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1. The Avalon team has developed the world's first "variable computing power cluster system" (HASHS, or Hyper Array Scalable Hashing System). In this system, the concept of a single mining machine no longer exists, and is replaced by the concept of a module cluster.
2. Avalon has always been open source, and the chip frequency and voltage that miners care about most can be set directly in the setting interface. Through different voltage and frequency combinations, high-frequency and high-computing power or low-voltage and high-efficiency working methods can be achieved without modifying any hardware.
3. The overall architecture of the Avalon III 40nm single-module is inherited from the mature design of the Avalon II 55nm single-module. At the same time, it corrects some hardware problems in the previous second generation, improves producibility, manufacturing yield and durability, and simplifies deployment requirements and adds some new functions.
4. Avalon 40 nanometer single module, each 295G, constitutes a 12T computing power cluster, which can be controlled by only a TP-LINK703n or Raspberry Pi with openwrt firmware, and only occupies one IP address and one network cable. If it is a T-level mining machine with the same computing power, it will require 12 network cables, 12 IP addresses, and 12 settings for 12 mining machines.
5. A mining machine is a mining machine, a product of the new era of distributed computing. A desktop computer is a desktop computer, and personal computers are things from the 1970s. Making a mining machine look like a desktop computer is a regression of the times.
6. Taking the construction of a mining farm with a computing power of 100T as an example, if you want to deploy those T-class mining machines that weigh more than ten kilograms or even dozens of kilograms, you need to hire a group of strong men to complete the task. The Avalon single module weighs only 3.5 kilograms and is about the same size as two packs of cigarettes. Even a little girl can move it easily. There is no need to hire strong men. Just find a few people to complete the task.
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Avalon variable computing power cluster system
In the Bitcoin mining industry, a new generation of products is launched every 3-6 months. In other words, in this industry, stopping innovation means death.
The pursuit of innovation is the driving force behind the continuous development of human society. For the Avalon team, which created the world's first ASIC mining machine, innovation is a belief. Only by continuous innovation can we continuously launch better products and survive in today's Bitcoin mining machine industry.
The Avalon team has developed the world's first "variable computing power cluster system" (HASHS, or Hyper Array Scalable Hashing System). In this system, the concept of a single mining machine no longer exists, and is replaced by the concept of a module cluster. Taking the Avalon 40-nanometer module as an example, each module has 295G computing power. According to the actual situation of the mine site, power supply, heat dissipation, etc., users can freely choose to stack 1-40 modules (corresponding to about 0.3T-12T computing power) into a computing power cluster unit, which is controlled by a terminal, a network cable, and an IP address. The revolutionary technological innovation has brought the flexibility and simplicity of mine layout to an unprecedented level.
The first generation of "variable computing power cluster system" is composed of Avalon second-generation 55-nanometer single modules. The computing power of each second-generation single module is 105G. Each module is connected to the power supply and USB bus through the power data interface board (also called ADP board). Each module needs to occupy a USB interface. In other words, through a 10-port USB hub, 10 Avalon second-generation 55-nanometer single modules can be connected to form a 1T computing power cluster, which is actually very remarkable, but technological innovation is endless. As mentioned at the beginning, in the mining machine industry, if you want to survive, you need to continue to innovate and improve.
In today's world of rapid technological development, no technology or product is absolutely perfect. The first generation of "variable computing power cluster system" certainly has its problems. In this system, each module needs to occupy a USB port, but in fact, the data exchange generated by a single module is very small, which actually wastes the bandwidth of the USB bus.
In order to solve the problems of the previous generation of products, the second generation of "variable computing power cluster system" has developed a new power data interface board (also called ADP board). The idea of development is very simple: "Since it is too wasteful for one module to occupy one USB interface, let multiple modules share one USB interface."
Each ADP interface board is the same when it leaves the factory, with 4 8P power interfaces (2 PCIE8PIN and 2 CPU8PIN), and you can work stably by plugging in any 2 ports, and PCIE6PIN is enough. In addition to the power port, there are 2 interconnected 4PIN ports and 2 ID jumpers.
The four address states of the ADP interface board are set through the jumpers on the ADP interface board. They are connected together through a special four-core connecting cable. Up to 4 modules can be connected to the USB port via a simple USB data adapter board.
Schematic diagram: Four ADPs set to four states are connected together through four-core wires and finally connected to a USB hub through a USB data adapter board.
In this way, one USB port can connect 4 modules, and a 10-port USB hub can connect 40 modules.
40 Avalon single modules, each with 295G, form a 12T computing cluster, which can be controlled by a TP-LINK703n or Raspberry Pi with OpenWRT firmware, and only requires one IP address and one network cable. If it is a T-class mining machine with the same computing power, it will require 12 network cables, 12 IP addresses, and 12 settings for 12 mining machines.
Due to the limited power supply in the test environment, we connected 8 Avalon single modules to a TP-LINK 703N. Using the latest firmware on May 26, it ran stably for more than 24 hours with an average speed of 2.3T
In addition to the domestic F2Pool, we also tested the largest foreign mining pool, G-Pool (Ghash.io), which is more stable than F2Pool, and its average speed is consistent with the theoretical speed.
