A group of global semiconductor firms including Qualcomm, NXP Semiconductors, Nordic Semiconductor, Robert Bosch and Infineon Technologies has joined forces to form a new company focused on developing open-source microchip technology.
Under a yet-to-be-determined name, the initiative aims to accelerate the global adoption of RISC-V, an open-source hardware instruction set architecture (ISA) for automotive applications, with plans to expand into the mobile and IoT sectors.
RISC-V, standing for Reduced Instruction Set Computing, is a free and open ISA that allows any company to develop customised hardware.
A joint statement posted on NXP’s website stated: “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.”
RISC-V stands as a potential rival to Arm Holdings, a British semiconductor and software design company that is found in over 90% of all smartphones globally.
Arm's technology, while widely adopted, is proprietary and requires licensing fees, while RISC-V could significantly reduce these barriers to entry for smaller tech players.
The jointly funded company will advocate for the standardization and accelerated development of RISC-V technologies among industry associations and government bodies.
It is envisioned to become a single source to enable compatibility between products, provide reference architectures, and establish widely used standards.
“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, said Ziad Asghar, senior vice president of product management at Qualcomm.
“We believe RISC-V’s open-source instruction set will increase innovation and has the potential to transform the industry.”