In 2023, the RISC-V architecture, which has long been labeled as "low-end", finally achieved two "small goals" in the process of high-endization:

First, the single-core performance has improved and can be compared with ARM Cortex-A7;

Second, the application scenarios have been expanded to the PC field, and the first laptop equipped with RISC-V architecture has been launched.

Under such momentum, the development of RISC-V in 2024 seems to be "smooth."

01 “Nuggets” in the data center market

In order to achieve "high-end" transformation, RISC-V architecture design companies continue to try to expand the market into areas that require higher computing power, stability and other indicators. In 2023, the industry will launch a number of RISC-V products for data centers, including the industry's first RISC-V server chip SG2042 tape-out by Shen Neng Technology, and the ultra-large-scale bus IP "Fang Starlink-700" launched by Sai Fang Technology and 256-core RISC-V many-core IP subsystem platform.

In the field of data centers, there are currently a number of RISC-V startups targeting server CPUs.

Xu Tao, chairman and CEO of Saifang Technology, believes that not only server CPUs, but also the "data center" market is full of gold. BMC chips, memory chips, AI accelerators, DPUs, etc. can all be made with RISC-V. "I believe that there will be many different types of RISC-V chips put into mass production in data center scenarios in 2024." Xu Tao told China Electronics News.

In addition, there are a number of "big chips" designed by RISC-V manufacturers that have tape-out possibilities, including Ventana's 192-core, 4nm RISC-V server CPU - Veyron V2, and Tenstorrent's 3nm AI & CPU Chiplets - Grendel Wait, they all have the opportunity to be taped out in 2024.

02 Catch the “AI Express”

"Artificial intelligence is the most important category of emerging technologies currently being developed. This type of application requires new programming models, new SoCs and new systems, and we see RISC-V playing a very important role in this." SiFive Gang Zhijian, senior vice president of corporate marketing and business development, said in an interview with a reporter from China Electronics News.

Gang Zhijian believes that RISC-V provides a wonderful, shared ecosystem, an AI programming environment and an environment for developing new software. As performance and customizability continue to improve, RISC-V will become more and more popular. Entering emerging markets dominated by artificial intelligence, its application scenarios include data centers, automobiles, consumer electronics and other fields.

03 High-end SoC can be commercially used

According to Bu Xiangmin, President of Deepin Intelligence, the most critical thing in 2024 is the launch of SoC commercial products.

"In 2023, we have been working on an overall solution based on RISC-V for one year. I deeply feel that there is still a long way to go between SoC chips and real commercialization." Bu Xiangmin told a reporter from China Electronics News "In 2023, Deepin Intelligence launched a laptop based on the RISC-V architecture. In 2024, we plan to work with partners in the ecosystem to launch a new generation of SoC laptops and servers designed based on the RISC-V architecture."

In 2023, Google and Android announced support for the RISC-V ecosystem. Bu Xiangmin said that this will promote the improvement of the RISC-V ecosystem. A more complete ecosystem will help improve the usability of RISC-V in desktops, smart terminals and other fields.

Xu Tao believes that vertical integration is an effective way for RISC-V processors to land in the high-end market. "Vertical integration means defining chips through applications. RISC-V has an open commercial standard and a flexible technical architecture. Manufacturers can better design chips according to application requirements. High-end application-defined chips can better release the value of vertical integration, which is also RISC-V’s biggest opportunity." Xu Tao said.

04 Accelerate the construction of Du software ecosystem

In June 2023, the global RISC-V software ecosystem plan RISE (RISC-V Software Ecosystem) was established.

The plan was jointly initiated by 13 industry giants including Google, Intel, Qualcomm, MediaTek, Andes, Pingtouge, Rivos, SiFive, Ventana, Samsung, NVIDIA, Imagination, etc., aiming to assist the RISC-V International Foundation to jointly accelerate RISC-V V commercial software ecological construction. Its establishment marks the transition of the RISC-V software ecosystem from purely open source-led and foundation-led to an era of commercialization-led and large-scale global co-construction.

Wu Yanjun, deputy director and chief engineer of the Institute of Software, Chinese Academy of Sciences, said in an interview with a reporter from China Electronics News that because RISC-V has official mainline support from Debian and OpenEuler, the two major open source operating system communities, and the establishment of the RISE organization, the first Many software and hardware companies have officially joined the RISC-V ecosystem, and the construction of the RISC-V software ecosystem will be accelerated in 2024.

Wu Yanjun believes that in 2024, RISC-V's iconic high-performance processors will appear on the market again based on the products already available in 2023, and the large-scale adaptation of the server software ecosystem has officially begun. The concept of open source and global collaboration has enabled the scale of RISC-V developers to continue to grow rapidly.

View more at EASELINK