Amazon has announced that it has added support for the RISC-V open instruction set architecture (ISA) to the MIT-licensed FreeRTOS real-time operating system kernel.

“RISC-V is a free and open ISA that was designed to be simple, extensible, and easy to implement. The simplicity of the RISC-V model, coupled with its permissive BSD licence, makes it ideal for a wide variety of processors, including low-cost microcontrollers that can be manufactured without incurring licence costs,” Amazon’s Jeff Barr explains. “Development tools, including simulators, compilers, and debuggers, are also available.

“Today I am happy to announce that we are now providing RISC-V support in the FreeRTOS kernel. The kernel supports the RISC-V I profile (RV32I and RV64I) and can be extended to support any RISC-V microcontroller. It includes preconfigured examples for the OpenISA VEGAboard, QEMU emulator for SiFive’s HiFive board, and Antmicro’s Renode emulator for the Microchip M2GL025 Creative Board.

“You now have a powerful new option for building smart devices that are more cost-effective than ever before!”

Amazon’s work on FreeRTOS, under the umbrella of its Amazon Web Services division, has seen it add a range of libraries focused on the Internet of Things (IoT), alongside support for Bluetooth Low Energy, over-the-air (OTA) updating, and Wi-Fi connectivity. The latest release, and more information, is available from the official website.