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41-425: Orange Pi (Native: name: 橙皮) is a Chinese series of single-board computers (SBCs) developed and produced by Chinese based company Shenzhen Xunlong Software Co. Ltd (Native name: 深圳市迅龙软件有限公司). The boards are primarily designed for usage in educational sectors and for software development. Types of Orange Pi boards include various processors, memory capacities, and ports . The officially supported operating system for

82-499: A backplane enclosure. Some of these types are CompactPCI , PXI , VMEbus , VXI , and PICMG . SBCs have been built around various internal processing structures including the Intel architecture, multiprocessing architectures, and lower power processing systems like RISC and SPARC . In the Intel PC world, the intelligence and interface/control circuitry is placed on a plug-in board that

123-558: A 20-character 14-segment alphanumeric LED display, and a small cash register -like printer. A debug monitor was provided as standard firmware for the AIM, and users could also purchase optional ROM chips with an assembler and a Microsoft BASIC interpreter to choose from. Finally, there was the Synertek SYM-1 variant, which could be said to be a machine halfway between the KIM and

164-556: A TV or monitor. A typical configuration would be 16 lines of 32 upper-case only characters. The board had only 10 low-cost ICs and used the KIM's memory for the screen storage. The TVT-6 project appeared on the cover on Popular Electronics in July 1977. The complete kit could be ordered from PAiA Electronics for US$ 34.95 . Lancaster expanded this design to do color and simple graphics in The Cheap Video Cookbook . Each bit

205-511: A computer is an SBC or not for two reasons, firstly because the HDD is regarded as a single block storage unit, and secondly because the SBC may not require a hard drive at all as most can be booted from their network connections. KIM-1 The KIM-1 , short for Keyboard Input Monitor , is a small 6502 -based single-board computer developed and produced by MOS Technology, Inc. and launched in 1976. It

246-446: A frequent source of reliability problems, so a single-board system eliminates these problems. Single-board computers are now commonly defined across two distinct architectures: no slots and slot support. Embedded SBCs are units providing all the required I/O with no provision for plug-in cards. Applications are typically gaming (slot machines, video poker), kiosk, and machine control automation . Embedded SBCs are much smaller than

287-428: A market niche and are manufactured less often and at a higher cost. Motherboards and SBCs now offer similar levels of feature integration meaning that a motherboard failure in either standard will require equivalent replacement. Ranges of single-board computers include Raspberry Pi , BeagleBoard and Nano Pi . One common variety of single-board computer uses standardized computer form factors intended for use in

328-505: A mask programmable 1024 x 8 ROM, a 64 x 8 RAM, two eight-bit bi-directional ports, and a programmable interval timer. The KIM-1 brochure said "1 K BYTE RAM" but it actually had 1152 bytes. The memory was composed of eight 6102 static RAMs (1024 x 1 bits) and the two 64 byte RAMs of the MCS6530s. In the 1970s memory sizes were expressed in several ways. Semiconductor manufacturers would use a precise memory size such as 2048 by 8 and sometimes state

369-520: A somewhat more complex built-in Terminal Interface Monitor software called TIM that was "contained in 2048 bytes of ROM in two 6530 ROM/RAM/IO arrays". This monitor software included the ability to run a cassette tape for storage, drive the LED display, and run the keypad. As soon as the power was turned on, the monitor would run and the user could immediately start interacting with the machine via

410-440: A stack of circuit boards, each containing expansion hardware, to be assembled without a traditional backplane. Examples of stacking SBC form factors include PC/104 , PC/104- Plus , PCI-104 , EPIC , and EBX; these systems are commonly available for use in embedded control systems. Stack-type SBCs often have memory provided on plug-cards such as SIMMs and DIMMs . Hard drive circuit boards are also not counted for determining if

