GigaDevice Semiconductor announced a series of 32-bit microcontrollers based on the open source RISC-V architecture.
The new design is intended to speed up the development cycle between Arm core and RISC-V core products. GigaDevice plans to remain a partner with Arm, but sees the RISC-V line as a way to expand options for developers, according to executives who spoke to EE Times.
The new MCUs are targeted at embedded apps seen in industrial control settings, IoT, edge computing, AI and even consumer electronics, the company said in an Aug. 23 statement.
The new MCUs come in 14 models. They are based on the Bumblebee processor core in the RISC-V instruction set and were jointly developed by GigaDevice and Nuclei System Technology, a RISC-V processor core IP manufacturer. Both companies are based in China with GigaDevice completing an IPO in 2016 on the Shanghai Stock Exchange after being founded in Silicon Valley in 2005.
The MCU series demonstrated a 15% performance improvement over the previous GigaDevice32 Cortex-M3 core. Dynamic power consumption is 50% less and standby power consumption is 25% less.
Hu Zhenbo, CEO of Nuclei said the cooperation between the two companies will bolster RISC-V and provide a new pattern for general purpose MCUs for AI and IoT.
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