Florian "Flo" Wohlrab, CEO of OpenHW Group, leads a Canadian-based nonprofit that operates globally, focusing on open-source hardware. The organization specializes in creating industrial-grade, fully open-source RISC-V cores that are thoroughly verified and documented, all available under the Apache 2.0 license. This setup allows users to download the necessary files, including verification suites, from their GitHub repository to design their own chips and products. OpenHW Group invites users to become members and collaborate with other industry players like Silicon Labs, Talis, and Axella, to further develop and verify RISC-V IP for industrial-grade integrated circuits (ICs).

In the RISC-V ecosystem, OpenHW Group occupies a unique position. While RISC-V International provides the specifications, numerous vendors offer RISC-V solutions. At Computex 2024 in Taiwan, vendors like Andes Technology showcase their commercial RISC-V offerings. Similarly, in the US and Europe, companies like SciFive and Codasip are prominent. OpenHW Group distinguishes itself as one of the few fully open-source, commercially viable providers. Their RISC-V IP is designed to be used in ICs that can be produced in large quantities, exemplified by their CV40 core, which has been shipped over 500 million times. This core is similar in performance to an ARM M4 and is part of their open-source offerings.

One of OpenHW Group's notable achievements is the wide adoption of their cores, particularly the CV40, which has reached 500 million shipments, although the actual number might be higher due to the open-source nature of the project where users are not required to report their usage. The CV40's performance is comparable to an ARM M4, and it is often used in products without royalties. The organization hopes users find the cores beneficial enough to join their community, which offers networking opportunities and collaboration with other members.

OpenHW Group offers several core families, including the deeply embedded CV2, the CV4 comparable to ARM M4, and the CVA6 suitable for set-top boxes, similar to ARM A53/A55 cores. They provide comprehensive verification tools and documentation to ensure bug-free implementations. Partners like OSM in the UK and Beijing Institute of Open Source in China contribute to compiler development, including LLVM and GCC. Companies like Amazon and Red Hat also participate, enhancing freeRTOS and Linux compatibility for these cores.

The group is preparing for future technologies, ensuring that new chips are ready when needed. This includes working with partners like Red Hat to develop Linux-capable systems on FPGA instances in Amazon data centers. This collaboration allows high-performance applications to be ported to RISC-V, demonstrating the group's forward-thinking approach and strong industry support.

RISC-V technology is increasingly integrated into various devices, including smartphones. Wohlrab illustrates that RISC-V cores are already used in touch controllers, Wi-Fi modules, and storage controllers within smartphones, though the main processors are yet to adopt RISC-V widely. Companies like Qualcomm and Google are working towards integrating Android with RISC-V, indicating a future where fully RISC-V powered phones could become a reality.

Although specific manufacturers and their usage of RISC-V are not always clear, Wohlrab notes that many Chinese manufacturers, such as Oppo, incorporate RISC-V in their devices through components like touch controllers and Wi-Fi chips. This widespread but often unnoticed adoption shows the versatile application of RISC-V in modern technology.

For software, OpenHW Group supports a variety of operating systems running on RISC-V microcontrollers, from bare metal to real-time operating systems (RTOS) like Amazon's FreeRTOS. They also work with Zephyr and ThreadX, and for higher performance applications, Linux distributions such as Fedora and Ubuntu are being developed. The group's efforts ensure a broad software ecosystem, supporting both low-end and high-end applications in the RISC-V space.

Description by Chatgpt.

This video was filmed at Computex 2024 in Taipei Taiwan, check out all my Computex videos here:    • Computex  

My Early Access Members get full access to all my videos as I upload them nightly https://www.youtube.com/charbax/join before they are published are the rate of 3-5 videos per day in the days following the event.