UST and KITVEN invests in Calligo Technologies for developing POSIT-powered RISC-V solution

UST and Karnataka Information Technology Venture (KITVEN), through its Semi-Conductor Venture Fund and SFAL have jointly invested in Calligo Technologies for developing a Posit enabled RISC-V multicore processor (System-on-chip) to power accelerator boards targeting HPC & AI segments under ‘Make in India’ initiative.

The SoC code-named TUNGA is capable of doing computations using the Posit Number System (PNS) and will be powered by the RISC-V processor integrated with the Posit Numeric Unit (PNU), creating a highly power-efficient and computationally accurate core CRISP (Calligo RISC-V with Posit). The alpha version consisting of ASIC silicon and the accelerator card is planned for release by the end of 2022.

Commenting on the innovative product development, Gilroy Mathew, VP & Global Head of Semiconductor Engineering, UST, said, “UST is always at the forefront of innovation. Our joint effort to develop CRISP-based SoC will transform us to build more innovative AI & HPC Silicon Chipsets for our worldwide customers.”

UST and Calligo believe that Posit is a game-changing, disruptive invention at a grass-root level that can create new standards for computing. Posit Numeric Unit (PNU) takes less circuitry than IEEE FPU. For the same number of bits, Posit gives a much better accuracy, higher dynamic range and entropy per bit, thus allowing the replacement of 64-bit floats with 32-bit Posit safely in many cases. By 2023, the world of computing devices is expected to grow exponentially from 10 to 25 Billion, primarily due to the high demands in the market segments like mobile, automotive, embedded and IoT. TUNGA SoC will be able to power these segments from edge to datacentre.

Anantha Kinnal, Chairman and Managing Director, Calligo Technologies, said, “In building TUNGA SoC, Calligo will expand from its software-only focus to end-to-end Product offering consisting of Silicon, Board, Firmware, Software and Applications for the emerging markets. Calligo’s accelerator board, as an add-on to any standard Server, is expected to significantly increase the performance of HPC and AI systems. Bluespec’s Octopus will be an integral part of this overall solution.”

Karnataka IT Venture (KITVEN) CEO, Mr. A. R. Jayakumar quoted, “Our vision is to provide long-term capital to early and growth-stage start-ups in the State of Karnataka in specific focus areas to enable them to build competitive products and solutions. We are thrilled to invest in Calligo and aid their product development in accelerating HPC and AI workloads.”

SFAL through its eco-system has enabled Calligo with EDA tools and silicon manufacturing.