New MIPS Creator CI20 development board for Linux and Android debuts

Features a 1.2GHz MIPS-based, dual-core Ingenic apps processor that runs Debian 7 and Android 4.4 KitKat

A few weeks ago, when I first published an article titled MIPS CPUs, the perfect Linux machines, the first question I got from a lot of developers from the Linux community was:

When can I get access to a MIPS-based development board capable of running Linux and equipped with <enter-everything-but-the-kitchen-sink-list-of-peripherals-here>?

Today I am able to answer that question: for developers looking to run Linux on a MIPS CPU, we are introducing MIPS Creator CI20, a platform running Debian 7 and (soon) Android 4.4 KitKat.

What is MIPS Creator CI20?

Creator is a new programme from Imagination which will provide low cost development systems for use by the open source community, enthusiast, hobbyist, cross platform developers (i.e. Arduino), and partners looking to create applications using our IP technologies. It covers all our SoC IP processors: MIPS, PowerVR and Ensigma.

MIPS Creator CI20 is the first project – with more to follow, aiming to proliferate the use and visibility of MIPS CPUs in the Linux and Android developer space. It is also a great resource for universities, schools and other academic institutions; in fact, we have several universities already lined up to receive a few hundreds of these boards.

MIPS-Creator-C120_Close-up3_RGBThe new MIPS Creator CI20 development board

MIPS Creator CI20 measures 90.2 mm x 95.3 mm and includes an Ingenic JZ4780 apps processor which is able to support Linux-based operating systems, including Android. Ingenic JZ4780 is a high performance, ultra-low power SoC using a MIPS32-based dual-core CPU clocked at 1.2GHz+ and a PowerVR SGX540 GPU. The Ingenic XBurst architecture features both SIMD and FPU instruction sets; the FPU supports both single and double floating point, IEEE 754 compatible formats.

MIPS Creator CI20 - Ingenic JZ4780 - MIPS Xburst Ingenic JZ4780 is a 1.2GHz+ MIPS-based dual-core apps processor that also includes a PowerVR SGX540 GPU

MIPS Creator CI20 has a rich complement of communications and multimedia capabilities. On top of a fast Ethernet connection, CI20 is one of the few development boards on the market to offer both high-speed Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n) and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity.

Additionally, the Creator CI20 dev board is a multimedia powerhouse that has a OpenGL ES 2.0-capable PowerVR SGX540 GPU and dedicated video hardware for a suite of video codecs, including MPEG-4, H.264, VP8, MPEG-2, RV9 and others, making it ideal for HTPC enthusiasts.

You also get two USB ports (EHCI and OTG) and many more peripheral I/Os (GPIO, SPI, I2C, infrared, JTAG, etc.). An HDMI connector is included for connection to a monitor screen and the board comes with an external 5V power supply.

MIPS-Creator-CI20-Raspberry-Pi-BeagleBone-Black_nThe board features numerous multimedia and connectivity options

The board can boot operating systems directly from flash memory or from an SD card. OS images are available for Debian 7, Gentoo, Yocto, Arch, and other Linux distros – with Android v4.4 soon to arrive too. The Linux kernel BSP (currently for 3.0.8 and 3.16) is open on github and up-streamed imminently; graphics support includes Xorg-compliant OpenGL 2.1 and OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0 drivers.

MIPS Creator CI20 - Running Debian-7MIPS Creator I20 running Debian 7 in our demo room

MIPS Creator CI20 is one of the development boards that will work with many of the software projects hosted by the recently-launched prpl foundation. prpl (pronounced “purple”) is an open-source, non-profit foundation that encourages collaboration among the Linux community. The group is targeting and supporting the MIPS architecture – while being open to others too – so that developers can create portable software for next-generation devices.

How can I get one?

UPDATE:  A big thank you to everyone out there who applied for a MIPS Creator CI20 dev board, it’s been quite a ride! We have received an overwhelming number of project proposals that have exceeded our expectations and filled our engineering hearts with joy. Since we have a limited number of boards available for free, we will temporarily stop taking further requests until we can deal with the current demand.

If you are interested in obtaining one of these boards, please go to our store to register. The initial batch will see a limited release, you will have to enter your personal details and a short description of your project; depending on availability, we will get one out to you as soon as possible for free.

We are hosting the latest documentation and software downloads on a dedicated page at eLinux.org. You can use the dev zone community page for technical support.

For more MIPS-related news and announcements from Imagination, follow us on Twitter (@ImaginationPR, @MIPSGuru).

 

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  • Tablecat

    Site seems to be down, yo.

