Since the introduction of the Intel 386 microprocessor, the high performance computing processor market has been dominated by the x86 architecture. Until two years ago, when Apple announced that it was going to transition into ARM processors. Since then Apple, has revolutionized the laptop market with a chip that can rivial its x86 counterparts but with much less power consumption. The question is what is the future after x86?
The x86 architecture by this point is almost four decades old, with the ever evolving world, the architecture excels with its powerful processing power, but also combined with its power-hungry nature. And Intel is betting big on the new promising new architecture RISC-V[1].
RISC-V has been one of the most promising architecture since its introduction, with its open source nature, many companies has invested money into the development of the new architecture.
One of the most important advantages of RISC-V is the power efficiency and modularity of the chip compared to x86. It creates allows users to create their own modular chip according to their needs, and with the ever popular system-on-chip market segment, where all in one solutions are more and more common, this market will certainly become more important.
Another advantages of RISC-V is the concern of security issues for some governments or companies with using other architectures. The open source nature means that embedding spyware or malware into the chip would be next to impossible to do[2].
The biggest disadvantage it is still an unproven technology compared to x86 and ARM, it may have many promising advantages, but if non of these advantages realize, the market will continued to be dominated by Intel and ARM.
RISC-V still need a couple of years before being implemented into the consumer market, and it certainly has a bright future. I am excited to see a market that has stagnated for so long to have a new competitor coming in.
Reference:
[1] https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/02/intels-strategy-for-outflanking-arm-takes-shape-with-bet-on-risc-v/
[2] https://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2020/5/244325-will-risc-v-revolutionize-computing/fulltext
