Republic of the Philippines

University of Rizal System-Morong, Rizal

College of Engineering

NAME: WARREN S. TUPAZ           DATE: JANUARY 2021

YEAR/SECTION: 3 ECE INSTRUCTOR: FERDINAND M. FERNANDO

MODULE 1: HISTORY OF MICROPROCESSOR/MICROCONTROLLER

ASSIGNMENT 1

CURRENT MULTI-CORE DEVELOPMENT ON ANY SINGLE BOARD COMPUTER BRAND

AND ITS APPLICATION.

WHAT IS MULTI-CORE?

A multi-core processor is a computer processor on a single integrated circuit with two or

more separate processing units, called cores, each of which reads and executes program

instructions. The instructions are ordinary CPU instructions (such as add, move data, and

branch) but the single processor can run instructions on separate cores at the same time,
increasing overall speed for programs that support multithreading or other parallel

computing techniques. Manufacturers typically integrate the cores onto a single integrated

circuit die (known as a chip multiprocessor or CMP) or onto multiple dies in a single chip

package. The microprocessors currently used in almost all personal computers are multi-core. A

multi-core processor implements multiprocessing in a single physical package. Designers may

couple cores in a multi-core device tightly or loosely. For example, cores may or may not

share caches, and they may implement message passing or shared-memory inter-core

communication methods. Common network topologies used to interconnect cores

include bus, ring, two-dimensional mesh, and crossbar. Homogeneous multi-core systems

include only identical cores; heterogeneous multi-core systems have cores that are not identical

(e.g. big.LITTLE have heterogeneous cores that share the same instruction set, while AMD

Accelerated Processing Units have cores that do not share the same instruction set). Just as

with single-processor systems, cores in multi-core systems may implement architectures such

as VLIW, superscalar, vector, or multithreading.

The terms multi-core and dual-core most commonly refer to some sort of central

processing unit (CPU), but are sometimes also applied to digital signal processors (DSP)

and system on a chip (SoC). The terms are generally used only to refer to multi-core

microprocessors that are manufactured on the same integrated circuit die; separate

microprocessor dies in the same package are generally referred to by another name, such

as multi-chip module. This article uses the terms "multi-core" and "dual-core" for CPUs

manufactured on the same integrated circuit, unless otherwise noted.

In contrast to multi-core systems, the term multi-CPU refers to multiple physically

separate processing-units (which often contain special circuitry to facilitate communication

between each other).

The terms many-core and massively multi-core are sometimes used to describe multi-core

architectures with an especially high number of cores (tens to thousands).

USES/APPLICATIONS OF MULTI-CORE?

Multi-core processors are widely used across many application domains,

including general-purpose, embedded, network, digital signal processing (DSP),

and graphics (GPU). Core count goes up to even dozens, and for specialized chips over

10,000, and in supercomputers (i.e. clusters of chips) the count can go over 10 million. The

improvement in performance gained by the use of a multi-core processor depends very much

on the software algorithms used and their implementation. In particular, possible gains are

limited by the fraction of the software that can run in parallel simultaneously on multiple cores;

this effect is described by Amdahl's law. In the best case, so-called embarrassingly

parallel problems may realize speedup factors near the number of cores, or even more if the

problem is split up enough to fit within each core's cache(s), avoiding use of much slower main-

system memory. Most applications, however, are not accelerated so much unless programmers

invest a prohibitive amount of effort in re-factoring the whole problem.

Multi-core processors represent an

evolutionary
change in conventional computing as
well setting the
new trend for high performance
computing (HPC) -
but parallelism is nothing new. Intel
has a long
history with the concept of parallelism
and the
development of hardware-enhanced
threading
capabilities. Intel has been delivering
threading-
capable products for more than a
decade. The move
toward chip-level multiprocessing
architectures with
a large number of cores continues to
offer
dramatically increased performance
and power
characteristics. Nonetheless, this move
also presents
significant challenges.
IMPROVEMENT/DEVELOPMENT OF MULTI-CORE AND IT’S
APPLICATION

Multi-core processors represent an evolutionary change in conventional computing as

well setting the new trend for high performance computing (HPC) - but parallelism is nothing

new. Intel has a long history with the concept of parallelism and the development of hardware-

enhanced threading capabilities. Intel has been delivering threading capable products for more

than a decade. The move toward chip-level multiprocessing architectures with a large number of

cores continues to offer dramatically increased performance and power characteristics.

The improvement in performance gained by the use of a multi-core processor depends

very much on the software algorithms used and their implementation. In particular, possible

gains are limited by the fraction of the software that can run in parallel simultaneously on

multiple cores; this effect is described by Amdahl's law. In the best case, so-

called embarrassingly parallel problems may realize speedup factors near the number of cores,

or even more if the problem is split up enough to fit within each core's cache(s), avoiding use of

much slower main-system memory. Most applications, however, are not accelerated so much

unless programmers invest a prohibitive amount of effort in re-factoring the whole problem.

