Rapid Silicon

Rapid Silicon is a company that specializes in providing a wide variety of domain-specific FPGAs tailored to diverse target applications across multiple industry verticals and PPA needs. Their FPGA technology is particularly designed for data transmission and conversion, bridging protocols, and packet processing within the telecom industry. Rapid Silicon’s solutions are optimized for both wireless and wireline technologies, including remote radio heads, base stations, backhaul, routers, switches, and gateways.

In the industrial sector, Rapid Silicon’s FPGAs are used in applications such as robotics, computer vision inspection, and predictive maintenance. For automotive applications, their FPGAs aggregate input from sensors and monitors using various in-vehicle communication protocols optimized for ADAS applications and are also used in infotainment systems like navigation, headrest-mounted displays, smartphone integration, in-vehicle Wi-Fi, and vehicle performance management and monitoring.

Rapid Silicon’s FPGAs are ideal for data processing applications requiring high-performance parallel processing capabilities, including data ingress and egress, signal processing, packet processing, video processing, compression and decompression, and encryption. Their first FPGA prototype chip is fully functional, and their debut PLDs, codenamed Gemini, are designed with a focus on integration, featuring a fine-grain parallel fabric of an FPGA, high-performance transceivers, and control and application capabilities with RISC-V and ARM processors. Gemini is built on TSMC’s 16nm FF process and includes elements such as 6-input fracturable LUTs, DSP blocks, true dual-port block RAM, and high-performance capabilities in hardened RISC-V, dual-core ARM A53 processors, 2166 Mbps external memory controller, and 16.3125 Gbps transceivers with hard PCI Express Gen-4 and Ethernet controllers.

The FlexNoc interconnect in Gemini provides a scalable, consistent interface that enables Rapid Silicon to quickly iterate silicon without disruption. The company also offers the Raptor Design Suite, the world’s first commercial FPGA EDA environment based on end-to-end open-source software, and RapidGPT, which enhances the FPGA design process with an intelligent, efficient, and seamless interface based on natural language. Their Vega eFPGA IP offers higher performance, reduced cost, IP protection, design assurance and compatibility, and IP security, with configurable tiles including CLB, BRAM, and DSP. Additionally, Rapid Silicon’s CXL 3.0 compliant IP enables seamless integration of CXL into FPGA design and supports advanced features such as lane bonding, multicast, and error correction.

Rapid Silicon raised $15M in the first close of its Series A funding from Cambium Capital and others. The Raptor EDA tool integrates various tools such as YoSYS for synthesis, VPR for placement and routing, OpenSTA for timing analysis, and Verilator for simulation. The company has offices in the United States, Pakistan, Armenia, and Malaysia.