How the RISC-V ISA Offers Greater Design Freedom and Flexibility

The need for more flexible and scalable processor architectures in the semiconductor industry continues to rise, contributing to the steady growth in the adoption of RISC-V. Originally developed at the University of California, Berkeley, the open-source RISC-V instruction set architecture (ISA) has become very popular in recent years. RISC-V allows designers to customize their processor implementations to meet the specific needs of their target applications. By selecting the extensions they want to use for their design, developers can optimize for power, performance, and/or area (PPA). RISC-V also allows the addition of custom instructions, allowing designers to develop and add instructions for specific use cases, for example, AI or automotive, and differentiate their designs. Adoption by chip developers of the RISC-V architecture, with its openness, choices, and technical benefits, continues to accelerate. The SHD Group, in a forthcoming report, anticipates a 40% CAGR for SoCs with RISC-V processors between 2023 and 2030.

There are many RISC-V implementations available today, both as open-source cores and as commercial IP products. Synopsys, as a leading provider of high-quality processor IP, is contributing to the growth and adoption of RISC-V with the launch of the ARC-V^TM RISC-V processor IP. Chip designers will gain a broader range of flexible, extensible processors from a provider with a decades-long track record for delivering and supporting PPA-efficient implementations and optimized software development tools and libraries.

The ARC-V portfolio includes 32-bit and 64-bit processors, with high-performance, mid-range, and ultra-low-power families, as well as functional safety versions. As with ARC processors, the ARC-V processor IP allows designers to extend, accelerate, and differentiate their processor cores through the addition of custom extensions, enabling them to increase performance, reduce power consumption, and reduce code size.

The flexibility, scalability and open architecture offered by the RISC-V ISA are major drivers of its success. RISC-V provides opportunities for innovation, giving SoC architects and software developers the ability to define new products and create a high degree of differentiation in their product portfolios. RISC-V will undoubtedly play a significant role in driving the future development of more innovative and efficient chips as the RISC-V ecosystem matures. With Synopsys ARC-V Processor IP, customers will benefit from optimized and configurable implementations and the flexibility to leverage this extensive RISC-V ecosystem, which will help achieve their IC design goals and accelerate time to market.