SiFive Challenge Calls for RISC-V Hardware Innovations

SAN MATEO, Calif. – May 8, 2018 – SiFive, the leading provider of commercial RISC-V processor IP, today opened the call for partnership applications for the Democratizing Ideas partnership initiative, which aims to support new, innovative ideas from academia, research institutions, students and the open source community based on the company’s Freedom Unleashed or Freedom Everywhere platforms. Announced at the RISC-V Workshop in Barcelona, the initiative is designed to further the company’s mission to democratize access to custom silicon to anyone who wants it.

“We believe that some of the best, yet most underutilized, ideas come from academia, students, research institutions and the open source community,” said Yunsup Lee, co-founder and CTO of SiFive. “By leveraging the Freedom Platform, today anyone can get access to the custom silicon needed to bring their idea to life. We are excited to see what customizations the community dreams up, and look forward to reviewing a wide range of new, innovative concepts.”

The opportunity to partner is open to both individuals and teams. Proposals are welcome from any non-commercial entity, including universities, students, research groups, non-profits or individuals. Submissions will be reviewed for creativity, innovation and technical feasibility, and selected partners are eligible to receive SiFive’s support in the form of access to custom CPU IP, design support and help delivering working chip samples. Entries are currently being accepted via the SiFive Democratizing Ideas website through Oct. 31, 2018. All approved partnerships will be announced at the RISC-V Summit at the Santa Clara Convention Center, planned for Dec. 3-5, 2018.

The SiFive Freedom platforms comprise a complete software specification, board OS support packages (BSPs), development boards and base silicon. Freedom HiFive Unleashed is the first RISC-V development board with full support for Linux-capable applications including networking, storage and machine learning, while Freedom Everywhere is suited for embedded microcontroller use cases such as wearables and other Internet of Things enabled devices. For more information on the Democratizing Ideas challenge visit, https://info.sifive.com/democratizing-ideas.

About SiFive

SiFive is the leading provider of market-ready processor core IP based on the RISC-V instruction set architecture. Led by a team of industry veterans and founded by the inventors of RISC-V, SiFive helps SoC designers reduce time-to-market and realize cost savings with customized, open-architecture processor cores, and democratizes access to optimized silicon by enabling system designers to build customized RISC-V based semiconductors. SiFive is located in Silicon Valley and has venture backing from Sutter Hill Ventures, Spark Capital, Osage University Partners and Chengwei Capital, along with strategic partners Huami, SK Telecom and Western Digital. For more information, visit www.sifive.com.

MEDIA CONTACTS

Leslie Clavin
SHIFT Communications for SiFive
(415) 591-8440
sifive@shiftcomm.com