Google and Qualcomm team up to bring RISC-V microprocessor architecture to wearable devices
Today, Google and Qualcomm announced an expansion of their partnership to commercialize RISC-V-based systems-on-chips (SoCs) with support for Wear OS, a version of Android for smartwatches and wearable devices. This announcement marks a hardware first for Qualcomm to market an SoC based primarily on the RISC-V microprocessor architecture and the third major software announcement for the RISC-V architecture in just under a year. Previous announcements included Google’s announcement of Android support for RISC-V in November 2022 and the formation of the RISC-V Software Ecosystem (RISE) in May. Both Google and Qualcomm are founding members of RISE.
For its part, Google is committed to Android and Wear OS software development ports and tools. While Qualcomm’s current SoCs are primarily based on the Arm microprocessor architecture, Qualcomm uses RISC-V-based microcontroller cores in its popular Snapdragon SoCs which are used in automotive, smartphones, PCs and a host other IoT applications. Qualcomm is currently the market leader in Wear OS smartwatch SoCs with the Snapdragon Wear platform. The move from Arm microprocessor cores to RISC-V microprocessor cores marks a significant change for Qualcomm and a huge design victory for the RISC-V architecture. Qualcomm has made a significant investment in the open source RISC-V architecture and recently announced a partnership with NXP, Nordic Semiconductor, Bosch and Infineon to form a new, yet-to-be-named company “aimed at advancing the adoption of RISC -V.” » The new company will focus on developing solutions for automotive, IoT and mobile; three critical markets for Google and Qualcomm.
The announcement does not provide any details on when hardware or software solutions will be available, but this latest announcement marks another major milestone in the development of the RISC-V ecosystem. Developing an ecosystem around a new microprocessor architecture can take a decade or more, particularly due to the need for operating system (OS) support, software development tools and development or application porting. However, behind technology heavyweights like Google, Intel, MediaTek, Nvidia, NXP, Qualcomm, Samsung and many others, the RISC-V architecture is shaping up to be a major alternative to other architectures, notably Arm, in the next years. This could be perfect timing for Qualcomm, as its lawsuit with Arm over the use of technology acquired through the Nuvia acquisition is expected to reach court in late 2024.
Although the availability of new Qualcomm SoCs or Google Wear OS support has not been announced, Tirias Research estimates that devices using the new platform could be on the market as soon as 2025. What if Qualcomm and Google work together to bring RISC-V solutions on the market, other Qualcomm platforms and other semiconductor vendors will likely follow shortly.
