Digitized HouseDigitized HouseDigitized House
  • Alexa
  • Apple HomeKit
  • Google Home
  • SmartThings
  • Smart Components
    • Security Cameras
    • Security Systems
    • Smart Displays
    • Smart Door Locks
    • Smart Lighting
    • Smart Plugs
    • Smart Product Round-ups
    • Smart Shades
    • Smart Speakers
    • Smart Thermostats
    • Smart Water
    • Smoke + CO Detectors
    • Solar Photovoltaics
  • About + Policy
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Advertising, Affiliate Link, and Sponsorship Policy
Search
© 2015-2022 Digitized House Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Future Connected Home Devices Likely to be Powered by New Processor Architectures
Share
Notification
Font ResizerAa
Font ResizerAa
Digitized HouseDigitized House
  • Alexa
  • Apple HomeKit
  • Google Home
  • SmartThings
  • Smart Components
  • About + Policy
Search
  • Alexa
  • Apple HomeKit
  • Google Home
  • SmartThings
  • Smart Components
    • Security Cameras
    • Security Systems
    • Smart Displays
    • Smart Door Locks
    • Smart Lighting
    • Smart Plugs
    • Smart Product Round-ups
    • Smart Shades
    • Smart Speakers
    • Smart Thermostats
    • Smart Water
    • Smoke + CO Detectors
    • Solar Photovoltaics
  • About + Policy
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Advertising, Affiliate Link, and Sponsorship Policy
Follow US
  • Advertise
© 2015-2022 Digitized House Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Digitized House > Blog > Connected Home > Future Connected Home Devices Likely to be Powered by New Processor Architectures
Connected HomeFeatured ArticlesFutures

Future Connected Home Devices Likely to be Powered by New Processor Architectures

Ted Marena
Last updated: 2023/07/20 at 6:49 PM
By Ted Marena
Share
5 Min Read
The Amazfit Verge smart watch uses a RISC-V processor. Image: Huami.
The Amazfit Verge smart watch uses a RISC-V processor. Image: Huami.
SHARE

Most home-centric electronics products demand low power at cost aggressive prices. Given that, the processor which is selected for many designs is undergoing a major transformation. The force behind this fundamental change is known as RISC-V (Reduced Instruction Set Computing – 5th iteration). RISC-V—pronounced “risk five”—is an open, free ISA (instruction set architecture). 

Contents
Efficient, Purpose-Built ProcessorsRISC-V: Already in Google Pixel SmartphonesRISC-V: On Your WristComing Soon to Your Home

What does that mean? An ISA includes the available set of commands that a processor has to execute. With RISC-V, all of these instructions are open and available for anyone to use. This is very different from today’s leading processor architectures, where the chip makers solely dictate what their processors support and what they do not. 

Efficient, Purpose-Built Processors

RISC-V enables any silicon chip company to design their own processor and customize it optimally for their application. This configurability is driving increasing popularity and is unleashing a new level of innovation. RISC-V leverages the power of an open standard for a broad range of purpose-built processor requirements.

Similar to the growth the advent of the Linux® operating system has precipitated for software, RISC-V has the potential to disrupt hardware in the same way. This is a primary reason why there are more than 235 organization members in the RISC-V Foundation.

Growth of RISC-V Foundation membership. Image: RISC-V Foundation.

As stated, the RISC-V ISA is completely open for all to use. By exposing all the instructions, various types of processor implementations are possible. RISC-V also allows for an option to implement custom instructions. This enables far more customization than is available from off-the-shelf processor alternatives.

RISC-V, therefore, is an ideal platform to create purpose-built solutions. For example, a RISC-V processor with custom instructions to implement vector multiplication could improve the performance of a machine-learning application. 

RISC-V: Already in Google Pixel Smartphones

It is still early in the maturity of RISC-V, but there are already some implementations where the benefits can be seen. Recently, Google announced they were using RISC-V cores for the Image Processing Unit (IPU) that goes into their Pixel brand of smartphones.

Google Pixel Visual Core Image Processing Unit architecture. Image: Google.
Google Pixel Visual Core Image Processing Unit architecture. Image: Google.

