A single board computer (SBC) integrates a microprocessor, memory, and interface components onto a single printed circuit board. Typically, each single board computer includes a CPU, GPU, chipset, and I/O ports, all soldered onto the board. Because the components are all on one board, single board computers are much smaller compared to most other motherboards.
The unique design of single board computers allows them to have low power consumption, high performance, and high efficiency, along with easy integration, rapid market launch, extreme environment tolerance, and diverse I/O capabilities. Due to limited space, single board computers have high demands for chips. It can be said that the effectiveness and characteristics of the chips determine the functionality and value of the single board computers.
The RISC-V instruction set is completely open, streamlined, flexible, and low-cost for development, allowing for a balance in cost, power consumption, and performance, making it particularly favored by open-source hardware products. More and more single board computers are turning their attention to RISC-V processors. The JH7110 from SiFive Technology has been widely applied in hardware devices such as VisionFive 2, Star64, and Banana Pi, providing exceptional solutions and creating greater value for single board computers.
Core Technology Platform
The JH7110 multimedia processor from SiFive Technology is a SoC chip platform based on RISC-V, utilizing mature 28-nanometer technology, supporting the Linux operating system, and characterized by high performance, low power consumption, rich interfaces, and strong image/video processing capabilities. It is the world’s first mass-produced high-performance RISC-V multimedia processor, providing powerful computing support and operational assurance for high-performance single board computers.
Additionally, the JH7110 has passed strict reliability tests, meeting commercial and industrial testing standards. Single board computers integrating the JH7110 can not only handle and compute complex tasks and applications but are also suitable for any embedded solutions, widely used in consumer electronics and industrial control fields. Network security devices, routers, network-attached storage (NAS), and virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) can all be built, deployed, and operated around single board computers.
Block diagram of VisionFive 2 based on JH7110
Open Source Potential
Like open-source software, open-source hardware is also part of the open-source culture, including circuit schematics, bill of materials, design diagrams, software, etc., which can be shared freely under open-source licenses and fully authorized in an open-source manner. Everyone has the same rights to use, maintain, develop, or update, greatly increasing the maturity, lifespan, and update frequency of the projects.
Single board computers are typical representatives, and the schematic of VisionFive 2 based on JH7110 has been made public in the community, allowing users to freely access its hardware designs and software resources, and learn, modify, create, publish, and sell existing designs.
More and more emerging industries are developing around open-source single board computers, such as smart retail terminals, drones, new energy vehicles, and smart large screens. These industries represent new demands characterized by agility, environmental friendliness, and customization. Under this new trend, open-source hardware will be more embedded into terminal product manufacturing, promoting the manufacturing industry towards higher efficiency and sustainability.
Product image of Star64 based on JH7110
Solution Highlights
High Performance: The JH7110 is equipped with a 64-bit high-performance quad-core RISC-V CPU (single-core performance equivalent to Arm Cortex-A55), featuring 2MB of L2 cache, with a maximum operating frequency of up to 1.5GHz.
According to actual tests, the JH7110 Coremark score reaches 5.09, making it the best-performing product among RISC-V mass-produced chips currently on the market. Compared to widely used main control chips in the single board computer field, the actual data of the JH7110 exceeds four times.
Low Power Consumption: The chip is divided into 8 independently switchable power domains, allowing CPU frequency adjustments via software, setting the most effective working state according to application scenarios and performance needs to achieve PPA balance.
In single board computer application scenarios, the JH7110 operates at full load with a dynamic power consumption of 4100mW.
Rich Interfaces: The chip is equipped with PCIe 2.0, eMMC 5.0, HDMI 2.0, MIPI, USB 2.0/3.0, 1000M/100M/10M GMAC, SDIO 3.0, and other peripheral interfaces.
For example, the open-source hardware manufacturer Pine64 launched Star64 based on JH7110, configured with 1 HDMI 2.0 video output interface, 2 gigabit Ethernet ports, 1 WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 module, 1 USB 3.0 port, 1 PCIe slot, and 1 GPIO header for expansion. This gives the single board computer infinite possibilities.
Powerful Image/Video Processing: The chip integrates SiFive Technology’s ISP, compatible with mainstream camera sensors; it has a built-in image/video processing subsystem supporting H.264/H.265/JPEG encoding/decoding; and integrates IMG BXE-4-32 GPU, supporting OpenCL, OpenGL ES, and Vulkan. The JH7110 can perform a series of complex image/video processing and intelligent visual computing, meeting various edge processing needs.
The powerful GPU and multimedia capabilities enable the single board computer to support desktop operating systems, collaborating with mainstream systems such as Debian and OpenHarmony to create a rich application ecosystem.
Further Reading
Pre-sale of the globally popular VisionFive 2 RISC-V single board computer has begun in China
SiFive’s small step, a giant leap for RISC-V: SiFive Technology launches two high-performance products
RISC-V empowers the future of digital technology for China Telecom
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