Muse Lab Launches SODIMM-Style Open Source iCESugar-Pro RISC-V Linux-Ready FPGA Development Board
Based on the Lattice ECP5 FPGA, this new board is capable of running a RISC-V core at up to 198MHz and booting into the Linux kernel.
FPGA specialist Muse Lab has released has unveiled a new entry in its open source iCESugar family of development boards, the SODIMM form factor Linux-capable iCESugar-Pro.
"iCESugar-pro is an open source FPGA development board designed based on Lattice LFE5U-25F," the company explains of its latest creation. "It has 32MB SDRAM, 32MB SPI flash on board, supports booting RISC-V Linux, and the onboard iCELink debugger is carefully designed to support drag-and-drop programming."
"The debug serial port and dual JTAG interface can be developed and tested with only one TYPE-C line. The development board uses the DDR SODIMM interface to lead out 106 usable IOs [inputs/outputs], which can be used with the base plate for extended testing."
The board is based around the Lattice ECP5 LFE5U-25F-6BG256C FPGA, which includes 24,000 LUTs, and comes with a 25MHz external clock. According to Muse Lab's own testing, the chip's performance is considerably higher than the iCE40 FPGAs used in earlier iCESugar boards - capable of running the VexRiscv RISC-V processor core at 198MHz and booting into the Linux kernel.
As well as the SODIMM-form factor edge connector, which was inspired by the previous-generation Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3 family of systems-on-modules (SOMs), the board includes a microSD slot for storage, an RGB LED, and a USB Type-C connector.
The iCESUgar-Pro is open source hardware with its schematic and source code published to GitHub under an unspecified license; pre-built boards are available to buy on AliExpress at $47 for the module and $60 for a bundle with a carrier board which breaks out all GPIOs, USB, and an HDMI port for video.