451-469: A wide range of microprocessors . Simple designs, such as those built by computer hobbyists, often use static RAM and low-cost 32 - or 64-bit processors like ARM . Other types, such as blade servers , would perform similar to a server computer, only in a more compact format. A computer-on-module is a type of single-board computer made to plug into a carrier board, baseboard, or backplane for system expansion. The first true single-board computer

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492-402: Is represented by three 2.484 ms long tones. The first is always 3700 Hz, the middle is 3700 Hz for "0" or 2400 Hz for "1", and the last one is always 2400 Hz. This gives an effective bit rate of 134.2 bit/s. Detection is done through a PLL using LM565. The format of data on the tape is: 100 bytes with the value 0x16 (SYN, Synchronous Idle), one byte with the value 0x2A (*),

533-429: Is then inserted into a passive (or active) backplane. The result is similar to having a system built with a motherboard , except that the backplane determines the slot configuration. Backplanes are available with a mix of slots ( ISA , PCI, PCI-X , PCI-Express , etc.), usually totaling 20 or fewer, meaning it will fit in a 19" rackmount enclosure (17" wide chassis). Some single-board computers have connectors that allow

574-502: The ATX-type motherboard found in PCs, and provide an I/O mix more targeted to an industrial application, such as on-board digital and analog I/O, on-board bootable flash memory (eliminating the need for a disk drive ), no video, etc. The term single-board computer now generally applies to an architecture where the single-board computer is plugged into a backplane to provide for I/O cards. In

615-547: The Ariane and Pegasus rockets and Space Shuttle . Because of the very high levels of integration, reduced component counts and reduced connector counts, SBCs are often smaller, lighter, more power efficient and more reliable than comparable multi-board computers. The primary advantage of an ATX motherboard as compared to an SBC is cost. Motherboards are manufactured by the millions for the consumer and office markets allowing tremendous economies of scale . Single-board computers are

656-532: The CPU and other core components, with peripheral components such as hard disk drive controllers and graphics processors , and even some core components such as RAM modules, located on daughterboards . Computers began to move back towards fewer boards in the 2000s. As new standards like USB dramatically reduced the variety of peripheral standards motherboards were expected to support, advances in integrated circuit manufacturing provided new chipsets which could provide

697-633: The Ferguson Big Board , the Ampro Little Board, and the Nascom . Many home computers in the 1980s were single-board computers, with some even encouraging owners to solder upgraded components directly to pre-marked points on the board. As the PC became more prevalent, SBCs decreased in market share due to their low extensibility. The rapid adoption of IBM's standards for peripherals and the standardization of

738-528: The PCI bus in the 1990s made motherboards and compatible components and peripherals cheap and ubiquitous, while the development of multimedia platforms such as the CD-ROM and Sound Blaster cards had begun to fast outpace the rate at which users needed to replace their personal computers. These two trends disincentivized single-board computers, and instead encouraged the proliferation of motherboards , which typically housed

779-467: The 6501 from the market. Changing the pin layout produced the "lawsuit-friendly" 6502 . Otherwise identical to the 6501, it nevertheless had the disadvantage of having no machine in which new users could quickly start using the CPU . Chuck Peddle , leader of the 650x group at MOS (and former member of Motorola's 6800 team), designed the KIM-1 in order to fill this need. The KIM-1 came to market in 1976. While

820-560: The AIM; it had the KIM's small display, and a simple membrane keyboard of 29 keys (hex digits and control keys only), but provided AIM-standard expansion interfaces and true RS-232 (voltage level as well as current loop mode supported). The KIM-1 consisted of a single printed circuit board with all the components on one side. It included three main ICs ; the MCS6502 CPU and two MCS6530 Peripheral Interface/Memory Devices. Each MCS6530 comprises

861-661: The Internet. Both of these factors dramatically increased production of single-board computers throughout the decade. By the end of the 2010s and the early 2020s, many devices, including smartphones, tablet computers , laptops and other smart devices, are powered by single-board computers which utilize advanced SoCs ( System on a Chip ). While this has greatly increased performance and power efficiency, it has raised concerns that single-board computers, particularly those built around SoCs, are harder to repair and may be less friendly to attempts to monitor or modify instructions programmed into

