Russian Chipmakers Showcase RISC-V and Arm Processors at ME26 Forum

Domestic Chip Development

At the Microelectronics 26 (ME26) forum in Sochi, Russian chip manufacturers showcased new processors based on RISC-V and Arm architectures. These developments occur as Russia faces geopolitical sanctions affecting access to Western hardware. The demonstrations used retro video games to illustrate the capabilities of the new chips.

Baikal Electronics BE-U1000 Microcontroller

Baikal Electronics presented its BE-U1000 microcontroller, featuring a CPU with three 32-bit RISC-V CloudBear cores: two BR-350s at 200 MHz and one BM-310 at 100 MHz. This microcontroller includes 256 KB of flash and 192 KB of SRAM, with support for external flash, and a range of I/O interfaces. The BE-U1000 is designed for applications such as robotics, industrial automation, IoT devices, and sensors. A business card-sized console and an NES-styled 'Ushka' console, both powered by the BE-U1000, were shown playing games like Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers.

Elvis Hypercom-U System-on-Chip

Elvis showcased the Hypercom-U, a System-on-Chip (SoC) equipped with four Arm Cortex-A53 CPU cores operating at up to 1.2 GHz, dual ELcore-50 DSPs, and a PowerVR GE8300 GPU. It also integrates dedicated processing blocks for video, image, and navigation. The Hypercom-U supports up to 8 GB of LPDDR4 memory and offers connectivity options including USB 3.0, Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and HDMI output. This SoC is targeted at multimedia systems, navigation devices, single-board computers (SBCs), and smart cameras. A board featuring the Hypercom-U was demonstrated running the original Super Mario game.

Elbrus Architecture Presence

MCST also displayed PCs based on its Elbrus architecture, a Russian-developed chip design intended for high-end desktop and server applications. Specific details on the Elbrus models shown were limited, but the Elbrus-16S chip, which features 16 cores, is a leading component in this architecture.