OpenHW Group Announces RISC-V-based CORE-V MCU Development Kit for IoT Built with Open-Source Hardware & Software

Board and DevKit, developed by robust open-source ecosystem, will be showcased at Embedded World

OTTAWA, Canada – June 21, 2022 - OpenHW Group and its members today announced one of the industry’s most comprehensive open-source RISC-V Development Kits, featuring the OpenHW CORE-V MCU, the CORE-V software developer kit (SDK) with full-featured Eclipse integrated development environment (IDE,) and an open printed circuit board (PCB) design that supports Amazon Web Services (AWS) via AWS IoT ExpressLink. AWS IoT ExpressLink is a new service that powers a range of hardware modules and includes AWS-validated software that securely connects devices to the cloud. The ground-breaking RISC-V based CORE-V MCU DevKit enables software development for embedded, internet-of-things (IoT), and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven applications. The OpenHW Group is a non-profit, global organization driven by its members and individual contributors, where hardware and software designers collaborate in the development of open-source cores and related IP tools and software. OpenHW Group and members will demo the OpenHW CORE-V MCU DevKit for Cloud Connected IoT at Embedded World in Nuremberg, Germany, June 21-23, 2022.

The CORE-V MCU is based on the open-source CV32E40P embedded-class processor, a small, efficient, 32-bit, in-order open-source RISC-V core with a four-stage pipeline that implements the RV32IM[F]C RISC-V instruction extensions.

“The enormous potential of IoT applications requires new ways of thinking about design, and the open-source community is delivering hardware, software and development tools to accelerate innovation,” said Rick O’Connor, President and CEO, OpenHW Group. “It’s truly inspiring to see such a cohesive global collaborative engineering effort to develop open-source building blocks enabling embedded MCU designs.”

During the week of Embedded World, OpenHW Group and members will showcase the CORE-V MCU DevKit emulating an array of weather station sensors located throughout the exhibit hall as well as various locations around the world. The demo, involving more than a dozen DevKits, will showcase the CORE-V MCU, CORE-V SDK, and interconnection of IoT sensors and application to AWS, with local temperature readings on the CORE-V MCU DevKit NexysA7 board. Demos will be showcased at Embedded World in the AWS booth #4-548, the Digi-Key booth #4A-633, the Embecosm booth #4-126, and the OpenHW Group kiosk in the RISC-V Pavilion booth #1-550 as well as several locations worldwide.

The DevKit SDK, development of which was led by the Ashling, contains an IDE, Debugger, GCC compiler (supplied by Embecosm), the FreeRTOS real-time OS, and AWS IoT ExpressLink connectivity, using Espressif’s RISC-V-based WiFi radio over AWS IoT ExpressLink. This project highlights the open-source collaborative development of industry-grade CORE-V processor IP with supporting hardware and software by a wide spectrum of members within the OpenHW community.

The rapidly expanding OpenHW ecosystem rallied together to deliver the innovative CORE-V DevKit for IoT developers:

• The CORE-V MCU is manufactured by GlobalFoundries’ proprietary 22FDX® process technology platform that is well-suited for efficient single-chip integration of digital and analog signals, delivering cost-effective performance for connected and low-power embedded applications.

• Design and verification of the CV32E40P processor, the heart of the CORE-V MCU, involved key contributions from Imperas, Siemens EDA, SiLabs and many others, building on the original design from ETHZ. The CV32E40P core is based on the PULP (Parallel Ultra Low Power) Platform RI5CY core, originally developed at ETHZ’s Integrated Systems Laboratory (IIS) and the Energy-efficient Embedded Systems (EEES) group of the University of Bologna. Digital integration and back-end design of the CORE-V MCU was handled by QuickLogic and CMC Microsystems, respectively.

• The CORE-V MCU includes QuickLogic’s eFPGA, designed to accelerate AI/ machine learning (ML) and other computationally intensive workloads from the CV32E40P processor.

• Embecosm is leading OpenHW SW Task Group projects including GCC compiler tools for the CORE-V cores and MCU while Ashling has led the development of the CORE-V SDK based on the Eclipse IDE, OpenOCD for debug and example programs.

• Imperas has released riscvOVPsimCOREV as a free simulator for the CORE-V MCU, based on the Imperas RISC-V reference models used in the verification of CV32E40P, as a starting point for software development tasks.

• The CORE-V MCU DevKit PCB board design integrating the CORE-V MCU and expansion board for the demo were handled by AWS, using an AWS IoT ExpressLink powered for secure cloud connectivity.

• Espressif Systems – a leading IoT connectivity solution provider, supplied AWS IoT ExpressLink modules for the CORE-V DevKit PCB to provide AWS IoT connectivity.

• Data visualization for the demo is provided by Amazon Managed Grafana.

• The CORE-V MCU DevKit early access campaign manufacturing and shipping is being coordinated by GroupGets. Early access CORE-V MCU DevKit quantities are limited and can be reserved here.

Supporting quotes and additional information from participating members are available upon request.

About OpenHW Group and CORE-V Family

The charter of the OpenHW Group is to develop, verify and provide open-source processor cores, along with hardware and software needed for use in high volume SoC production. OpenHW provides an infrastructure for hosting high quality open-source HW developments in line with industry best practices. The OpenHW Cores Task Group within the organization has the mandate to develop the open-source IP for the CORE-V family of open-source RISC-V processors. The OpenHW Group is a global, non-profit, member-driven organization based in Canada, and partnered with the Eclipse Foundation.