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902-484: The KIM into a music box by toggling a software-controllable output bit connected to a small loudspeaker . Canadian programmer Peter R. Jennings produced what was probably the first game for microcomputers to be sold commercially, Microchess , originally for the KIM-1. As the system became more popular, one of the common additions was the Tiny BASIC programming language . This required an easy memory expansion; "all of

943-553: The Orange Pi One, was released in 2014. Since then, the company has introduced numerous models with varying specifications to suit their specialized use cases, offering a choice of processing power, RAM capacity, ports, and connectivity options. Orange Pi OS is an Arch Linux-based operating system specifically developed for Orange Pi single-board computers. It includes various pre-installed applications for media playback, web browsing, and productivity tasks. Despite being designed with

984-527: The Orange Pi can be used for media playback/streaming, basic web browsing, and even light gaming. They are capable of running a variety of operating systems including Linux and Android-based systems, with some cases seeing usage with Microsoft Windows . Single-board computer Unlike a desktop personal computer , single-board computers often do not rely on expansion slots for peripheral functions or expansion . Single-board computers have been built using

1025-613: The Pi, and other comparable SBCs, for projects such as home automation , video game emulation , media streaming , and other experimentation. In industry, the rapid growth of smartphones and other small-scale devices encouraged hardware manufacturers to move towards more frequent use of SoCs and the reduction of motherboards in size, extensibility and complexity, while the proliferation of the Internet of Things increased demand for small, cheap components that would allow unconventional devices to access

1066-503: The advertisement stated "1 K BYTE RAM" and "2048 ROM BYTES". Also included were six 7-segment LEDs (similar to those on a pocket calculator ) and a 24-key calculator-type keypad. Many of the pins of the I/O portions of the 6530s were connected to two connectors on the edge of the board, where they could be used as a serial system for driving a Teletype Model 33 ASR and paper tape reader and punch . One of these connectors also doubled as

1107-461: The boards by manufacturers. Single-board computers were made possible by increasing the density of integrated circuits . A single-board configuration reduces a system's overall cost, by reducing the number of circuit boards required, and by eliminating connectors and bus driver circuits that would otherwise be used. By putting all the functions on one board, a smaller overall system can be obtained, for example, as in notebook computers. Connectors are

1148-485: The case of PC104 , the bus is not a backplane in the traditional sense but is a series of pin connectors allowing I/O boards to be stacked. Single-board computers are most commonly used in industrial situations where they are used in rackmount format for process control or embedded within other devices to provide control and interfacing. They are used in deep-sea exploration on the ALICE deep sea probes and in outer space, on

1189-511: The decoding for the first 4 K is provided right on the KIM board. All you need to provide is 4 K more of RAM chips and some buffers." The hard part was loading the BASIC from cassette tape —a 15-minute, error-prone ordeal. Rockwell International —who second-sourced the 6502, along with Synertek —released their own microcomputer in one board in 1978, the AIM-65 . The AIM included a full ASCII keyboard,

1230-576: The dedicated distribution in mind, Orange Pi boards are also compatible with other third-party operating systems. Orange Pi boards are suitable for use in a wide range of fields due to their hardware specifications, open-source status, and pricing. They are popular among hobbyists and educators as a platform for learning about electronics and programming. Due to their form factor and low power draw, Orange Pi boards are also useful for embedded system development, particularly in IoT projects. More powerful models of

1271-593: The first time to include most or all of the core components of a motherboard on a single integrated circuit die . One of the more well known single-board-computers of the decade was the Raspberry Pi , which was built around a custom Broadcom SoC with open-source drivers. Originally intended for education, the Raspberry Pi contained a number of features, such as optimized Linux support and programmable GPIO pins, that were also greatly appealing to hobbyists , who used

