Flex Logix and the Air Force Research Laboratory Expand their License to Include any Flex Logix Technology for Research and Chip Prototyping in all Available Processes including Radhard

Enables any US Government-funded research programs and activities to use reconfigurable computing IP for no license fees

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – March 7, 2022 – Flex Logix® Technologies, Inc., the leading supplier of embedded FPGA (eFPGA) IP, architecture and software, announced today that it has signed a broad license with the Air Force Research Laboratory, Sensors Directorate (AFRL/RY) covering any Flex Logix IP technology for use in all US Government-funded programs for research and prototyping purposes. Via funding from the Under Secretary of Defense Research and Engineering's Trusted and Assured Microelectronics, this new agreement greatly expands the availability of process technologies and reduces the cost barriers for leveraging the reconfigurability, low power and security benefits of eFPGA in government-sponsored programs.

Tenet3, a system security engineering firm that provides digital engineering solutions to reveal hidden cyber risks in systems, software, and hardware, facilitated the agreement. Tenet3 has extensive experience working with the US Government and commercial customers to inspect third-party intellectual property in microelectronics. Jeff Hughes, Tenet3 founder and former AFRL senior leader and anti-tamper expert said, “Tenet3 is proud to help get the right tools and technologies in the hands of AFRL Sensors Directorate researchers."

“Our first license with AFRL for EFLX® eFPGA in GlobalFoundries 12nm process was highly successful, with more than a half dozen projects licensing EFLX in the first year,” said Geoff Tate, CEO and Co-founder of Flex Logix. “Since many USG programs start with successive proof-of-concept chips before the programs are fully funded for production, it made sense to expand our agreement to include other process nodes. Those programs will now have access to Flex Logix products in foundry processes ranging from low-power 40nm to 7nm, including radiation hardened by design implementations and future supported processes such as 5nm.”

AFRL Sensors Directorate is leading research and development of future capabilities for Trust and Assured Microelectronics, promoting the adoption of innovative, next-generation solutions to build a resilient supply chain for advanced, secure, and reliable microelectronics.

“Research into new capabilities and technologies are critically important for the development of current as well as state-of-the-art, next-generation platforms supporting our warfighters,” said Yadunath Zambre, AFRL's Chief Microelectronics Technology Officer. “Expanding our license with Flex Logix allows all USG programs to leverage its eFPGA technologies across a broad choice of current and future processes. These types of licenses collectively provide technology options for the USG to improve its cost, schedule, and to increase trust and assurance in the supply chain.”

Using Flex Logix’s EFLX, chip developers can implement eFPGA from a few thousand LUTs to hundreds of thousands of LUTs with performance and density per square millimeter similar to leading FPGA companies in the same process generation. EFLX eFPGA is modular so arrays can be spread throughout the chip, can have all-logic or be heavy-DSP, and can integrate RAM in an array of many types.

Leveraging Flex Logix’s patented interconnect used in EFLX, Flex Logix has developed InferX®, an AI inferencing tensor accelerator that delivers the highest throughput per dollar compared to other edge inferencing solutions. The combination of EFLX, InferX and a host processor creates a cohesive programmable and reconfigurable cognitive system.

Product briefs for EFLX eFPGA are available now at https://www.flex-logix.com/resources/

About Flex Logix

Flex Logix is a reconfigurable computing company providing AI inference and eFPGA solutions based on software, systems and silicon. Its InferX X1 is the industry’s most-efficient AI edge inference accelerator that will bring AI to the masses in high-volume applications by providing much higher inference throughput per dollar and per watt. Flex Logix’s eFPGA platform enables chips to flexibly handle changing protocols, standards, algorithms, and customer needs and to implement reconfigurable accelerators that speed key workloads 30-100x compared to general purpose processors. Flex Logix is headquartered in Mountain View, California and also has offices in Austin, Texas. For more information, visit https://flex-logix.com.