RISC-V Conformance


Experts At The Table: Despite growing excitement and participation in the development of the RISC-V ecosystem, significant holes remain in the development flow. One of the most concerning is conformance, which must exist before software portability becomes possible. Semiconductor Engineering discussed the issue with John Min, vice president of customer service at Arteris; Zdeněk Přikryl, CTO... » read more

Open-Source, Chiplet-Compatible RISC-V Controller


A new technical paper titled "ControlPULPlet: A Flexible Real-time Multi-core RISC-V Controller for 2.5D Systems-in-package" was published by researchers at ETH Zurich and University of Bologna. Abstract "The increasing complexity of real-time control algorithms and the trend toward 2.5D technology necessitate the development of scalable controllers for managing the complex, integrated oper... » read more

Increasing Design Flexibility With RISC-V-Based Processor IP


The semiconductor industry increasingly needs more flexible and scalable processor architectures, driving the growing adoption of RISC-V. Originally developed at the University of California, Berkeley, the open-source RISC-V instruction set architecture (ISA) has become very popular in recent years. RISC-V allows designers to customize their processor implementations to meet the specific needs ... » read more

Lightweight, High-Performance CPU Extension for Protected Key Handles with CPU-Enforced Usage (CISPA, Ruhr Univ. Bochum)


A new technical paper titled "KeyVisor -- A Lightweight ISA Extension for Protected Key Handles with CPU-enforced Usage Policies" was published by researchers at CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security and Ruhr University Bochum. Abstract "The confidentiality of cryptographic keys is essential for the security of protection schemes used for communication, file encryption, and outsou... » read more

Corner-Case Bug Hunting for RISC-V


By Ashish Darbari and Ia Tsomaia RISC-V continues to make headlines worldwide, but verification continues to be challenging. The findings of the Wilson Research Report, 2022 (see figure 1) make the trends in verification clear. We presented these in a keynote talk titled, "Future is Formal," at the recent DVCon India event. One thing is quite apparent: whether you are using directed tests... » read more

Flexible IGZO RISC-V Microprocessor


A new technical paper titled "Bendable non-silicon RISC-V microprocessor" was published by researchers at Pragmatic Semiconductor, Qamcom,  and Harvard University. From the abstract: "Here we present Flex-RV, a 32-bit microprocessor based on an open RISC-V instruction set fabricated with indium gallium zinc oxide thin-film transistors on a flexible polyimide substrate, enabling an ultralow... » read more

What Comes After HBM For Chiplets


Experts At The Table: Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss what will trigger the creation of a commercial chiplet marketplace, and what those chiplet-based designs will look like, with Elad Alon, CEO of Blue Cheetah; Mark Kuemerle, vice president of technology at Marvell; Kevin Yee, senior director of IP and ecosystem marketing at Samsung; Sailesh Kumar, CEO of Baya Systems; and Tanuja... » read more

Hardware-Side-Channel Leakage Contracts That Account For Glitches and Transitions (TU Graz)


A new technical paper titled "Closing the Gap: Leakage Contracts for Processors with Transitions and Glitches" was published by researchers at Graz University of Technology. Abstract "Security verification of masked software implementations of cryptographic algorithms must account for microarchitectural side-effects of CPUs. Leakage contracts were proposed to provide a formal separation bet... » read more

Edge Devices Require New Security Approaches


The diversity of connected devices and chips at the edge — the vaguely defined middle ground between the end point and the cloud — is significantly widening the potential attack surface and creating more opportunities for cyberattacks. The edge build-out has been underway for at least the past half-decade, largely driven by an explosion in data and increasing demands to process that data... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


The U.S. Department of Commerce and Texas Instruments (TI) signed a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms to provide up to $1.6 billion in CHIPS Act funding towards TI’s investment of over $18 billion for three 300mm semiconductor wafer fabs under construction in Texas and Utah. TI also expects to get about $6 billion to $8 billion from the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Investmen... » read more

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