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Achronix Semiconductor was formed in 2004 to develop ultra high performance (>1 GHz) and extreme environment (-260°C to +130°C and radiation hardened) FPGAs and ASICs based on synchronous and asynchronous designs. Achronix has an exclusive license to four patents from Cornell Center for Technology, Enterprise and Commercialization (CCTEC), Cornell University’s IP management and licensing arm. The company is self funded and does not plan to seek additional capital. Achronix has 4 employees.

Using a novel asynchronous design technique that is one of the core IP components of Achronix, the Achronix-ULTRA line of ultra-fast FPGAs offers the highest performance ever offered by a CMOS FPGA, in a high density and low cost package. While offering speeds in the 700MHz to 1.2GHz range, the Achronix-ULTRA line of FPGAs feature all-synchronous interface electronics for simple integration into existing designs, a set of software tools to convert synchronous design flows to asynchronous logic, and a low power architecture that consumes significantly less power than leading FPGAs available today.

Building on the patented asynchronous designs of the Achronix-ULTRA product line, the Achronix-XTREME product line offers GHz speeds with reliability in high radiation environments and over a 390°C temperature range (from -260°C to +130°C).

Achronix recently prototyped its Achronix-ULTRA line of high speed FPGAs. The Achronix FPGA, based on commercially available 180nm CMOS technology, operates at speeds of over 650MHz, at lower power than state-of-the-art FPGA products from leading programmable logic vendors. At 90nm, performance should be at least doubled. In Q1/Q2, a 90nm device will be fabricated by CMP, a foundry broker similar to MOSIS, that will operate at speeds over 1 GHz. In 2H’06, the first products in the Achronix-ULTRA line will be released.

John Lofton Holt, founder, Chairman and CEO (previously led Saber Security Solutions, a small security technology and venture capital consulting firm in Washington, DC and a founding member of the Booz Allen Hamilton Commercial Information Assurance Consulting Practice)

Dr. Rajit Manohar, founder & CTO (currently on sabbatical leave as an Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Cornell University)

Dr. Clinton Kelly, IV, VP of Advanced Research (previously led numerous research and product development programs related to ultra-low-power asynchronous microprocessors and FPGAs)

Dr. Virantha Ekanayake, VP of Engineering (also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Johns Hopkins University)