RISC-V Processors

 

Two of the major processor architectures we know and use are,

• ARM
• x86

We are all caught up in the ARM mania. ARM based processors have been dominating the market for long time now. Let it be Micro controllers, Processors and any application like the smart phone, tablet and IoT, ARM leads everywhere. If we see the ARM cores, it started from ARM1 and now extended till ARM-CORTEX used in processors. ARM itself is based on earlier generation of RISC architecture. RISC-V is slowly catching up ARM. We hear about RISC-V architecture used in latest processors expanding across various applications. Similar to RISC, RISC-V is also a load-store architecture. For readers, who are reading this, RISC-V is not new, it is developed in 2010. RISC-V is free and open Instruction Set Architecture (ISA). As it is free, it provides freedom for designers to have freedom to use their innovative ideas. As we move towards complex applications, modularity, reuse and extendability plays a major role and this is where RISC-V open source architecture gives the edge.