ASUS announces its first RISC-V based single board computer

ASUS introduces its first RISC-V based single board computer. The Tinker V, as the device is called, will initially receive support for Linux Debian and Yokto. The sbc will be aimed at industrial iot developers.

The ASUS Tinker V is the company’s first RISC-V based single-board computer. The sbc features a Renesas RZ/Five-soc with a single AndesCore AX45MP-RISC-V core running at a clock speed of 1GHz. Furthermore, the Tinker V has 1GB of DDR4 memory and the single-board computer can optionally be equipped with 16GB eMMC storage.

The Tinker V also offers two 1Gbit/s Ethernet ports, two can bus headers, two RS-232 ports, a micro SD card reader and a 20-pin gpio header. ASUS aims the single-board computer at iot developers, so the sbc has no display connections. The power supply is controlled via a DC connection. ASUS will start shipping Tinker V samples in Q2, writes Phoronix. The company has not yet announced a specific release date or suggested retail price.

RISC-V is an instruction set architecture originally developed by the Computer Science Division of the University of California. This isa is open source, allowing chip designers to design chips based on this isa free of charge. Other risc architectures, such as Arm’s, are only licensed for a fee. Various companies are active around the RISC-V-isa. At the beginning of this year, Google gave Android support for RISC-V. Later this year, Intel and SiFive will launch a single-board computer based on a RISC-V soc. Intel previously invested a billion dollars in the instruction set architecture.