Android 15 Running on RISC-V Hardware

Android 15 running on RISC-V hardware, proving that open-source processors can support systems with graphics and stable performance.

Andes Technology have announced a major milestone: the successful demonstration of Android 15 (Vanilla Ice Cream) running on a high-performance RISC-V hardware platform, in collaboration with Imagination Technologies. This achievement underscores the growing viability of RISC-V as a foundation for rich operating systems and sophisticated graphical applications.

The demonstration features the Andes Voyager Board, powered by the company’s Qilai SoC, combined with Imagination’s GPU integrated into a graphics card. Together, Andes and Imagination are showcasing a fully functional, high-performance Android system built on open hardware standards. 

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As the world’s most popular open-source operating system, Android reaching RISC-V marks a major milestone. This achievement highlights the seamless integration of a RISC-V CPU with advanced GPU acceleration, setting the stage for high-performance Android experiences across a wide range of devices — from smartphones and tablets to smart TVs, automotive systems, and wearables.

One of the highlights is the quad-core Andes AX45MP CPU running at 2.2 GHz. This processor runs the Android kernel and is Andes’ most licensed CPU for operating system environments. It provides a balance of performance, power efficiency, and design.

Also featured is the NX27V Vector Processor operating at 1.5 GHz, with a 512-bit Vector Processing Unit (VPU). It is built for parallel data processing and is used for tasks such as machine learning, image processing, and signal processing.

Graphics acceleration is powered by the integrated Imagination BXT-32-1024 GPU, delivering:

• 48 Gpixels/sec fill rate
• 1.5 TFLOPS (FP32) floating-point performance
• Dual 4K display support at 60 fps
• Full support for modern graphics and compute APIs, including OpenGL ES 3.2, Vulkan 1.3, and OpenCL 3.0

This combination enables Android to run on RISC-V hardware.