Communications Signal Processing Using RISC-V Vector Extension

Research output: Contribution to book/Conference proceedings/Anthology/ReportConference contributionContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

Flexible and scalable solutions will be needed for future communications processing systems. RISC-V processors enhanced with vector processing capabilities as specified by the soon-to-be ratified RISC-V vector extension (RVV) pose an interesting base for such systems. Vector processors provide an efficient means of exploiting data-level parallelism, which is heavily present in communications kernels. Furthermore, RVV code is by its design agnostic from the underlying hardware platform which enables scalability. On the exemplary basis of a generalized frequency division multiplexing (GFDM) implementation on a RVV processor, we investigate its baseband processing capabilities and guide through RVV's key features and peculiarities. Our vectorization achieves a speedup of up to 60 times compared to the scalar base case and a throughput of 784 symbols per second. The utilization of 77 % is slightly below more specialized solutions. Nevertheless, this work serves as a baseline for further investigations on flexible and scalable RISC-V vector communications processors.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication2022 International Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing (IWCMC)
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Pages690-695
Number of pages6
ISBN (electronic)978-1-6654-6749-0
ISBN (print)978-1-6654-6750-6
Publication statusPublished - 3 Jun 2022
Peer-reviewedYes

Conference

Title18th IEEE International Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing Conference
SubtitleIntelligent and Secure Communications
Abbreviated titleIWCMC 2022
Conference number18
Duration30 May - 3 June 2022
CityDubrovnik
CountryCroatia

External IDs

Scopus 85135333801

Keywords

Keywords

  • Parallel processing, Program processors, Scalability, Signal processing, Symbols, Throughput, Wireless communication, Communications processing, Vector processor, RISC-V, GFDM