>Essentially it is shortform for standardising a set of optional instruction sets into a bundle.
This is a common misconception. RVA22 is not just a bunch of profiles, but 2022's OS-A Platform.
Platforms do, among many things, require profiles, which are what you've described. In this particular case the RVA22 platform requires the RVA22 profiles.
From your link, documenting profiles, there's an entire section[0] addressing the difference.
The actual platform specification can be found here[1].
This is a common misconception. RVA22 is not just a bunch of profiles, but 2022's OS-A Platform.
Platforms do, among many things, require profiles, which are what you've described. In this particular case the RVA22 platform requires the RVA22 profiles.
From your link, documenting profiles, there's an entire section[0] addressing the difference.
The actual platform specification can be found here[1].
[0]: https://github.com/riscv/riscv-profiles/blob/main/profiles.a...
[1]: https://github.com/riscv/riscv-platform-specs/blob/main/risc...