Compiled from: https://www.darrentoback.com/can-risc-v-linux-of-microprocessors-start-an-open-hardware-renaissance Author: dmtTranslator: geekpi
I have shared a vision with many people that we will soon be able to use modern and powerful devices driven by open-source hardware (OSH[1]) and open-source software.
Open hardware refers to devices that come with complete documentation and can be freely used, studied, modified, and copied according to your needs. Everything from schematics to PCB layouts is open, including the software that drives the hardware. In recent years, there has been progress with more hardware being opened, but the microprocessors in our PCs and other devices are still confined to the desktop-dominant, closed instruction set architectures (ISA) based on x86, or ARM variants in smartphones/tablets. Both of these instruction set architectures are closed-source and cannot be used for open devices. Furthermore, many widely used ARM implementations, like A9 or Snapdragon, add further proprietary layers on these already proprietary instruction set architectures.
RISC-V[3] is different. RISC-V (pronounced risk-five), launched by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley in 2010, is built on the same initial RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computing) CPU design and is based on other familiar instruction set architectures like ARM, MIPS, PowerPC, and SPARC, but is intended to be open and unencumbered by patents (note: currently, the RISC-V specification is available for private or educational use only, with plans to be fully open in the future). The RISC design strategy is in contrast to the complex instruction set computing (CISC) design of the x86 series.
While RISC-V is not the only existing open instruction set architecture, it is the only one advancing at a rapid pace. The RISC-V Foundation, which guides the development and adoption of the instruction set architecture, has some significant donors like Oracle, Western Digital, HP, Google, IBM, and Nvidia. I can see several notable chip manufacturers missing from the list. It seems that the big players have realized that, like software, hardware can develop faster and better under openness. And anyone can use it without paying. Due to the difficulties and costs of development, projects like this have not succeeded faster. Now, a public outcome is that large companies are following suit, and funding for development is flowing in.
RISC-V also has a lot of support in academia. From its incubation at Berkeley to over 35 university projects worldwide assisting its development, there is no shortage of bright minds working on this project.
There has also been progress behind it. On the software side, people are porting programs to RISC-V to get it up and running. Fedora has already ported thousands of programs.
On the hardware side, people are manufacturing development boards. HiFive1 is a successful crowdfunding project, an Arduino board from SiFive powered by their FE310 SoC, a 32-bit RISC-V chip running at 320+ MHz. It will ship in February, and you can pre-order one here[6] for $59.
This all sounds great – I hope they can deliver, as we will all benefit greatly from it. If possible, please support this project. Tell people about this thing. Buy a HiFive1 and see what runs on it. I see these chips in your future.
via: https://www.darrentoback.com/can-risc-v-linux-of-microprocessors-start-an-open-hardware-renaissance
Author: dmt[7] Translator: geekpi Proofreader: wxy
This article is originally compiled by LCTT[8] and honorably published by Linux China
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[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_hardware[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_instruction_set_architectures[3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RISC-V[4]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reduced_instruction_set_computing[5]: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Architectures/RISC-V[6]: https://www.crowdsupply.com/sifive/hifive1/[7]: https://www.darrentoback.com/about-me[8]: https://github.com/LCTT/TranslateProject