The world is witnessing a second major confrontation in the realm of computer architectures. In the movie Hackers, a group of teens fascinated by RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) must thwart a villain from causing havoc with a computer virus. This parallels the current technological dispute where RISC, originally developed by Patterson in 1980 to challenge established ISAs (Instruction Set Architectures), is making a comeback. Thirty years later, Patterson and his followers are again in a contest, this time facing off against Arm, a company whose earlier success ensured RISC’s legacy.
Arm responded to Patterson’s challenge with a paper titled “The Case for Licensed Instruction Sets,” arguing against adopting an untested ISA. Arm emphasizes that customers prefer proven standards and a successful ecosystem and claim the costs of transitioning to a new ISA are prohibitive.
Conversely, the RISC-V community is establishing its own ecosystem through RISC-V International to adapt the technology for modern computing needs. Some view this as an “open source hardware” movement, although purists debate the terminology, given that RISC-V encompasses a hardware-software interface. Regardless, RISC-V’s approach allows global individuals to utilize it free of charge to create their computer systems.
Arm’s assertion that resources are essential rings true, as developing new technologies requires significant investment. Nevertheless, RISC-V is gaining traction, especially in niche markets such as specialized gadgets and automotive chips, due to the cost benefits over Intel chips and Arm licenses.
In 2015, the original RISC-V developers at Berkeley founded SiFive, a company aimed at building RISC-V-based components, turning Arm into a direct competitor. As the rivalry between Arm and RISC-V has intensified, sentiments at industry events reflect the ongoing tension, with claims of dissatisfaction within Arm.
Within this competitive landscape, individuals often find themselves crossing paths with various tech enterprises. For instance, Calista Redmond, notable in the RISC-V community, worked at IBM for over a decade before joining Nvidia. Patterson himself acknowledges Intel’s financial role in RISC-V’s development, underscoring the complex, interdependent relationships in the tech industry where proprietary technology coexists with open source innovation.
