V Pioneer, and the recently published v4 patches enable basic driver support, allowing the kernel to boot to a basic console.

The board, along with a heatsink, is currently priced at $1499 USD and is available for pre-order. Shipping is expected to begin in December.

Source: Phoronix.

Patches have been submitted to the Linux kernel mailing list to add support for the Milk-V Duo RISC-V development platform, reports Phoronix.

The Milk-V Duo features a CV1800B chip with two C906 processor cores. One core runs at 1GHz, while the second core runs at 700MHz. This dual RISC-V 64-bit chip is paired with 64MB of RAM. There is also an optional 10/100Mbps Ethernet via an add-on board. The board is targeted for use with Linux or RTOS. Interested individuals can learn more about this low-cost RISC-V embedded board on the milkv.io website. The patches for mainline Linux kernel support for the Milk-V Duo are currently under review on the LKML.

Source: Phoronix.