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发帖数: 2469 | 1 Huawei confirms a RISC-V switch could follow US embargo
Written by
Gareth Halfacree
August 27, 2019 | 11:19
Tags: #embargo #fossi #free-and-open-source-silicon #instruction-set-
architecture #open-hardware #open-source #risc-v #trade-embargo #trade-war #
xu-zhijun
Companies: #arm #chinese-government #huawei #risc-v-foundation #us-
government
Huawei Technologies has confirmed that it is looking into switching to the
open RISC-V instruction set architecture (ISA) if the US continues to block
its access to technologies and suppliers, though denies it has begun any
active development work towards that goal.
Huawei, best known for its smartphones though also a major supplier of
networking equipment to the telecommunications industry, was hit with a
blockade on technology and parts from US companies in May this year as part
of the ongoing US-China trade war set into motion by US President Donald
Trump. While the blockade has been delayed following an incoherent speech by
Trump which was taken to suggest it could be lifted altogether, the company
is still thinking ahead - and has confirmed it could move to the open RISC-
V instruction set architecture (ISA) if its access to Cambridge-based Arm's
technology is interrupted.
Huawei claims to have a perpetual licence to the ARMv8 instruction set
architecture from Arm, which is based in Cambridge but owned by Japanese
SoftBank, on which its current-generation smartphone and tablet processors
are based. With rumours circling that Arm would go along with any US embargo
against Huawei by blocking access to future revisions of the ISA, Huawei
has confirmed a switch to RISC-V could be on the cards. 'If Arm's new
technologies are not available in the future, we can also use RISC-V, an
architecture which is open to all companies,' Huawei chair Xu Zhijun told
China.org.cn. 'The challenge is not insurmountable.'
The outlet confirms, however, that Huawei is still hoping to work things out
with the US and, by extension, Arm, and has not yet begun any work on
moving its products to RISC-V - though it is already a member of the not-for
-profit RISC-V Foundation.
The confirmation follows commitments from companies including Nvidia,
Western Digital, Alibaba, and Rambus to produce products built around RISC-V
- an ISA which, unlike Arm or x86, is available freely to all to use with
or without modification and with no licensing fees or royalty payments
attached. It also comes shortly after IBM's OpenPower Foundation announced
the release of the Power ISA under a similar permissive licence. | q****5
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