The selection of Chinese 64-bit RISC-V chips is growing: the former Google and Cisco executive Dr. Aglaia Kong (Jiang Zhaohui) founded near Shenzhen Yuefang Technology introduces the LeapFive NB2. The system-on-chip (SoC) is produced by an unnamed contract manufacturer with 12-nanometer technology and combines four RISC-V cores with L2 cache, a memory controller for (LP) DDR4 RAM, a GPU, an AI accelerator (NPU) as well as with the usual controllers for USB 3.0, Gigabit Ethernet, SDIO, SPI and also I2C.
RISC-V cores between ARM Cortex-A55 and -A72
The RISC-V cores are said to reach up to 1.8 GHz and deliver a computing power that is said to be between the ARM Cortex-A55 and Cortex-A72 cores. For comparison: The Broadcom BCM2711 of the Raspberry Pi 4 has four Cortex-A72 cores, while the Rockchip RK3566 has four Cortex-A55 cores. The typical power consumption of the LeapFive NB2 (LF566) should be 5 watts.
In addition to the NB2 chips, LeapFive also wants to bring various modules equipped with them. So far, however, more precise information is missing, as are prices and delivery dates.
LeapFive has already developed the LF-BF2 LW686 RISC-V microcontroller with 32-bit architecture (RV32) and built-in WLAN controller. The Guangdong LeapFive Technology LF-WM03 module equipped with it has already received an FCC ID.
The chip developer StarFive, which is also based in China and is cooperating with the US RISC-V pioneer SiFive, has meanwhile probably completed the RISC-V SoC JH7110 with an integrated Imagination Technology GPU. In any case, Pine plans to deliver the Star64 developer board equipped with it “soon”. Linux support in the form of an Ubuntu variant is also in prospect.
