RISC-V Moving Toward Open Server Specification

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A specification that could standardize the development of RISC-V server chips and systems is currently being drafted by RISC-V International, an organization that is handling the development of the instruction set architecture.

www.hpcwire.com/, Jul. 24, 2023 – 

The specification establishes standard interfaces for various layers of server computing systems built on RISC-V technology. It could help companies deploy RISC-V servers in cloud computing environments, in which software runs off virtualized CPUs and not directly off hardware CPUs.

To be sure, the server spec is in its early stages. The current iteration includes system management controllers, system-on-chip modules, security layers, boot systems, and virtualization layers.

"The RISC-V server SoC (system on chip) specification defines a standardized set of capabilities that portable system software such as operating systems and hypervisors can rely on being present in a RISC-V server SoC," RISC-V said in a document defining the specification.

RISC-V is an instruction-set architecture that is free to license. Anyone can create chips based on the architecture, but companies can also add their proprietary modules and sell those chips. RISC-V is backed by most of the top chipmakers, including Intel, AMD, Apple, Nvidia, and Qualcomm.

The Open Compute Project has also defined similar specs for x86 and ARM servers, which are used as blueprints by server makers to build standardized data-center products.

The RISC-V proposal also provides a base for server systems to support technologies like CXL, which is already backed by x86 and ARM server makers.

The upcoming CXL 3.0 spec provides a high-speed communication link between chips, memory, and storage, and is drawing interest from server hardware makers as it could change the way data centers are built. The spec will cut processing and bandwidth chokepoints by disaggregating compute and storage modules.

The server spec is built on top of technologies in the instruction set architecture such as the newer vector processing specification, which has been ratified in recent years.

Many RISC-V companies are building server chips, with the most notable being Ventana and Esperanto. 

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