Just an observation: the CHERI seems to be covered by
multiple patents, including an European one.
https://patents.google.com/patent/EP3819774B1/en
https://copilot.microsoft.com/chats/ta8nCxScGESH7MdGZsubx
----------------------citation------start-----------------------------
The CHERI (Capability Hardware Enhanced RISC Instructions)
architecture has been adapted to RISC-V, but identifying all patents
that specifically cover the RISC-V-related CHERI instruction set is a
bit tricky. CHERI itself is a research-driven architecture developed
by SRI International and the University of Cambridge, and much of its
work has been published openly for academic and security purposes2.
However, there are some patents and applications that touch on related
technologies:
x) U.S. Patent Application #20210365266: Describes
a RISC-V implemented processor with hardware
acceleration supporting user-defined instruction
sets. While not explicitly labeled as CHERI, it may
overlap in concept with CHERI-style extensions.
x) The CHERI-RISC-V architecture is being refined for
standardization, and while the core CHERI work is
largely open-source, individual implementations or
enhancements by third parties (e.g., hardware vendors)
may be patented separately.
----------------------citation------end-------------------------------
If the only point of using the RISC-V over ARM was that hardware vendors
can produce those chips without needing to pay license fees or be
otherwise restricted due to patents, then I really do not understand,
why do people bother with the CHERI. A workaround might be to use formal
verification of software combined with a patent-free instruction set.
Thank You for reading my comment.
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