The Shakti Processor Project, which has produced India’s first natively-manufactured processor, has publicly released the Shakti Software Development Kit (SDK) – meaning application development for the RISC-V based chips can now begin.
Featured in one of AB Open’s Open Source Digital Design Insights (OSDDI) interviews, the Shakti Processor Project from IIT Madras has been going from strength to strength: after targeting early 2018 for initial manufacturing of the RISC-V-based parts, the team booted Linux on a 22nm part produced in a foreign manufacturing facility then on India’s first natively-manufactured processor using a 180nm process node from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISIRO) Semiconductor Laboratory in Chandigarh.
With hardware in hand and an operating system booted, the team has turned its attention to a software ecosystem with the public release of the Shakti Software Development Kit (SDK). Released under the GNU General Public Licence 3, the Shakti SDK “provides a platform to develop standalone applications and projects” for what its creators aim to be a family of processors ranging from the low-power embedded E- and controller C-class parts up to the multi-core mainstream S-class and high-performance computing (HPC) H-class parts.
The SDK is available now on the Shakti GitLab repository.
Gareth Halfacree is a technology journalist and technical author best known for his work on the Raspberry Pi User Guide and an upcoming book covering the BBC’s micro:bit project. A keen open source advocate and RISC-V fan, Gareth is responsible for curating our fortnightly community round-up posts.