RISC-V Cores & SoC Platform

Inter-Core Mailbox + Hardware Spinlock

APB4 mailbox + test-and-set spinlock unit for safety-island ↔ application-core handshakes, ASIL-B via resident parity + complementary-DMR.

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ASIL-B

target

100.00%

SPFM

100.00%

LFM

PASS

FMEDA

1.1K

gates

1.0.0

version

Interfaces at a glance

Block diagram

Place-and-route snapshot

Physical implementation

Inter-Core Mailbox + Hardware Spinlock routed place-and-route layout on the Nangate45 PDK — A real synthesis and place-and-route pass on this RTL, routed on the open Nangate45 / FreePDK45 PDK — evidence the block closes physically, not just in simulation. Target-PDK timing, area, and power sign-off figures are shared under NDA.

The deliverable

What you’re licensing

APB4 mailbox + test-and-set spinlock unit for safety-island ↔ application-core handshakes, ASIL-B via resident parity + complementary-DMR. It is delivered as a licensable soft-IP block engineered as an ASIL-B Safety Element out of Context — not just RTL, but the complete functional-safety work package needed to carry it into an ISO 26262 program:

Synthesizable RTL

Portable, vendor-neutral SystemVerilog that drops onto your existing SoC fabric — no foundry or EDA-tool lock-in.

Per-IP FMEDA report

SPFM / LFM / PMHF computed against the ASIL target per ISO 26262-5 — the quantitative analysis your assessor asks for.

Safety manual

Assumptions of use, the safety mechanisms and their diagnostic coverage — written to drop straight into your safety case.

IP-XACT + integration docs

A machine-readable descriptor plus register and integration documentation for fast, low-risk bring-up.

Self-checking testbench

A self-checking testbench and a one-command build, so you can reproduce every claim on day one.

Mbox — Introduction

What it is

mbox is a multicore mailbox and hardware spinlock/semaphore unit: NMBOX 32-bit mailboxes for post/consume message passing with an IRQ doorbell, plus NLOCK hardware test-and-set spinlocks, behind one APB4 slave with ASIL-B parity and complementary-DMR safety instrumentation.

Key Features

NMBOX 32-bit post/consume mailboxes: a write posts a message (sets valid, raises mbox_irq if IRQ-enabled), a read returns it and clears valid (consume/ack semantics)
NLOCK hardware test-and-set spinlocks: a single atomic APB read acquires the lock and returns the previous value; a write of 0 releases it — classic HW mutex, no software CAS loop needed
mbox_irq is the level-OR of valid & IRQ_EN across all mailboxes, so a consuming read of the posted mailbox always clears that source’s contribution
ASIL-B resident + delivered-read parity on every mailbox word (checked continuously across all NMBOX words and again on the value actually leaving the read mux) → err_code 1/2
ASIL-B complementary-DMR shadows on lock state, valid bits, and the IRQ-enable register, plus a diverse decode/read-mux copy catching a misrouted mailbox or lock access → err_code 9
Zero-wait-state APB4 slave (p_pready=1, p_pslverr=0); every access completes in one cycle, no FSM
Catalog FMEDA: 1133 cells, SPFM 100.00%, LFM 100.00%, PMHF 0/h — PASS against the ASIL-B target with full margin

Standards & Compliance

AMBA APB4 (ARM IHI 0024); ISO 26262 ASIL-B SEooC (SPFM 100.00%, LFM 100.00%, PMHF 0/h)

Functional Safety

ASIL-B (SEooC) · SPFM 100.00% · LFM 100.00% · PASS

ISO 26262:2018 · FMEDA available · Safety Manual included

Register Map

Offset	Register	Description
`0x00..0x0C`	MBOX0..3	RW write posts (valid+IRQ); read returns + clears valid
`0x10`	MBOX_STAT	RO [NMBOX-1:0] valid bits
`0x14`	IRQ_EN	RW [NMBOX-1:0] per-mailbox IRQ enable (parity-protected)
`0x20..0x2C`	LOCK0..3	R=test-and-set acquire (returns prev in bit0); W bit0=0 release
`0x30`	LOCK_STAT	RO [NLOCK-1:0] lock bits

Getting Started

// Minimal instantiation
mbox #(
 .ADDR_W(6)
) u_mbox (
 .clk (clk),
 .rst_n (rst_n),
 // APB4
 .p_paddr (paddr),
 .p_psel (psel),
 .p_penable (penable),
 .p_pwrite (pwrite),
 .p_pwdata (pwdata),
 .p_prdata (prdata),
 .p_pready (pready),
 // Safety
 .err_clear (1'b0),
 .err_valid (err_valid),
 .err_code (err_code)
);

Configure via the CTRL register after reset to enable the IP and set operating parameters. Monitor err_valid / err_code for any safety faults reported by the built-in safety monitor.

Applications

Where it fits

Typically deployed in RISC-V SoCs that need a safety-grade core, boot, memory, debug, and interrupt platform.

The case

Why license it, not build it

Skip 12–18 months

The FMEDA and the safety case are already generated. You integrate a finished safety element — you don’t stand up a safety-IP program to originate one.

One vendor, one safety story

Every block in the catalog shares the same safety architecture, fault-reaction model, and FMEDA methodology — so subsystems roll up cleanly.

Verified, not vapor

The RTL builds and passes today; the safety metrics come from analysis and fault injection against real RTL, not a datasheet promise.

Interested in Inter-Core Mailbox + Hardware Spinlock?

Pricing, the per-IP FMEDA, safety manual, and RTL data room are shared under a mutual NDA.

Talk to us →See related IP

Figures are pre-silicon engineering-grade estimates for a Safety Element out of Context (SEooC); final ASIL sign-off is the integrator’s, supported under NDA. FMEDA and Safety Manual available under NDA.

circuit-design.space · +1-971-357-1400 · anovickis@circuit-design.space