fpga

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments on My experience installing Libero SoC in Ubuntu and Windows 10

My experience installing Libero SoC in Ubuntu and Windows 10

Libero SoC Windows Silver License ACTEL_BASESOC

A few weeks ago, I received Microchip PolarFire SoC FPGA Icicle Kit with FPGA fabric and hard RISC-V cores capable of handling Linux. I wrote “Getting Started with Yocto Linux BSP” tutorial for the board, and I had initially titled the current post “Getting Started with FPGA development using Libero SoC and Polarfire FPGA SoC”. I assumed I would write one or two paragraphs about the installation process, and then show how to work with Libero SoC Design Suite to create an FPGA bitstream. But instead, I spent countless hours trying to install the development tools. So I’ll report my experience to let readers avoid some of the pitfalls, and hopefully save time. (Failing to) Install Libero SoC v2021.v2 on Ubuntu 20.04 If we go to the download page, we’ll see Libero SoC v2021.2 for Windows and Libero SoC v2021.2 for Linux. Since my computer is running Ubuntu 20.04, I decided […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 22 Comments on Getting Started with the Yocto Linux BSP for Polarfire SoC FPGA Icicle Kit

Getting Started with the Yocto Linux BSP for Polarfire SoC FPGA Icicle Kit

Getting Started Guide PolarFire SoC FPGA Icicle Kit

Last month I received Microchip PolarFire SoC FPGA Icicle development kit that features PolarFire SoC FPGA with a Penta–core 64-bit RISC-V CPU subsystem and an FPGA with 254K LE, and booted it into the pre-installed Linux operating systems based on OpenEmbedded. Today, I’ll show how to get started with the Yocto BSP and run the EEMBC CoreMark benchmark, and I’ll check out the FPGA with Libero SoC Design Suite in a couple of weeks. Operating Systems supported by PolarFire SoC FPGA My initial idea was to focus this part of the review on Linux on RISC-V status, checking some system information, running some benchmarks (e.g. SBC-Bench), compiling the Linux kernel, and installing services like a LEMP stack (Linux, Nginx (pronounced Engine-X), MySQL, PHP) which could be used for WordPress hosting for instance. But then I looked at the operating systems supported with Microchip PolarFire SoC FPGA. There’s a Yocto Linux […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on UP Xtreme i11 Edge Compute Enabling Kit supports 5G, WiFi 6, Myriad X AI accelerator cards

UP Xtreme i11 Edge Compute Enabling Kit supports 5G, WiFi 6, Myriad X AI accelerator cards

UP Xtreme i11 Edge Compute Enabling Kit

UP! Bridge the Gap, a brand belonging to AAEON Technology, has started taking pre-orders for the UP Xtreme i11 Edge Compute Enabling Kit, a mini PC based on the UP Xtreme i11 Edge Tiger Lake SBC that was first introduced last year, and formally launched last month. The mini PC is offered with Celeron 6305E up to Intel Core i7-1185GRE processor, optional DDR4 and SSD, M.2 sockets for 5G, WiFi 6, or an AI accelerator card based on Movidius Myriad X VPU., serial ports, as well as a Phoenix terminal connector to access some of the GPIOs. UP Xtreme i11 Edge Compute Enabling Kit specifications: Tiger Lake “E”/”GRE” SoC (one or the other) Intel Core i7-1185G7GRE quad-core/8-thread processor @ up to 4.4 GHz with 96 EU Intel Iris Xe Graphics; up to 28W TDP (cTDP 15W) Intel Core i5-1145G7GRE quad-core/8-thread processor @  up to 4.1 GHz with 80 EU Intel […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on A first look at Microchip PolarFire SoC FPGA Icicle RISC-V development board

A first look at Microchip PolarFire SoC FPGA Icicle RISC-V development board

Formally launched on Crowd Supply a little over a year ago, Microchip PolarFire SoC FPGA Icicle (codenamed MPFS-ICICLE-KIT-ES) was one of the first Linux & FreeBSD capable RISC-V development boards. The system is equipped with PolarFire SoC FPGA comprised a RISC-V CPU subsystem with four 64-bit RISC-V (RV64GC) application cores, one 64-bit RISC-V real-time core (RV64IMAC), as well as FPGA fabric. Backers of the board have been able to play with it for several months ago, but Microchip is now sending the board to more people for evaluation/review, and I got one of my own to experiment with. That’s good to have a higher-end development board instead of the usual hobbyist-grade board. Today, I’ll just have a look at the kit content and main components on the board before playing with Linux and FPGA development tools in an upcoming or two posts. Microchip PolarFire SoC FPGA Icicle Unboxing The board […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments on Kryptor FPGA – Tiny MAX10 FPGA board works as a hardware security module (Crowdfunding)

