Difference between revisions of "Parallella Hardware"

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==Introduction==
 
==Introduction==
 
[[File:Unpopulated_Parallella_Beta_PCB.jpg|thumb|right|The unpopulated Parallella bèta board]]
 
[[File:Unpopulated_Parallella_Beta_PCB.jpg|thumb|right|The unpopulated Parallella bèta board]]
The Parallella board was inspired by hardware communities such as Raspberry Pi, BeagleBoard and Arduino, and aims to democratise access to parallel computing by providing an affordable open high-performance computing (HPC) platform.
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The Parallella board was inspired by hardware communities such as Raspberry Pi, BeagleBoard and Arduino, and aim to democratise access to parallel computing by providing an affordable open high-performance computing (HPC) platform.
  
 
The platform is being built on the following principles:
 
The platform is being built on the following principles:
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===Kickstarter===
 
===Kickstarter===
  
The initial run of Parallella computers is being funded via a Kickstarter campaign, which on 27th October 2012 had succeeded in raising $898,921 via 4,965 backers, and with those pledging $99 or more receiving at least one board.
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The initial run of Parallella computers is being funded via a [http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/adapteva/parallella-a-supercomputer-for-everyone Kickstarter campaign], which on 27th October 2012 had succeeded in raising $898,921 via 4,965 backers, and with those pledging $99 or more receiving at least one board.
  
 
Thanks to generous support from Xilinx the Kickstarter boards will be upgraded to use a Zynq-7020 SoC instead of a Zynq-7010.
 
Thanks to generous support from Xilinx the Kickstarter boards will be upgraded to use a Zynq-7020 SoC instead of a Zynq-7010.
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===Availability===
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Work is being done to put distribution in place but a date for post-Kickstarter orders has not been confirmed as yet. In the meantime interest can be registered using a form on the project website.
  
 
==Prototypes==
 
==Prototypes==

Revision as of 13:37, 11 April 2013


Introduction

The unpopulated Parallella bèta board

The Parallella board was inspired by hardware communities such as Raspberry Pi, BeagleBoard and Arduino, and aim to democratise access to parallel computing by providing an affordable open high-performance computing (HPC) platform.

The platform is being built on the following principles:

  • Open Access: all architecture and SDK documents openly published on the Web — no NDAs or special access required.
  • Open Source: software platform based on free and open source software (F/OSS) development tools and libraries. Board design files provided under an open source hardware license once the Parallella computer ships.
  • Affordable: the goal is to bring the hardware cost to below $100, making it an affordable platform for all.

Key features

The key features of the board are: a Xilinz Zynq SoC which provides a Dual ARM® Cortex™-A9 processor plus programmable logic, 16 or 64-core Epiphany floating-point accelerator (32/100 GFLOPS) and high bandwidth expansion via daughter cards.

Kickstarter

The initial run of Parallella computers is being funded via a Kickstarter campaign, which on 27th October 2012 had succeeded in raising $898,921 via 4,965 backers, and with those pledging $99 or more receiving at least one board.

Thanks to generous support from Xilinx the Kickstarter boards will be upgraded to use a Zynq-7020 SoC instead of a Zynq-7010.

Availability

Work is being done to put distribution in place but a date for post-Kickstarter orders has not been confirmed as yet. In the meantime interest can be registered using a form on the project website.

Prototypes

A 66-Core Parallella Prototype

The first Parallella prototypes shipped in late December 2012 and comprise of a ZedBoard plus a 16 or 64-core Epiphany FMC.

From a software perspective the prototypes are virtually identical to the final form factor boards.




Specifications

Please note that these are preliminary specifications and subject to change.

18-core 66-core
Target price: US$99 US$TBC
System-on-a-chip (SoC): Zynq 7010/7020
CPU: 800 MHz Dual ARM® Cortex™-A9 MPCore™ with CoreSight™
Many-core accelerator: Epiphany-III 16-core 65nm Microprocessor with 32 GFLOPS peak performance (E16G301) Epiphany-IV 64-core 28nm Microprocessor with 100 GFLOPS peak performance (E64G401)
Memory (SDRAM) 1024 MiB DDR3L
USB 2.0 ports: 1x USB 2.0 | 1x USB 2.0 OTG
Video outputs: Micro HDMI
Audio outputs: Single bit SPDIF on the PEC_POWER connector
Audio inputs: none, but a USB mic or sound-card could be added
Onboard Storage: 32Mb QSPI Flash Memory | MicroSD
Onboard Network: 10/100/1000 wired Ethernet RJ45
PEC_POWER expansion: 1V, 1.35V, 1.8V, 3.3V & 5V power supplies. I2C, UART, SPDIF, JTAG
PEC_FPGA expansion: includes 48 bidirectional signals that can be configured within the Zynq device to support a number of different signal standards. When configured as LVDS signals, each differential signal pair provides a maximum bandwidth of 950Mbps. In aggregate, the PEC_FPGA connections can provide 22Gbps of total I/O bandwidth.
PEC_NORTH/PEC_SOUTH expansion: 3.2GB/s total I/O bandwidth via 2.5V LVDS 2.8GB/s total I/O bandwidth via 1.8V subLVDS
Real-time clock: None
Power source: 5 V (DC) at 1A
Size: 3.4" x 2.15"

For further details see the Parallella Reference Manual.