Alpha Technology Litecoin (Scrypt) ASIC Miner Order Batch 1 Now!

[nezarkadhem]

Hey guys, I just launched a group buy for the Viper 25: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=435487.0

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[vesperwillow]

That sounds cool (excuse the pun). Are you running yours in open enclosures or closed chassis ?

Open, they're on flat plastic shelf racks.

[wilson1973]

That sounds cool (excuse the pun). Are you running yours in open enclosures or closed chassis ?

Open, they're on flat plastic shelf racks.

I'm running mine in sealed enclosures currently 3 GPU per 4u chassis. They're not maxed out and are running consistently. So I'm happy.

[wilson1973]

Greetings Miners!

Engineering updates for this week:

1. Host board will be a two board solution ( SOM & Daughter board).

2. Wifi capability has been added to the host board.

3. Power measurement capability added to the host board.

4. Temperature measurement capability added to the mining board.

5. ASIC – Physical design is going on:

    1. Memory cells are chosen as array of 1024*128 bits.

    2. Various options for memory floor planning is being tried upon like multiple memories being stacked on top of each other along with grouping them together for better die size.
 
6. RTL synthesis has been tried out with HVT , RVT and LVT cells. LVT offers good frequency, however power leakage is higher, RVT offers balance on timing and power.

7. Block level pin assignments in progress.

8. DFT Scan insertion in progress.

9. Place and route in progress.

Hi Fiaz, thanks for the update.

In simple terms can you confirm this is as per plan and on target. I like others would be keen to understand at the earliest opportunity whether we are likely to experience any delays, it's all about managing your customers expectations :-)

Thanks

[benjamin07]

Hey Fiaz, please take your time to answe my questions, no hurry, there are no ASIC miners for LTC out there yet, do NOT click on the link below:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Gridseed-Worlds-First-USB-ASIC-Litecoin-Dogecoin-Bitcoin-Dual-Miner-/261384861912?pt=AU_comp_dekstop&hash=item3cdbc078d8&_uhb=1

[Dabs]

Gridseed is expensive, so far. Maybe when the price goes down. But hey, feel free to spend $100 on 70 kh/s.

[anderl]

Gridseed is expensive, so far. Maybe when the price goes down. But hey, feel free to spend $100 on 70 kh/s.

You are quoting the marked up price being advertised by the buyers who got it before Gridseed sold out the first batch.  Gridseed 20 units sold from Gridseed.com are $2,700.00USD equivalent which returns a khs/$ of 2.25 which is onpar with an alpha-tech 5Mhs.  Plus Gridseeds are out right now and in mass production for batch 2 which will be out 2 months before alpha-tech gets their first batch out. 

In crypto it is the first out the gate that capitalizes.  Gridseed will make alpha-techs worthless by the time they release only because difficulty will skyrocket over the next 4 months.

[Dabs]

Where can we buy those batch 2 units?

[CoinHoarder]

Where can we buy those batch 2 units?

From what I can tell the only way to order as of now is through their email.. sales@gridseed.com

I imagine that is just for wholesalers though.. I bet once they have their supply line ramped up (which might take a month+ due to CNY), these will be readily available. I think that Dualminer is the first reseller accepting orders, but there will be others developing their own soon. It seems Gridseed wants to simply provide ASIC chips and have people make designs and sell them to customers similar to Avalon gen2 chips.

I'm glad they're not readily available now.. I don't have any $$ on hand !!

[funktrust]

1. Host board will be a two board solution ( SOM & Daughter board).
SOM - system on a module(little tiny computer), daughter card is a secondary PCB attached to the SOM through a connector or cable likely containing the ASIC and accompanying devices.

2. Wifi capability has been added to the host board.
Wifi! no cables!

3. Power measurement capability added to the host board.
Web interface and/or front display will likely report out active power usage.

4. Temperature measurement capability added to the mining board.
Web interface and/or front display will likely report out active temperature levels.

5. ASIC – Physical design is going on:

    1. Memory cells are chosen as array of 1024*128 bits.
   Physical dimension/structure of the memory blocks

    2. Various options for memory floor planning is being tried upon like multiple memories being stacked on top of each other along with grouping them together for better die size.
   Puzzle piecing the memory partitions to try and optimize die size... smaller the die, more per wafer, cheaper the chip.
 
6. RTL synthesis has been tried out with HVT , RVT and LVT cells. LVT offers good frequency, however power leakage is higher, RVT offers balance on timing and power.
ASIC standard cell types, High vT, Low vT, Regular/Standard vT... used depending on situation, its a Speed vs Power dissipation thing. vT = Threshold voltage, this is threshold at which a transistor turns on/off. A Low vT turns on and off faster but comes with increased leakage, the opposite for High vT. Think of an HVT device like a sprinter starting in a standing position(when idle its easy to stay standing, but slow to start) and an LVT device like a sprinter starting low in the starting blocks (when idle, the starting stance requires allot of effort to maintain, but a fast start).

