First China RISC-V Forum held at Tsinghua SIGS, A.M. Turing Award RIOS Laboratory unveiled
The first China RISC-V Forum, with the theme of “The Ecosystem Wants to be Free”, was held at Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School (Tsinghua SIGS) from November 12th to 13th. During the forum, the RISC-V International Open Source Laboratory was officially unveiled.
Global scholars and industry experts gathered at the two-day forum, which aimed to identify challenges in building an open RISC-V ecosystem, and shed light on industrial and academic efforts in the RISC-V landscape, including but not limited to, RISC-V processor design, design tools, system software, IP cores and SoCs.
Dr. David Patterson, 2017 A.M. Turing Award winner and Pardee Professor of Computer Science Emeritus at UC Berkeley, delivered the keynote speech, while co-director of the Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute (TBSI) and Executive Dean of Tsinghua SIGS Gao Hong also addressed the event. The Forum was chaired by Tan Zhangxi, Deputy Director of RIOS Laboratory and Adjunct Professor of TBSI.
Executive Dean Gao Hong expressed in her opening speech that the Fifth Generation Reduced Instruction Set (RISC-V) is a key open source technology that will profoundly impact the next-generation information technology industry, and enrich the development of Tsinghua SIGS in the areas of data science and information technology. She expressed hopes that the RISC- V Forum can serve as a platform for exchange to promote the construction of an open source software and hardware ecosystem.
The forum involved a series of keynote speeches, thematic talks and panel discussions. Dr. Patterson introduced the five-year mission of RIOS Laboratory and gave a general overview of the origins and current state of RISC-V. Deriving its name from the Spanish word for “rivers”, he conveyed high hopes for the RIOS Laboratory to collect resources globally and transform the RISC-V landscape. Guest speakers addressed current topics including Security, Deep Learning, Support and Verification, and Architecture, as well as System Software and Compilers. Panel discussions on the topics of “Venture Capital and Investment for RISC-V in China” and “RISC-V Applications and the Ecosystem”, allowed enterprise representatives and guests to explore ways to construct an open and free RISC-V ecosystem and its application in China.
In the afternoon of November 12th, the unveiling ceremony of the RISC-V International Open Source Laboratory (RIOS) was held.
Under the leadership of Dr. Patterson and with operational support from the TBSI, RIOS Lab will conduct cutting-edge research in RISC-V hardware and software technology. Patterson first proposed the Reduced Instruction Set (RISC) system, an open and free instruction set architecture enabling a new era of processor innovation through open standard collaboration. Released in 2011, the latest Fifth Generation Reduced Instruction Set (RISC-V) has gained worldwide attention.
The RIOS Laboratory is accepting graduate applications for 2020 and will provide graduate-level education under the Data Science and Information Technology discipline at the TBSI. The program plans to enroll 10 students for its first year, and aims to increase student enrollment to 100 within the next five years. Students will take courses related to RISC-V and computer systems, and conduct research training under the guidance of the RIOS Laboratory team. With future plans for doctoral programs and postdoctoral work, RIOS Laboratory will become a platform where students, scholars and industry experts can share and explore cutting-edge development trends of RISC-V.
by Karen Lee
