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KineticHDL AI Engine · IBM Bob Orchestration · Granite 4.1 · Lights-Out Silicon

The OpenPOWER Silicon Factory

AI-native. High-velocity. Lights-Out from intent to foundry-ready silicon.

We have fundamentally reimagined how silicon is designed, modernized, and manufactured — combining the legendary heritage of Power Architecture with Autonomous AI Agents. The world's first AI-native, high-velocity semiconductor development hub.

Hardware Intent IBM Bob Orchestration Heritage Core Arch HDL ISA 3.1C RTL Foundry GDSII
6
Heritage Core
Families
IBM Power11
Factory
Infrastructure
Granite 4.1
AI Intelligence
Engine
3 Fabs
Samsung · TSMC
· Intel
Lights-Out
Intent to
Silicon

The Heritage Modernization Pipeline

We take proven, mission-critical CPU cores and modernize them to ISA 3.1C specifications using an autonomous AI loop. Each heritage core family represents billions of hours of validated runtime — now available as a modern, foundry-ready starting point for your silicon program.

E1
Enterprise

E1 · Enterprise Core

Based on IBM A2 · HPC · Cloud

High-density scale-out cores built on IBM's proven A2 microarchitecture. The A2 powered BlueGene/Q supercomputers with unmatched energy efficiency and in-order parallelism — now modernized to ISA 3.1C with MMA matrix multiply, prefix instructions, and Radix-3 MMU for AI inference workloads.

G1
Gaming

G1 · Gaming Core

Based on Sony Cell PPE · Console

Edge and handheld gaming performance drawn from the Cell Broadband Engine's PowerPC Processing Element — the architecture behind the PlayStation 3. Modernized for VSX 3.1 SIMD, wide vector throughput, and sub-millisecond latency requirements of real-time gaming and edge AI.

S1
Space

S1 · Space Core

Based on BAE Systems RAD750 · Defense

Radiation-hardened logic for defense and space applications — built on the RAD750 that flew on the Mars Curiosity and Perseverance rovers. Our AI pipeline applies Triple Modular Redundancy via Arch HDL template instantiation, producing formally-proven ISA 3.1C logic safe for deep-space and military environments.

A1
Auto

A1 · Automotive Core

Based on NXP Power Architecture · ASIL-D

ASIL-D safety-compliant cores for next-generation ADAS and vehicle compute. Built on NXP Power Architecture silicon proven in automotive ECUs worldwide — modernized with ISO 26262 safety monitors injected into Arch HDL guard clauses, providing correct-by-construction functional safety guarantees.

N1
Network

N1 · Networking Core

Based on NXP QorIQ · Telecom

High-throughput communication logic built on the NXP QorIQ family — cores that power enterprise routers, 5G base stations, and data center switching fabrics. Line-rate FIFO and arbiter constructs are synthesized directly from Arch HDL, delivering consistent throughput and deterministic latency at scale.

Z1
Embedded

Z1 · Embedded Core

Based on Microwatt · FPGA

Small-footprint, FPGA-optimized cores built from Microwatt — the open-source POWER ISA 3.0 soft core maintained by the OpenPOWER Foundation community. Modernized to ISA 3.1C with bitmanip extensions and power-gating SPR synthesis, ideal for IoT, industrial control, and FPGA prototyping of custom silicon.

The AI Engine: IBM Bob & Granite 4.1

Reducing modernization timelines from years to weeks. IBM Power11 servers with Spyre AI Accelerators provide the compute backbone. IBM Bob orchestrates the entire agent swarm. Granite 4.1 provides the intelligence — fine-tuned on decades of IBM silicon expertise.

Infrastructure

IBM Power11 + Spyre

Our factory runs on IBM Power11 servers equipped with Spyre AI Accelerators — the same infrastructure IBM uses internally for silicon development. This provides the raw compute headroom for continuous, unattended AI agent operations around the clock.

Orchestration

IBM Bob Agent Swarm

IBM Bob manages a swarm of specialized agents covering the full development lifecycle — from logic refactoring and pipeline synthesis to physical layout and sign-off. Bob's Plan-Refactor-Verify loop ensures every decision is auditable, deterministic, and reversible.

Intelligence

Granite 4.1 LLMs

Granite 4.1 models fine-tuned on decades of IBM silicon expertise power the reasoning layer — ISA gap analysis, micro-architectural constraint extraction, and formal verification strategy. The models understand Power Architecture at a depth no general-purpose LLM achieves.

Stage 1 · Ingestion — "Digital Archaeology"

Bob Initiates the Modernization Playbook

Bob deploys a Granite-powered Architect Agent to ingest the heritage HDL repository. The agent identifies fixed micro-architectural constraints — the RAD750's radiation-hardened register structures, the QorIQ's networking pipeline — and extracts a full Micro-Architecture Specification. Bob generates a JSON Delta Map enumerating every ISA 3.1C gap: missing prefix instructions, MMA units, bitmanip opcodes.

Stage 2 · Refactor — Arch HDL Synthesis

Bob Delegates to the Hardware Engineer Agent

Bob assigns the Delta Map to a Hardware Engineer Agent fine-tuned for Arch HDL (arXiv:2604.05983). The agent writes new logic using Arch's LL(1) grammar and compile-time type checking — receiving immediate compiler feedback rather than silent bugs. Bob applies Transformation Skills for each vertical: ISO 26262 safety monitors for Automotive, TMR replication for Space. If archc returns an error, Bob feeds the log back for automatic self-correction.

Stage 3 · Sign-Off — Foundry-Ready GDSII

Deterministic Output + Full Audit Trail

Once Arch passes, the compiler emits clean, human-readable SystemVerilog (IEEE 1800-2017). Bob runs the integrated cocotb test suite against the ISA 3.1C compliance model, then triggers AI-driven physical design agents to generate pre-validated GDSII files for Samsung, TSMC, and Intel Foundry nodes. BobShell generates a complete audit log — every agent call, every compiler result, every self-correction — for legal and technical traceability.

The Toolchain: OSS MCP Server & IBM EDA

Two access layers serve two different mission profiles — open community participation and gated, mathematically-proven commercial silicon development.

Open Access — MCP Server

Open-Source Model Context Protocol

Our open-source MCP Server creates a standardized "remote control" for the world's most powerful hardware tools. The community can build connectors, audit implementations, and extend the server for custom EDA integrations — all under Apache 2.0. Model Context Protocol standardizes how AI agents communicate with EDA tools, enabling reproducible, auditable hardware development workflows at scale.

Apache 2.0 Community Connectors Arch HDL Integration cocotb Test Suite BobShell CLI ISA 3.1C Golden Model
Gated Power — IBM EDA Suite

IBM SixthSense · EINSTEIN · BooleDozer

IBM's enterprise EDA suite — SixthSense for physical layout optimization, EINSTEIN for formal equivalence checking, and BooleDozer for Boolean satisfiability-based verification — is gated through Platinum and Gold membership. These tools provide mathematical proof of correctness and precise timing analysis for advanced 5nm and 7nm processes, going beyond simulation to deliver foundry-grade assurance before tape-out.

SixthSense EINSTEIN BooleDozer JasperGold SymbiYosys VCS · Xcelium

Membership Tiers

Access to the OpenPOWER Silicon Factory scales with membership tier. Each level unlocks a different depth of engagement — from community R&D to full derivative certification rights with IBM patent protection.

Tier Annual Fee Key Benefits
Platinum $1,000,000 Derivative Certification Rights. Full IBM Patent Non-Assert on modified logic. Fast-Track validation for Samsung, TSMC, and Intel Foundry. Unlimited AI workflow runs. Private Granite 4.1 fine-tuning on your heritage core corpus. Access to the full IBM EDA Suite (SixthSense, EINSTEIN, BooleDozer) with priority engineering support. BobShell audit trail satisfies ASIL-D and DO-254 documentation requirements.
Gold $250,000 Reference Certification. Use and certify unmodified Heritage cores. Access to AI-driven Front-End verification and formal proofs via SymbiYosys and EINSTEIN. IBM Patent Non-Assert on ISA-essential claims for compliant implementations. Up to 5,000 AI workflow runs per month across four Heritage Core families (E1, G1, N1, A1).
Silver $10k – $60k Ecosystem Participation. Access to Apache 2.0 RTL repositories and community compute queues for R&D and education. Up to 2,000 AI workflow runs per month. Icarus, GHDL, and Verilator simulation backends. Ideal for universities, startups, and organizations evaluating POWER Architecture for future silicon programs.

The Foundry Council

Foundry-agnostic but Foundry-Aware. We work directly with Samsung, TSMC, and Intel Foundry — AI agents generate GDSII files pre-validated for 5nm and 7nm processes, eliminating the traditional back-and-forth between design teams and fab engineers.

Samsung
5nm · 4nm · 3nm GAA

Samsung Foundry partnership provides access to advanced gate-all-around process nodes. AI-generated GDSII files are pre-validated against Samsung Design Rule Checks, accelerating first-silicon success rates for Platinum members.

TSMC
7nm · 5nm · N2

TSMC's leading-edge nodes power the majority of advanced silicon globally. Our physical design agents are trained on TSMC-compatible design rules, producing GDSII that meets TSMC's stringent requirements for high-volume manufacturing at N7 through N2.

Intel Foundry
Intel 18A · Intel 3

Intel Foundry Services enables access to Intel's proprietary process technology including RibbonFET and PowerVia backside power delivery. Platinum members can target Intel 18A and Intel 3 nodes for leading-edge POWER-based silicon with differentiated PPA characteristics.

Why Choose OpenPOWER Silicon Factory?

Three structural advantages that no other semiconductor development platform can match.

Unmatched Heritage

Billions of hours of proven runtime in the world's most demanding environments — Mars rovers, PlayStation 3, BlueGene supercomputers, 5G base stations, automotive ECUs. Our Heritage Core families are not simulations of possible architectures. They are real silicon, battle-tested in production, now brought forward to the ISA 3.1C frontier.

Legal Security

Platinum membership provides the IBM Patent Umbrella, protecting derivative works from the "Patent Thicket" that has historically made POWER-based silicon risky for independent developers. IBM's Patent Non-Assert covers both ISA-essential claims and micro-architectural implementation patents for certified compliant designs — providing the commercial confidence needed for major silicon investment decisions.

Economic Disruption

For the cost of a few senior engineers, get an Automated R&D Department operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week — running logic refactoring, formal verification, physical design, and foundry validation simultaneously. The OpenPOWER Silicon Factory compresses a 3-year chip design program into weeks, fundamentally changing the economics of custom silicon development.

The only platform on Earth where you can "Imagine" silicon today and "Verify" it tomorrow.

KineticHDL AI. IBM Bob. Granite 4.1. Power Architecture Heritage. Samsung, TSMC, and Intel Foundry. Everything you need to go from hardware intent to foundry-ready GDSII — at a velocity the industry has never seen before.