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Specifically they're proposing adding the kinds of instructions AArch64 uses to get halfway decent code size.

• cesarb 3y ago
  Wouldn't adding these instructions cause potential patent issues? IIRC, the original designers of RISC-V were very careful to only add instructions which were old enough that they can be assumed to not have any trouble with patents.
  • monocasa 3y ago
    Yeah, I'm absolutely concerned about that too. Particularly considering that Apple apparently owns a bunch of the patents around AArch64 and cross-licenses them with ARM, so there's some ownership in there somewhere that lawyers have looked at and think are valid.
    • mort96 3y ago
      Oh, that would be great for Qualcomm. I imagine they wouldn't mind a future where, while anyone can implement the base RISC-V, only the big dogs like Qualcomm can implement the extensions everyone actually targets due to patent issues. (I would mind that future though.)
      • snvzz 3y ago
        >Oh, that would be great for Qualcomm. I imagine they wouldn't mind a future where, while anyone can implement the base RISC-V, only the big dogs like Qualcomm can implement the extensions everyone actually targets due to patent issues. Not an issue; Qualcomm is a member of RISC-V, thus it has signed the agreement. It has legalese designed to prevent this and further entire categories of legal issues.