While many startups spend their nascent years in obscurity with few resources, Akeana shot out the gate with significant experience and funding. The San Jose-based company was founded in 2021 by a team of experienced server chip designers, with several of the founders directly involved in designing Marvell’s ThunderX2. Fast-forward roughly three years and Akeana has secured over $100 million in funding and employs 150 engineers worldwide.
Akeana’s mission is to innovate within the semiconductor sector with a comprehensive suite of customizable RISC-V-based processor IP solutions. The company offers alternatives to established architectures, such as Arm, by delivering high-performance and scalable processor IPs that can be tailored to meet specific application needs.
Today, the Silicon Valley startup has emerged from stealth mode with a new series of RISC-V processors. All About Circuits spoke with Bruno Putman, Akeana’s VP of sales and business development, to learn more about the company’s outlook with its new releases.
Akeana’s Low- to High-End RISC-V Processors
Akeana’s chip portfolio features three primary series, each designed to address different market needs with a focus on high performance and customization.
Akeana product families
Akeana 100
The Akeana 100 series is built around 32-bit RISC-V cores and targets applications ranging from embedded microcontrollers to personal computing devices. These processors operate at up to 3 GHz and offer a range of configurations, from single- to dual-issue, in-order architectures with four- to nine-stage pipelines. The architecture supports L1 and L2 caching, along with ICCM and DCCM, making it equivalent to Arm’s M- and R-series in terms of performance.
Akeana 1000
The Akeana 1000 series includes 64-bit RISC-V cores equipped with MMUs to support rich operating systems while maintaining low power consumption and minimal die area. These processors can scale from one- to four-wide issue, in-order architectures, optionally extending to a 12-stage, out-of-order pipeline. They support vector extensions of up to 512 bits and multi-threading capabilities for up to four threads, delivering performance in the range of 5 to 15 SPECint2006/GHz. This series is particularly suited for consumer electronics, automotive applications, and edge IoT devices, positioning itself against Arm’s A-series and Neoverse N1 cores.
“We’re the only RISC-V company with this high of a performance on the IP level that can compete with Neoverse N and the V-Series,” Putman said.
Akeana 5000
At the high end, the Akeana 5000 series offers 64-bit RISC-V cores optimized for data centers and high-performance mobile applications. These processors feature six- to 10-wide issue out-of-order architectures with 12-stage pipelines, achieving performance metrics between 15 and 25 SPECint2006/GHz.
Akeana’s high core count SoC
They integrate advanced vector processing capabilities and multi-threading support, mirroring the performance of Arm’s Neoverse N2, V1, V2, and Cortex X-series cores. The 5000 series is designed for maximum single-thread performance and robust multi-core scalability.
AI Matrix Accelerator
Akeana is also offering an AI Matrix Accelerator, which tightly integrates with the processor memory subsystems to optimize data movement and computation. Akeana developed its chips using standard SystemVerilog to extend significant design customization and flexibility. The solutions are also supported by integrated coherent interconnects and scalable mesh architectures, which further enhance their performance and scalability.
“Our configurable design is an industry breakthrough,” Putman said. “It comes from a single database. Everything is fully written in standard SystemVerilog. This allows us to mix and match features. If we develop a feature, we can pull it into any part of our roadmap.”
RISC-V Alternatives to the Entire Arm Roadmap
The company leverages the RISC-V ISA to emphasize flexibility and customization in its solutions. Akeana is actively involved in the RISC-V community, holding a seat on the RISC-V board of directors and participating in initiatives to advance the ISA’s ecosystem.
The company believes it has what it takes to compete with big players like Arm.
“Within three years and with 150 people, this team was able to cover the complete Arm roadmap—from low-end all the way to high-end,” Putman said.
Ultimately, the company hopes that its combination of experience, funding, and promising technology can find widespread adoption in AI servers to unlock new levels of flexibility and performance in the data center.
“The market is at a junction. AI is a whole new market, and it doesn’t rely on an established ecosystem from Arm anymore. We see that as a blind spot for Arm and an opportunity for us.”
All images used courtesy of Akeana.
