Google and Qualcomm working on RISC-V chip for Wear OS

Abner Li | Oct 17 2023 - 9:10 am PT

RISC-V is an open-source alternative to ARM and x86 that’s getting a big boost today with a Google-Qualcomm partnership to develop a “RISC-V Snapdragon Wear platform that will power next-generation Wear OS solutions.”

Qualcomm refers to its chips as platforms and sums up the benefit of RISC-V as such:

As an open-source instruction set architecture (ISA), RISC-V encourages innovation by allowing any company to develop completely custom cores. This allows more companies to enter the marketplace, which creates increased innovation and competition. RISC-V’s openness, flexibility, and scalability benefits the entire value chain – from silicon vendors to OEMs, end devices, and consumers.

Not having to be an ARM licensee for its cores and other designs would be the big appeal. Qualcomm describes this move as an “important first milestone to bring RISC-V compatible CPUs to the Android Ecosystem,” with Google picking Wear OS as the best place to start.

Both are touting “custom CPUs that are low power and high performance.” Work by the Wear OS team and Qualcomm is already underway, but “commercial product launch of the RISC-V wearable based solution timing will be disclosed at a later date.” The two want to “ensure that applications and a robust software ecosystem for RISC-V will be available for commercial launches.”

“Qualcomm Technologies have been a pillar of the Wear OS ecosystem, providing high performance, low power systems for many of our OEM partners,” said Bjorn Kilburn, GM of Wear OS by Google. “We are excited to extend our work with Qualcomm Technologies and bring a RISC-V wearable solution to market.”

In the meantime, Qualcomm says it will “continue to invest in Snapdragon Wear platforms as the leading smartwatch silicon provider for the Wear OS ecosystem,” so it sounds like the successor to the 2022 Snapdragon Wear W5 and W5+ will presumably still be ARM-based.