Quintauris, SiFive team up on RISC-V car platforms
Quintauris has agreed a strategic partnership with SiFive that will place SiFive's RISC-V processor designs at the core of Quintauris' reference architectures for automotive electronics.
The two companies plan to align SiFive intellectual property with the Quintauris framework. They aim to make SiFive processor cores available on standardised platforms that carmakers and their suppliers can use for zonal controllers and advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) electronic control units.
Quintauris develops RISC-V profiles, reference architectures and software components. SiFive designs processor IP based on the open RISC-V instruction set architecture and licenses it to chipmakers and systems companies.
Automotive focus
The collaboration will place SiFive technology on Quintauris' reference designs for automotive zonal and ADAS ECUs. These ECUs sit at the heart of modern vehicle electronics and consolidate multiple functions that were previously handled by separate control units.
Both companies said they intend to give chipmakers and system integrators more options in how they build RISC-V-based automotive platforms. They plan to align their work around common profiles and interoperable reference platforms.
Through the partnership, Quintauris and SiFive will work on ways that key SiFive IP can be used within the Quintauris framework. They plan to target flexibility and scalability for companies that design next-generation processors and systems.
Quintauris said the work will address the entire value chain, which includes semiconductor companies, Tier 1 suppliers and carmakers, as well as software and tools providers.
Ecosystem push
Quintauris positions itself as an ecosystem company for RISC-V. It was founded in 2023 by a group of large semiconductor manufacturers that includes Bosch, Infineon, Nordic Semiconductor, NXP, Qualcomm and STMicroelectronics.
The company creates RISC-V profiles and reference architectures. These profiles define common sets of features across implementations. The reference architectures sit above those profiles and describe how processors, memory and peripherals fit together in a system.
SiFive acts as one of the most visible commercial suppliers of RISC-V processor IP. Its designs target applications from embedded devices through to AI accelerators and data centre chips.
Quintauris said the agreement with SiFive fits with its broader effort to work with IP providers, software vendors and tool suppliers on common reference designs. It said these designs can shorten development cycles and provide common baselines for hardware and software integration.
Pedro Lopez, Market Strategy Officer at Quintauris, said the link with SiFive supports the company's goals for RISC-V across multiple markets.
"Partnering with SiFive, one of the most established leaders in the RISC-V ecosystem, aligns perfectly with our mission to enable compatibility and accelerate adoption across industries," said Pedro Lopez, Market Strategy Officer, Quintauris. "This collaboration strengthens our ecosystem and brings additional value to companies looking to build on trusted, high-performance RISC-V technologies."
SiFive said the partnership reflects a shared view on how the RISC-V market should evolve around standardised profiles and platforms.
"We are excited to collaborate with Quintauris to deliver on our shared vision of unifying the RISC-V ecosystem through compatible profiles and reference platforms," said John Ronco, SVP Product, SiFive. "Our combined efforts will help developers simplify design integration and broaden access to powerful, efficient RISC-V solutions," said Ronco.
Open standard momentum
RISC-V is an open standard instruction set architecture that any company can implement without paying licence fees. The model contrasts with proprietary processor architectures, which centralise control of the core instruction set in a single company.
The emergence of RISC-V has drawn strong interest from automotive and industrial companies that want long product lifecycles and control over their silicon roadmaps. Standardised profiles and reference architectures are seen by many industry participants as a way to reduce fragmentation and improve software reuse.
Quintauris said it will continue to expand its network of partners. It plans further work with IP suppliers, software vendors and tools companies on reference architectures that support automotive, industrial and internet of things designs.