Performance refers to the amount of time it takes to execute a given task. This is not

simply clock frequency alone or the number of instructions executed per clock cycle, but rather

the combination of both clock frequency and instructions per clock cycle. These two factors of a

performance need to be taken into consideration when we think about high performance
processor. Looking for today’s trend and tendencies in a processor design we observe more

and more projects focused on a parallelism oriented design than looking for a possibility to

increase clock’s speed. Recently this has given scale to developments in two main directions:

utilize instruction level parallelism (ILP) more aggressively; to make use of parallelism at a

higher-than instruction level (i.e., thread). This approach is manifested by simultaneous

multithreading (SMT) and chip multiprocessing (CMP).

Multi-core processors represent an

evolutionary
change in conventional computing as
well setting the
new trend for high performance
computing (HPC) -
but parallelism is nothing new. Intel
has a long
history with the concept of parallelism
and the
development of hardware-enhanced
threading
capabilities. Intel has been delivering
threading-
capable products for more than a
decade. The move
toward chip-level multiprocessing
architectures with
a large number of cores continues to
offer
dramatically increased performance
and power
characteristics. Nonetheless, this move
also presents
significant challenges.
The trend in processor development has been towards an ever-increasing number of

cores, as processors with hundreds or even thousands of cores become theoretically

possible. In addition, multi-core chips mixed with simultaneous multithreading, memory-on-chip,

and special-purpose "heterogeneous" (or asymmetric) cores promise further performance and

efficiency gains, especially in processing multimedia, recognition and networking applications.

For example, a big.LITTLE core includes a high-performance core (called 'big') and a low-power

core (called 'LITTLE'). There is also a trend towards improving energy-efficiency by focusing on

performance-per-watt with advanced fine-grain or ultrafine-grain power management and

dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (i.e. laptop computers and portable media players).

Chips designed from the outset for a large number of cores (rather than having evolved from
single core designs) are sometimes referred to as many core designs, emphasizing qualitative

differences.

While manufacturing technology improves, reducing the size of individual gates, physical

limits of semiconductor-based microelectronics have become a major design concern. These

physical limitations can cause significant heat dissipation and data synchronization problems.

Various other methods are used to improve CPU performance. Some instruction-level

parallelism (ILP) methods such as superscalar pipelining are suitable for many applications, but

are inefficient for others that contain difficult-to-predict code. Many applications are better suited

to thread-level parallelism (TLP) methods, and multiple independent CPUs are commonly used

to increase a system's overall TLP. A combination of increased available space (due to refined

manufacturing processes) and the demand for increased TLP led to the development of multi-

core CPUs.

CURRENT SINGLE BOARD COMPUTERS AND IT’S APPLICATION AND THE

DEVELOPMENT OF MULTI-CORE ON SINGLE BOARD COMPUTER.

Raspberry Pi 4 Model B- 4 GB RAM

 Raspberry Pi 4 Model B is upgraded with Latest High-Performance Quad-Core 64-bit

Broadcom 2711, Cortex A72 processor clocked at 1.5GHz speed. The board is designed to

use 20% less power and offer 90% greater performance than its old version. Hardware upgrade

on Pi4 developed for faster performance not only in loading time with all-new 1GB/2GB and

4GB LPDDR4 SDRAM variants but also in connectivity with Dual-band 2.4GHz and 5GHz,

802.11 b/g/n/ac wireless LAN and PoE capability via a separate PoE HAT. In addition to its USB

3.0, they improved the transfer speed by 10x than USB 2.0 to provide you significantly faster

true Gigabit internet experience. This version comes with 4GB of RAM, but there are also

versions with 1 and 2 GB.

Odroid-XU4
 Odroid-XU4 is a cost-effective, high power option with one gigabit Ethernet port for a

fast connection, HDMI 1.4a for display, and the board even comes with an active cooler and a

power adapter. It features the mighty Samsung Exynos 5422 Cortex-A15 octa-core

GPU clocked at 2 GHz and the Mali-T628 MP6 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 3.1 and

OpenCL 1.2. ODROID-XU4 also has 2 GB of memory, two USB 3.0 ports, but there is no

Bluetooth for wireless connectivity. The board can run the latest version of Ubuntu, Android 4.4

KitKat, 5.0 Lollipop, and 7.1 Nougat, giving you plenty of options on how to turn it into a full-

fledged computer or a handy backup device. When placed inside a nice case, ODROID-XU4

can also be a fantastic first computer for a young child, especially with the Android operating

system. DROID-XU4 is powered by ARM big.LITTLE technology and the Heterogeneous Multi-

Processing (HMP) solution. By implementing the eMMC 5.0, USB 3.0 and Gigabit Ethernet

interfaces, the ODROID-XU4 boasts amazing data transfer speeds, a feature that is increasingly

required to support advanced processing power on ARM devices. This allows users to truly

experience an upgrade in computing, especially with faster booting, web browsing, networking,

and 3D games.

