My Experience Completing the RVFA Exam and the RISC-V Fundamentals (LFD210) Course

Over the past few weeks, I took an important step forward in my RISC-V journey: I completed both the RISC-V Fundamentals (LFD210) course from The Linux Foundation and the RVFA (RISC-V Foundation Associate) certification exam. Together, these experiences significantly deepened my understanding of the RISC-V architecture, its ecosystem, and its long-term potential.

This blog is a reflection of that learning—how I prepared, what I learned, how challenging the exam was, and why the combination of the course and certification has made me more confident in RISC-V both academically and professionally.

Finally I got the certification!

Why I Took LFD210 and the RVFA Exam

Being deeply involved in RISC-V—through research, teaching assembly at UCSC, participating in mentorships, and contributing to open hardware projects—I wanted an official, structured foundation that ties everything together. The LFD210 course seemed like the perfect starting point, and the RVFA certification was an ideal way to formally validate my knowledge.

RISC-V is expanding rapidly across academia and industry, and earning a certification backed by RISC-V International and The Linux Foundation feels like a meaningful milestone.

Learning Through the LFD210: RISC-V Fundamentals Course

The RISC-V Fundamentals course (LFD210) turned out to be extremely comprehensive. It covers everything from the ISA basics to the broader ecosystem, software toolchains, the privilege model, firmware stack, and operating systems.

The course resources include direct links to the official ISA specification, curated resources, simulators, and foundational articles that shaped the RISC-V movement. (These references appear throughout the course resource document.)

Here are the topics I found most impactful:

1. A Clear Big-Picture View of RISC-V

The course begins with an overview of RISC-V, the motivation behind it, and the history—from UC Berkeley roots to today’s ecosystem of hundreds of companies.

The resource list links to excellent primers like The RISC-V Reader and Krste Asanović’s writings, which helped me understand not just what RISC-V is, but why it exists.

2. Deep Dive Into the ISA (RV32I and Extensions)

The sections on instruction formats and pseudoinstructions were especially valuable. Even though I had a strong foundation in teaching RISC-V assembly at UCSC, I found new clarity in the way LFD210 explained:

  • R/I/S/B/U/J formats
  • Sign extension rules
  • Pseudoinstructions and assembler behavior
  • Encoding and decoding instruction fields
  • Immediate layouts

The included references to the official Unprivileged ISA manual and the Privileged Architecture made it easy to cross-verify concepts.

3. Privilege Levels and the RISC-V Memory Model

One of the strongest sections was on the privilege architecture—something many new learners overlook. The course explains:

  • Machine mode
  • Supervisor mode
  • User mode
  • Traps and exceptions
  • SBI (Supervisor Binary Interface)

This helped me better understand modern RISC-V OS support (Linux, FreeRTOS, Zephyr) and why the SBI is crucial in real-world platforms. The reference links to the SBI specification and OpenSBI deep dives were extremely useful.

4. Assembly Programming and Debugging

Chapter 8 covers assembly programming, simulators, debugging workflows, and useful tools. Even though I use RARS, Spike, and QEMU regularly, I appreciated how the course emphasized:

  • Venus simulator
  • Ripes visual simulator
  • Reference card resources
  • Assembly programmer manuals

This reinforced best practices I can share with the students I teach as a TA.

5. High-Level Languages and Compiler Internals

The sections on C programming, GCC, Clang, and LLVM were enlightening. They provided visibility into:

  • how compiler attributes map to RISC-V
  • RISC-V calling convention
  • inline assembly constraints
  • optimization flags

These insights are crucial for understanding RISC-V performance and future hardware support.

6. Full-Stack Understanding

The final chapters cover:

  • Firmware
  • Bootloaders
  • Operating system support
  • Kernel-level considerations

All of which contribute to seeing RISC-V as a complete platform, not just an ISA.

The RVFA Exam: My Experience

After completing the course, I scheduled and took the RVFA certification exam.

Exam Difficulty

Moderate.

I wouldn’t call it easy, but it’s fair. If you’ve completed LFD210 plus spent time coding in RISC-V assembly (which I do daily while TA’ing), it is very manageable. The exam tests your understanding of:

  • Basic ISA structure
  • Instruction formats
  • Privilege levels
  • Memory model
  • Pseudoinstructions
  • RISC-V ecosystem and philosophy
  • Toolchain basics
  • ABI concepts

It is not a trick exam—it rewards true understanding.

How LFD210 Helps With the Exam

Almost the entire exam maps to the materials highlighted in the course resource document. You are expected to know:

  • What each chapter emphasizes
  • What the ISA guarantees
  • How modularity works
  • What the privilege modes imply
  • How assembly flows on RV32I

All of these are thoroughly covered in LFD210, with references to official specs, curated lists, simulators, and ABIs.

By revising the course content and re-reading the ISA references, I felt prepared and confident.

My Exam Outcome

I passed — and more importantly, I felt that the exam genuinely assessed my foundational understanding, rather than superficial memorization. The certification validates the knowledge I have built through:

  • teaching RISC-V
  • participating in RISC-V mentorships
  • working on RISC-V verification research
  • using RISC-V in academic and open-source settings

It felt like a formal checkpoint in my RISC-V journey.

Why These Two Achievements Matter

Completing both LFD210 and RVFA allowed me to:

1. Strengthen my fundamentals

Even as someone deep into RISC-V research, reviewing the basics systematically was incredibly helpful.

2. Understand the ecosystem better

The course exposes you to the entire landscape: firmware, compilers, ABIs, debuggers, and OS support.

3. Gain a credential that reflects my expertise

As RISC-V grows, certifications like RVFA will become valuable markers of proficiency.

4. Teach students more effectively

My TA duties now feel enriched—I can explain ISA rules, privilege models, and ABI details with much more clarity.

5. Reinforce my research direction

The deeper understanding directly benefits my verification and chip design automation work.

Final Thoughts

Both the LFD210 course and the RVFA certification were meaningful, transformative experiences. They strengthened my technical depth, broadened my understanding of the RISC-V software-to-hardware stack, and gave me renewed confidence in both teaching and research.

If you are stepping into the world of RISC-V—whether as a student, a developer, or a researcher—I highly recommend pairing this course with the certification. It is one of the best ways to build and validate a solid foundation.

RISC-V continues to grow rapidly, and I am excited to keep contributing to the ecosystem with sharper skills and stronger fundamentals.