Avalon Avalon III 40nm single module detailed evaluation
The overall architecture of the Avalon III 40nm single-module group is inherited from the mature design of the Avalon II 55nm single-module group. At the same time, some hardware problems in the previous second generation have been corrected, and the manufacturability, manufacturing yield and durability have been improved. In addition, the deployment requirements have been simplified and some new functions have been added.
The Avalon III 40nm single module only needs a 12V input to work. Compared with the previous generation of Avalon single module products, the power data interface board (also called ADP board) has removed the ATX24P interface, which has reduced the size and increased the flexibility of layout. Whether it is a single power supply of a single ATX power supply to a single module, or a single power supply of a high-power server power supply or industrial power supply to multiple modules, the Avalon III 40nm single module can directly handle it, which greatly improves the flexibility of product configuration. No matter what power supply configuration the mine has, the Avalon III 40nm single module can easily cope with it.
There are 4 12V connectors on the ADP board, and you can connect any 2 of them to work. The width of the ADP board is exactly the same as the module, both are 105mm.
The Avalon 3 generation module has integrated the main controller inside the module, and the amount of data exchange with the host computer has been reduced to an extremely low level. As for the practical significance of this, everyone has experienced its power in the module cluster test.
The main control chip is XILINX's Spartan6-XC6LX16 FPGA, which is a programmable chip. This FPGA implements a 32-bit microprocessor, a hardware Stratum protocol parser, and a SHA256 calculation result verification accelerator.
It is this integrated design that makes the birth of the "variable computing power cluster system" possible.
The most important part of the mining machine is the DC/DC power supply. The controller of this part uses the ADP3208D two-phase power supply controller from ON Semiconductor. This controller complies with the INTEL IMVP-6 standard and can be programmed to output a voltage of 0.6V-1.5V and an output current of up to 70A.
The controller is paired with TI's CSD16321Q5C and CSD17556Q5B field effect tubes, each phase can theoretically withstand a peak current of 100A, and is one of the top MOS tubes currently. The inductor is a Qiankun brand, also a product of a Taiwanese manufacturer.
The power module adopts a fully solid-state capacitor design, with three solid-state electrolytic capacitors from Songmu, two tantalum polymer capacitors from Japan's NEC brand, and a large number of MLCC ceramic high-frequency capacitors. The parts with high current on the PCB also have heat dissipation tin bars added to help guide current and dissipate heat.
We removed the heat sink covering the computing chip and found that each unit has 10 A3233 computing chips installed. Each module has 5 such units, for a total of 50 chips installed.
The welding and PCB quality of the original products are very good. Each module also uses 2 non-inductive capacitors to suppress electromagnetic noise when multiple chips work together.
Avalon has always been open source, and the chip frequency and voltage that miners care about most can be set directly in the setting interface. Through different voltage and frequency combinations, high-frequency and high-computing power or low-voltage and high-efficiency working modes can be achieved without modifying any hardware.
In the past, because humans have been exposed to computers for too long, they instinctively believed that mining machines should look like computers, so a large number of mining machines look exactly like desktop computers, and even the first generation of Avalon is no exception.
Time is the only criterion for testing truth. Gradually, people discovered, why should it be made into a computer? Why must it have a case? What is the use of a case? Can it improve computing power? Can it reduce heat? Can it reduce power consumption? Is the case just for the sake of being heavy? Large? Noisy? To waste space? Waste cost? Waste shipping? And finally pass all the wasted things on to consumers? Let consumers pay for all this?
Finally, someone figured it out. A mining machine is a mining machine, a product of the new era of distributed computing. A desktop computer is a desktop computer. Personal computers are things from the 1970s. Making a mining machine look like a desktop computer is a step backward in time.
Compared with those T-class mining machines that weigh more than ten kilograms or even dozens of kilograms, the advantages of Avalon single module are very obvious.
When setting up a mining farm, taking the construction of a mining farm with a computing power of 100T as an example, if you want to deploy those T-class mining machines that weigh more than ten kilograms or even dozens of kilograms, you need to hire a group of strong men to complete the task. The Avalon single module weighs only 3.5 kilograms and is about the same size as two packs of cigarettes. Even a little girl can move it easily. There is no need to hire strong men. Just find a few people to complete the task.
During maintenance, Avalon is designed as a modular system, and the convenience of maintenance is fully considered. There is not a single screw in the construction of the entire system, and all disassembly and assembly are done by hand without tools. The same is true for maintenance. If there is a problem, just dismantle it by hand for maintenance. Moreover, the weight of any component of the system does not exceed 3.5 kg, and the size can basically be grasped by one hand, saving worry and effort. As for those T-class mining machines, let's not talk about maintenance first, you can move the 20 kg iron lump off the rack first.
As various T-level mining machines are common, a single mining machine often uses a 1000w power supply. This power supply is expensive and often out of stock, and the supply cannot be guaranteed.
The Avalon single module takes this into consideration, so whether it is the first-generation 55nm Avalon single module or the second-generation 40nm Avalon single module, their maximum input power is only about 350w. Such power supplies are not only cheap, but also have a large market share and are very easy to obtain, with no shortage of problems at all.
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