RISC-V designs are on the advance and are already used in many chips as co-processors – often without the hardware user knowing. SiFive is a startup that is currently driving development particularly aggressively. As a hardware open source development, RISC-V is just as important a step as Linux is in the software world.

SiFive offers numerous different Core IPs that can be found in the online designer have the various RISC-V designs configured in a SoC. With the HiFive Unmatched, a new developer hardware platform was presented today, which is intended to support developers of RISC-V software. A Freedom U 740 is used as the processor, which combines four U7 and one S7 core. It is therefore a Linux-compatible 42 – bit processor.

SiFive uses this on a mainboard in mini-ITX format. Not only the standard format should help in the simple implementation of a new development platform, but also the available connections. The board is connected to a power supply unit via an ATX connection. There is also a PCI Express slot (PCIe 3.0 x8, physically x 16), Gigabit Ethernet and four USB ports.

8 GB of DDR4 memory are installed on the board and there are 32 MB QSPI-Flash available. Linux can be started from a microSD memory card. Faster storage can be accommodated in two M.2 slots, each with four PCIe 3.0 lanes.

The HiFive Unmatched is delivered with an SD card on which a bootable Linux is located. In addition, there are the most important system developer packages so that developers can get started right away. SiFive names the price 665 US dollars for the HiFive Unmatched. Advance sales should begin shortly.