RISC-8 softcore

The RISC-8 is a small 8-bit CPU that is mostly compatible with the AVR instruction set. It does not have 100% of the architecture implemented, although enough to run many avr-gcc compiled programs in the soft-core.

Sometimes you want all the power of a 32-bit RISC-V like Claire's picorv32, although sometimes the 8-bit CPU isn't a limitation and you prefer faster synthesis times (10 seconds vs 45 seconds) or using fewer FPGA resources (1200 LC vs 4500 LC), and the 8-bit CPU isn't a limitation.

CPU overview

The CPU has a two stage pipeline (instruction decode and register fetch, operation and register write) and can retire one instruction per clock. Most instructions are single cycle, with some complex instructions like IN/OUT, LD/ST and CALL/RET that require multiple cycles.

On an ice40up5k it uses approximately 1400 LC for the SOC with uart and gpio with nearly the full instruction set (which will synthesize around 15.5 MHz). By removing some of the instructions the design can run up to 18 MHz, and overclocking is also possible.

The ice40up5k's 64 KB of SPRAM can be used for the SOC's data memory, although the program memory has to be in DPRAM so that it can be stored in the bitstream.

The two stage pipeline allows the register file to be stored in block RAM, which greatly reducing the number of logic cells required. The register file has a forward-feed to support immediate use-after-write with no wait states.

Limitations

• No interrupts
• No SPM instruction support
• Not very many built in peripherals
• Probably full of bugs

Examples

Instruction set