After more than a decade of steady accumulation and gradual breakthrough, RISC-V has become a shining star in the chip industry.
According to research data from Omdia, RISC-V chips will become a strong chip globally in the 2020s, and the market share will reach nearly 25% by 2030. Omdia also predicts that from 2024 to 2030, the shipment of RISC-V-based chips will maintain an annual growth of 50%. Among them, the peak of 17 billion chips will be reached in 2030 alone.
In Omdia's view, in addition to traditional applications such as industry and automotive, emerging artificial intelligence will be another application explosion point for RISC-V. This is not only due to the advantages of RISC-V itself, such as simplicity, openness, modularity, and scalability, but also because low power consumption will be one of the reasons why RISC-V is popular in the artificial intelligence market. Because of such great potential, companies, research institutions, and universities from all over the world have joined the RISC-V camp. Under the influence of various factors inside and outside the country, the development of RISC-V is even more vigorous.
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Beijing Yiswei Computing Technology Co., Ltd. is undoubtedly one of the most important forces.
RISC-V: Wang Dongsheng's "Core" Attempt
It is reported that Beijing Yiswei Computing Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Yiswei Computing") is a new generation of computing architecture chip and solution provider based on RISC-V. Since its establishment in 2019, Yiswei Computing has been committed to the independent research and development of RISC-V computing architecture and promoting the large-scale application of RISC-V architecture chip products.
At present, Yiswei Computing has formed a full-stack platform integrating software and hardware, and has a series of 32-bit and 64-bit CPU IPs. The 32-bit self-developed CPU IP covers a variety of embedded application scenarios from ultra-low power electronic tags to high-efficiency wireless connections; the 64-bit high-performance self-developed CPU IP has also been applied in multimedia, wireless routing, edge computing, and other application scenarios; the automotive-grade 32-bit and 64-bit CPU IPs are applied in automotive microcontrollers, assisted driving, and the Internet of Vehicles.
When asked why he chose RISC-V, Wang Dongsheng, the chairman of Yiswei, told the semiconductor industry observation: "When planning the development route of Yiswei Computing, we found that other friends have done very well with Arm and X86. More importantly, the fourth industrial revolution has come, and the AI era has come. We need to rethink the entire computer, communication, electronics, and other ICT technologies and systems. This is the background of our choice to do RISC-V."
Looking back at Wang Dongsheng's career over the past few decades, this decision can be said to be another practice of his entrepreneurial philosophy of "doing something to change the world." As we all know, Wang Dongsheng took over in 1993 in a critical situation, took on the mission of saving the predecessor of BOE - a company that had been losing money for many years and was on the verge of bankruptcy. He led the establishment of BOE and strategically chose to enter the cutting-edge technology direction at the time - the field of liquid crystal display, leading BOE to become a global leader in the field of semiconductor display and helping China solve the "shortage of chips and screens" in the "screen" problem.
Wang Dongsheng, who has always been deeply involved in the semiconductor industry (semiconductor display is also a large semiconductor category), joined Yiswei after stepping down from BOE and began exploring the "core" business. After some consideration, Wang Dongsheng decided to make fabless chips and solutions one of the main businesses of Yiswei, and established Yiswei Computing Company in September 2019, hoping to create a new miracle in the field of integrated circuits with RISC-V as the banner.Wang Dongsheng reiterated that the positioning of Yiswee Computing at its inception was to be a provider of new-generation computing architecture chips and solutions based on RISC-V in the AI era. "Our original intention was to do things that are helpful to the development of the industry and to make contributions to the country and the world," Wang Dongsheng emphasized.
It is worth mentioning that among all the current architectures in the chip industry, RISC-V is the only globally open instruction set architecture and ecosystem that China has deeply participated in and made significant contributions to from the early stages of development. Choosing such an architecture is not only conducive to maintaining alignment with the international ecosystem but also helps to achieve independent innovation.
Wang Dongsheng said that RISC-V is a new thing, and its ecosystem is not yet perfect. It requires the joint efforts of the industrial chain and all sectors of society to promote the advancement of technology and the innovation of the ecosystem. Specifically, it requires open cooperation, collaborative innovation, and joint construction for win-win among upstream and downstream ecological partners such as underlying chips, hardware equipment, software systems, and application scenarios.
Based on the above observations, Yiswee Computing proposed the initiative to jointly build the RDI (RISC-V Digital Infrastructure) ecosystem.
Working together with partners to create the RDI ecosystem
Wang Dongsheng pointed out in his speech at the "RDI Ecosystem · Wuhan Innovation Forum · 2024" held in Wuhan today that infrastructure is an important symbol of the stage of human social development, and infrastructure is civilization. After entering the fourth industrial revolution, we have ushered in the era of artificial intelligence. With it comes high energy consumption, a large amount of electricity and water resources consumption. The times urgently call for digital infrastructure architecture and systems that can meet the requirements of safety, reliability, cost-effectiveness, and high energy efficiency, that is, green computing.
RISC-V is precisely such an architecture that can meet the above many needs. Wang Dongsheng said, "Five years ago, we said that the native computing architecture of the AI era might be RISC-V, now we believe that RISC-V will definitely become the native computing architecture of the AI era."
Wang Dongsheng first proposed the industrial concept of RDI (RISC-V Digital Infrastructure: RISC-V Digital Infrastructure), RISC-V digital infrastructure, which includes all digital infrastructures using the RISC-V architecture, covering underlying chips, hardware equipment, software systems, scenario solutions, and other content. He introduced that as the initiator of RDI, Yiswee Computing is also a firm practitioner. On the one hand, we will firmly invest in RISC-V, continuously strengthen technical strength, and enrich the product matrix; on the other hand, we will work together with ecological chain partners to promote the landing of RISC-V in more application scenarios. We hope to build the platform from different levels and let everyone come together to improve this architecture and accelerate the landing of RISC-V in the field of infrastructure.
