A RISC-V ISA Extension For Ultra-Low Power IoT Wireless Signal Processing


This work presents an instruction-set extension to the open-source RISC-V ISA (RV32IM) dedicated to ultra-low power (ULP) software-defined wireless IoT transceivers. The custom instructions are tailored to the needs of 8/16/32-bit integer complex arithmetic typically required by quadrature modulations. The proposed extension occupies only 2 major opcodes and most instructions are designed to co... » read more

Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


Security Infineon announced it has a Trusted Platform Module (TPM 2.0), called OPTIGA TPM 2.0, used to secure remote software updates, disc encryption, and user authentication on Linux-based systems. OPTIGA is an open software stack for securing comprehensive TSS* host software implementing the latest FAPI standard. Infineon developed the open-source software with Intel Corporation and Fraunho... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


Tools & IP Codasip unveiled three commercially licensed add-ons to the Western Digital SweRV Core EH1, aiming to allow it to be designed into a wider range of applications. The SweRV Core EH1 is a 32-bit, dual-issue, RISC-V ISA core with a 9-stage pipeline, open-sourced through CHIPS Alliance. The add-ons offer a floating-point unit (FPU) that supports the RISC-V single precision [F] and d... » read more

Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


Automotive/Mobility General Motors is working on a next version of Ultium battery chemistry and announced a joint development agreement with Singapore-based SolidEnergy Systems, a lithium metal battery startup founded by a graduate of MIT. The companies plan to open a Woburn, Massachusetts prototype production line by 2023. GM’s is attempting to lower the cost of its proprietary battery tech... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


Cadence completed the acquisition of NUMECA International, a provider of computational fluid dynamics (CFD), mesh generation, multi-physics simulation, and optimization solutions for industries including aerospace, automotive, industrial, and marine. Founded in 1993 as a spin-off of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), NUMECA was based in Brussels, Belgium. Terms of the deal were not disclosed... » read more

Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


Automotive/Mobility Toyota Motor Corporation developed a hydrogen fuel cell (FC) system packaged in a compact module. Toyota plans to start selling it in the spring of 2021. The module can be used by other companies developing products powered by fuel cells. Micron is sampling an ASIL D level LPDDR5. The low-power memory is qualified for automotive safety applications. Samsung Foundry ce... » read more

Customizing An Existing RISC-V Processor


In a previous post, we considered how you could create an optimized ISA for a domain-specific processor core by profiling software and experimenting with adding/removing instructions. Using the open RISC-V ISA can be a great starting point for a processor that combines application-specific capabilities and access to portable software. The old-fashioned way to modify the instruction set wo... » read more

The Problem With Benchmarks


Benchmarks long have been used to compare products, but what makes a good benchmark and who should be trusted with their creation? The answer to those questions is more difficult than it may appear on the surface, and some benchmarks are being used in surprising ways. Everyone loves a simple, clear benchmark, but that is only possible when the selection criteria are equally simple. Unfortuna... » read more

Better Quality RTL


How do you measure the quality of RTL? Philippe Luc, director of verification at Codasip, talks about identifying bugs, improving the overall quality of the verification, what happens when different blocks are used in a design, and how to improve efficiency in the verification process. » read more

Designing Low Energy Chips And Systems


Energy optimization is beginning to shift left as design teams begin examining new ways to boost the performance of devices without impacting battery life or ratcheting up electricity costs. Unlike power optimization, where a skilled engineering team may reduce power by 1% to 5%, energy efficiency may be able to cut effective power in half. But those gains require a significant rethinking of... » read more

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