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PicoRio Linux RISC-V SBC is an open-source alternative to Raspberry Pi board

cnx-software.com

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Re: PicoRio Linux RISC-V SBC is an open-source alternative to Raspberry Pi board

#151

Post by nl »

brucehoult wrote: post #149
nl wrote: post #75

See also https://www.seeedstudio.com/Sipeed-Maix-Cube-p-4553.html This is RISC-V, with a neural co-processor (runs YOLO), camera, GPIOs, leds etc. For $25. It runs MicroPython out of the box, but someone has Linux booting on the board equivalent. I have one, and there are teething pains but the platform seems pretty capable.

You can technically get a cut-down Linux kernel and a couple of small programs on it, but with only 8 MB RAM it's awfully limited. You need 256 MB or 512 MB absolute minimum for any kind of reasonable modern desktop distro, and better 2+ GB.

Why would you want to run a desktop distro on a device like this? That's not what you get this for.

Re: PicoRio Linux RISC-V SBC is an open-source alternative to Raspberry Pi board

#152

Post by lnsru »

monocasa wrote: post #135
lnsru wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don’t use Chinese clone in a commercial product. Especially when whole system costs $15k+

You don't use arduinos in commercial products either. You design your own board and drop a atmega328p on it so you don't have to deal with the support calls of the arduino working it's way loose.

Way too expensive for 5 pieces yearly. Especially for toggling couple pins and LEDs.

Re: PicoRio Linux RISC-V SBC is an open-source alternative to Raspberry Pi board

#153

Post by prox »

brucehoult wrote: post #145
prox wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have an overview or link how that has come to be by any chance?

It's a slide from a presentation given at the RISC-V Global Forum, held online on September 3.

Thank you!

Re: PicoRio Linux RISC-V SBC is an open-source alternative to Raspberry Pi board

#154

Post by fluffything »

throwaway4good wrote: post #109
bydo wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Image in the article says TSMC 28nm. https://www.cnx-software.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Pico...

Apparantly we are in for another major escalation of the chip wars: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-smic-exclusive/... Exclusive: Trump administration weighs blacklisting China's chipmaker SMIC

I'm all in SMIC stocks. You can get a sizeable part of the company today for cheap, and if sanctions continue, and issues with Taiwan scalate, China is going to go all-in SMIC as well.

Re: PicoRio Linux RISC-V SBC is an open-source alternative to Raspberry Pi board

#155

Post by tjoff »

ecesena wrote: post #88

What's the latest on a cheap, small board where you can run linux, with BLE & WiFi 2.4/5GHz? Rpi Zero W and the corresponding Banana Pi M2 Zero meet all criteria except the 5GHz. Beside these, I have a really hard time finding any cheap alternative. There's plenty of embedded devices for iot, from arduino to all others. But 100% of the iot I have in my apartment are actually powered and don't need a batter/extremely…

Why do you want 5GHz? Seems 2.4GHz would be a better fit for the usecase.

Re: PicoRio Linux RISC-V SBC is an open-source alternative to Raspberry Pi board

#157

Post by jlokier »

lopmotr wrote: post #55
vlmutolo wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One concrete advantage RISCV has is its variable-length SIMD instruction set. The assembly instructions used for SIMD in RISCV can all operate on data sizes that are various powers of 2. All using the same instructions. You could even call it “SIMD with dynamically-sized data”. Right now, x86 needs one set of instructions for each SIMD data size. That’s why we have SSE, AVX, AVX512, etc. This introduces complexity fo…

Wow, I didn't realize how many of these x86 extensions are basically just SIMD with more and more registers, even going back to MMX in the 1990's. It somehow looks like they never planned ahead and just kept re-inventing a slightly bigger wheel. Great to see RISC-V does it in a unified way.

To be fair to x86, each new generation of SIMD added new kinds of arithmetic & logic operations too, not just wider registers.

RISC-V will need to do the same, so expect to see multiple versions of the "V" extension over time.

Re: PicoRio Linux RISC-V SBC is an open-source alternative to Raspberry Pi board

#158

Post by jlokier »

ArchD wrote: post #50

"even though the goal is to eventually have as much IP released under a BSD-like open source license" What do people mean _exactly_ by 'IP' in contexts like this related to computing boards such as SBCs and FPGAs? The only 'IP' I know is a term pertaining to legal concepts like patents, where 'IP' and 'patent' are almost synonymous. In the current context, what does it mean to 'release' this 'IP'? How do you 'release…

Although it does come from Intellectual Property, they use "IP" the same way game developers and web developers use "asset" for an image, 3d model or sound effect. Sometimes they even say the plural as "IPs".

In semiconductors an IP is often some logic block, often supplied by a third-party to paste into your design, or part of your own company's library.

For example on SoCs a cache, a USB PHY, a CPU core, an AES unit, an Ethernet controller, a PCI controller, a video decoder, an audio decoder, etc.

A design unit you could imagine selling to be used inside other company's designs. That's why you can "release an IP".

I find the use of "IP" for these things a bit distasteful, so I try not to use the term myself, but it's very common in the field.

Re: PicoRio Linux RISC-V SBC is an open-source alternative to Raspberry Pi board

#159

Post by ecesena »

tjoff wrote: post #155
ecesena wrote: post #88

What's the latest on a cheap, small board where you can run linux, with BLE & WiFi 2.4/5GHz? Rpi Zero W and the corresponding Banana Pi M2 Zero meet all criteria except the 5GHz. Beside these, I have a really hard time finding any cheap alternative. There's plenty of embedded devices for iot, from arduino to all others. But 100% of the iot I have in my apartment are actually powered and don't need a batter/extremely…

Why do you want 5GHz? Seems 2.4GHz would be a better fit for the usecase.

You can share your wifi config from the phone to the device, but my phone is connected to 5GHz and not 2.4, so that doesn't work. I then have to connect my phone to the 2.4 and then forget the network. It's just an unnecessary step.
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