Santa Clara, California, RISC-V Summit — October 22, 2025 — Semiconductor intellectual property provider CAST today announced the CAST Catalyst™ Program, a new way for embedded system developers to adopt RISC-V processors faster and with less risk. Catalyst combines CAST’s proven 32-bit RISC-V processor IP cores with simplified configurations, flexible “try before you buy” licensing, and direct engineering support — making it easier than ever to use RISC-V for small, low-power, and cost-sensitive embedded systems.
CAST Catalyst features five processor cores clearly targeted to the requirements of specific embedded applications. Each core is ready to use out of the box with support for a preselected set of RISC-V instruction set extensions and processor options:
BA5x-TN — Tiny, Essential MCU-Class Control — Ultra-compact (~17k gates) delivering strong performance in minimal area. Ideal for 8/16-bit MCU replacement, sensor hubs, and always-on control logic.
BA5x-LP — Versatile Low-Power Embedded Controller — Balanced performance and efficiency with full interrupt control, cache options, and configurable bus interfaces. A drop-in solution for general-purpose embedded and industrial systems.
BA5x-CM — Compact Connected and RTOS-Ready Core — Adds hardware floating-point and atomic operations for real-time multitasking and connected devices. Designed for IoT, wearables, and smart-edge systems needing efficient yet capable processing.
BA5x-EP — Enhanced-Processing, Feature-Rich Edge Processor — Incorporates dual/single-precision FPU, MMU, and optional hypervisor for multi-OS or secure domain operation. Perfect for edge controllers, gateways, or complex embedded applications.
EMSA5-GP — General Purpose, Vector-Capable Embedded Processor — Adds a subset of the RISC-V Vector extension for efficient parallel math and data transforms. Accelerates FIR/IIR filters, FFTs, sensor-fusion, and packet-processing workloads with minimal area overhead.
“RISC-V offers a huge, rich set of options that a processor IP customer can typically configure. But after working with embedded system developers for 30 years, we’ve found that 90% of them don’t need all that, and they don’t want to wade through everything that RISC-V offers just to get started with the right processor for their design,” said Bill Finch, senior business development vice president for CAST. “These Catalyst cores cover most of the embedded applications spectrum and give developers very predictable, very competitive power, performance, and area results at every level.”
The Catalyst Program makes evaluating and deploying these RISC-V processor IP cores fast and flexible while reducing a customer’s technical and expense risks.
Designers can start immediately with no up-front license fees, using full-featured evaluation deliverables to integrate, simulate, and benchmark real designs. During this early phase, participants receive direct access to CAST’s senior engineers for expert guidance on integration, customization, and performance tuning. The IP licensing fee is only required once the design moves forward. That licensing is simple and transparent, with predictable terms, optional support extensions, and no hidden royalties.
“Catalyst reduces complications to let embedded system teams focus on innovation while CAST ensures their RISC-V journey starts right and ends in silicon success,” said Evan Price, RISC-V product manager for CAST. “We give developers the proven cores, expert help, and flexible terms they need to move fast and succeed — without surprises. Catalyst isn’t just a program name; it’s what we aim to be for every new embedded RISC-V design.”
Catalyst: RISC-V Adoption Made Practical
With its pre-configured, silicon-proven cores and friction-free engagement model, CAST’s Catalyst Program turns RISC-V adoption into a straightforward, low-risk engineering decision. Catalyst helps system developers start quickly, evaluate confidently, and finish successfully — supported by CAST’s 30-year record of delivering reliable, production-ready IP to hundreds of customers worldwide.
Sourced from Beyond Semiconductor and Fraunhofer IPMS, the Catalyst RISC-V processor cores are available now for ASICs and FPGAs. For product briefs, evaluation information, and licensing details, please visit the CAST RISC-V Processor and Catalyst Program web page or contact info@cast-inc.com.
Computer Aided Software Technologies, Inc. (CAST) is a silicon IP provider founded in 1993. The company’s ASIC and FPGA IP product line includes microcontrollers and processors; compression engines for data, images, and video; interfaces for automotive, aerospace, and other applications; various common peripheral devices; and security primitives and comprehensive SoC security modules. Learn more by visiting www.cast-inc.com.
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CAST and Catalyst are trademarks of Computer Aided Software Technologies Inc. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
