Architecture licenses for RISC-V Custom Compute
I was discussing with a colleague about the concept of architecture license in RISC-V. I realized that, in the open-source world, it can be a little tricky to grasp. In a traditional processor IP model, there is a clear distinction between an off-the-shelf IP license that gives some level of configuration but no customization, and […]
Does ISA ownership matter? A Tale of Three ISAs
An instruction set architecture (ISA) is crucial to the development of processors and their software ecosystems. Does ISA ownership matter? Let’s consider three proprietary ISAs and their history to find out.
Open Source vs Commercial RISC-V Licensing Models
Everybody is familiar with commercial licensing from traditional processor IP vendors. In discussing RISC-V, there is widespread confusion of terminology with RISC-V often being described as “open source”, often understood as “free”. But what is reality?