The RISC-V Software Ecosystem

Jeremy Bennett, Embecosm, UK

Abstract

In this talk, I shall provide a survey of the RISC-V Software Ecosystem, both proprietary and open source. I shall look at software tools, system libraries, operating systems, IDEs and models. I shall then explore the open source ecosystem in more detail.

I shall look at the approach taken by the Open Hardware Group to grow the RISC-V open source software ecosystem away from being a part time activity by volunteers, to becoming a robust commercial ecosystem, where work is done by full-time professional specialist engineers. This transition to what Mark Himelstein, CTO of RISC-V International, has described as the "Linux model" of development, is a vital step if RISC-V is to succeed in the market place.

Finally I shall return to engineering, and consider the importance of measurement in evaluating systems. I shall share my experience of Embench and how modern benchmarking is an essential tool for hardware designers, compiler developers and system library writers. 

Biography

Dr Jeremy Bennett is Chief Executive of Embecosm, providers of open source compiler tool chain, processor modeling, operating system and AI services. A former academic, Jeremy is author of "Introduction to Compiling Techniques" (McGraw-Hill 1990, 1995, 2003). He serves as Vice-Chair of the Embench working group, Chair of the Open Hardware Group Software Task Group and Chair of the British Computer Society Open Source Specialist Group.