As I’ve come to understand it, standards simplify intensionally, not extensionally. For those who select a part that is compliant with a standard, more standards to choose from is better because engineers are able to make better tradeoffs; they’re not forced to select a part that does way more than the application needs thus making the product more expensive if there are lots of “competing” standards: some do less some do more.
For RV, a litany of standardized modules creates a system where each capability that the module provides will have a standard interface. No manufacturer is forced to invent extensions bespoke to their implementation, but they’re not forced to support everything the most powerful models do either.
The RVA point releases don't add new mandatory features, so every RVA23 complient board is also RVA23.1 complient.
They only add new optional extensions.
Until people admit they made the same mistake as ARM6 fragmenting the architecture focus, its adoption will probably continue to stall under each firms hubris. =3
Some are already on RVA23.1 even before the standard made it to more than 4 manufacturers product lines.
The meme joke about standards is sadly relevant for riscv. =3
https://xkcd.com/927/
As I’ve come to understand it, standards simplify intensionally, not extensionally. For those who select a part that is compliant with a standard, more standards to choose from is better because engineers are able to make better tradeoffs; they’re not forced to select a part that does way more than the application needs thus making the product more expensive if there are lots of “competing” standards: some do less some do more.
For RV, a litany of standardized modules creates a system where each capability that the module provides will have a standard interface. No manufacturer is forced to invent extensions bespoke to their implementation, but they’re not forced to support everything the most powerful models do either.
Just my two cents.
That is given, vendors actually _know_ what exact practical applications they are building for.
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The RVA point releases don't add new mandatory features, so every RVA23 complient board is also RVA23.1 complient. They only add new optional extensions.
Until people admit they made the same mistake as ARM6 fragmenting the architecture focus, its adoption will probably continue to stall under each firms hubris. =3
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second-system_effect