Toward Developing High-Performance RISC-V Processors Using Agile Methodology

Agile chip design methodology has shown promise for sustaining the scaling of computing performance more efficiently. However, the practical application of this methodology has been limited by major obstacles. This article presents MinJie, an open source platform supporting agile hardware development flow. We demonstrate the usage and effectiveness of MinJie by building two generations of XiangShan, an open source RISC-V processor with industry-competitive performance. This article highlights the potential impact of MinJie and XiangShan in advancing the field of agile processor design and development as well as the potential for open source collaboration to democratize the field and drive innovation forward.