RISC-V SoCs Zero in on Physical AI Applications

MIPS is a major player in the RISC-V arena with an array of IP from hard real-time cores to those supporting artificial-intelligence (AI) large language models (LLMs). A typical customer will incorporate these cores into their custom design.

It’s possible to evaluate a design via simulation but having real hardware is useful, which is where the suite of reference designs comes into play. These include the MIPS Actus-1, MIPS Acies-1, and MIPS Aegis-1 that incorporates RISC-V profiles like RMV32 and RVA23.

The platforms are a collection of modules, M.2 cards, and motherboards. The designs do focus on supporting physical AI and robotics, but they can be utilized for any embedded application. The systems aim for developers that want to evaluate the platforms or use them in prototypes rather than employing them within a final product.

MIPS Actus-1 for Real Time Physical AI

The MIPS Actus-1 is a module designed to handle real-time motor control and communication (Fig. 1). It is built around a pair of MIPS Atlas M8500 real-time, RMV23 profile, RISC-V cores with an ARC VPX 512-bit vector processing unit. The module is built using GlobalFoundries’ FDX FD-SOI technology. It uses MRAM for on-chip, non-volatile storage. The system targets applications that require SO 26262 and ISO 21434​​ certification.