RISC-V Design · All levels

RISC-V Design Cheatsheet

Dense reference for mechanism-first debugging and architecture closure decisions.

Debug order

diagram

WORKLOAD -> MECHANISM -> ARTIFACT -> OWNER -> DECISION

DECODE: legality, control bundles, critical fanout
PIPELINE: forwarding, hazards, flush/redirect races
PRIVILEGE: trap sequencing, CSR legality, delegation
MEMORY: TLB/walk behavior, sfence discipline, protection checks
EXTENSIONS: profile compatibility, fallback correctness, throughput impact
SIGNOFF: regression matrix, risk ownership, rollback gates

Questions before proposing a fix

Which workload fails first and how reproducible is it?
Which mechanism path fails first under locked metadata?
Which artifact proves causality?
Who owns the smallest reversible fix?
What validation and rollback gates close release risk?

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