If you are going to create a domain-specific processor, one of the key activities is to choose an instruction set architecture (ISA) that matches your software needs. So where do you start?
Some companies have created their instruction sets from scratch, but if you have such an ISA, a penalty may be the costs of porting software. Today, the RISC-V open ISA can provide you with an excellent starting point and a software ecosystem. Depending on what you need, there are several obvious starting points. In case of a 32-bit processor, if you start with RISC‑V, the base ISA (RV32I) is just 47 instructions. Using this base set is easier than creating proprietary instructions with similar functionality, as well as meaning that software is already available from the RISC-V ecosystem.