S2C and Andes Technology Announce FPGA-Based Prototyping Partnership to Accelerate Advanced RISC-V SoC Development

SAN JOSE, Calif., April 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- S2C, a global leader in FPGA-based prototyping solutions, and Andes Technology, a premier provider of high-performance, low-power RISC-V processor IP solutions, today announced the results of a strategic collaboration designed to significantly enhance FPGA prototyping capabilities for developers of advanced System-on-Chip (SoC) devices. The partnership leverages S2C's new Prodigy™ S8-100 FPGA prototyping platform, based on the AMD Versal™ Premium VP1902 adaptive SoC, to deliver unprecedented capacity and flexibility for modeling, prototyping, and software development using Andes' cutting-edge RISC-V cores.

Historically, FPGA prototyping faced capacity limitations, restricting SoC developers' ability to integrate multiple RISC-V cores along with subsystems like Network-on-Chip (NoC), DDR, PCIe® controllers, and more. The Prodigy S8-100 platform addresses these challenges by offering a single FPGA version with up to 100 million logic gates – providing ample capacity for Andes' most advanced RISC-V processors, including the customers' differentiating extensions enabled by the Andes' Automated Custom Extension (ACE) framework, and additional IPs.

The Prodigy S8-100 family also includes larger configurations with two or even four VP1902 adaptive SoCs, scaling capacity up to 400 million logic gates per system. This substantial increase in logic capacity enables full SoC validation in hardware, significantly reducing development cycles, optimizing performance modeling, and accelerating software development before production silicon becomes available. Moreover, the platform supports S2C's extensive library of nearly 100 daughter cards to support applications ranging from networking, storage, and multimedia to generic IOs facilitating efficient interface modeling and simulation without sacrificing FPGA logic resources.

"The collaboration between S2C and Andes marks a significant step forward for the RISC-V community, offering advanced SoC developers a powerful and cost-effective FPGA-based prototyping solution," said Ying J Chen, Vice President of S2C. "Our Prodigy S8-100 platform uniquely addresses the evolving complexity of RISC-V-based designs, helping developers validate their innovations early and confidently accelerate time-to-market."

Emerson Hsiao, President of Andes Technology USA, stated: "Andes continues to drive innovation in high-performance RISC-V cores tailored to AI, automotive, and high-performance computing, and many of our customers further differentiate by adding their own extensions with our ACE framework. Partnering with S2C provides our customers with the critical advantage of robust, large-capacity FPGA-based prototyping, allowing them to prove-out their customizations early, ultimately accelerating their time-to-market with Andes-based RISC-V SoCs."

"Designed for emulation and prototyping, the AMD Versal Premium VP1902 adaptive SoC is uniquely positioned to address cutting-edge development challenges," said Mike Rather, senior product line manager, AMD. "As the industry's largest FPGA-based adaptive SoC, the Versal VP1902 adaptive SoC empowers engineers to push the boundaries of technology, offering high performance, scalability, and connectivity in a single device. With its advanced emulation and prototyping capabilities, it is a catalyst for groundbreaking innovations in next-generation semiconductor innovation."

Live Demonstration at Andes RISC-V Con
The S2C Prodigy S8-100 system will be demonstrated live at the Andes RISC-V Con, themed "RePioneering the Future," on April 29, 2025, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in San Jose. Attendees are invited to visit the S2C booth to experience firsthand the advanced FPGA-based prototyping capabilities that will drive the next wave of RISC-V-based innovation.

To learn more about the Andes RISC-V Con event, please visit the registration site.

About S2C
S2C is a global leader in FPGA prototyping solutions, providing scalable, reliable, and flexible hardware platforms that accelerate system validation and software development for semiconductor companies worldwide. For more information, visit www.s2cinc.com.

About Andes Technology
As a Founding Premier member of RISC-V International and a leader in commercial CPU IP, Andes Technology (TWSE: 6533; SIN: US03420C2089; ISIN: US03420C1099) is driving the global adoption of RISC-V. Andes' extensive RISC-V Processor IP portfolio spans from ultra-efficient 32-bit CPUs to high-performance 64-bit Out-of-Order multiprocessor coherent clusters. With advanced vector processing, DSP capabilities, the powerful Andes Automated Custom Extension (ACE) framework, end-to-end AI hardware/software stack, ISO 26262 certification with full compliance, and a robust software ecosystem, Andes unlocks the full potential of RISC-V, empowering customers to accelerate innovation across AI, automotive, communications, consumer electronics, data centers, and mobile devices. Over 16 billion Andes-powered SoCs are driving innovations globally. Discover more at www.andestech.com and connect with Andes on LinkedIn, X, Bilibili and YouTube

AMD, Versal, and combinations thereof are registered trademarks of Advance Micro Devices, Inc.