Software supports RISC-V P extension for Packed-SIMD Instructions

IAR Systems announces initial support for the draft RISC-V P extension in its powerful development tools IAR Embedded Workbench for RISC-V. Thanks to this early support for the extension as implemented by Andes Technology, a Premier Founding member of RISC-V International, developers are able to take advantage of a leading development toolchain when starting to develop applications based on the new RISC-V core extension.

The RISC-V International is in the process to standardize a series of standard extensions beyond the integer base instructions which can be implemented or omitted as desired depending on the design goals (for example energy/area/performance/storage goals). The RISC-V P extension is designed to be a standard extension for Packed-SIMD instructions. The extension targets efficient media processing for audio, voice and images, and is a generalization of a Packed-SIMD extension donated to the RISC-V International by Andes Technology Corporation.

RISC-V is a free and open instruction set architecture (ISA) based on established Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) principles. Launched in 2019, IAR Embedded Workbench for RISC-V provides excellent optimization technology, helping developers ensure the application fits the required needs and optimize the utilization of on-board memory. This also enables companies to aggregate value by adding functionality to an existing platform. To ensure code quality, the toolchain includes C-STAT® for integrated static code analysis. C-STAT can help prove compliance with specific standards like MISRA C:2004, MISRA C++:2008 and MISRA C:2012, as well as detect defects, bugs, and security vulnerabilities as defined by the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) and a subset of CERT C/C++.

The current version of IAR Embedded Workbench for RISC-V provides support for RV32 and RV32E 32-bit RISC-V cores and extensions. Future releases will include 64-bit support, as well as functional safety certification and security solutions. Complementing its strong tools product offering, IAR Systems delivers outstanding technical support from offices around the globe.