RISC-V Summit spurs new round of automotive support - EDN - Voice of the Engineer

Abstract

The RISC-V Summit catalyzed a significant expansion of industry support for adopting the open-source architecture in automotive applications. Announcements focused on addressing critical requirements like functional safety and reliability, essential for integration into vehicle control and ADAS systems. This new wave of commitment signals RISC-V's increasing maturity and viability as a foundational technology for future automotive electronics.

Report

Key Highlights

• Automotive Momentum: The RISC-V Summit spurred concrete announcements detailing greater industry commitment to integrating RISC-V technology into vehicles.
• Functional Safety Focus: A major theme was the development of IP, tooling, and methods specifically designed to meet stringent automotive functional safety standards (e.g., achieving high ASIL levels).
• Ecosystem Expansion: New partnerships and consortia were likely formed or strengthened, involving semiconductor vendors, EDA companies, and automotive Tier 1 suppliers, accelerating the availability of certified components.
• Critical Applications: Support targets crucial automotive areas, including Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS), infotainment, and safety-critical control units.

Technical Details

• Safety Standards: Emphasis was placed on ensuring RISC-V cores and related software tools comply with ISO 26262, specifically targeting Automotive Safety Integrity Levels (ASIL) B, C, and D.
• Core Architectures: Development of specialized RISC-V processor IP was highlighted, featuring capabilities like lock-step redundancy, error correction coding (ECC), and memory protection mechanisms required for high-reliability applications.
• Software Tooling: Announcements likely included certified toolchains, real-time operating systems (RTOS), and virtualization solutions optimized for RISC-V, allowing automotive developers to meet strict development process requirements.
• Specific Extensions: Utilization of RISC-V standard extensions relevant to automotive computation, such as Vector (V) extensions for ADAS machine learning workloads, was a key technical focus.

Implications

• Disruption of Incumbent Architectures: Strong automotive support validates RISC-V's capability to compete directly with proprietary architectures (like Arm) in mission-critical and highly regulated markets.
• Increased Customization: The open nature of RISC-V allows automotive manufacturers and suppliers to tailor silicon designs precisely to their needs, optimizing for power, performance, and specific safety features, leading to greater differentiation.
• Ecosystem Maturity: Tackling the stringent requirements of the automotive sector (long life cycles, extreme reliability, certified tooling) significantly matures the entire RISC-V ecosystem, benefiting all industries seeking robust, open solutions.
• Supply Chain Resilience: Adoption of RISC-V offers the automotive industry a vendor-neutral foundation, potentially mitigating future risks associated with reliance on single-source proprietary IP.