The SEGGER Linker has been developed from the ground up to create executables for Embedded Systems.
For RISC-V, it shrinks the size of the resulting programs by up to 15%, shortens link time, delivers a detailed map file and provides more flexibility.
Based on the same code as the SEGGER Linker for ARM, which is well-proven in SEGGER’s integrated development environment “Embedded Studio for ARM”, it has inherited a number of noteworthy features, such as integrated integrity check generation with a number of algorithms (CRCs and hashes), the ability to automatically place code and data in non-contiguous regions, and prioritise data into fast memories.
To achieve this improvement in code density, the RISC-V linker uses a combination of various optimisation strategies such as, ordering code and data in the most efficient way to use short addressing modes, as well as replacing code sequences with more efficient ones, along with the use of spring-boarding technologies.
“This new version of Embedded Studio for RISC-V sets a new standard. The code size reduction achieved by the new linker is astonishing,” claimed Rolf Segger, Founder of SEGGER. “In combination with the included start-up code, runtime library and floating-point library emFloat, which are all highly optimised for RISC-V, it is amazing how small and efficient the resulting RISC-V programs can be. Simply re-linking your application with the SEGGER Linker can reduce code size.”
