Designing a RISC-V CPU Core with Open-Source Tools

Have you ever wondered how a processor actually executes instructions under the hood? Transitioning from software to hardware design can feel daunting, but understanding CPU architecture is the key to mastering modern computing. This text-based course guides you through the foundational concepts of digital logic and computer organization, enabling you to design a fully functional RISC-V CPU core. By working with accessible, browser-based simulation tools, you will gain hands-on experience with hardware description languages and microarchitecture without needing physical hardware. What you will learn: - Understand the fundamentals of the RISC-V Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) and digital logic design. - Implement core CPU components including the program counter, instruction decoder, and arithmetic logic unit (ALU). - Configure a single-cycle CPU and transition it into a multi-stage pipelined processor. - Apply modern hardware description concepts and open-source EDA toolchain workflows. - Analyze and debug hardware designs using simulation and waveform concepts. The journey begins with essential computer architecture terminology and basic digital logic gates. From there, you will incrementally build and connect each processor component, culminating in a pipelined RISC-V core capable of executing assembly programs. This course is designed for curious beginners, software developers wanting to understand hardware, and students of computer science with no prior hardware engineering experience. Start reading today to bridge the gap between software and hardware design.