  • Lukáš Novotný

    Is there an interface available to decode videos under linux? So far I’ve been able to find only boards with BCM2835 (rpi) that expose OpenMAX or similar.

  • Zero_NzYme

    People have to be hitting the store hard. It’s been down for at least an hour now.

  • http://withimagination.imgtec.com/index.php/author/alexvoica Alexandru Voica

    We are aware of this. We’re working hard to get it back up and running again.

  • http://withimagination.imgtec.com/index.php/author/alexvoica Alexandru Voica

    It is indeed. We’re working on a fix.

  • http://withimagination.imgtec.com/index.php/author/alexvoica Alexandru Voica

    We have a modified version of MPlayer that plays
    videos under Linux.

    Please use our forums for support. http://forum.imgtec.com/categories/mips

    Regards,
    Alex.

  • Michael

    when I experienced this problem with wordpress I had changed some settings on my home server which affected it.

  • morris

    Hi alexandru , French student interested here.
    I would like to know if its worldwide or Us only?
    Regards

  • roninja

    How about a 64bit Warrior + Rogue G6650 or a G6500 variant for lets say £200 / $300 – VideoLogic branded???

  • Attila Gyula Iván

    Still down :(

  • kevin mclaughlin

    Can’t wait for the store to get up and running again this would make the perfect htpc i’ll be sure to sign up and give you my info and ideas for my board ;)

  • john king

    Store’s down, really hoping they don’t run out.

    Would love to get my hands on one to use for emulators.

  • Izikiel

    Beautiful board, I want one! Store is down btw, at least 4 hours now

  • Izikiel

    Now the store is up but it doesn’t show any products

  • Nikola Čejović

    The store is up, but I can’t see the request form.

  • Izikiel

    The captcha doesn’t work

  • Izikiel

    I can enter the request form, but the captcha code doesn’t appear

  • Kurt

    I’ve been able to get to the submissions form however, the WordPress captcha ‘Really Simple CAPTCHA’ was either not enabled or properly installed and I just receive the error: ‘Validation errors occurred. Please confirm the fields and submit it again.’

  • Kurt

    Just let me buy the damn board so I don’t have to deal with an overwhelmed web server.

  • Alex

    Any update on the Captcha issue? Store page is up but there isn’t much you can do in it.

  • Izikiel

    Well, now that they removed the captcha it’s working :P

  • Kurt

    Thanks for disabling the captcha but, please approve my request. Thanks!

  • xi_Slick_ix

    Is there a time frame that we can expect to be notified if our submission was approved for a board, and when there might be a shipping date?

    **and thanks for getting the site back up, I know you guys are getting hammered pretty good!

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  • http://withimagination.imgtec.com/index.php/author/alexvoica Alexandru Voica

    It should be relatively stable now.

  • http://withimagination.imgtec.com/index.php/author/alexvoica Alexandru Voica

    I think we’ve fixed most of the issues, try again now.

  • http://withimagination.imgtec.com/index.php/author/alexvoica Alexandru Voica

    We will try to announce the selected projects soon. We also have a dev zone live at http://elinux.org/CI20_Dev_Zone

  • http://withimagination.imgtec.com/index.php/author/alexvoica Alexandru Voica

    I think the store is up and running now.

  • http://withimagination.imgtec.com/index.php/author/alexvoica Alexandru Voica

    We’ve removed the captcha plugin and store should be working now.

  • http://withimagination.imgtec.com/index.php/author/alexvoica Alexandru Voica

    We will try to review submissions as soon as possible.

  • http://withimagination.imgtec.com/index.php/author/alexvoica Alexandru Voica

    That would be a fun project.

  • http://withimagination.imgtec.com/index.php/author/alexvoica Alexandru Voica

    Make sure you enter the full project description. Sounds like you’re doing something exciting.

  • http://withimagination.imgtec.com/index.php/author/alexvoica Alexandru Voica

    We are shipping worldwide.

  • WeaponZero

    Is this limited to organizations? Aka do individual developers qualify?

  • YDOL

    The free offer is much appreciated – but I’m most interested in formal pricing information to determine if this solution will fit into my applications from a cost perspective. Please announce pricing information as soon as possible!!!
    Looks like a great product!

  • Jorge

    Hi, I’m Jorge, a Spanish student interested. I can fill in the form? or just limited to organizations?

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  • http://withimagination.imgtec.com/index.php/author/alexvoica Alexandru Voica

    No, it is open to everyone. Including indie devs.

  • http://withimagination.imgtec.com/index.php/author/alexvoica Alexandru Voica

    Thanks, we will be thinking about a pricing strategy in the future.