Kryptor FPGA – Tiny MAX10 FPGA board works as a hardware security module (Crowdfunding)

Kryptor FPGA

Kryptor FPGA, sometimes just called Kryptor, is a compact Intel/Altera MAX10 FPGA development board mostly designed for encryption, and acting as a dedicated Hardware Security Module (HSM) with a custom soft-core from Skudo OÜ. But obviously, you could also use the FPGA board for other purposes. Hardware encryption can be quite more secure than software-based encryption with reduced attack surfaces, especially since data processing can be done in the FPGA RAM. The HSM can be used to encrypt files, videos, emails, IoT messages, etc… from various hardware platforms including Arduino and Raspberry Pi boards. Contrary to closed-sourced commercial solutions, the soft-core is open-source and as such can be verified by third parties to make sure there aren’t any backdoors or security flaws. Kryptor FPGA specifications: FPGA – Intel/Altera MAX10 8K LE ( 10M08DAF256C8G) FPGA @ 100 MHz with 8000 logic elements (LE), 1376 Kb flash, 378 Kb total RAM, up […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments on $18 Tang Nano 4K FPGA board comes with HDMI output, optional camera

$18 Tang Nano 4K FPGA board comes with HDMI output, optional camera

Tang Nano 4K FPGA board

Sipeed’s Tang Nano 4K FPGA board is an upgrade to the company’s Tang Nano FPGA board with a more powerful GOWIN GW1NSR-LV4C FPGA with 4608 LUT (instead of 1152) and a Cortex-M3 microcontroller embedded into the chip. Like the previous board, the new Tang Nano 4K features a USB-C port for power and downloading the bitstream, but replace the RGB LCD interface with an HDMI port, and adds support for an optional OV2640 camera. Tang Nano 4K board specifications: FPGA – GOWIN GW1NSR-LV4C aka GW1NSR-4C (See PDF datasheet for details) with 4608 logical units (LUTs) 3456 registers 16 multiplier parameters 180Kbit block SRAM, 64Mbit PSRAM 2x PLL Up to 44x user I/O Arm Cortex-M3 hard processor Storage – 32 Mbit NOR flash Video Output – HDMI port Camera I/F – DVP camera connector for OV2640 camera sensor up to 1600 x 1200 (UXGA) resolution USB – USB Type-C port for […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on Embedded development board features Microchip PolarFire RISC-V FPGA SoC

Embedded development board features Microchip PolarFire RISC-V FPGA SoC

PolarFire RISC-V FPGA SoC development board

Microchip/MicroSemi first introduced PolarFire RISC-V FPGA SoC at the end of 2018, with the chip being like the RISC-V equivalent of Xilinx Zynq Ultrascale+ Arm & FPGA MPSoC. The following year, ARIES Embedded unveiled the ARIES M100PF system-on-module and evaluation board, before Microchip launched PolarFire SoC Icicle 64-bit RISC-V and FPGA development board, followed by the more compact PolarBerry SBC in 2020. There’s now at least a fourth platform based on PolarFire SoC with Aldec TySOM-M-MPFS250 embedded development board.   Aldec TySOM-M-MPFS250 specifications: SoC – Microchip PolarFire MPFS250T-FCG1152 SoC  with 4x SiFive U54 RV64GC application cores (similar to Cortex-A35 performance), 1x SiFive E51 RV64IMAC monitor core, FPGA fabric with 254K logic cells, 17.6 Mb RAM System Memory 2GB (16Gbit) 32-bit DDR4 for the FPGA 2GB (16Gbit) 36-bit RAM with ECC for the RISC-V cores (aka MSS = Microprocessor Subsystem) Storage – MicroSD card socket, eMMC flash, SPI flash, 64 Kbit […]

Posted on by Saumitra Jagdale - No Comments on Xilinx announces Versal AI Edge Series with Cortex-A72 & R5 cores, FPGA fabric

Xilinx announces Versal AI Edge Series with Cortex-A72 & R5 cores, FPGA fabric

Xilinx Versal AI Edge

Edge AI solves the latency and security issues through on-device AI acceleration for optimal computations at a low power supply. Xilinx announces its Versal AI Edge Series which is 4th member of the Adaptive Compute Acceleration Platform (ACAP) family. The versal series consists of seven models ranging from VE2002 to VE2802 with the processor fabrication on 7 nm silicon technology. Talking more about ACAP, it is a platform that provides a combined essence of a processor and FPGA. The processing features efficient memory and I/Os, whereas programmable arrays allow logical control over the hardware. Also, as Xilinx specializes in FPGA products, the additional support of computational features makes the ACAP hardware even more flexible and dynamic. The Versal AI Edge series features different types of engines for specific functionalities in terms of adaptable, scalar, and intelligent engines. The seven processor models vary with respect to engine and platform specifications. However, […]