The nonprofit, open-source organization, The Linux Foundation, and RISC-V International, the global open hardware standards organization, have announced the new RISC-V Foundational Associate (RVFA) certification exam.

According to the companies, this release is designed to test functional knowledge of the RISC-V instruction set architecture.

The RVFA exam is intended for anyone pursuing a career as an embedded systems engineer, RTL design engineer, design verification engineer, software developer, or documentation engineer. 

Additionally, interested candidates should already have a knowledge of git, advanced programming languages, debuggers like GDB, and system architecture (ISA).

Programming or design experience is also preferred and candidates may also find it helpful to have completed some computer science, software engineering, computer engineering, or electrical engineering coursework.  

“The increasing interest and adoption of RISC-V are driving global demand for talent, and employers value a RISC-V knowledge base,” said Calista Redmond, CEO of RISC-V International. “As RISC-V continues to proliferate everywhere, it is important that we collaborate with our members and partners such as the Linux Foundation to ensure we have programs in place to train talent around the world and meet the continuously increasing demand.”

The companies stated that the multiple choice exam is timed at 90 minutes and covers several areas, including the RISC-V ISA; embedded hardware design such as IoT, medical, and automotive applications; the ability to code in RISC-V assembly language; the ability to use toolchains like GCC and LLVM; and an understanding of RISC-V calling conventions.

The RVFA exam is now available for registration for $250. For more information and to register for the exam, click here.