This work presents Bio-RV, a compact and resource-efficient RISC-V processor intended for biomedical control applications, such as accelerator-based biomedical SoCs and implantable pacemaker systems. The proposed Bio-RV is a multi-cycle RV32I core that provides explicit execution control and external instruction loading with capabilities that enable controlled firmware deployment, ASIC bring-up, and post-silicon testing. In addition to coordinating accelerator configuration and data transmission in heterogeneous systems, Bio-RV is designed to function as a lightweight host controller, handling interfaces with pacing, sensing, electrogram (EGM), telemetry, and battery management modules. With 708 LUTs and 235 flip-flops on FPGA prototypes, Bio-RV, implemented in a 180 nm CMOS technology, operate at 50 MHz and feature a compact hardware footprint. According to post-layout results, the proposed architectural decisions align with minimal energy use. Ultimately, Bio-RV prioritises deterministic execution, minimal hardware complexity, and integration flexibility over peak computing speed to meet the demands of ultra-low-power, safety-critical biomedical systems.

翻译：本文提出Bio-RV——一种面向生物医学控制应用（如基于加速器的生物医学片上系统及可植入起搏器系统）的紧凑型资源高效RISC-V处理器。该Bio-RV处理器采用多周期RV32I内核架构，具备显式执行控制与外部指令加载能力，支持受控固件部署、专用集成电路启动及硅后测试。除协调异构系统中的加速器配置与数据传输外，Bio-RV被设计为轻量级主机控制器，可处理与起搏、传感、电生理信号采集、遥测及电池管理模块的接口。基于180纳米CMOS工艺实现的Bio-RV在FPGA原型中仅占用708个查找表与235个触发器，工作频率达50MHz，硬件占用面积紧凑。根据布局后仿真结果，所提出的架构方案符合最小化能耗的设计目标。最终，Bio-RV通过优先保证确定性执行、最小化硬件复杂度及提升集成灵活性（而非追求峰值计算速度），以满足超低功耗安全关键型生物医学系统的需求。