7. Block level pin assignments in progress.
Pin assignments are the ports, connection points to the various design partitions (collections of logic that perform a specific task)... its a hardware equivalent of a "function" in programming and the ports represent the input/output of those functions. When talking full chip those ports correspond to the physical pins/solder balls on the package.

8. DFT Scan insertion in progress.
This is a built in test methodology for post silicon validation(testing the die for defects). DFT = Design For Test. I would assume along these lines that basic I/O test logic and mbist test logic is being implemented as well... especially mbist, as i'm sure the die area consumed by the memory is a big percentage as compared to the random logic (that scan covers).

9. Place and route in progress.
Assuming the place and route for the asic and not the PCB... but means the same thing... the die is being automatically synthesized based on the design, a process of placing standard cells (and/Or/Nand/Nor/Latch/Inverter...etc) and generating the electrical connection paths between them.

Credits to Phidian from Litecointalk.org Forum for the technical breakdown.

[medialab101]

Very helpful. Thanks!

[Samoshi]

I just asked them, via email, for a full refund for my order #5894. I'm sorry to post this here, but I need a public trace in case of any problem. Thanks. Have a nice day.

[Kisu]

1)   The average hashing power per chip has been beefed up significantly from our estimated 300Khs per chip to 800Khs per chip and thereby reducing the number of chips required to reach the required hashes.

Someone already asked about this, but I didn't see an answer..

If the pre-order price was calculated for 17(?) chips (300kH/s * 17 = 5.1MH/s), why won't you keep the 17 chips and make the units faster than estimated?

[addy336]

Hi All,
I have been wondering about something. If and when the devices from Alpha are shipped from India, the customers in other countries like UK will end up paying significant VAT. I imagine that is about 20% of the price of the device, in addition to this there would be some customs delays. I am based out of India so that is not a problem for me but I am wondering about what others are doing about this.
Why don't we have some company in India offer hosted mining services and simply send the LTC/BTC to the wallets. The company can pocket some % of the savings on VAT and operating expenses. Some people from the community can go and vet the company, may be get Alpha to endorse the company.
You comments are solicited.

Thanks and Regards,
Aditya

[diego2000]

Hi All,
I have been wondering about something. If and when the devices from Alpha are shipped from India, the customers in other countries like UK will end up paying significant VAT. I imagine that is about 20% of the price of the device, in addition to this there would be some customs delays. I am based out of India so that is not a problem for me but I am wondering about what others are doing about this.
Why don't we have some company in India offer hosted mining services and simply send the LTC/BTC to the wallets. The company can pocket some % of the savings on VAT and operating expenses. Some people from the community can go and vet the company, may be get Alpha to endorse the company.
You comments are solicited.

Thanks and Regards,
Aditya

For UK customers, this has been answered here:

https://litecointalk.org/index.php?topic=2859.870

[Kergekoin]

1)   The average hashing power per chip has been beefed up significantly from our estimated 300Khs per chip to 800Khs per chip and thereby reducing the number of chips required to reach the required hashes.

Someone already asked about this, but I didn't see an answer..

If the pre-order price was calculated for 17(?) chips (300kH/s * 17 = 5.1MH/s), why won't you keep the 17 chips and make the units faster than estimated?

The pre-order price was calculated based on a much lesser number of chips as we were confident we could arrive at a higher performance. However on the worst case scenario 300-500 Kh was assumed to be implemented.

Fiaz.

Right... Job well done. More money for you and legally its all correct.

[jasinlee]

If it has not altered the companies estimates for profit, you should provide the same number of chips per board.

[Bobsurplus]

If it has not altered the companies estimates for profit, you should provide the same number of chips per board.

yea, and as a paying client I will expect nothing less.

[Its About Sharing]

Fiaz - If other companies deliver a bit sooner than you guys (as there are some ASIC's already coming out, albeit at crazy prices), have you considered upping the Mhash/s or offering an option for more Mhash's to make up for market forces? (A bit like KNC Miner has done, they have really changed the Mining landscape and gained many customers in the process.)

Thanks for all the communication and updates,
Its about sharing

[johncitizen]

Fiaz - If other companies deliver a bit sooner than you guys (as there are some ASIC's already coming out, albeit at crazy prices), have you considered upping the Mhash/s or offering an option for more Mhash's to make up for market forces? (A bit like KNC Miner has done, they have really changed the Mining landscape and gained many customers in the process.)

Thanks for all the communication and updates,
Its about sharing

I like this idea.

As the market catches up - I want to be ahead with my alpha asics. If I could add hash power I would. A %20 increase from expected hash power would be generous but we want to be ahead not on par. How long until gridseed release a weapon of a thing? They will be sweating their asses off in R&D...

If you keep the mining community happy you can avoid a backlash and retain loyalty.