Introduction#

BeagleV-Ahead is a high-performance open-source RISC-V single board computer (SBC) built around the Alibaba TH1520 SoC. It has the same P8 & P9 cape header pins as BeagleBone Black allowing you to stack your favourite BeagleBone cape on top to expand it’s capability. Featuring a powerful quad-core RISC-V processor BeagleV Ahead is designed as an affordable RISC-V enabled pocket-size computer for anybody who want’s to dive deep into the new RISC-V ISA.

BeagleV Ahead front BeagleV Ahead back

Pinout Diagrams#

Choose the cape header to see respective pinout diagram.

BeagleV Ahead P8 cape header pinout

Fig. 374 BeagleV Ahead P8 cape header pinout#

BeagleV Ahead P9 cape header pinout

Fig. 375 BeagleV Ahead P9 cape header pinout#

Detailed overview#

BeagleV Ahead is build around T-Head TH1520 RISC-V SoC with quad-core Xuantie C910 processor clocked at 1.85GHz with a 4 TOPS NPU, support for 64-bit DDR, and audio processing using a single core C906.

Todo

remove “<To-Do>” items in the table below.

Table 79 BeagleV Ahead features#

Feature

Description

Processor

T-Head TH1520 (quad-core Xuantie C910 processor)

PMIC

DA9063

Memory

4GB LPDDR4

Storage

16GB eMMC

WiFi/Bluetooth

  • PHY: AP6203BM

  • Antennas: 2.4GHz & 5GHz

Ethernet

  • PHY: Realtek RTL8211F-VD-CG Gigabit Ethernet phy

  • Connector: integrated magnetics RJ-45

microUSB 3.0

  • Connectivity: USB OTG, Flash support

  • Power: Input: 5V @ <To-Do>, Output: 5V @ <To-Do>

HDMI

  • Transmitter: TH1520 Video out system

  • Connector: Mini HDMI

Other connectors

  • microSD

  • mikroBUS shuttle connector (I2C/UART/SPI/ADC/PWM/GPIO)

  • 2 x CSI connector compatible with BeagleBone AI-64, Raspberry Pi Zero / CM4 (22-pin)

  • DSI connector

Board components location#

This section describes the key components on the board, their location and function.

Front components location#

BeagleV Ahead board front components location

Fig. 376 BeagleV Ahead board front components location#

Table 80 BeagleV Ahead board front components location#

Feature

Description

Power LED

Power (Board ON) indicator

JTAG (TH1520)

TH1520 SoC JTAG debug port

Barrel jack

Power input

GigaBit Ethernet

1Gb/s Wired internet connectivity

User LEDs

Five user LEDs, Power and boot section provides more details. These LEDs are connect to the TH1520 SoC

Reset button

Press to reset BeagleV Ahead board (TH1520 SoC)

Power button

Press to shut-down (OFF), hold down to boot (ON)

P8 & P9 cape header

Expansion headers for BeagleBone capes.

UART debug header

6 pin UART debug header

USB boot button

Hold and reset board (power cycle) to flash eMMC via USB port

SD boot button

Hold and reset board (power cycle) to boot from SD Card

mikroBUS shuttle

16pin mikroBUS shuttle connector for interfacing mikroE click boards

16GB eMMC

Flash storage

RTL8211F

Gigabit IEEE 802.11 Ethernet PHY

Back components location#

BeagleV Ahead board back components location

Fig. 377 BeagleV Ahead board back components location#

Table 81 BeagleV Ahead board back components location#

Feature

Description

DA9063

Dialog semi Power Management Integrated Circuit (PMIC)

microUSB 3.0

Power & USB connectivity as client or Host (OTG)

Antenna connector

2.4GHz/5GHz uFL connector

AP6203BM

Ampak WiFi & BlueTooth combo

DSI

MIPI Display connector

CSI0 & CSI1

MIPI Camera connectors

TH1520

T-Head quad-core C910 RISC-V SoC

Mini HDMI

HDMI connector

microSD

Micro SD card holder

4GB RAM

2 x 2GB LPDDR4 RAM