Implementing OpenCL™ and SYCL™ for the popular RISC-V processors will make it easier to port existing HPC and AI software for embedded systems
Edinburgh, UK, October 29th, 2020 – Codeplay Software Ltd, pioneers in enabling acceleration technologies, announced today that software developers working on HPC and AI for embedded systems will be able to take advantage of industry defined open standards from The Khronos Group on RISC-V architectures, thanks to Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation (“NEDO”) project in which NSITEXE and Kyoto Microcomputer Co., Ltd. (“KMC”) are participating.
NSITEXE and KMC have ordered an implementation of LLVM for RISC-V Vector Extension Processor (“RVV”), and also Codeplay’s ComputeAorta™ and ComputeCpp™, efficient and high performance implementations of OpenCL and SYCL open standards. In the NEDO project, as a research, NSITEXE develops OpenCL and SYCL compilers from LLVM to utilize RVV, and KMC implements vector syntax to utilize RVV efficiently based on LLVM and Clang. These research developments will contribute to RISC-V community to support open-standard technologies.
By porting Codeplay’s OpenCL and SYCL open standards products, developers targeting the RVV for AI accelerators will be able to program RISC-V’s open hardware implementations using familiar C++, easily port existing code from other AI systems and take advantage of an extensive ecosystem of tools, libraries, training and skilled talent. Applications using this architecture range from high performance computing (“HPC”), automotive, and machine learning.
The development is being defined by NSITEXE and KMC, with funding from NEDO. The motivation is to develop next-generation computing technologies for AI chips that enable highly efficient and high-speed processing to solve some of the world’s most complex challenges, from self-driving vehicles to climate change.
Andrew Richards, Founder and CEO of Codeplay Software, says “The growth in adopting the SYCL standard for programming AI systems, and the strong interest in RISC-V open processors in all market segments makes this project extremely important to all involved. This engagement with both NSITEXE and KMC is the start of an exciting step for us, enabling the RISC-V ecosystem with our ComputeAorta for OpenCL and ComputeCpp for SYCL products. Codeplay has been deeply involved in SYCL, from definition to enabling systems with our ComputeCpp product, and we strongly believe it is the only software standard to link all the AI accelerators to a unified programming solution.”
Michael Wong, Chair of SYCL in Khronos and Distinguished Engineer with Codeplay, says “This growth in standardization for programming high performance accelerators like RISC-V will enable AI software developers to bring advanced intelligence to many market segments, from exascale computers to edge and automotive. SYCL is a modern C++ programming language that allows software developers to take advantage of the latest industry agreed standards and benefit from the growing ecosystem.”
Hideki Sugimoto, CTO NSITEXE Inc. says “The NEDO project will develop OpenCL and SYCL compilers to utilize the RISC-V Vector extension for embedded systems. By applying Codeplay’s ComputeAorta and ComputeCpp technology, we expect that we can bring state-of-art technology to RISC-V community with our research results.”
Shoichi Yamamoto, President & CEO Kyoto Microcomputer Co.,Ltd. says “Based on LLVM compiler back-end customization for RISC-V by Codeplay Software Ltd., we are able to implement vector syntax to utilize RVV efficiently. We are excited to work with experienced and skilled engineers from Codeplay Software Ltd., the leading company in compiler development”.
Calista Redmond, CEO, RISC-V International says “We are excited to welcome Codeplay as a Strategic member of RISC-V International. They are the very definition of a RISC-V Community Member with the way they have brought technologies and contribute to the NEDO project and are focused on open-standards based programming languages. As they bring RISC-V solutions to AI, HPC, exascale, and automotive industries, we are looking forward to the RISC-V growth in those markets, enabled by Codeplay and NSITEXE.”
About NSITEXE
NSITEXE, Inc., established in 2017, is a leading developer of semiconductor IP cores based in Tokyo. NSITEXE’s advanced semiconductor components are key for in-vehicle environment and safety technologies, such as advanced driving assistance systems and automated driving in next-generation vehicles.
NSITEXE continues its mission to develop the advanced technologies delivering an environmentally friendly, safe and secure automotive society.
About Kyoto Microcomputer Co.
Kyoto Microcomputer Co., Ltd. (KMC), founded in 1985, is the market leader in high-speed JTAG-ICE and debugger software in Japan. We are also specialized in software development to offer better development environment providing our flagship debugger “PARTNER”, compiler toolchains and RealTime OS “SOLID”. We are an engineer-oriented company that develops the technologies and products required today, such as support for multi-core CPUs and efficient debugging in an embedded OS environment.
