Microchip
RISC-V
FPGA Boards

HiFive Unleashed Expansion Board

This board is purpose-built to expand the capabilities of the HiFive Unleashed board and comes pre-programmed with a PCIe Root Port in the PolarFire FPGA and much more. Make a RISC-V PC!

$113,936 raised

of $1 goal

Funded!
Not Available
Jun 03 2018
funded on

Recent Updates

You'll be notified about news and stock updates for this project.

At its core, the HiFive Unleashed Expansion Board adds PCIe root port capability to the HiFive Unleashed board, enabling you to create a RISC-V PC. Use it to add HDD’s, SSDs, audio cards, network adapters, and/or graphics cards. You can port your linux distro to this platform along with all of your favorite packages. Accelerate software development with an out-of-the-box solution.

Features and Specifications

The board is 10.7" long by 4.62" wide. It comes with a power supply, USB cable, and a FlashPro4 FPGA programmer.

The board comes pre-programmed with a chiplink to PCIe Root Port bridge enabling easy connectivity to PCIe add in cards. The board also has additional expansion capabilities for bit streams yet to come.

FPGA Design Software

Included with the purchase of the kit is a free, one year Libero GOLD License ($995 value). Initially, the kit will include only a fixed bitstream that can enable a PCIe Root Complex. In the future, we will open up the kit to other solutions. At that time, developers can take advantage of the Libero license. Sign up for updates to stay informed.

Block Diagram

As you can see from the block diagram, there is more to this board than just adding PCIe to the [HiFive Unleashed Board] (https://www.crowdsupply.com/sifive/hifive-unleashed). Sign up to be notified of future FPGA bitstream upgrades that enable more functionality for you.

Use Cases

Board Dimensions

The board measures approximately 10.7” x 4.62.”

Board Layout

Here’s a cool picture of the layout. Connect an M.2 SSD drive on the backside for fast storage.

HiFive Unleashed Expansion connected to the HiFive Unleashed board

All together now!

Getting Started

Find a getting started guide, schematics, and FPGA bitstreams on the product page.

Community Support

Get support from the SiFive support forums.

Manufacturing Plan

The HiFive Unleashed Expansion Boards will be manufactured by Pactron Incorporated in Santa Clara California.

Shipping & Fulfillment

The boards will be shipped by the Crowd Supply team from Portland, Oregon. To learn more about ordering, paying and shipping, please review the Crowd Supply Guide.

In the Press

LinuxGizmos.com

"The PCIe support makes it easier to build a fully configured RISC-V PC, such as a 'Linux development workstation"

Embedded Computing Design

"For the architecture to really take off, it’s products like these that are required, products that encourage and simply software development."

Sensors Online

"The HiFive Unleashed Expansion Board and HiFive Unleashed allow designers to develop complete Linux applications on a modern RISC-V CPU running at 1 GHz+."

eeNews Europe

"The HiFive Unleashed Expansion Board allows developers to implement custom peripherals in the on-board PolarFire field programmable gate array (FPGA)."

Electronics 360

"Expansion Board Broadens Capabilities of RISC-V Development Board"

Elektronik

"module expands development kit with standard interfaces"

Elektronik Praxis

"Expansion board makes PC based on a RISC-V-CPU possible"

Embedded Systems Engineering

"Microsemi and SiFive Launch HiFive Unleashed Expansion Board, Enabling Linux Software and Firmware Developers to Build RISC-V PCs for the First Time"

Hackster News

"For developers, this looks to be an ideal solution for application design, testing, and implementation."

diarioelectronicohoy

"Proporcionando conectores para almacenamiento y de E/S, esta tarjeta de expansión para placa RISC-V/Linux facilita la construcción de un completo sistema informático con la placa base a la que complementa."

AB Open

"The HiFive Unleashed has a companion Expansion Board from Microsemi which features a mating connector, Polarfire FPGA and a bunch of peripheral I/O."

Ask a Question

Produced by Microchip in Chandler, AZ.

Sold and shipped by Crowd Supply.

HiFive Unleashed Expansion Board

Thanks for supporting the history making RISC-V community!

$1,999 Free US Shipping / $18 Worldwide

HiFive Unleashed Bundle

Get 1 HiFive Unleashed and one HiFive Unleashed Expansion Board. Thanks for supporting the history making RISC-V community!

$2,998 Free US Shipping / $18 Worldwide

About the Team

Microchip

Chandler, AZ  ·   microchip.com

Microchip Technology Inc. is a leading provider of microcontroller, analog, FPGA, connectivity, and power management semiconductors. Its easy-to-use development tools and comprehensive product portfolio enable customers to create optimal designs which reduce risk while lowering total system cost and time to market. The company’s solutions serve more than 130,000 customers across the industrial, automotive, consumer, aerospace and defense, communications, and computing markets. Get Launched is a start-up and incubator support program which helps companies achieve rapid time-to-production/market by utilizing Microchip’s technical expertise to advise throughout the design process.

Sathish Kumar Donthu
Badal Nilawar
Himanshu Tewari
Ted Marena
Tim Morin

See Also

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