README_en.md
1**English** | [中文](README.md)
2# BL808 Board Support Package Documentation
3
4## 1. Introduction
5
6BL808 is a highly integrated AIoT chip with wireless connectivity units such as Wi-Fi/BT/BLE/Zigbee, multiple CPUs, audio and video codec, and AI hardware accelerator. It is suitable for various high-performance and low-power applications.
7
8The BL808 chip consists of two subsystems: wireless and multimedia.
9
10The wireless subsystem includes a RISC-V 32-bit high-performance CPU (m0) and integrated Wi-Fi/BT/Zigbee wireless subsystem, which enables various wireless connections and data transmission for diverse connectivity and user experiences.
11The multimedia subsystem includes a RISC-V 64-bit ultra-high-performance CPU (d0) and integrated DVP/CSI/H264/NPU video processing modules, which can be widely used in video surveillance, smart speakers, and other AI applications.
12
13The components of the multimedia subsystem include:
14
15- NPU HW NN co-processor (BLAI-100) for AI applications
16- Camera interface
17- Audio codec
18- Video codec
19- Sensors
20- Display interface
21
22The power management unit controls the low-power mode. It also supports various security features.
23
24Peripheral interfaces include USB2.0, Ethernet, SD/MMC, SPI, UART, I2C, I2S, PWM, GPDAC/GPADC, ACOMP, PIR, Touch, IR remote, Display, and GPIO.
25
26It supports flexible GPIO configuration, with a maximum of 40 GPIO pins.
27
28The chip specifications are as follows:
29
30| Hardware | Description |
31| -------- | ------------------------------------- |
32| Chip Model | bl808 |
33| CPU | Three-core heterogeneous RISC-V CPUs: <br />RV64GCV 480MHz<br />RV32GCP 320MHz<br />RV32EMC 160MHz |
34| RAM | 768KB SRAM + 64MB UHS PSRAM |
35| Peripherals | Built-in AES and SHA256 algorithm accelerators |
36| AI NN general hardware accelerator | BLAI-100 for video/audio detection/recognition, 100GOPS computational power |
37| Camera Interface | DVP and MIPI-CSI |
38| Display Interface | SPI, DBI, DPI (RGB) |
39| Wireless | Supports Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n<br />Supports Bluetooth 5.x Dual-mode (BT+BLE)<br />Supports Wi-Fi/Bluetooth coexistence |
40
41
42
43## 2. RT-Thread Versions
44
45BL808 is a three-core heterogeneous architecture, including m0, lp, and d0 cores. The current BSP supports all three cores running simultaneously and uses different RT-Thread versions for each core.
46
47| Name | Core | RT-Thread Version |
48| ----------- | ----- | ---------------- |
49| M0 | E907 | RT-Thread Standard Edition |
50| LP | E902 | RT-Thread Nano |
51| D0 | C906 | RT-SMART |
52
53
54
55
56## 3. Compilation Instructions
57
58BL808 is a three-core heterogeneous architecture, including m0, lp, and d0 cores. Each core needs to be compiled separately and burned to the corresponding location.
59
60Flashing addresses:
61
62| Name | Core | Flash Address | Description |
63| ---- | ----- | ------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ |
64| M0 | E907 | 0x00000 | |
65| LP | E902 | 0xC0000 | Modify the lp flash address in `bsp/bouffalo_lab/bl808/lp/board/linker_scripts/bl808_flash_lp.ld` and `bsp/bouffalo_lab/bl808/m0/board/board.h` `CONFIG_LP_FLASH_ADDR` address |
66| D0 | C906 | 0x100000 | Set in the SPL file. To adjust the d0 flash address, the SPL file and the packaged file `bsp/bouffalo_lab/bl808/d0/merge_rtsmart.py` need to be recompiled |
67
68
69
70### 3.1. m0/lp
71
72- #### Toolchain Download
73
74Download the RISC-V toolchain from [Download Link 1](https://occ.t-head.cn/community/download?id=4073475960903634944) or [Download Link 2](https://dl.sipeed.com/shareURL/others/toolchain).
75
76For Windows, use the [env tool][1] and extract the cross-compiler with the command `tar -xvf Xuantie-900-gcc-elf-newlib-mingw-V2.6.1-20220906.tar.gz`. Extracting the cross-compiler directly with Windows tools may cause compilation errors on Windows.
