Powering High-end Equipment Applications with ROCKCORE TECHNOLOGY
ROCKCORE TECHNOLOGY (RockCore) is a Taiwan-based startup that developed AMD+FPGA heterogeneous computing for next-gen semiconductor inspection and global defense. As one of the winners of the IC Taiwan Grand Challenge Batch 4 in the AI Core Technologies and Chips category, ROCKCORE TECHNOLOGY’s AMD+FPGA heterogeneous computing aims to address bottlenecks in high-end defense, IC substrate, and semiconductor equipment.
Technology Bottlenecks Still Jeopardize Critical Applications
AI has been adopted in various use cases to serve multiple functions. However, it is undeniable that one of the main purposes of the AI shift in organizations around the world has been to augment and improve human work performances. The massive AI adoption also highlights the reality of this major trend: that different applications have different needs from AI and different goals to fulfill with AI. For example, defense applications face a critical need for advanced, real-time tracking capabilities, especially to meet the rapidly growing demand and budgets for UAVs/ drones and high-end missile defense systems. At the same time, AI adoption also highlights an existing issue for AI deployment as the booming demand for AI servers has driven a massive demand for high-layer ABF substrates, creating strict manufacturing bottlenecks that require high-end, micrometer-level visual positioning and intelligent inspection equipment. ROCKCORE TECHNOLOGY's AMD+FPGA heterogeneous computing system (Advanced AI-FPC) is specifically designed for high-end equipment applications, including defense weapon systems and semiconductor/IC substrate equipment.
Introducing IC Taiwan Grand Challenge
To strengthen Taiwan's position as a global semiconductor powerhouse, the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) organizes the IC Taiwan Grand Challenge. Started in 2024, the competition originally focused purely on innovative IC designs and advanced application solutions. Today, ICTGC also honors teams in the fields of AI Core Technologies and Chips, Smart Mobility, Smart Manufacturing, Smart Medtech, and Sustainability, which can support and contribute to the semiconductor industry and Taiwan's industry in general. ROCKCORE TECHNOLOGY was selected as one of the winners of ICTGC Batch 4, featuring their AMD+FPGA heterogeneous computing technology in the AI Core Technologies and Chips category.
Delivering Ultra-precise Heterogeneous Computing for Next-gen Applications
ROCKCORE TECHNOLOGY was founded in 2019 and has a proven track-record of strategic partnerships with strong corporate shareholders, including investment from Taiwan’s ITRI (Industrial Technology Research Institute). Their core technical team has successfully executed multiple national-level R&D programs and applied research initiatives, while the leadership represents elites from various fields, including a chairman with experience in semiconductor equipment, R&D experts from ITRI, and senior executives with a military technology background.
ROCKCORE TECHNOLOGY's core technology is the AMD+FPGA Heterogeneous System (Advanced AI-FPC), which is specifically designed for high-end equipment applications, including defense weapon systems and semiconductor/IC substrate equipment. With this system architecture, the AMD CPU and GPU are responsible for handling the overall application operations and running generative AI models. In defense applications, this combined architecture is ideal for co-developing drones and countermeasure image tracking systems, addressing the critical need for advanced, real-time tracking capabilities in modern warfare to meet the rapidly growing demand and budgets for uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) and high-end missile defense systems. For IC substrate equipment, it allows for the co-development of advanced target alignment systems and target production systems for exposure machines.