cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/45218430 > > Xiangshan, a high-performance processor unveiled by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) at the Zhongguancun Forum in Beijing on Thursday, is the latest effort to push the boundaries with RISC-V architecture. > > > With the central processing unit (CPU) core achieving a score of 16.5 points/GHz under SPEC CPU2006, an industry-standard benchmark, its performance has reached “internationally advanced levels”, according to a report by state-backed Science and Technology Daily on Friday. > > > The CPU core, which executes instructions for the processor, is based on the RISC-V architecture. > > > The move followed the recent unveiling of the latest RISC-V-based chip by Alibaba Group Holding’s research arm Damo Academy, signalling a coordinated national push to develop home-grown computing power to counter US export controls. > Advertisement > > > The XuanTie C950, the latest flagship in Alibaba’s XuanTie RISC-V series, was introduced at the company’s annual ecosystem conference in Shanghai on Tuesday. Designed for high-performance tasks in cloud computing and AI computing, the C950’s CPU core was said to be the most powerful of its kind globally. > > > RISC-V, the fifth generation of the Reduced Instruction Set Computer, became available for chip developers to configure and customise under the Switzerland-based non-profit RISC-V International in 2015. > > > Alibaba’s XuanTie C950 was introduced at the company’s annual ecosystem conference in Shanghai on Tuesday. Photo: Handout > Alibaba’s XuanTie C950 was introduced at the company’s annual ecosystem conference in Shanghai on Tuesday. Photo: Handout > The open-source project is seen as China’s best hope for achieving self-sufficiency in chip design, reducing reliance on Intel’s x86 and Arm’s namesake architecture, which power the Microsoft Windows and Google Android operating systems, respectively. > > > At the Beijing event, CAS also launched Ruyi, a native operating system tailored specifically for the architecture, aiming to strengthen ecosystem development around RISC-V chips, an aspect seen as a key chokepoint in wider adoption of the architecture. > > > The Ruyi system was also able to provide native operating system support for RVA23, a standardised baseline profile that guarantees new RISC-V chips support a specific set of advanced features like vector processing, according to CAS. > > > Industry insiders said the open chip architecture was catching up with x86 and Arm in hardware performance, but still lagged in terms of its software ecosystem.