A 10-cent RISC-V microcontroller from China? Why not?
By Steven Leibson, EE Journal | April 28, 2025
Just as I was finishing my previous article about a new TI microcontroller that was smaller than a grain of white rice and sold for 16 cents in thousand-unit quantities, I learned of another new microcontroller based on a proprietary implementation of the 32-bit RISC-V processor ISA that sells for 10 cents (presumably in volume). This new microcontroller from WCH, aka Nanjing Qinheng Microelectronics, a Chinese chip and IP vendor based in Nanjing, China. (“WCH” appears to be an abbreviation for “WinChipHead.”) The microcontroller is the WCH CH570, which has 12 Kbytes of on-chip SRAM and 240 Kbytes of Flash EEPROM for user code. It also integrates internal controllers and PHYs for USB 2.0, WiFi, and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) 5.0. How could I resist looking into something like that?
To read the full article, click here
Related Semiconductor IP
- All-In-One RISC-V NPU
- ISO26262 ASIL-B/D Compliant 32-bit RISC-V Core
- RISC-V CPU IP
- Data Movement Engine - Best in class multi-core high-performance AI-enabled RISC-V Automotive CPU for ADAS, AVs and SDVs
- Low Power RISCV CPU IP
Related News
- SEALSQ RISC-V Chips Adoption is Predicted to Get AI Boost Making it a Viable Competitor to Traditional GPUs
- Ventana CEO to Deliver a Keynote at RISC-V Summit Europe
- SEALSQ Introduces QS7001, a Newly Developed Cutting-Edge RISC-V Secure Hardware Platform, Specifically Designed for IoT security in the Post-Quantum Era
- Iontra Closes $45 Million Series C to Deliver Launch of the Industry's First Integrated RISC-V Charge Control and Fuel Gauge Microcontroller
Latest News
- Jim Keller: ‘Whatever Nvidia Does, We’ll Do The Opposite’
- FlexGen Streamlines NoC Design as AI Demands Grow
- IntoPIX Presents Its New Titanium Software Suite: Empowering AV-Over-IP Workflows With Speed, Quality & Interoperability
- Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 2.5% Month-to-Month in April
- Speedata Raises $44M to Launch First-Ever Chip Designed Specifically for Accelerating Big Data Analytics - Compute's Second Largest Workload