Specifically, Yiswee Computing hopes to work together with upstream and downstream ecological chain partners under the support of all sectors of society to jointly promote the all-round development of the RISC-V industry from the foundation to the application, from the individual to the ecosystem, from closed to open. Through solid technical accumulation and an innovative model of open cooperation, contribute to promoting the development of green, safe and reliable, and sustainable RDI new generation digital infrastructure industry, and make it an important part of the new quality of productive forces, and a new driving force for economic and social development.How can we promote a green, safe, reliable, and reasonably priced digital infrastructure? Wang Dongsheng believes that "someone needs to take the lead, and our industry enterprises should take on this social responsibility by supporting the implementation with a rich array of products and solutions."
"Yiswei Computing is building a technical ecosystem platform, which is divided into IP layer, chiplet layer, chip layer, board layer, and system layer from a technical architecture perspective. Each layer provides open software and hardware interfaces, integrating with the technology and capabilities of ecological partners to jointly promote the formation of RISC-V digital infrastructure," Wang Dongsheng further elaborated, "Digital infrastructure is first and foremost a system concept, and systems are presented through the form of devices, such as servers, network devices, edge boxes, and various terminals. Inside the devices are boards and chips. In general, chips are divided into two forms: one is the SoC form, which integrates different IPs and functional units into a single chip; the other is the SiP form, which integrates various chiplets or chips, such as CPUs, GPUs, DPUs, etc., into a large chip through heterogeneous integration and system-level packaging. In the AI era, it is not feasible to make a single chip to the end. Implementing heterogeneous integration through flexible and variable methods such as SiP is a good choice."
He gave an example, saying that in the chip field, due to the slowdown of Moore's Law and the rapidly developing computing power requirements, the industry has turned to specialized computing to seek support for different types of computing power. As a result, emerging computing power units such as DPU, NPU, and GPU have emerged one after another. However, the CPU is a commander and coordinator, which can gather heterogeneous, different, and professional troops, and integrate them into solutions in different fields.
This is the significance of the technical ecosystem platform that Yiswei Computing is building. "It is open, and the software and hardware interfaces of different application fields can be open to our software, chip, and equipment partners. Nowadays, products are basically mixed analog and heterogeneous integration. There will be many chips in a board, and we may only make one of them; inside the chip, we do not make many units such as GPU, DPU, and need to cooperate with partners. So it is necessary to be open and not to monopolize. Cooperation with chip companies, Chiplet (chiplet) is a very important way, for example, you are specialized in making GPUs, DPUs, when we need GPU, DPU chiplets, your products can be put here, and we form a SiP packaged chip; in turn, our CPU core can also be provided to you, becoming a part of your GPU, DPU. Everyone is a customer to each other and cooperates with each other. In the AI era, we must do the parts we are best at and cooperate more harmoniously, like an army. You do the application scenarios you are good at, and I organize the solutions I am good at," Wang Dongsheng explained.
Of course, as an important part of the infrastructure, software is also a focus of the RDI ecosystem, which is also a problem that Yiswei Computing hopes partners can actively participate in solving.
At the RDI Ecosystem · Wuhan Innovation Forum, the "Wuhan RISC-V Ecosystem Innovation Center" established by Wuhan Data Group, Wuhan Optics Valley Financial Control Group, and Ju Li Open Source Company (i.e., RDI Ju Li Alliance, Yiswei Computing is one of the core initiators) was unveiled simultaneously. The innovation center hopes to jointly improve the capabilities of RISC-V technology, products, and systems through means such as standard formulation, testing and verification, engineering demonstration, and application promotion. It is understood that some key cities are also actively promoting the landing of RISC-V innovation centers to further accelerate the development process of the new generation of RDI digital infrastructure.
"The RDI ecosystem is not only aimed at domestic, but also a global issue. We need to integrate fragmented forces into a united force, and hope to jointly promote the ecological innovation and industrial development of RISC-V digital infrastructure with partners at home and abroad," Wang Dongsheng said.
Yiswei Computing is doing its best to play the role of "initiator and practitioner."
In conclusionIn Wang Dongsheng's view, the construction of RISC-V digital infrastructure ecology, innovation, and industry development is an inevitable trend, and it is also a common opportunity for industry partners. Therefore, he firmly believes that as long as industry partners work together with the concept of "open cooperation, collaborative innovation, and joint construction for mutual benefits," they will definitely be able to make achievements and contributions.
In fact, in order to solve the "chip shortage" problem, Wang Dongsheng not only promoted the development of YSW Computing's fabless chip and solutions, but also started from the silicon wafer end through YSW Materials to help solve the manufacturing end precision issue. It is revealed that the shipment of 12-inch large silicon wafers from YSW Materials is now at the top in the country.
In a previous speech, Wang Dongsheng once stated that to succeed in entrepreneurship, one must first have the courage to leave the comfort zone and firmly believe in doing difficult but correct things; secondly, one should have an open mindset, be good at creating win-win situations with domestic and international partners, and contribute to enhancing the competitiveness of our country's technology industry; at the same time, one must adhere to the essence of business and balance long-term value with short-term survival.
From the layout of YSW Computing's RISC-V and the promotion of the RDI ecosystem, it can be seen that Wang Dongsheng is indeed on such a path in the field of integrated circuits. In his view, RISC-V will share the world with Arm and X86 in the future. The author also believes that whether it is YSW Computing or RISC-V, they will eventually play a significant role in China's chip field, let's wait and see.
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