Major players back RISC-V

30 October 2023

Leading Semiconductor Industry Players Join Forces to Accelerate RISC-V as Intel terminates its RISC-V development project.

The development of RISC-V as a processor architecture

As Intel announces that as a company, its future doesn’t lie in RISC-V, possibly because its Pathfinder project would be responsible for developing projects that could compete with Intel’s CPU products. Other big tech names announce their support for the RISC-V architecture. In January Google officially announced its official Android RISC-V support (the operating system developed by Google used in smartphones, tablets, TVs, and smartwatches).

Semiconductor industry leaders also announce they will join forces to accelerate RISC-V

Semiconductor industry players Robert Bosch GmbH, Infineon Technologies AG, Nordic Semiconductor, NXP® Semiconductors, and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., have come together to jointly invest in a company aimed at advancing the adoption of RISC-V globally by enabling next-generation hardware development. Initial application focus will be automotive, but with an eventual expansion to include mobile and IoT.

Robert Bosch GmbH

“Bosch is convinced that initiatives promoting the RISC-V open specifications will bring the global mobility market a significant step further. The initiative now planned will greatly help to establish a reliable and efficient EU-based semiconductor ecosystem.”

Jens Fabrowsky, Executive Vice President at Bosch and responsible for the semiconductor business

Infineon Technologies AG

“As vehicles become software-defined and dependability requirements increase due to electrification and connectivity, for example, as well as through trends like autonomous driving, there is a general need for standardisation and ecosystem compatibility across the industry, with CPUs being a key IP. We are proud to support the establishment of trusted RISC-V based automotive products with this initiative. The knowledge and expertise of leading market players will unleash the full potential of RISC-V in the automotive sector.”

Peter Schiefer, Division President of Infineon’s Automotive Division

Nordic Semiconductor

“Nordic Semiconductor is a committed and enthusiastic supporter of the RISC-V initiative and stands ready to drive the project forward. Nordic’s IoT solutions represent the leading edge of low power wireless technology and to retain that position it’s critical we maintain continuous access to efficient and powerful embedded microprocessors. An open collaboration with like-minded companies to continually enhance innovative RISC-V microprocessor IP and ensure a robust and reliable supply of the technology is the ideal answer to this challenge.”

Svein-Egil Nielsen, CTO/EVP R&D and Strategy, Nordic Semiconductor

NXP Semiconductors

“NXP is proud to be part of a new EU-based joint endeavour to pioneer fully certified RISC-V-based IP and architectures, initially for the automotive industry. The creation of a one-stop-shop ecosystem where customers can select turnkey assets will strengthen the adoption of RISC-V across many European industries.”

Lars Reger, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at NXP Semiconductors

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

“We are excited to come together with other industry players to drive the expansion of the RISC-V ecosystem through development of next-generation hardware. Qualcomm Technologies has been investing in RISC-V for more than five years and we’ve integrated RISC-V micro-controllers into many of our commercial platforms. We believe RISC-V’s open-source instruction set will increase innovation and has the potential to transform the industry.”

Ziad Asghar, Senior Vice President of Product Management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc

Formed in Germany, this new company will aim to accelerate the commercialisation of future products based on the open-source RISC-V architecture. The company will be a single source to enable compatible RISC-V based products, provide reference architectures, and help establish solutions widely used in the industry.

At its core, RISC-V encourages innovation, allowing any company to develop cutting-edge, customised hardware based on an open-source instruction set. Further adoption of the RISC-V technology will promote even more diversity in the electronics industry – reducing the barriers to entry for smaller and emergent companies and enabling increased scalability for established companies.

The company calls on industry associations, leaders, and governments, to join forces in support of this initiative which will help increase the resilience of the broader semiconductor ecosystem.

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