Microchip introduces early access program for RISC-V

The compute-intensive gateways and end devices are much in trend these days. Demand for these systems is now pushing forward the integration of customary deterministic control applications with extra embedded processing capabilities for secure and smart connected systems.

A representation of Microchip’s PolarFire SoC FPGA Family.

Microchip Technology Inc. recently addressed this demand by introducing the early access program (EOP) for the PolarFire System-on-Chip (SoC) Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). The platform brings forth the world’s first hardened Linux compatible, real-time, RISC-V based microprocessor subsystem in the mid-range PolarFire FPGA family.

The RISC-V based microprocessor subsystem will ensure best-in-class thermal efficiency, lower-power consumption, as well as defense-level security for embedded systems. This new system will bear maximum benefits for EAP qualified customers who want to begin designing with Microchip’s Libero SoC 12.3 FPGA design suite, as well as SoftConsole 6.2 integrated development environment for embedded system developers.

In case, any user is looking to debug his or her embedded applications, they can perform the task by using a virtual model of microprocessor subsystem — Renode.

Features
● Fifty percent better power efficiency than all contemporary systems.
● Eliminates any need for heat sinks and fans, reducing the overall Bill of Materials (BoM).
● First SoC FPGA with a coherent, deterministic RISC-V CPU cluster along with a deterministic L2 memory subsystem allowing Linux plus real-time applications.
● Extensive debug capabilities including passive run-time and instruction trace configurable advanced eXtensible interface (AXI) bus monitors from Microchip’s built-in two-channel logic analyzer SmartDebug, FPGA fabric monitors, 50 breakpoints, and Mi-V partner UltraSoC.
● Reliability and security features like Single Error Correction and Double Error Direction (SEC-DED) on all the memories, Differential Power Analysis (DPA) resistant crypto core, physical memory protection, as well as 128Kb flash boot memory.

In the words of the maker
“Delivering the industry’s first RISC-V based SoC FPGA along with our Mi-V ecosystem, Microchip and its Mi-V partners are driving innovation in the embedded space, giving designers the ability to develop a whole new class of power-efficient applications,” said Bruce Weyer, VP of the FPGA business at Microchip. “This, in turn, will allow our clients to add unprecedented capabilities at the edge of the network for communications, defence, medical and industrial automation.”

Also, the VP of Wind River Product Management, Michel Genard, added: “For developers endeavoring to incorporate technologies like AI while also meeting the challenges of building real-time systems whose behaviors can be predicted, VxWorks support for PolarFire SoC is critical for advancing the industry. Given the deterministic, safety-critical nature of PolarFire target applications and support for RISC-V, we anticipate Microchip’s new SoC FPGA will generate a great deal of interest amongst our cast customer base.”