eSilicon Takes Achronix 1.5 GHz FPGA Design to Production

First pass 65nm silicon produces excellent yields

SUNNYVALE Calif. and SAN JOSE Calif.–  December 17, 2009- eSilicon Corporation, a pioneering semiconductor value chain producer (VCP), and Achronix Semiconductor, makers of the world’s fastest field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), today revealed that they have successfully taken the Achronix Speedster 1.5 GHz FPGA to commercial production.  Achronix selected eSilicon to leverage eSilicon’s world-class physical design and supply chain expertise.

The first member of the Speedster family, the SPD60, is currently in production on TSMC’s 65nm G-Plus process technology. At the core of the Achronix FPGA is its patented picoPIPE acceleration technology. The core interfaces with 28 lanes of SerDes (up to 10.3 Gbps) and reconfigurable IOs including a physical interface (PHY) that supports many different interface protocols, including:  DDR1, DDR2, DDR3, SPI4, HT1, QDRII+ and RLDRAM. 

 “Working with the knowledgeable engineers at Achronix and with TSMC as our fab partner, we produced working first-pass silicon for this highly complex device,” said Hugh Durdan, COO at eSilicon.  “The production yields are excellent for a device of this complexity.  The project’s success is a testament to a high-quality work flow and efficient teamwork that is the hallmark of a true semiconductor value chain producer (VCP).”

“We selected eSilicon for their expertise in backend implementation, manufacturing and packaging,” said Ravi Sunkavali, vice president of Hardware Engineering at Achronix.  “They delivered on their promises with excellent service and innovation.  Their team and processes smoothly and efficiently moved the product from design to right-the-first time silicon production.” 

“Achronix first time silicon success through their efforts with eSilicon is a case study of three way collaboration and the supportive role TSMC plays to bring innovative designs to market in record time.  It is a testimony to technical ingenuity coupled with sound business practices of all parties involved,” said Dr. John Wei, Senior Director, Communication Business Development, TSMC.

About eSilicon

eSilicon, a pioneering semiconductor Value Chain Producer (VCP), provides a comprehensive suite of design, productization and manufacturing services, enabling a flexible, low-cost, lower-risk path to volume chip production. The company delivers application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) to system original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and fabless semiconductor companies who serve a wide variety of markets including the consumer, computer, communications and industrial segments. eSilicon - Enabling Your Silicon Success™. For more information, please visit www.esilicon.com.

About Achronix

Achronix Semiconductor is a privately held fabless corporation based in San Jose, Calif. Achronix builds the world's fastest field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) capable of up to 1.5 GHz peak performance. Achronix has sales offices and representatives in the United States, Europe, China, Japan, and Korea, and has research and design offices in Boston, Mass., Ithaca, N.Y., and Bangalore, India.