77
78Add the path of the RISC-V toolchain to `EXEC_PATH` in `rtconfig.py` or specify the path using the `RTT_EXEC_PATH` environment variable.
79
80Windows:
81```
82set RTT_EXEC_PATH=C:\Users\xxxx\Downloads\Xuantie-900-gcc-elf-newlib-x86_64-V2.6.1\bin
83```
84
85Linux:
86```
87export RTT_EXEC_PATH=/opt/Xuantie-900-gcc-elf-newlib-x86_64-V2.6.1/bin
88```
89
90- ### Compilation
91
92For Windows, it is recommended to use the [env tool][1]. Open the console and navigate to the bsp/bl808 directory, then select the core, m0 or lp, and run:
93
94 cd bsp/bl808/m0
95 menuconfig
96 pkgs --update
97
98If you are using Linux, you can execute:
99
100 scons --menuconfig
101
102It will automatically download the env-related scripts to the ~/.env directory, then execute:
103
104 source ~/.env/env.sh
105
106 cd bsp/bl808/m0
107 pkgs --update
108
109After updating the software packages, use the command `scons -j10` or `scons -j10 --verbose` to compile the board support package. Alternatively, you can use the `scons --exec-path="GCC toolchain path"` command to specify the toolchain path and compile at the same time.
110
111If the compilation is successful, the rtthread.elf and rtthread_m0.bin files will be generated. The rtthread_m0.bin file needs to be burned into the device for execution.
112
113
114
115- #### Note
116
117 Since BL808 is a three-core heterogeneous architecture, the lp and d0 cores are started through the m0 core. It is necessary to burn the m0 core correctly to enable all three cores to run properly.
118
119 Configuration file for m0 flashing: `bsp/bouffalo_lab/bl808/m0/flash_prog_cfg.ini`
120
121
122
123### 3.2. d0
124
125bl808-d0 runs in S-mode and supports RT-Smart. The cross-compiler used is `riscv64-unknown-linux-musl-gcc`. Please refer to the [Build Kernel Image](https://www.rt-thread.org/document/site/#/rt-thread-version/rt-thread-smart/quick-start/qemu-linux/quickstart?id=%e6%9e%84%e5%bb%ba%e5%86%85%e6%a0%b8%e9%95%9c%e5%83%8f) for compilation instructions.
126
127The starting address of the kernel virtual address is `0x50000000`.
128
129
130
131After the bl808-d0 is compiled, use the `merge_rtsmart.py` script to merge `hw.dtb.5M`, `spl_bl808_d0.bin`, `opensbi_v0.6.bin`, and `rtthread_d0.bin` into the final flash file `whole_img_d0.bin`, which should be burned at address `0x100000`. Otherwise, the board will not be able to start.
132
133The pre-compiled bin files are located in the `bsp/bouffalo_lab/bl808/d0/pre_build_bin` folder. If there are any modification requirements, you can download the [Low-Starup-BL808](https://github.com/flyingcys/Low-Starup-BL808) repository and modify it.
134
135The separate flashing file for d0 is `bsp/bouffalo_lab/bl808/d0/flash_prog_cfg.ini`.
136
137
138
139
140
141### 3.3. Compilation and Flashing of Three Cores Simultaneously
142
143- You can run `bsp/bouffalo_lab/bl808/build_bl808_all.sh` to compile m0, lp, d0 cores one by one.
144- You can use the `bsp/bouffalo_lab/bl808/flash_prog_cfg.ini` flashing configuration file to flash m0, lp, and d0 cores simultaneously.
145
146
147
148
149
150## 4. FAQ
151
152- In a Windows environment, when connecting the development board to the computer via the UART interface, only two USB converter devices are recognized, but the corresponding serial port device is not recognized.
153 - Go to Device Manager, right-click on the corresponding USB converter device, go to Properties, and in the Advanced Settings, check the vcp option. After refreshing, you will see the corresponding serial port device.
154 - Alternatively, you can install the following driver to solve the problem: https://dl.sipeed.com/shareURL/MAIX/tools/ftdi_vcp_driver
155- When connecting the computer to the board's UART port using a TypeC data cable, two serial ports will appear on the computer (if the mouse cannot move, unplug the USB and check [Updating the board's bl702 firmware](https://wiki.sipeed.com/hardware/zh/maix/m1s/other/start.html) for a solution).
