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I've been meaning to get started with RISC-V for some time now but can't find much on it for total beginners online. Can anyone recommend a starting point for a

• eBombzor 8y ago
  Since RISC-V uses Chisel instead of Verilog, you will probably need this first: https://github.com/freechipsproject/chisel-bootcamp https://github.com/freechipsproject/chisel-bootcamp For actually learning RISC-V, you can check out these books: https://riscv.org/risc-v-books/ https://riscv.org/risc-v-books/ The Patterson and Hennessy book is a great starting point and the RISC-V reader is great reference.
  • dooglius 8y ago
    > Since RISC-V uses Chisel instead of Verilog What do you mean? The core here is entirely Verilog/SystemVerilog
    • mepian 8y ago
      I presume the parent generalized their experience with the BOOM and Rocket implementations of RISC-V, which do use Chisel, to the entire architecture.
    • eBombzor 8y ago
      Sorry I am an idiot how do I edit/delete my comment so I can erase this misinformation?
      • yjftsjthsd-h 8y ago
        Unfortunately, if you don't see an edit button on the comment then you can't edit it anymore. But props for admitting you're wrong and trying to correct it :-)
  • chrisseaton 8y ago
    > Since RISC-V uses Chisel instead of Verilog How can an ISA ‘use Chisel’? It’s a spec not an implementation.
  • sitkack 8y ago
    The error is understandable, the main prototype RISC-V core is written in Chisel and the "Rocket Core Generator" is written in Chisel. The RISC-V team at Berkeley has a lot of overlap with the Chisel team. So it is easy to think RISC-V is all Chisel. I believe Chisel, Chisel, RISC-V, Chisel, if that makes any sense. https://riscv.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/riscv-rocket-chip-generator-workshop-jan2015.pdf https://riscv.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/riscv-rocket-ch... https://github.com/freechipsproject/rocket-chip https://github.com/freechipsproject/rocket-chip (parametric SoC generator, Chisel) https://github.com/ucb-bar/riscv-sodor https://github.com/ucb-bar/riscv-sodor (Chisel) https://chisel.eecs.berkeley.edu/ https://chisel.eecs.berkeley.edu/
    • eBombzor 8y ago
      Yup I'm an idiot but I can't seem to delete or edit my original submission :c Thank you for the information.
      • sitkack 8y ago
        Ur good. Chisel.
• TomVDB 8y ago
  What do you want to do with it? “Starting” is a bit ambiguous. But I suggest that you first simple read the ISA specification. It’s surprisingly readable and if contains justifications for some design decisions. After that, buy a small FPGA board and run a picorv32 CPU in it. Or one of the many other RISC-V soft cores.
  • eternal_virgin 8y ago
    Ah, I'm mostly hoping to learn how it works and what I can do with it. Trying to find a hardware-based pet project!
    • TomVDB 8y ago
      Buy yourself a TinyFPGA BX. It’s a small (tiny!) FPGA board that’s still large enough to run a RISC-V CPU. It’s a full open source flow. And there are plenty of examples. Get that first LED blinking!
      • dancek 8y ago
        Or an UPduino which is still cheaper. I've had good experiences with one, though I'm only at the "PWM-animated LED" stage right now. Oh, and https://www.nand2tetris.org https://www.nand2tetris.org is great. You implement a simple CPU, and though the language isn't a real-world one you learn enough to probably be able to implement a similar CPU on an FPGA using VHDL or Verilog.