Large technology companies invest in open-source chip design, leading to the rise of RISC-V
As technology companies begin to consider manufacturing their own high-performance specialized chips for artificial intelligence (AI) and mobile devices, a decade old RISC-V semiconductor design standard is receiving increasing attention.
RISC-V was developed in 2010 and is a simplified open-source chip instruction set. It can be used to create various chips for devices such as smartwatches, laptops, and data center servers, and is easier to customize for specific purposes such as artificial intelligence computing. Unlike the proprietary chip design of market leader Arm, RISC-V is open source, resulting in lower manufacturing costs and potentially higher efficiency of the chip.
The surge in custom chips from technology giants and more niche manufacturers has driven the rise of RISC-V. Richard Wazniak, an analyst at SHD Group, a market research and consulting firm, said that this is the first truly alternative solution that has emerged in the market in many years. Chip designers are more willing to use RISC-V.
Developers can obtain open source technologies such as RISC-V for free, but usually need to pay additional fees to suppliers for specific enterprise features or technical support. For example, startup SiFive sells chip design licenses based on RISC-V. The chip instruction set is essentially the foundational layer for software and hardware communication, used to define the functionality of a processor.
Meta announced in May this year that it is using RISC-V to provide support for some of its AI computing. Meta wrote that running generative AI and other large-scale AI models requires more efficient hardware systems, so the company designed its own hardware system instead of relying solely on traditional graphics processors (GPUs).
Google will adapt to the Android mobile operating system and support the use of RISC-V starting from 2022. In October this year, Google announced a partnership with Qualcomm to launch wearable devices based on RISC-V. In November, Google's research department released a set of open-source AI and machine learning tools based on RISC-V.
Some experts suggest that as transistors reach their physical limits, hardware designed for specific, professional applications will become a way to improve chip performance, which is precisely the advantage of RISC-V open standards. Google stated that RISC-V can achieve greater customization. Meta stated that its RISC-V processor core has undergone extensive customization to improve AI computing efficiency.
Other companies, including Qualcomm, Samsung, Nvidia, and even Intel, which produces x86 chip instruction sets, are also exploring this technology. Qualcomm established a company in August 2023 with chip manufacturers such as NXP and Infineon, dedicated to manufacturing and selling RISC-V based mobile and internet connectivity devices.
Ziad Asgard, Senior Vice President of Product Management at Qualcomm, stated that for these older instruction sets, some licenses or architecture licenses must be obtained to begin creating products. But since this is an open-source instruction set, research and development can begin without the need to pay a prepaid license fee.
Glenn O, Research Director of Forrester; Donnell stated that compared to paid designs such as Arm, this is one of the main reasons RISC-V attracts companies. He pointed out that if licensing fees are not a problem, then very cheap chips can be manufactured.
According to SHD Group's estimation, equipment shipments based on RISC-V are expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 40%. Generative AI provides a significant opportunity for developing new chips based on RISC-V. By 2030, RISC-V chips will generate nearly $100 billion in revenue and occupy 25% of the system level chip (SoC) market share.
Recent industry trends may threaten UK chip design company Arm, which officially went public in September 2023 and holds 90% of the smartphone, tablet, and laptop processor market share.
If RISC-V can continue to develop in China, it may bring greater challenges to Arm, as Chinese technology companies have accepted this open standard and are trying to break away from dependence on Western chip technology.
However, Dell's Chief Technology Officer John Royce stated that supporting RISC-V's intermediate software makes it easier for businesses to use RISC-V without the need for additional development work, but intermediate software for high-performance applications such as data centers has not yet been fully developed.
When discussing the popularity of RISC-V, Royce stated that before having a sufficiently rich software and developer ecosystem, these things were very niche.
RISC-V International CEO Carlista Redmond stated that the regulatory body for RISC-V standards plans to launch certifications and more developer resources in 2024. She stated that this is a very powerful third architecture. Just a few years ago, there were only two main options in the world: X86 and Arm.
The surge in custom chips from technology giants and more niche manufacturers has driven the rise of RISC-V. Richard Wazniak, an analyst at SHD Group, a market research and consulting firm, said that this is the first truly alternative solution that has emerged in the market in many years. Chip designers are more willing to use RISC-V.
Developers can obtain open source technologies such as RISC-V for free, but usually need to pay additional fees to suppliers for specific enterprise features or technical support. For example, startup SiFive sells chip design licenses based on RISC-V. The chip instruction set is essentially the foundational layer for software and hardware communication, used to define the functionality of a processor.
Meta announced in May this year that it is using RISC-V to provide support for some of its AI computing. Meta wrote that running generative AI and other large-scale AI models requires more efficient hardware systems, so the company designed its own hardware system instead of relying solely on traditional graphics processors (GPUs).
Google will adapt to the Android mobile operating system and support the use of RISC-V starting from 2022. In October this year, Google announced a partnership with Qualcomm to launch wearable devices based on RISC-V. In November, Google's research department released a set of open-source AI and machine learning tools based on RISC-V.
Some experts suggest that as transistors reach their physical limits, hardware designed for specific, professional applications will become a way to improve chip performance, which is precisely the advantage of RISC-V open standards. Google stated that RISC-V can achieve greater customization. Meta stated that its RISC-V processor core has undergone extensive customization to improve AI computing efficiency.
Other companies, including Qualcomm, Samsung, Nvidia, and even Intel, which produces x86 chip instruction sets, are also exploring this technology. Qualcomm established a company in August 2023 with chip manufacturers such as NXP and Infineon, dedicated to manufacturing and selling RISC-V based mobile and internet connectivity devices.
Ziad Asgard, Senior Vice President of Product Management at Qualcomm, stated that for these older instruction sets, some licenses or architecture licenses must be obtained to begin creating products. But since this is an open-source instruction set, research and development can begin without the need to pay a prepaid license fee.
Glenn O, Research Director of Forrester; Donnell stated that compared to paid designs such as Arm, this is one of the main reasons RISC-V attracts companies. He pointed out that if licensing fees are not a problem, then very cheap chips can be manufactured.
According to SHD Group's estimation, equipment shipments based on RISC-V are expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 40%. Generative AI provides a significant opportunity for developing new chips based on RISC-V. By 2030, RISC-V chips will generate nearly $100 billion in revenue and occupy 25% of the system level chip (SoC) market share.
Recent industry trends may threaten UK chip design company Arm, which officially went public in September 2023 and holds 90% of the smartphone, tablet, and laptop processor market share.
If RISC-V can continue to develop in China, it may bring greater challenges to Arm, as Chinese technology companies have accepted this open standard and are trying to break away from dependence on Western chip technology.
However, Dell's Chief Technology Officer John Royce stated that supporting RISC-V's intermediate software makes it easier for businesses to use RISC-V without the need for additional development work, but intermediate software for high-performance applications such as data centers has not yet been fully developed.
When discussing the popularity of RISC-V, Royce stated that before having a sufficiently rich software and developer ecosystem, these things were very niche.
RISC-V International CEO Carlista Redmond stated that the regulatory body for RISC-V standards plans to launch certifications and more developer resources in 2024. She stated that this is a very powerful third architecture. Just a few years ago, there were only two main options in the world: X86 and Arm.