https://www.btcfpga.com/forum/index.php?topic=104.msg817#msg817Quoted this post from the btcfpga.com forums over to here, posted below. Hope this is OK to do here. From BuzzDave"Thanks Tom, for taking time out on Thanksgiving to review my new post! I've been chewing through my leash wanting to release this info to you guys!
bASIC History
Development of the ASIC based mining hardware began almost 9 months ago, when Tom started hunting around for a Brute Force SHA256 core that could be used in an ASIC package. Once the core was sourced, Tom tapped the open source elite from the Bitcoin community to help with changes necessary to make the core work for Bitcoin mining from a hardware, firmware and software perspective.
Was there a prototype?
Yes. The prototype consisted of two ASICs with our custom SHA256 hashing cores on a development board. The IP core company said that each chip could do about 14GH/s each, which they did. Until they didn't. It was clear that these chips
were fast, but they needed to be run at a safer clock for longevity.
Where are we in the process?
With the MCU, ASICs and power supply circuitry figured out, the engineers are designing schematics for the routing and interconnect of all the components. These guys are industry professionals and won't be rushed or cut corners. This is where we have to wait patiently and not bother them.
Once the design, parts layout and routing work is locked down and tested, we will finalize the build - it will then take approximately 8 days to produce the finished PCB and begin production.
Are you guys tracking on delivery targets?
Admittedly, its going to be tight - we lost a couple precious days to the Thanksgiving Holiday. Tom expects to learn a lot more on Tuesday regarding schedule.
What about firmware and mining software?
We specifically chose this particular MCU because our firmware developer has already created the core infrastructure for it. It will be fairly quick and easy to complete the firmware - we have full confidence in TheSeven and Luke-JR that they will be able to complete the firmware and make BFGMiner bASIC compatible in a timely fashion once the hardware hits the wild.
Where is the design at now?
The design of the smaller bASIC unit grew from 2 ASICs per board to 6 in a cluster, each ASIC producing 4.5GH/s (safely) for a total of 27 GH/s. As you probably know, digital computers/microprocessors operate using the binary (base-2) number system. This somewhat naturally leads to architectures that most efficiently have their components (such as I/O signals, communications paths, memories, etc.) in quantities of powers of two - 2, 4, 8, 16, and so on.
***Important - please read closely***
It is for this reason that we are going to grow our hashing cluster to 8 ASICs. With two clusters on the larger unit, it will conservatively produce 72GH/s. Yes, this is very good news - a 33% increase in hashing power! Yes, this means the 27G unit now becomes a 36G unit. These initial numbers are conservative estimates, but we expect that firmware and software updates will be able to iteratively increase hashing power as well.
Other specs/stats:
The expected power consumption remains roughly as anticipated at 80 - 120 watts per unit. Actual measured power consumption will be released as soon as possible.
For each hashing cluster, a high-performance heatsink will be used, with a high quality cooling fan, similar to the ones used on the MMQ. Specifics of the heatsink and fans will come next week.
Power plugs - same as always. There will be a DC barrel plug suitable for a wall wart power supply, and a 4-pin Molex like the MMQ has.
USB - a single mini-USB plug will provide interface to the controller PC running Win7 or Linux.
MCU is based on the high-performance ARM®Cortex™-M3 32-bit RISC core operating at a frequency of up to 120 MHz.
Board dimensions are subject to change, due to the change in chip count - with the larger clusters, the engineers may have to make room for the extra chips. 4" x 9" is the current design size.
Look for more announcements on this forum - we have more surprises up our sleeves!"