ASUS Tinker Board RK3288

 Just like ODROID-XU4, ASUS Tinker Board can be used as a daily computer with more

than enough power for basic image editing, Full HD video streaming, web browsing, music

listening, and even some casual gaming. The board features the Rockchip RK3288, which is a

modern quad-core ARM-based processor that you can find inside many tablets and multimedia

players. With 2 GB of memory and the Mali-T764 GPU, the board can play HD and UHD

video at 30 fps with the included media player with support for hardware acceleration. To further

establish the ASUS Tinker Board as an excellent home multimedia center, it comes with one

key feature that you won’t find on nearly any other SBC: an HD codec that supports up to 24-

bit/192kHz audio. But the Tinker Board isn’t all about fun and games, well, depending on your

idea of fun. The board also includes a 40-pin GPIO interface, a gigabit LAN connection, a DSI

MIPI connection for displays and touchscreens, and a CSI MIPI connection for connection to

compatible cameras, making it great for the Internet of Things.

Libre Renegade Computer Board

 HIGH PERFORMANCE DESIGN: Quad 64-bit 1.4GHz ARM Cortex-A53 Processors, 4K

Ultra HD ARM Mali-450 GPU, 2GB of High Bandwidth DDR4, 4K 60FPS High Dynamic

Range Display Engine for H.265 HEVC, H.264 AVC, VP9 Hardware Decoding and 1080P

60FPS H.264 Harware Encoding, Up to 40% faster than Raspberry Pi 3.

 UNMATCHED IO PERFORMANCE: Equipped with superfast Gigabit Ethernet and

lightning speed 5Gbps USB 3, Renegade will power through mixed workloads unlike any sub

$50 SBC can dream of. Turn it into a NAS, Kubernetes cluster, file server, wire speed

encrypted router/VPN, and more! The performance and possibilities are endless.

 COMPATIBILITY AND EXTENSIBILITY: 40 Pin header enables hardware re-use by

maintaining compatible alternate pin functions like SPI, I2C, PWM, UART, and GPIO.

Additional design features include ultra-high speed (UHS) Micro SD card support, onboard

IR, ADC header, eMMC module expansion connector, and more. Form-factor compatible with

Raspberry Pi 3 for easy migration. Software made for Raspberry Pi is not compatible!

 ANDROID SUPPORT: Run media-center optimized Android 7.1 and turn this board into

the ultimate TV solution for movies, games, and more from the Android ecosystem! Popular

Linux-based distributions like Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, Debian 9 Stretch, Armbian, and even

Raspbian! Please note that you cannot use images prepared for Raspberry Pi boards without

modification.

Arduino Mega 2560

 The Mega 2560 is a microcontroller board based on the ATmega2560. It has 54 digital

input/output pins (of which 15 can be used as PWM outputs), 16 analog inputs, 4 UARTs

(hardware serial ports), a 16 MHz crystal oscillator, a USB connection, a power jack, an ICSP

header, and a reset button. It contains everything needed to support the microcontroller; simply

connect it to a computer with a USB cable or power it with a AC-to-DC adapter or battery to get

started. The Mega 2560 board is compatible with most shields designed for the Uno and the

former boards Duemilanove or Diecimila.

The Mega 2560 is an update to the Arduino Mega, which it replaces.

LattePanda
 LattePanda is the first development board that can run a full version of Windows 10! It is

turbocharged with an Intel Quad Core processor and has excellent connectivity, with three USB

ports and integrated WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0. It also includes an Arduino co-processor that

enables you to master the physical world by controlling interactive devices using thousands of

plug and play peripherals.

KEY FEATURES

 Full Windows 10 OS

 LattePanda is different from the Raspberry Pi and other development boards as it

supports a complete Windows 10 system. With abundant software resources and a mature

Windows ecosystem at your disposal, LattePanda gives your ideas more accessibility and

power!
 Rock PI Rockchip RK3399

Features

 Powerful Rockchip RK3399 64-bit Hexa-core processor for better multithread application

performance

 Mali T860MP4 Quad-core GPU for AI capabilities

 Better IO performance with multiple storage options 

 Faster wireless connectivity with 2.4/5GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0

 GbE LAN to work without latency under heavy load

 Dual Display output with mirror or extended modes

 Color-coded 40-pin GPIO header to interface with a range of sensors

Description

ROCK Pi 4 Model C is a Rockchip RK3399 based SBC(Single Board Computer) by Radxa. It

can run android or some Linux distributions. It features a six-core ARM processor, 64bit dual

channel 3200Mb/s 4GB LPDDR4, up to 4K@60 HDMI, MIPI DSI, MIPI CSI, 3.5mm jack with

mic, 2.4/5GHz WIFI, Bluetooth 5.0, USB Ports, GbE LAN, 40-pin color-coded expansion header,

RTC. Also, ROCK Pi 4 model C supports USB PD and QC powering.