Ofer Schacham, senior staff engineer at Google, discussed benefits of their RISC-V implementation in a blog post. In the post, Schacham stated: “Pixel Visual Core is the Google-designed Image Processing Unit (IPU)—a fully programmable, domain-specific processor designed from scratch to deliver maximum performance at low power.” 

These performance and power benefits for real-world applications can be substantial. By way of example, Google says their HDR+ feature on the Pixel Visual Core IPU gains a 5X speed boost while consuming less than one-tenth of the energy that would be used on the main processor.

RISC-V: On Your Wrist

Another example of a company which is leveraging the simplicity of the reduced ISA is Huami. They have introduced the Amazfit smart watch.

During development of this RISC-V based device, Huami optimized the implementation of the processor for lower power and cost. Only the required interfaces and peripherals that the watch required were incorporated into the design. The result is a purpose-built, highly-efficient solution: The Amazfit watch is able to operate for approximately 5 days of use on a single charge.

Coming Soon to Your Home

While RISC-V continues to gain traction, there are gaps in the tools and software. Certainly, this is being addressed, but the ecosystem takes time to develop. This may limit how and where RISC-V is used in designs, at least in the short-term. But there are enough market incentives that will make this a compelling technology to watch in coming years. 

Given that the RISC-V ISA provides simplicity, configurability, and openness, it will find its way into a growing number of devices. RISC-V gives designers an entirely new processor paradigm from which to reach beyond the constraints of the established processor status quo and push the boundaries of innovation. You can look for more products based on RISC-V coming to your connected home soon.

TAGGED: Computing, Internet of Things, non-affiliate, Open Systems
Ted Marena 20 July 2023 20 July 2023
Share This Article
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Copy Link Print
By Ted Marena
Follow:
Ted Marena is Director, RISC-V Ecosystem, at Western Digital, where he is responsible for evangelizing RISC-V, accelerating the build out of the RISC-V ecosystem, and marketing machine learning solutions. Ted was elected Marketing Chair for the RISC-V Foundation in 2016, has over 25 years of experience in electronics, and excels at business development, marketing, and revenue growth.
Previous Article Image: Pixabay on Pexels. 4 Smart Products to Modernize Your Space and Boost Home Value
Next Article March Madness bliss: Listen to your favorite game on Google Home speakers. Image: Digitized House Media. How to Use Google Assistant for March Madness Listening

Latest News

Best Cyber Monday Smart Tech Deals
Audio Gear Deals Secure Home Smart Water 27 November 2023
Black Friday 2023 deals.
Best Black Friday 2023 Smart Home Deals
Connected Home Deals 24 November 2023
Yale Assure Lock 2 Plus integrates Apple Home Key support. An Apple Watch or iPhone can be used. Image: Yale Home.
Yale Launches Assure Lock 2 Models with Fingerprint and Apple Home Key Access
Apple HomeKit News Smart Door Locks 27 September 2023

Amazon Disclosure

To help defray the cost of publishing, Digitized House is a participant in the Amazon Associate program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made from ads, buttons, or text links to Amazon placed on our website. These links may appear within editorial content, headers, footers, and sidebars. Purchasing from one of these Amazon Associate links does not increase the amount you pay, but does help keep us publishing the content you need to stay informed.

About Digitized House

We are the Guide to the Connected Home and help global consumers make their 
Connected Homes smarter, healthier, and safer through streams of original content. You can see our story here.

Like what you see on this website? You can also read us on our Apple News App Channel.

Contact Us

Registered Office
Digitized House Media LLC
517 Ocate Mesa Trail
Liberty Hill, Texas 78642
United States
Email: hello@digitized.house

Visit our Facebook Page

Latest Product Reviews

GHome Mini WiFi Smart Plug. Image: Digitized House Media.
GHome Mini Smart Plug Review
Amazon Alexa Connected Home Google Home Review Smart Lighting Smart Plugs
Kohler H2Wise+ Marks Rise of the Water Network
Connected Home Featured Articles Review Smart Water
Digitized HouseDigitized House
Follow US
© 2015-2022 Digitized House Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?