New dev board for IoT runs Linux, features multi-threaded MIPS CPU

Imagination Technologies is announcing that it’s working on a new member of the Creator family, accompanying the existing Creator Ci20 microcomputer.

This new development board is to be called Creator Ci40, is designed for IoT applications and features an innovative MIPS-based chip.

The chip at the heart of the new Creator Ci40 dev board is a new design optimized specifically for IoT use cases; it has been manufactured by GLOBALFOUNDRIES on a 40nm low power process node. Whereas other boards for IoT tend to reuse chips made for mobile or networking devices, we have created a custom IoT subsystem that has been tuned for a wide range of IoT requirements and connectivity standards. For example, the chip has built-in wireless capabilities, supporting both hi-speed Wi-Fi (802.11 ac 2x2) but also low energy Bluetooth (aka Bluetooth Smart). The chip uniquely features a dual-core MIPS interAptiv CPU; each interAptiv CPU implements hardware multithreading optimized for maximum efficiency and low power consumption. Hardware multithreading is a big advantage for MIPS CPUs and has also been used by other companies in networking, embedded or automotive applications.

You can find a block diagram of the Creator Ci40 chip below: http://community.imgtec.com/platforms/creator/new-creator/

Full Story