  • http://withimagination.imgtec.com/index.php/author/alexvoica Alexandru Voica

    Everyone can apply for a board. Make sure to fill in all of your details so we can evaluate your application.

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  • Abby

    Hi,

    is there a hdmi cec onboard? What are the spec of audio chip(line out)?

  • http://withimagination.imgtec.com/index.php/author/alexvoica Alexandru Voica

    Yes, but first we need to go through thousands of project proposals so it will take some time.

  • Daniel

    Thats ok with me. Its fully understandable after this overwhelming interest in your development board. Take your time. :-)

  • http://withimagination.imgtec.com/index.php/author/alexvoica Alexandru Voica

    Please use the CI20 forum for all technical questions.
    http://www.elinux.org/CI20_Dev_Zone#Mailing_lists_and_Forum

  • Riant

    When the last date when I can send a requst for this board?

  • http://withimagination.imgtec.com/index.php/author/alexvoica Alexandru Voica

    Like I have stated in my article, we have a limited supply of free boards. We are keeping the page open for as long as we can (i.e. until we get a considerable amount of proposals) so that developers can register their projects.

    After that, we will close down the store and start analyzing every submission. We will let people know if they are getting a board or not.

  • NothingMuchHereToSay

    What the heck is MIPS? What’s the difference between it and ARM? Are they similar architectures compared to amd64/i386? What’s the-

    Whoa, whoa, whoa.. wait.. PowerVR? I bought an Odroid-XU and I was quite dissatisfied with the lack of a GPU driver when I was running Xubuntu 13.04 at some point. I eventually sold it on eBay. No way am I going to bother with PowerVR again.

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  • http://withimagination.imgtec.com/index.php/author/alexvoica Alexandru Voica

    Hi,

    MIPS is one of the three CPU architectures supported by Android and the brainchild of professor John L. Hennessy, president of Stanford University. You can read more about the history of the MIPS architecture here
    https://www.semiwiki.com/forum/content/1881-brief-history-mips-architecture.html

    It is your personal choice what dev board you are going for. We delivered the OpenGL, OpenGL ES and OpenCL drivers to Hardkernel and supported them in their efforts to port multiple operating systems for the board.

    Best regards,
    Alex.

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  • Eric.B

    I’m glad you guys FINALLY got around to releasing something using MIPS that is cheap, AND has video out. I’ve been hoping for years for something like this. Lemotes are over priced, SGI machines are old, and MIPS is too good to just die in consumer computing.

    Is there any estimations on price and if there will be a second run that people can ~buy~ instead of ~apply~ for? I highly doubt the stuff I want to do with it will be approved, but I do really want to buy 2 or 3 of them! :D

  • Tjiani Lucht

    I would make a small nicely powerd portable gaming pc.

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  • Ypnose

    Hi,
    You should contact NetBSD project and ask to the MIPS port devs if they’re interested, about this hardware. You could provide them boards for testing purposes. Just an idea.
    Y.

  • Tian Xiaobo

    Beautiful board, I want one!

  • http://withimagination.imgtec.com/index.php/author/alexvoica Alexandru Voica

    Thanks for the suggestion, we’ll get in touch with them.

  • http://withimagination.imgtec.com/index.php/author/alexvoica Alexandru Voica

    I know, we are very excited too. We are also evaluating how we will take this project forward – stay tuned for more details coming soon!

  • zhengchun liu

    I submitted the form less than one hour before closing. Thank god. had a plan for MIPS long time ago, hope I will get one and start my MIPS career.

  • Ypnose

    Nice Alexandru! Is there a way to be be informed, if the feedback is positive?

  • http://withimagination.imgtec.com/index.php/author/alexvoica Alexandru Voica

    If they’re interested, we’ll ask them to post about it somewhere on social media (Twitter, Facebook, their blog, reddit, etc.).

  • Ypnose

    Ok. I’ll also follow you on Twitter.

  • Tian Xiaobo

    Beautiful board, I want one!

  • Tian Xiaobo

    Beautiful board

  • Tian Xiaobo

    I want one!

  • 杨涛

    我想申请一个用来做软件开发的学习

  • 杨涛

    Hello, I want to apply for a study used for software development.

  • Aulus

    I’m also interested in buying one.

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  • universeye

    Hoping all is well with the confirmation mails

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  • http://withimagination.imgtec.com/index.php/author/alexvoica Alexandru Voica

    Yes, we are processing them now.

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  • Make-it-just-available

    What make ARM more popular and widely used than MIPS, is easy access of development boards for developers.
    Here is another example!
    Why this board is not just available for every developers at cost price to make
    MIPS more attractive, popular and common to developers

  • Shawn

    nice board, but why no pwm supported?

