Does RISC-V mean Open Source Processors?

By Codasip

August 9, 2017

“So, RISC-V is an Open ISA, that means a RISC-V processor core is Open Source”.
This is a statement that I have often heard this year – however, is it true or false?

Before answering this, let’s consider the broader issue of whether open standards automatically mean open source. Open standards are widespread in technology. The communication protocols TCP/IP have been an open standard for decades. In wireless communication, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are open standards with multiple versions. In IC design, Verilog is an open standard maintained by the IEEE, and a widely used hardware description language. Verilog is used by a variety of commercial and open source simulators. Incisive, Questa, and VCS are examples of well-known commercial simulators supporting Verilog, however Cver is an example of an open source Verilog simulator. Generally, the commercial Verilog simulators are recognized for their high quality and performance.

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