RISC-V Thrives Through Research, International Collaboration

By Pablo Valerio, EETimes (July 9, 2024)

Munich, Germany — During the recent RISC-V Summit Europe, EE Times had the opportunity to talk to a leading RISC-V researcher Frank Kagan Gürkaynak, a senior scientist at ETH Zürich and a prominent figure within the community. His work underscores the synergy between open-source platforms and industry stakeholders, fostering innovation and overcoming technical challenges.

During the conference, Gürkaynak described how his team could go from design to tape-out of a RISC-V processor in 60 days.

Harnessing open source for commercial success

The open-source nature of RISC-V presents unique advantages for commercial entities. “Tool providers like Synopsys, Rambus, and Micron have been leveraging our open-source repositories for training, benchmarking, and showcasing their technologies,” Gürkaynak said. This eliminates legal hurdles associated with proprietary systems.