Raspberry Pi
Tutorials and application notes for the Raspberry Pi ARM GNU Linux embedded computer
This online documentation (tutorials, application notes and technical specifications) for the Raspberry Pi computer is provided as a public service to the Raspberry Pi community.
The RPi is a very useful hobbyist device and a splendid teaching platform for embedded systems. Its strength is that it provides a fully functional networked computer with the advantage of GNU Linux programming, while its limitations are that it has nondeterministic response times and insufficient I/O for most real time control or instrumentation and automation applications.
While we would prefer that you use the single board computers that we sell (and please do take a look at our embedded controllers like the PDQ Board, PDQ Board Lite, QCard Controller and modular I/O boards), we also provide the following Raspbery Pi documentation and tools in the hope you find them useful.
Overview of the Raspberry Pi specifications
The Raspberry Pi is a small (85 x 56 mm), low power computer board capable of running a Linux operating system. You can connect a keyboard, mouse and display directly to it and use it as a desktop computer, or you can use it remotely, communicating with its operating system through its Ethernet port.
The Raspberry Pi is built around a Broadcom system-on-chip (SoC), the BCM2835 media processor which contains a general purpose processor which runs Linux operating systems (CPU) and a video processor which outputs an RCA or HDMI video signal (GPU). The CPU used is one of the popular ARM processors, the ARM11 ARM1176JZF-S CPU core running at 700 MHz, while the GPU is Broadcom's own VideoCore IV running at 250 MHz, with OpenGL ES 2.0 and OpenVG 1080p30 H.264 high-profile encode/decode. The RPi board also comes loaded with the following:
- 512MB SDRAM memory (clocked at 400 MHz) (for Model B Rev 2);
- Two USB 2.0 ports, provided via an integrated USB hub;
- Permanent memory, out of which the operating system runs, provided by a SD/MMC/SDIO card slot; and,
- 10/100 wired Ethernet RJ45.
Raspberry Pi power requirements
The Model A board, containing 128 or 256 MB SDRAM, consumes 500 mA and the Model B board, containing 512MB SDRAM, requires 700 mA, both from 5 V.
For more information: