Pedagogically Motivated and Composable Open-Source RISC-V Processors for Computer Science Education

Abstract

This paper addresses the need for robust, pedagogically sound, and accessible RISC-V processor implementations for computer science education. The authors propose criteria for evaluating educational RISC-V ecosystems and analyze existing open-source solutions against these standards. They then introduce a novel, comprehensive, and composable open-source framework specifically designed to meet instructor needs and facilitate customized architectural education.

Report

Key Highlights

• Pedagogical Criteria Defined: The work establishes a clear set of criteria for evaluating the suitability of RISC-V implementations for use in computer science curricula.
• New Composable Framework: A comprehensive, open-source RISC-V implementation was developed, designed to fulfill all defined pedagogical requirements.
• Modularity for Education: The key innovation is the composable nature of the framework, allowing instructors to easily disaggregate and customize components based on specific course requirements.
• Ecosystem Analysis: The study includes an analysis of several existing open-source RISC-V implementations to benchmark them against the newly proposed pedagogical criteria.
• Student Validation: The paper reports findings from a limited study of student feedback on the developed solution.

Technical Details

• Target ISA: RISC-V Instruction Set Architecture.
• Implementation Goal: Creation of an easy-to-use, robust, and open-source implementation specifically optimized for teaching purposes (i.e., not commercial performance).
• Methodology: The research followed a three-pronged approach: definition of educational criteria, comparative analysis of existing tools (found primarily on platforms like GitHub), and subsequent development of a custom solution.
• Architecture Detail: The solution is designed with a high degree of composability, meaning that individual pipeline stages, memory interfaces, or other core processor components can be swapped or isolated to demonstrate specific architectural concepts.

Implications

• Enhancing RISC-V Education: This work significantly lowers the barrier for academic institutions to integrate cutting-edge, open-source processor design into their courses, leveraging the freedom provided by the RISC-V ISA.
• Standardizing Educational Tools: By proposing explicit pedagogical criteria, the paper provides a benchmark for future open-source educational processor designs.
• Flexibility and Adaptability: The composable framework ensures that the toolset remains relevant across different levels of computer architecture courses (e.g., introductory single-cycle versus advanced pipelined designs).
• Community Contribution: Releasing the framework as open-source directly benefits the global RISC-V and computer science teaching community, offering a high-quality, instructor-vetted resource.