Syntacore

Syntacore — one of suppliers of RISC-V of compatible cores with the design center in St. Petersburg. The company contributes significantly to development of RISC-V technologies, offering a line of processor IP with a command set of RISC-V and the corresponding tools.

Main areas of competences of a command: the high-performance built-in cores with low power consumption; the instructions of the processor optimized under applications (ASIP); reconfigurable architecture; compilers.

History

2019: Entry into an ecosystem of "IKS of Holding"

On November 5, 2019 ICKX Holding reported to TAdviser that the Yadro company entering it purchased a control share (51%) in Syntacore company — the domestic developer of microprocessor and microcontroller cores based on an open architecture of RISC-V. Investment became a part of long-term strategy of Yadro on expansion of the presence at adjacent segments of IT market.

Syntacore has steady positions in fast-growing global market of processor IP (Intellectual property) and specialized semiconductor solutions. The amount of this market in 2018 was more than $25 billion dollars, and in the 2025th it will reach $100 billion. Purchase of a control share in such company is an opportunity for "IKS of Holding" not only to participate in satisfaction of the growing world needs for the optimized chips for networks communications 5G Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and autonomous systems, but also to build a product portfolio for Russian the market based on the modern microprocessors developed in our country, noted the director of technologies of Yadro company Ikoyev Artem

Yadro and Syntacore companies have general principles of technology development which are based on close global collaboration. Yadro is a member of the Platinum Member level in consortium OpenPOWER Foundation which provided in August, 2019 to open access architecture of a command set (Instruction Set Architecture, ISA) for microprocessors — Power ISA. Whereas Syntacore — one of founders and leaders of the RISC-V Foundation international consortium which purpose consists in development and promotion of an open microprocessor architecture of RISC-V.

RISC-V is an alternative to such global standards as x86 from Intel used in processors of personal computers and separate lines of servers and also ARM from ARM Limited which is applied in smartphones and other consumer electronics. Both competing architecture have pluses. However potentially RISC-V will exceed x86 and ARM in the speed of calculations and energy efficiency that does it by the good choice for microcontrollers, devices of Internet of Things and the built-in systems. Other advantage of RISC-V — absolute openness, lack of a royalty, architectural ease and laconicism (if x86 comprises over 1.5 thousand instructions, then RISC-V — only about 50).

Partnership with Syntacore will allow Yadro company to increase localization of the servers and storage systems, to create ready-made completely domestic solutions under the brand based on the RISC-V components and without use of microprocessors of Intel or AMD which deliveries can be at any time limited to sanctions.

We are glad that such professional and ambitious command with technology competences of global scale joins us. Specialists of Syntacore have special value - it is one of experienced and dear collectives in the world. Development of microprocessor architecture — the most difficult industry of computer sciences. Education of engineers takes decades, all of them worth its weight in gold. Therefore it is extremely important that we managed to save talents for the Russian market, but not to lose them, as usual, having given all to the foreign companies which in large quantities are buying up domestic specialists told the managing director of Yadro company Alexey Shelobkov

RISC-V gains popularity not only in segments of the specialized and optimized systems where millions of microprocessors based on cores with this architecture, but also in a segment of microprocessor technologies of general purpose are already produced. So, in August, 2019 the architecture of RISC-V was selected for implementation of the European processor initiative (European Processor Initiative, EPI). Its tasks include creation of microprocessors and accelerators for creation of the European supercomputer of an ekzamasshtab and the last generation of the systems of autonomous transport; start of a line of processors for cloud DPCs with the improved characteristics. At the same time one of the declared project objectives is ensuring technology independence of the European Union in strategically important field of technologies.

For November, 2019 Syntacore licenses microprocessor cores of own development to a great number of partners in Russia and abroad. The client and partner network includes the companies in Europe, Asia and the USA. The most part of revenue is the share of foreign markets so far. Products based on processor technologies of the company are created on project regulations from 180 to 7 nanometers. The number of the released microprocessors using IP cores of Syntacore is calculated by hundreds of thousands of pieces.

We will allocate the raised funds for expansion of geography of presence of the company and start of business models of interaction with the design centers of microelectronics which are the main consumers of our products, explained the CEO of Syntacore Alexander Redkin

The TerraVC fund acted as one of early investors of Syntacore. He invests in the commands developing difficult copied technologies in the field of energy efficiency and IT. The fund actively is present at the markets of Russia, the USA, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Within the taken place transaction TerraVC left the capital of Syntacore company.