High Performance RISC-V Processor for Application in Harsh Environments

This work introduces a full custom RISC-V processor specifically targeted for harsh environments capable of
sustained operation at 180 MHz while withstanding temperatures up to 175°C. Built using a state-of-the-art
180nm silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology, the processor overcomes the limitations of existing designs, such as
increased leakage currents and reduced carrier mobility in extreme environments. Key innovations include a
deeply pipelined architecture optimized for thermal stability, modular execution pipelines to handle high-latency
operations without stalling, and tightly coupled caches using single-port SRAM with custom wrappers for high
throughput. In contrast to other well known architectures for harsh environments, which usually target radiation
resistance in space, this design is tailored specifically for high-temperature resilience. Extensive testing validated
its performance and reliability.