Furthermore, the aim is to lay the groundwork for generating new economic activity in the semiconductor sector for these industries. Specifically, this will be achieved by enabling, in the medium term, the capacity to bring to market new integrated circuits that incorporate the value-added elements identified and developed by the Basque Country's industrial and R&D sector.
The project represents one of the leading current initiatives in semiconductors and related technologies. SoC4CRIS proposes substantial contributions and advancements and represents a unique collaborative effort involving some of the most experienced organizations in the field. This project is funded by the Elkartek collaborative research grant program of SPRI (Basque Government) and is led by the Applied Electronics Research Team (APERT) of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), in collaboration with CEIT, Tekniker, Ikerlan, IKOR, and the GAIA Cluster (ELKARTEK KK-2023/00015).
Digital integrated circuits commonly used in critical electronic systems, such as electrical protection devices, industrial machinery, automobiles, etc., include a processing unit or CPU, memory, peripherals for interacting with the outside world—such as sensors and actuators—and communication peripherals. Current microelectronic technology allows all these elements, along with the application software that runs on the CPU, to be integrated into a single semiconductor device. These types of circuits are called System-on-Chip (SoC).
Thus, as a milestone within the 'SoC4CRIS' project, a System-on-Chip with a complete and integrated function has been designed for the first time in the Basque Country. Based on the RISC-V CPU architecture, it incorporates the necessary electronic components, memory resources, and communication peripherals for its operation onto a single silicon device. This design will allow for the manufacture of a prototype that will be used for experimentation through testing and trials using standardized methodologies.
Scientific-technical objective
The scientific and technical objective of the project is to create a microelectronic design infrastructure that allows the synchronization of hardware and software computing in RISC-V based devices, interconnected in the scenario called Edge Computing, for critical industrial applications with real-time requirements.
This processing unit has been enhanced with advanced sensor acquisition and computing capabilities, along with the necessary safety mechanisms for critical systems. The complete digital system, known as a System-on-Chip (SoC), will be implemented as an application-specific integrated circuit, or ASIC, with the medium-term goal of providing the Basque industrial sector with a degree of autonomy in the digital microelectronics field and also training professionals in this area.
“Knowledge of each sector in which our industries operate and for which our research centers and universities conduct research enables the ability to generate value-added elements that can be integrated into new integrated circuits,” recalls Armando Astarloa, Professor of Labor at the UPV/EHU and coordinator of the SoC4CRIS project.
