Reliability Challenges in RISC-V-Based Embedded Control Systems

Abstract

RISC-V architectures are increasingly adopted in embedded control systems due to their openness and extensibility. Nevertheless, limited maturity of toolchains and peripheral ecosystems poses reliability risks in safety-critical applications. This paper reports on the development and testing of a RISC-V-based control platform used in industrial automation equipment. Over 4,200 hours of continuous operation, system logs were analyzed to identify failure patterns related to memory management, interrupt handling, and peripheral communication. Results indicate that nearly 38% of observed faults originated from driver incompatibilities and firmware integration issues rather than core processor defects. Targeted validation procedures and modular firmware design reduced unexpected resets by more than half. The study highlights the importance of ecosystem-level quality assurance in emerging hardware platforms.