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  • Abby

    Are the people who are not gonna get the board get notified also?

  • http://withimagination.imgtec.com/index.php/author/alexvoica Alexandru Voica

    Yes.

  • CaptainPugwash

    There are 3 or 4 errors in each of the comparison columns for the Raspbery Pi and the BeagleBone Black. eg. the 4 USB connectors on the Raspberry Pi B+ as against the 17 GPIO of the older RPi B, or the 2 missing ARM Cortex M4 cores in the AM3359, (not the AM3358 as stated), used by the BeagleBone Black.

    If you’re trying to sell the MIPS Creator C120, by compering it to other boards, please get your facts right.

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  • Zhengchun Liu

    Hello, may I ask that about when will you announce the result? I am really eager to dive into the sea of MIPS. Especially after read the news about I6400 today (P.S. I have never used MIPS based SoC before.).

  • Zhengchun Liu

    forgot to login for the last post…

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  • Will Mason Moses

    I tried to submit a reason to get one during the down period. Before going off on a weeklong trip without internet. Looks like I missed my chance. Drat.

  • Tian Xiaobo

    How to buy?

  • Tian Xiaobo

    Raspberrypi anyone can buy, is a good promotion strategy, free CI20strategy, want to get the people do not have to, is not a goodpromotion solutions.

  • Tian Xiaobo

    how to buy one?

  • Tian Xiaobo

    how to buy ?

  • http://withimagination.imgtec.com/index.php/author/alexvoica Alexandru Voica

    We will provide an update soon. Stay tuned to our blog and follow us on Twitter.

  • Dan

    I submitted a project idea and, a little more than a week ago, received a message letting me know you guys were reviewing submissions and determining how to distribute the initial run of these boards. Any updates on how that process is going or when we could expect selection to be completed and boards to start shipping? I’m itching to get to building! :D

  • http://withimagination.imgtec.com/index.php/author/alexvoica Alexandru Voica

    We will have an update for you soon.

  • http://withimagination.imgtec.com/index.php/author/alexvoica Alexandru Voica

    I can understand you want to get an answer soon but we are almost done reviewing the submissions. I will provide an update soon and you should get a notification email too.

    Regards,
    Alex.

  • http://withimagination.imgtec.com/index.php/author/alexvoica Alexandru Voica

    Thanks, I’ll try to get the table updated. Based on the the public information available on various websites, there are different versions of the board currently available. Perhaps you can provide the exact SKU that you are referring to?

    Additionally, we have not been selling the board, we are giving it away for free to selected developers.

    Regards,
    Alex.

  • Chris K.

    Want!

  • Marcelo_L

    Just got my notice today that they were overwhelmed, and “regretfully” could not fulfill my request. I’m just curious exactly how many “free” boards were anticipated to be requested.
    I have to say it’s a bit disappointing that for putting something out there like this, that any anticipation of the sort of demand that might exist, wasn’t accounted for.

  • http://withimagination.imgtec.com/index.php/author/alexvoica Alexandru Voica

    Hi,

    I’m sorry we couldn’t offer you a board. We had contacted several Linux and Android kernel and app developers as well as universities to see what the level of interest was.

    Based on their feedback, we manufactured a first run of 1,000 boards which we are now offering to the community for free. We are working hard to provide a solution to everyone who applied to stay tuned for an update.

    Regards,
    Alex.

  • Roland

    Got my denial email too… Makes me think that they only put up the “free” boards offer so they can steal the ideas from people… Good thing I only gave them some generic ideas on what I plan to do with it… Wouldn’t want the next billion dollar NEST idea falling in some other’s hand….

  • http://withimagination.imgtec.com/index.php/author/alexvoica Alexandru Voica

    Hi Roland,

    See my reply below.

    Regards,
    Alex.

  • 7layer.org

    Hi Everyone!
    Just received my CI20 board today and it works just like a dream!
    This is a pice of Engineering art I must say!

    Debian7 preinstalled on it and plenty of space left on the nand-flash drive.
    I will post a detailed description of the installation and setup regarding to the board on my website, and also with my development about this new devboard.

    Thanks ever so much for ImgTec!

  • http://withimagination.imgtec.com/index.php/author/alexvoica Alexandru Voica

    Hi,

    We’re happy you find the board useful. Looking forward to hearing more about your project.

    Regards,
    Alex.

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  • http://7layer.org 7layer.org

    Hi Alex,

    As I mentioned when I ordered the board I’ve created the link on my site related to CI20 devboard. http://www.7layer.org/?p=676

    I’ll update/maintain the site tab with all CI20 related projects.

    Regards,
    Laz