SiFive and Synopsys Collaborate to Accelerate SoC Design

New Synopsys Fusion QuickStart Implementation Kits Deliver Enhanced Power, Performance and Area for SiFive RISC-V Processors

SANTA CLARA, Calif. and MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- October 25, 2022 – SiFive and Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS) today announced their new collaboration to accelerate the design and verification of SiFive RISC-V processor-based SoCs. The collaboration provides mutual customers with Synopsys Fusion QuickStart Implementation Kits (QIKs) that optimize the power, performance and area (PPA) of SiFive’s Intelligence™ X280 and Performance™ P550 processor cores. Synopsys Fusion QIKs for SiFive processors leverage the Synopsys Fusion Compiler™ RTL-to-GDSII product and Synopsys Design Space Optimization (DSO.ai™), which autonomously explores multiple design spaces to enhance PPA metrics. By using the implementation scripts and reference guides included in the QIKs, designers can accelerate the development of their SiFive processor-based SoCs.

“As we push the performance of application-specific processors, our collaboration with Synopsys enables us to deliver higher quality, PPA-optimized RISC-V solutions that meet and beat our customers’ compute goals,” said Yunsup Lee, co-founder and CTO at SiFive. “Synopsys has early access to SiFive’s processors under development, enabling the companies co-optimize the processors and Synopsys’ tools. This collaboration delivers Synopsys Fusion QIKs for mutual customers to quickly achieve their challenging design targets for their specific application requirements. We look to extend our collaboration to include verification flows, as well as Foundation and Interface IP.”

“The trend towards application-specific silicon is helping to address the intensive compute demands of advanced high-performance systems,” Sanjay Bali, vice president of Marketing and Strategy for the EDA Group at Synopsys. “Our collaboration with SiFive to provide Synopsys Fusion QIKs enables designers to achieve the optimal quality-of-results for their custom RISC-V-based SoCs.”

Fusion QIKs for SiFive X280 and P550 processors are available for download today through Synopsys SolvNetPlus.

Collaborating to Achieve Design Targets Quickly and Confidently In addition to the Fusion QIKs, SoC designers using SiFive RISC-V processors can take advantage of key Synopsys technologies, including: • The Synopsys Digital Design Family, which provides a framework to achieve optimum PPA across all leading technology processes via a shared engine for implementation, test and signoff of power-optimized architectures for SiFive cores. • The family also includes Synopsys Silicon Lifecycle Management Family optimization software, which enables SiFive users to quickly find the best configurations of their software stack to maximize performance of SiFive cores. • The Synopsys Verification Family, which speeds software development, verification throughput and time-to-market for SiFive based designs, including virtual prototyping with models of SiFive’s cores, simulation, formal verification, hardware and software debug, emulation, FPGA prototyping and verification IP. • The silicon-proven Synopsys Interface IP products for the most widely used protocols, which deliver the required low latency, high performance, power efficiency and security for data-intensive systems implementing the latest SiFive processor cores.

About Synopsys

Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS) is the Silicon to Software™ partner for innovative companies developing the electronic products and software applications we rely on every day. As an S&P 500 company, Synopsys has a long history of being a global leader in electronic design automation (EDA) and semiconductor IP and offers the industry's broadest portfolio of application security testing tools and services. Whether you're a system-on-chip (SoC) designer creating advanced semiconductors, or a software developer writing more secure, high-quality code, Synopsys has the solutions needed to deliver innovative products. Learn more at www.synopsys.com.

About SiFive

As the pioneers who introduced RISC-V to the world, SiFive is transforming the future of compute by bringing the limitless potential of RISC-V to the highest performance and most data-intensive applications in the world. SiFive’s unrivaled compute platforms have enabled leading technology companies around the world to innovate, optimize and deliver the most advanced solutions of tomorrow across every market segment of chip design, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, automotive, data center, mobile, and consumer. With SiFive, the future of RISC-V has no limits. For more information, please visit SiFive.com.