Microchip Unveils Affordable $500 RISC‑V FPGA Development Kit

Microchip Technology today announced its Icicle Kit, the first RISC‑V based system‑on‑chip FPGA development board priced below $500. The kit integrates a PolarFire SoC FPGA with a full RISC‑V ecosystem, enabling designers to prototype low‑power, high‑performance SoC solutions.

The RISC‑V instruction set, freely available and supported by a growing ecosystem of compilers, RTOSes, debuggers and security tools, has created a demand for a standardized, cost‑effective development platform. The Icicle Kit delivers that platform, allowing engineers to evaluate the extensive Mi‑V RISC‑V partner ecosystem—tools and design resources developed by Microchip and third‑party partners.

Key features of the Icicle Kit include:

• PolarFire SoC FPGA with 250K logic elements, paired with a SiFive RISC‑V processor core and an embedded trace macro from UltraSoC.
• Support for leading development tools from AdaCore, Green Hills Software, Mentor Graphics and Wind River.
• Commercial RTOS options such as Nucleus and VxWorks, in addition to Microchip’s Linux and bare‑metal solutions.
• Middleware from DornerWorks, Hex Five, Veridify Security and wolfSSL.
• System‑on‑module and design services from Antmicro, ARIES Embedded, Digital Core Technologies, Emdalo Technologies, Sundance DSP and Trenz Electronic.

The board centers on a 250K‑LE PolarFire SoC device and offers a rich set of interfaces: PCIe, mikroBUS, dual RJ45, micro‑USB, CAN bus, Raspberry Pi headers, JTAG and SD card. These connectors give developers a fully featured, plug‑and‑play development environment. Power management, clocking, Ethernet PHY (VSC8662XIC), USB controller (USB3340‑EZK‑TR) and current sensors (PAC1934T‑I/JQ) are all pre‑validated by Microchip.

PolarFire SoC FPGAs are engineered to consume up to 50 % less power than comparable devices, while their built‑in SoC architecture enables extensive customisation and on‑chip integration, offering a single‑chip solution for complex embedded applications.

David Patterson, vice‑chair of the RISC‑V International board and 2017 Turing Award laureate, noted, “It’s exciting to see a low‑power RISC‑V board priced under $500. Microchip’s Icicle Kit, with an embedded PolarFire SoC, will accelerate advances in the RISC‑V software ecosystem and benefit applications that demand a low‑power mid‑range SoC FPGA.”

Bruce Weyer, vice‑president of Microchip’s FPGA business unit, added, “By offering a low‑cost evaluation platform, we’re removing barriers for embedded engineers, software designers and hardware developers who want to harness the open RISC‑V ISA together with Microchip’s proven form factors, thermals and low‑power performance.”

Available in multiple packages, the PolarFire SoC FPGA family supports a range of performance‑to‑power trade‑offs, with die sizes as small as 11 × 11 mm. The Icicle Kit is ideal for smart embedded imaging, IoT, industrial automation, defense, automotive and communications.

The Icicle Kit is now available for $489.00. PolarFire FPGAs are already in production, and early samples of the SoC FPGA are shipping today.