Today marks a major milestone for our team at Efficient Computer: The Electron E1 processor, our first standalone hardware release, is available for hands-on developer use. This marks the first opportunity for developers to work with both the company’s latest chip and effcc Compiler, together.  

‍

With industry-leading energy efficiency and general-purpose programmability, the Electron E1 processor unlocks the ability to build intelligent applications that were previously too power- or compute-constrained to deploy, at scale.

‍

Why We Built the Electron E1 Processor 

Our team of engineers and developers were collectively frustrated with the limitations of traditional von Neumann processors, which consume excessive energy shuttling data between memory and compute cores. We knew that true efficiency would require a fundamental rethinking of how we design processors.

‍

That’s why we took a different approach with the Electron E1 processor. Based on a decade’s worth of research at Carnegie Mellon University, we built our Fabric architecture from the ground up to deliver radically better energy efficiency for general-purpose computing applications. The Electron E1 processor is built on this spatial dataflow architecture, which executes general-purpose code while eliminating the need for costly step-by-step computation.

‍

The result is up to 100× improvement in energy efficiency over traditional low-power CPUs, enabling intelligent applications at the edge with years-long lifespans in environments where power and maintenance are limited.

‍

Integrating Hardware and Software: The Only Path to Real Efficiency 

We’ve often found that software becomes an afterthought when developing new hardware, but integrating the two is a key element of energy efficiency and general-purpose computing. To achieve this high level of efficiency and performance with our Fabric architecture, we developed a compiler in tandem with our hardware. In addition to the Electron E1 processor, we’re also making our effcc Compiler downloadable for the first time. This tool allows developers to port code written in familiar programming languages, like C, to the Fabric processor architecture to maximize performance and efficiency.

‍

Previously available only through our effcc Compiler Playground, the compiler can now be integrated into existing toolchains, bringing both the Electron E1 processor and the effcc Compiler together for the first time to the general public.

‍

Engaging with the Engineering Community 

We’re thrilled to now be partnering with engineering teams who are ready to build with our latest hardware and software. We’re actively partnering with developers for hands-on engineering support, including collaborative optimization and code tuning, to help push the boundaries of what’s possible with the Electron E1. With industry-defining energy efficiency and general-purpose programmability, the Electron E1 architecture is uniquely positioned to serve industries including industrial infrastructure, space systems, defense, and wearables—areas where battery life, latency, and large-scale deployments haven’t previously been practical.

‍

A New Era for Efficient Computing

We’re excited to introduce this groundbreaking spatial dataflow design, as it means that developers no longer have to choose between performance and efficiency. We believe the next generation of energy-efficient computing is here, and we can’t wait to see what new possibilities the Electron E1 processor and the effcc Compiler unlock.

If you’re ready to work with us, please visit Introducing the E1. We look forward to bringing you one step closer to energy efficiency!