CPU Wars: AMD and Intel, Make Way To Silicon Pearl
Is Parisian company SiPearl ready to compete?
The communiqué about Graviton2 by Amazon might have shaken Intel and AMD. After all, Amazon is a client of the companies mentioned above. This is part of something we can all look forward to in tech this 2020. But now, this might actually be the time where both companies should worry.
Silicon Pearl or SiPearl might be a rookie in the field, but it sure has big ambitions in the space of HPC. This French company recently made an announcement that it had signed a huge contract with the popular semiconductor company ARM. SiPearl is the identity behind the fabless semiconductor company that was given the opportunity to design the pioneer CPU built intended for the European Processor Initiative or EPI. The Parisian firm will utilize ARM IP or the Zeus Neoverse CPU to create the latest set of CPUs, which will be named Chronos, Rhea, and another model that is still unnamed.
EPI project
The European Commission supports the company in this EPI project. The stated objective of the EPI is to design and administer a roadmap for the latest set of low-power European processors that would work for supreme level computing, many different evolving applications, and high-performance Big Data.
In four years, the three models of processors are anticipated to be created. The timeline of the project was ambitious and risky. Thus, SiPearl will work hand in hand with two other Parisian companies, namely Menta and Kalray. The technology of both companies will play a huge part in the development of the processors.
What the future holds?
For the incoming future, SiPearl doesn’t have any plans to create and distribute consumer-focused products. However, the future is bright for this French company as it embarks on a journey towards creating a roadmap for an automotive central processing unit and automotive POC. From here, consumers will have the chance to see how the company performs, as well as the quality of their products.
Typically, the presence of a fabless CPU company with huge ambitions wouldn’t spark the declaration of war between AMD and Intel. However, given the fact that the European Processor Initiative supports SiPearl, it only means that more funding is available for the French company to utilize. The European Union allocates €6.2 million to launch the project, and they are also planning to raise funds to support their very own processor evolution until the target launch.
To clear everything, SiPearl won’t participate in competing against the giants in this field, such as Altra from Ampere, Xeon range from Intel, or Epyc family from AMD. However, this company is something to watch out for since its debut project is set to challenge the big names in this industry. Europe aspires to create an HPC unit that has the ability to go head to head with many different global giants. Until then, AMD and Intel might have to avoid slugging each other if they want to preserve their high-rank position and still become relevant in the consumer market.