Andes Technology, RISC-V International, and Green Hills Software announced their collaboration to offer an integrated and optimized platform for safe and secure computing on the AndesCore 25-Series family of RISC-V cores from Andes Technology. The comprehensive software offering from Green Hills Software will include the safety-certified µ-velocity real-time operating system (RTOS), the ASIL-certified MULTI development environment with advanced system-level debugging and analysis tools, and C/C++ Optimizing Compilers, along with the Green Hills Probe for JTAG and trace target connections.
The combined hardware and software platform from Andes Technology and Green Hills Software is designed for SoC companies and end customers to create market-leading 32/64-bit RISC-V-based SoCs targeting critical functions requiring ISO 26262 ASIL B to ASIL D, making the combined platform ideal for vehicle electronics requiring compact and cost-sensitive SoCs that are still capable of ASIL certification.
Andes Technology is the first RISC-V processor IP vendor to receive ASIL D process certification for both hardware (ISO 26262-5) and software (ISO 26262-6). Andes Technology is committed to supporting automobile professionals in developing safety-related product lines. The functional safety-enabled solution Andes Technology and Green Hills Software are offering is expected to be available for general licensing by the second half of 2022.
The AndesCore 25-Series RISC-V Family: Andes Technology’s AndesCore 25-Series is a family of 32/64-bit CPU IP cores based on AndesStar V5 architecture incorporating RISC-V technology. Its 5-stage pipeline is optimized for high operating frequency and high performance, yet with a small gate count. The 25-Series supports optional single- and double-precision floating-point instructions. It also offers branch prediction for efficient branch execution, instruction and data caches, local memories for low-latency accesses, and ECC for L1 memory soft error protection. Multiple power management settings enable efficient energy consumption. Andes Technology’s N25F-SE, a member of the 25-Series family, is being certified at ASIL-B in the final stage.
The µ-velocity RTOS: Green Hills Software’s µ-velocity RTOS is an ideal companion for the AndesCore 25-Series processors because of its small footprint, quick boot times, and optional support for multiple cores and ASIL certification. µ-velocity is also a perfect complement to the traditional use of AUTOSAR Classic in that it can cover a different class of applications, memory footprint, performance, and features.
The MULTI IDE: Used by thousands of developers for over three decades, Green Hills Software’s MULTI IDE is the industry’s unrivaled integrated development environment used to create, debug, and optimize code for embedded processors. With MULTI, developers can easily see and fix difficult bugs, pinpoint performance bottlenecks, and prevent future problems. MULTI provides whole-toolchain support for custom RISC-V instructions and delivers ISO 26262 ASIL-certified C/C++ compilers and run time libraries.
The Green Hills Probe: The Green Hills Probe provides JTAG and high-speed trace connections to targets for multicore hardware bring-up, low-level debugging, and trace-powered analysis tools.
Guidance and Training: Through design guidance and training, Green Hills Software’s services teams help customers achieve their own tailored levels of safety, security, and performance, with the highest developer productivity.