Risc-V In Practice (part 2): Trap Handling & Debugging
 

Master exception & crash debugging, virtual memory, PLIC/CLIC, and trap analysis using Crash Utility and TRACE32
What you'll learn
✓ Understand trap operations, including exceptions and interrupts
✓ Analyze crash scenarios and perform systematic debugging
✓ Use Crash Utility and TRACE32 to inspect traps, interrupts, and fault conditions
✓ Understand interrupt controllers, including PLIC and CLIC
✓ Understand virtual memory, MMU behavior, and page table structures
Requirements
● Operating System
● Computer Architecture
Description
Master RISC-V architecture, assembly, calling convention and privilege modes. Debug real RISC-V systems using TRACE32, analyze Linux kernel and bootloader startup code, and prepare confidently for system software engineering interviews.
This lecture is the second part of RISC-V in Practice.
You will learn how to
• Explain trap operations (exceptions and interrupts) clearly in engineering interviews
• Understand interrupt controllers such as PLIC and CLIC in real systems
• Analyze crash scenarios and perform systematic debugging
• Use TRACE32 to inspect traps, interrupts, and fault conditions step by step
• Understand virtual memory, MMU behavior, and page table structures
• Analyze Linux kernel behavior during faults and exception handling with confidence
Why RISC-V Matters for Your Career
RISC-V is rapidly becoming a standard architecture for system and embedded software.
Leading semiconductor companies and startups adopt RISC-V for next-generation products:
• Adopted by leading semiconductor companies (e.g: Qualcomm, NVIDIA, NXP, and Infinion)
• Widely used in embedded and system software products
• Growing rapidly in AI and high-performance computing
• Actively researched in universities and graduate programs
• Increasingly required in system software interviews
RISC-V is becoming a core skill for embedded and system software engineers. Understanding RISC-V architecture and registers is now essential for low-level development. Companies expect engineers to debug RISC-V systems, not just write code. This course teaches real RISC-V internals using hands-on TRACE32 debugging.
If you work close to hardware, learning RISC-V accelerates your career growth.
Who this course is for
■ Embedded engineers using RISC-V for automotive, mobile, or IoT systems.
■ SoC and chipset engineers designing or integrating RISC-V processors.
■ Security engineers analyzing RISC-V binaries and system behavior.
■ Students seeking practical RISC-V architecture fundamentals.