The European fabless designer of high-performance energy-efficient processors for HPC, AI and data centres, SiPearl, launches its Athena1 processor for dual-use applications.
“In an era of geopolitical uncertainty, with cybersecurity issues and armed conflicts on the rise, Europe’s technological sovereignty is more and more inseparable from sovereign hardware, whether for civil applications or, more importantly, defence. It was therefore natural for SiPearl to capitalise on the expertise developed by its R&D teams in HPC to develop a new version of our first processor that perfectly meets the needs of dual-use purposes. As part of the roadmap entrusted to us by Europe to foster the return of high-performance processor technologies to the continent, Athena1 is the perfect complement to Rhea1 in helping to assert Europe’s strategic independence”, concluded Philippe Notton, CEO and founder of SiPearl.
Based on the unique expertise in Europe developed for the design of Rhea1 (SiPearl’s first generation processor, dedicated to HPC), Athena1 will offer features specifically tailored to the workloads of government, defence and aerospace applications. These include, for example, secure communications and intelligence, cryptography and encryption, intelligence processing, tactical networks, electronic detection or local data processing on vehicles.
In addition to its computing power, Athena1 will be characterised by its security and integrity. The Athena1 family will offer skus of 16, 32, 48, 64 or 80 Arm Neoverse V1 cores, depending on the power required for each application and their thermal constraints, among other factors. Detailed technical specifications will be announced at a later date.
The manufacturing of Athena1’s die will be entrusted to TSMC, the world’s leading independent foundry for advanced semiconductors. Packaging will initially be carried out in Taiwan, but packaging is targeted to be moved to Europe to help to grow this industrial ecosystem in Europe.
Athena1 will be commercially available in the second half of 2027.
