ERS-210 Hardware - CPU and memory

The main block of the ERS-210 AIBO is an engineering marvel.
It is much smaller than the ERS-111 AIBO, has fewer circuit boards and integrates the mechanical components (battery holder / lock / release, memory stick holder / lock / release, 6 appendage release mechanisms, many Open-R ports and a PCMCIA slot) in an amazingly tight space.

The Main Chips

CPU

The CPU is a QED (Quantum Effective Devices) MIPS processor, part number RM5231A-200H. It uses the MIPS IV instruction set, 32-bit data bus, and has a maximum speed of 200MHz.

Memory

Dynamic memory is in two NEC D4518163G5-A80 memory chips giving a total of 32MB of memory. This is SDRAM.
Read only memory is in single Toshiba TC58FVB321FT-10 flash memory chip giving a total of 4MB of flash ROM.

I/O Controller

There is a separate 8-bit micro-controller that performs I/O functions as well as controlling the main CPU (including powering it up and acting like a watch-dog). The chip is an NEC D780023AY running at 4MHz. It is an 8-bit micro-controller with 24KB of ROM and 1KB of RAM, an analog-to-digital converter, a real-time-clock, a buzzer circuit (for the boot failure tune) and two serial ports (among other features).

Specs

Here are the main chips:

200MHz MIPS CPU from QED
8-bit Micro-controller from NEC
16MB SDRAM from from NEC
Toshiba 4M Flash ROM
Texas Instrument USB controller chip

Specs are easily found online. If you can't find a particular chip specific, please send me an email.

Custom Chips

There are two custom Sony chips on the main board. The Sony chips are marked "CXD9561GB" and "CDX9540TG". Their functionality is a mystery.

Other Chips

There are several other smaller chips. On of interest is the TI TUSB2036 which is a USB hub controller chip.

Testing Port

At the bottom of the main board, there is a 30 pin connector which (probably) is used for system testing. You can access this by removing the little plastic hatch (with a slot in it) on the underside of the ERS-210 block (next to the battery).