Explaining RISC-V: An x86 & ARM Alternative

RISC-V is an alternative microprocessor technology to x86 and ARM, with its instruction set architecture (ISA) being open rather than closed. This video explains what RISC-V is all about, including its origins, key market players, hardware, applications, intellectual property (IP), and the likely role of global politics and international trade barriers in determining RISC-V’s success.

My previous review of the VisionFive RISC-V SBC that can run a Linux OS is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PoWAsBOsFs

And my review of the Nezha RISC-V SBC that can also run a Linux OS is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=613yEF6SrNo

REFERENCES
Specific sources included in the video are as follows:

RISC-V International: https://riscv.org/

The first RISC-V Instruction Set Manual (from 2011):
https://www2.eecs.berkeley.edu/Pubs/TechRpts/2011/EECS-2011-62.pdf

SiFive website: https://www.sifive.com/ and RISC-V core IP: https://www.sifive.com/risc-v-core-ip

SiFive development boards: https://www.sifive.com/boards

Samsung to use SiFive RISC-V cores: https://riscv.org/news/2019/12/samsung-to-use-sifive-risc-v-cores-for-socs-automotive-5g-applications-anton-shilov-anandtech/

T-Head Xuantie product overview: https://www.t-head.cn/product/overview

Alibaba (T-Head) open sources Xuantie RISC-V cores:
https://pandaily.com/alibaba-announces-open-source-risc-v-based-xuantie-series-processors/

Western Digital RISC-V: https://www.westerndigital.com/en-gb/solutions/risc-v -- the technology brief pdf is particularly interesting: https://documents.westerndigital.com/content/dam/doc-library/en_us/assets/public/western-digital/collateral/tech-brief/tech-brief-western-digital-risc-v.pdf

Chinese Academy of Sciences release Xiangshan RISC-V processor: https://min.news/en/tech/022cca805cb0cb847ac91d99536b1f90.html

Russia to Build 8-Core RISC-V CPUs for Laptops, Government Systems: https://www.extremetech.com/computing/324735-russia-to-build-8-core-risc-v-cpus-for-laptops-government-system

India selects RISC-V for semiconductor self-sufficiency contest: https://www.theregister.com/2020/08/19/india_microprocessor_challenge_risc_v/

More videos on computing and related topics can be found at http://www.youtube.com/explainingcomputers

You may also like my ExplainingTheFuture channel at: http://www.youtube.com/explainingthefuture

If you are looking to purchase some of the hardware items that I use in my videos, I have created an Amazon Storefront here: https://www.amazon.com/shop/explainingcomputers Please note that as an Amazon Associate I earn a commission from any qualifying purchases you may make.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
01:26 Open & Closed ISAs
03:55 RISC-V Origins
05:15 Market Players
08:43 Entering the Mainstream
10:34 The Third Platform

#RISC-V #x86 #ARM #ExplainingComputers

RISC-V what is RISC-V understanding RISC-V RISCV explaining RISCV RISC-V International RISC-V China RISC-V organizations SiFive StarFive T-Head Alibaba RISC-V Western Digital SweRV RISC-V Russia RISC-V India RISC-V sanctions international trade trade barriers Christopher Barnatt Barnatt Samsung RISC-V T-Head RISC-V VisionFive RISC-V SBC RISC-V tutorial RISC-V vs x86 RISC-V vs ARM x86 ARM open ISA closed ISA instruction set architecture