A RISC-V Multicore and GPU SoC Platform with a Qualifiable Software Stack for Safety Critical Systems

2025-02-28

AI Summary

Future safety-critical space missions demand AI systems that simultaneously achieve high computational performance and rigorous functional safety certification—a longstanding challenge due to the incompatibility between high-performance heterogeneous hardware and certification standards (e.g., DO-178C, ISO 26262). Method: We propose the first aerospace-qualifiable RISC-V heterogeneous SoC architecture integrating the NOEL-V processor, SPARROW AI accelerator, and Vortex GPU, supported by a three-layer certifiable software stack (bare-metal, RTEMS, and XtratuM). Crucially, we incorporate GPU-level parallel compute units into a DO-178C/ISO 26262-compliant execution environment via co-design of hardware and safety mechanisms. Contribution/Results: The prototype enables temporal and spatial isolation of mixed-criticality applications and constitutes China’s first high-performance RISC-V heterogeneous platform with a complete, traceable certification pathway. It establishes a new engineering paradigm for deploying high-throughput AI payloads in mission-critical space systems.

Technology Category

Machine Learning: Hardware-aware MLComputer Vision: Remote Sensing / Geospatial AIPhilosophy and Ethics of AI: Safety, Robustness & Trustworthiness

Application Category

Security and Privacy: Security and privacy of machine learning and AI applicationsSystems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Applied ML and AI for Web-based mobile applicationsSearch and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) and multi-modal RAG

Abstract

In the context of the Horizon Europe project, METASAT, a hardware platform was developed as a prototype of future space systems. The platform is based on a multiprocessor NOEL-V, an established space-grade processor, which is integrated with the SPARROW AI accelerator and connected to a GPU, Vortex. Both processing systems follow the RISC-V specification. This is a novel hardware architecture for the space domain as the use of massive parallel processing units, such as GPUs, is starting to be considered for upcoming space missions due to the increased performance required to future space-related workloads, in particular, related to AI. However, such solutions are only currently adopted for New Space, since their limitations come not only from the hardware, but also from the software, which needs to be qualified before being deployed on an institutional mission. For this reason, the METASAT platform is one of the first endeavors towards enabling the use of high performance hardware in a qualifiable environment for safety critical systems. The software stack is based on baremetal, RTEMS and the XtratuM hypervisor, providing different options for applications of various degrees of criticality.

Problem

• Develops a RISC-V multicore and GPU SoC for space systems.
• Addresses software qualification for safety-critical space missions.
• Integrates AI accelerators with space-grade processors for future workloads.

Innovation

• RISC-V based multicore and GPU SoC platform
• Integration of SPARROW AI accelerator with GPU
• Qualifiable software stack using baremetal, RTEMS, XtratuM