IAR Systems continues its support for SiFive’s RISC-V Automotive CPU IP

IAR’s complete development solution helps embedded software developers at OEMs and suppliers to maximise the energy efficiency, simplicity, security, and flexibility upsides that RISC-V offers.

RISC-V uses a single instruction set architecture (ISA) across all product offerings, increases code portability, and significantly reduces cost and time-to-market for automotive applications. The SiFive Automotive processor family offer a high level of flexibility, with options that enable both area and performance optimisation for different integrity levels like ASIL B, ASIL D, or mixed criticalities with split-lock, in line with ISO26262.

The recently announced E6-A series is aimed at various real-time, 32-bit applications, from system control to hardware security modules (HSMs) and safety islands, and of course, standalone in microcontrollers. The new S7-A is a 64-bit, high-performance real-time core ideally suited to the needs of modern SoC with performant safety islands, requiring both low latency interrupt support and the same 64-bit memory space visibility as the main application CPUs.

IAR Embedded Workbench for RISC-V is a complete development toolchain including the powerful IAR C/C++ Compiler and a comprehensive debugger. Customers can generate compact-sized code with best-in-class performance and safety for automotive applications, as the tools offer a comprehensive safety offering. The functional safety edition of IAR Embedded Workbench for RISC-V is certified by TÜV SÜD according to the requirements of several functional safety standards, including ISO 26262 and IEC 61508. To ensure code quality for automotive applications, the seamlessly integrated C-STAT tool for static code analysis proves code alignment with industry standards like MISRA C:2012, MISRA C++:2008, and MISRA C:2004.

“RISC-V is a modern ISA with a fast-growing ecosystem and brings many power and performance benefits to automotive manufacturers and suppliers. SiFive is combining the best of these in the only end-to-end long-term RISC-V roadmap designed to meet automotive needs today and well into the future,” said Phil Dworsky, Global Head of Strategic Alliances, SiFive. “With IAR Systems, we have a strong partner in our ecosystem to further advance the success of SiFive's RISC-V technology in the automotive industry, too.”

“IAR Systems is a proactive member of the RISC-V community. Our close relationship with SiFive enables us to provide support for their latest CPU IP,” said Anders Holmberg, CTO of IAR Systems. “Accordingly, customers in the automotive industry can take full advantage of developing with our professional tools and accelerate their development processes to achieve faster time to market.”

Customers using IAR Embedded Workbench for RISC-V benefit from IAR Systems’ guaranteed support for the sold version for the duration of the support contract, validated service packs, and regular reports of known deviations and problems.