 Banana Pi BPI-M4

Banana-Pi is also another single-board computer with promises. It is a credit card-sized

computer with great features. It produced by the Chinese company name Shenzhen co, Ltd.

The Raspberry Pi influenced the design of banana-Pi computer hardware. Banana-Pi can run

on many operating systems like Linux, Android, Debian, and Ubuntu. Banana-Pi BPI-M4 uses

Realtek RTD1395 chip structure, it is a 64-piece quad-center A53 scaled-down single-board PC.

It highlights 1 GB/2GB of RAM and 8 GB eMMC. It likewise has locally available WiFi for

b/g/n/air conditioning and BT 4.2. On the ports side; the BPI-M4 has 4 USB 2.0 ports, 1 USB

TYPE C port, 1 HDMI port, f1 sound jack. Support M.2 Key E PCI-E 2.0 interface(s).
 Raspberry Pi 400

The most trend Raspberry Pi was the Raspberry Pi 400 which was released in

November 2020. It features a custom board that is derived from the existing Raspberry Pi 4,

specifically remodeled with a keyboard attached. A robust cooling solution similar to the one

found in a Commodore 64 allows the Raspberry Pi 400's Broadcom BCM2711C0 processor to

be clocked at 1.8 GHz, which is slightly higher than the Raspberry Pi 4 it's based on. The

keyboard-computer features 4 GiB of LPDDR4 RAM. This Raspberry Pi has a 64-bit quad-core

Arm Cortex-A72 CPU, with 4GB of RAM, gigabit Ethernet, integrated 802.11 ac/n wireless LAN,

and Bluetooth 5.0. The Raspberry Pi 400 is the first Raspberry Pi built into a compact keyboard.
 REFERENCE

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-core_processor#Development

https://www.computer.org/csdl/magazine/co/2005/05/r5011/13rRUwhpBQV

https://www.electronics-lab.com/top-10-single-board-computers-of-2020/

https://www.seeedstudio.com/ROCK-PI-4-Model-C-p-4658.html

https://www.lattepanda.com/products/3.html

https://www.zdnet.com/article/raspberry-pi-400-its-designer-reveals-more-about-the-

faster-pi-4-in-the-70-pcs-keyboard/
 Table 1. Rubrics Evaluation Sheet

Criteria Meeting   Progressing   Difficulty   Achieved 

Expectations Towards   Meeting    
(7-10 pts.) Meeting   Expectations  Score
Expectations  (0-2 pts.)
(3-6 pts.)

Correctness   The submitted  The submitted  The submitted 

and   work results or  work results or  work results or 
completeness outputs are outputs are outputs are
between 100%  between 84%  below 60% 
and 85%  correct and 60% correct  correct or 
and  complete and complete incomplete

Presentation  The logical  order The logical  The logical order 

and   and  neatness of order and  and neatness of 
organization the  solution for neatness of the  the solution for 
of  solutions the  submitted solution for the  the submitted 
work  submitted work work results or 
results or  results or  outputs are not 
outputs are  outputs are  satisfactory
very   satisfactory
satisfactory

Authenticity The submitted  The submitted  The submitted 

or  novelty work results or  work results or  work results or 
outputs   outputs   outputs poorly
manifest  manifest mostly  manifests the 
authentic or  common   required  
novel qualities  qualities and no  qualities and are 
which go  beyond evidence of  found either 
the  plagiarism incomplete,  
common   incorrect, or has 
standard strong evidence 
of plagiarism

Total Score

Table 2. Other Criteria Not Part of Learning Outcomes

Other Criteria Meeting   Progressing   Difficulty Achieved

Expectations  Towards Meeting  Score
 (7-10 pts.) Meeting  Expectations 
Expectations  (0-2 pts.)
(3-6 pts.)

1. Submission   Submission Submission

Timeliness  before the set   on  the exact after  the set
of design deadline set   deadline  or
submission deadline non 
submission

2.Neatness  Excellent to   Average to Poor paper  

and   above fairly  average quality,
orderliness average  paper  quality, drawing,  and
of the paper drawing,  and lettering
hardcopy/e quality,   lettering all in 
copy of the drawing, and   one color
design lettering and
in  very
contrasting
colors

Total Score: