Eliyan Corp., a startup that specializes in chip interconnects, revealed today that it has raised an additional $60 million from a number of well-known investors.
The Series B financing was headed by Tiger Global and Samsung Catalyst Fund. A number of other institutional investors joined them, including SK Hynix Inc., one of the biggest memory chip producers in the world, and Intel Capital. The funding comes after Eliyan secured a $40 million Series A investment in 2022.
“This investment reflects the confidence in our approach to integrating multichip architectures that address the critical challenges of high costs, low yield, power consumption, manufacturing complexity and size limitations,” said Eliyan co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Ramin Farjadrad.
Numerous cutting-edge processors available today are built on what is known as a “chiplet architecture.” Multiple semiconductor modules, sometimes made at various fabs, are assembled after fabrication to form a chiplet-based CPU. An interconnect component is used to join those modules into a single product.
NuLink is an interconnect provided by Eliyan. Apart from integrating chiplets into CPUs, this technology can also be used to integrate processors with memory modules. A significant portion of some processors, most notably AI accelerators, have integrated memory that is used to store data from applications.
NuLink can deliver up to four times the performance of comparable technology at half the price, according to the company. Chipmakers may now develop CPUs that are quicker and use less power thanks to this.
Eliyan says that a characteristic called simultaneous bidirectional signaling plays a part in NuLink’s speed. Tiny wires are used in many interconnects to connect chiplets. These wires usually have a maximum data send and receive capacity of one at a time. Eliyan’s simultaneous bidirectional signaling capability doubles the performance of each wire by enabling it to send and receive data concurrently.
Besides boosting chip speeds, the company says NuLink can also ease processor development.
A “interposer” is a common implementation for interconnects. This is a rectangular, flat piece of silicon that serves as the foundation of the processor and transports data between its chiplets. During production, the chiplets are positioned on top of the interposer.
Fast data transfer rates are made possible by interposers, however they can be challenging to design and produce. Eliyan claims that its NuLink technology offers a less complicated substitute that lessens the work required to create new processors. Additionally, the business claims that by “getting the absolute maximum performance” out of the onboard interconnect, their method can improve interposer-based circuits as well.
The most recent investment round for Eliyan follows a significant technological advancement. The business revealed today that it has completed a new version of NuLink, which is based on the most recent three-nanometer manufacturing process from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. The enhanced interconnect can handle up to 64 gigabits of data flow per second per link, according to the company.