The goal is to create a scalable ecosystem for special processors for the Internet of Things
The research project Scale4Edge aims to drive the development and use of trustworthy special processors in Germany. Under the coordination of Infineon Technologies AG, twenty two partners from business and academia will join forces over the next three years. Initial results from the research project are already expected by the end of this year.
“The trustworthiness of electronics is a vital factor, especially for applications in the Internet of Things, such as Industry 4.0, autonomous driving or medical solutions,” said Dr. Reinhard Ploss, CEO at Infineon. “Scale4Edge aims to advance technological expertise in Germany in the field of special processors around the open source architecture RISC-V. This expands our technological capabilities, increases our competitiveness and will contribute to the progress of digitalization.”
Work in progress
The German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is funding Scale4Edge with around 17.3 million euros as part of its flagship initiative “Trustworthy Electronics.” Scale4Edge is intended to help expand the expertise that is needed along the value chain in the field of edge computing – that can operate beyond the cloud. – in Germany. This includes IP and tool providers, semiconductor companies and manufacturers of IoT end products from various fields, such as automotive, industry and home automation or aerospace technology.
“Germany is an innovative country and aims to stay that way,” emphasized Anja Karliczek, the Minister of Education and Research on the project launch. “With all the competence in the country, we have what it takes to assert ourselves internationally in key technologies such as microelectronics and to act with technological sovereignty.”
The demand for ever more powerful and at the same time trustworthy special processors is immense and I am firmly convinced that we will be able to successfully set standards worldwide if we combine our strengths. I am pleased that many committed participants are now working together on the Scale4Edge project with precisely this goal in mind. I am sure that Scale4Edge will receive a powerful boost through the support of my ministry in the amount of 17.3 million euros. I wish all participants every success”.
Purpose of the initiative
The goal is to create a scalable ecosystem for edge computing around the RISC-V architecture. This will enable a wide range of special applications in industry, right through to the smart home or autonomous vehicles. Edge computing describes the execution of software at the intersection between the digital and real world and is thus not in the cloud. Development times for application-specific processors should be shortened and costs reduced. Furthermore, application-specific integration of hardware and software will help optimize energy efficiency, performance, safety and security.
Microelectronics and their chips are a huge lever for application markets. Therefore, an initially targeted project like Scale4Edge has the potential to strengthen Germany’s competitiveness in a very broad range of application areas and to further advance digitalization.
Further information is available at: https://www.edacentrum.de/projekte/Scale4Edge