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1312-747: The functionality of many daughterboards, particularly I/O , in a single chip. By the end of the decade, PC motherboards offered on-board support for disk drives including IDE , SATA , NVMe , RAID , integrated GPU , Ethernet , and traditional I/O such as serial port and parallel port , USB , and keyboard/mouse support. Plug-in "cards" retained their importance as high performance components, such as physically large and complex graphics coprocessors , high-end RAID controllers , and specialized I/O cards such as data acquisition and DSP boards. The 2010s were defined by rapid and sustained growth in single-board computers, enabled largely by advances in integrated circuit production techniques that made it possible for

1353-503: The keypad. The KIM-1 was one of the first single-board computers , needing only an external power supply to enable its use as a stand-alone experimental computer. This fact, plus the relatively low cost of getting started, made it quite popular with hobbyists through the late 1970s. The designer of the TV Typewriter , Don Lancaster , developed a low-cost video display for the KIM-1. The add-on board would display up to 4000 characters on

1394-446: The loader would be used to load a larger program off a storage device like a paper tape reader. It would often take upwards of five minutes to load the tiny program into memory, and a single error while flipping the switches meant that the bootstrap loader would crash the machine. This could render some of the bootstrap code garbled, in which case the programmer had to reenter the whole thing and start all over again. The KIM-1 included

1435-497: The machine was originally intended to be used by engineers, it quickly found a large audience with hobbyists. A complete system could be constructed for under US$ 500 with the purchase of the computer itself for only US$ 245 , and then adding a power supply, a secondhand terminal and a cassette tape drive . Many books were available demonstrating small assembly language programs for the KIM, including The First Book of KIM by Jim Butterfield et al . One demo program converted

1476-475: The number of bits (16384). Mini and mainframe computers had various memory widths (8 bits to over 36 bits) so manufacturers would use the term "words", such as 4K words. The early hobbyist computer advertisements would use both "words" and "bytes". It was common to see "4096 words", "4K (4096) words" and "4 K bytes". The term KB was unused or very uncommon. The KIM-1 was introduced in the April 1976 issue of BYTE and

1517-472: The power supply connector and included analog lines that could be attached to a cassette tape recorder. Earlier microcomputer systems such as the MITS Altair used a series of switches on the front of the machine to enter data. In order to do anything useful, the user had to enter a small program known as the "bootstrap loader" into the machine using these switches, a process known as booting . Once loaded,

1558-600: The various Orange Pi models is Orange Pi OS, a Linux distribution forked from Arch Linux . Orange Pi boards are superficially similar to other single-board computers such as the Raspberry Pi , but feature different hardware specifications and capabilities. They are designed with open-source operating systems in mind, notably Linux systems including Android . Since their first model released in 2014, there have been 30 Orange Pi development boards developed and manufactured by Shenxhan Xunling Software Co. Ltd. Orange Pi products include: The first Orange Pi development board,

1599-687: Was based on the Intel C8080A , also using Intel's first EPROM , the C1702A. Schematics for the machine, called the "dyna-micro" were published in Radio-Electronics magazine in May 1976. Later that year, production of the system began by E&L Instruments, a Derby, Connecticut -based computer manufacturer, which branded the system as the "Mini Micro Designer 1", intending it for use as a programmable microcontroller for prototyping electronic products. The MMD-1

1640-555: Was made famous as an example microcomputer in popular 8080 instruction series of the time. Early SBCs figured heavily in the early history of home computers , such as the Acorn Electron and the BBC Micro , also developed by Acorn. Other typical early single-board computers like the KIM-1 were often shipped without enclosure , which had to be added by the owner. Other early examples are

1681-493: Was very successful in that period, due to its low price (thanks to the inexpensive 6502 microprocessor) and easy-access expandability. MOS Technology's first processor, the 6501 , could be plugged into existing motherboards that used the Motorola 6800 , allowing potential users (i.e. engineers and hobbyists) to get a development system up and running very easily using existing hardware. Motorola immediately sued, forcing MOS to pull

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