Energy-Efficient RISC-V Processors in 28nm FDSOI

This talk presents the design of a series of energy-efficient microprocessors done by a group of students at UC Berkeley. They are based on an open and free Berkeley RISC-V architecture and implement several techniques for operation in a very wide voltage range utilizing 28nm FDSOI. To enable agile dynamic voltage and frequency scaling, with high energy efficiency the designs feature an integrated switched-capacitor DC-DC converter and direct power measurement, with an integrated power-management unit. A custom-designed SRAM-based cache operates in a wide 0.45-1V supply range. Techniques that enable low-voltage SRAM operation include 8T cells, assist techniques and differential read.

Speaker: Borivoje Nikolic, UC Berkeley