How Early Power Analysis Drives Energy-Efficient RISC-V Designs

By Synopsys, Inc.

July 19, 2024

In the world of processor development, flexibility is becoming a distinct advantage. As an open-standard instruction set architecture (ISA), the fifth iteration of reduced instruction set computing (RISC-V) embodies this direction. It is rapidly changing the industry by opening new possibilities for collaboration, innovation, and design autonomy.

Currently widely applied in the context of embedded applications and microcontrollers, RISC-V is also likely to play an important role in the future of high-performance computing and data centers. Within this context, energy efficiency is a central theme. The most advanced technology has a voracious appetite for energy, and finding ways to support innovation while reducing power consumption is a priority for businesses everywhere. It’s no exaggeration to say that in today’s world, every fraction of a percent of power reduction is critical.

RISC-V designs leverage a hardware description language to describe the processor micro-architecture. This description, commonly referred to as Register Transfer level (RTL) code, underpins the development of energy-efficient RISC-V designs. Read on to learn more about how it works and how Synopsys supports the design and implementation of systems that save valuable power.

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