Rocket is a 6-stage single-issue in-order pipeline that executes the 64-bit scalar RISC-V ISA. Rocket implements an MMU that supports page-based virtual memory and is able to boot modern operating systems such as Linux. Rocket also has an optional IEEE 754-2008-compliant FPU, which implements both single- and double-precision floating-point operations, including fused multiply-add.
This repository is not intended to be a self-running repository. To instantiate a Rocket core, please use the Rocket chip generator found in the rocket-chip git repository.
The following table compares a 32-bit ARM Cortex-A5 core to a 64-bit RISC-V Rocket core built in the same TSMC process (40GPLUS). Fourth column is the ratio of RISC-V Rocket to ARM Cortex-A5. Both use single-instruction-issue, in-order pipelines, yet the RISC-V core is faster, smaller, and uses less power.
| ISA/Implementation | ARM Cortex-A5 | RISC-V Rocket | R/A |
|---|---|---|---|
| ISA Register Width | 32 bits | 64 bits | 2 |
| Frequency | >1 GHz | >1 GHz | 1 |
| Dhrystone Performance | 1.57 DMIPS/MHz | 1.72 DMIPS/MHz | 1.1 |
| Area excluding caches | 0.27 mm2 | 0.14 mm2 | 0.5 |
| Area with 16KB caches | 0.53 mm2 | 0.39 mm2 | 0.7 |
| Area Efficiency | 2.96 DMIPS/MHz/mm2 | 4.41 DMIPS/MHz/mm2 | 1.5 |
| Dynamic Power | <0.08 mW/MHz | 0.034 mW/MHz | >= 0.4 |