Exactly. As a new entrant, it is impossible for us to immediately enter the mass markets dominated by the majors. Consequently we adopted a strategy of targeting an increasing set of niche markets that have been poorly server by the majors and their products, and then going after larger markets as we grow in resources.
This market strategy dictates the ability to produce many specialized products with small sales for each. That can't be done in the million-monkeys development approach used by the majors, which is why the majors neglect these markets. So we adopted a specification-based design strategy.
In turn, the design strategy dictates the development strategy: first the specification tools; then the assembler and simulator so we could try out various designs in small test cases and improve the architecture; then the tool chain so we could measure real quantities of code and confirm the ISA and macro-architecture. Then, and only then, write what manual RTL is left that the generators working from the specifications can't handle. The combined RTL must be verified, and it is much easier and cheaper to do that in an FPGA than with fab turns. As the message says, the FPGA is next.
Lastly, we will pick a particular market and specify the ideal product for it, run the spec through the process we have been so long building, and the fab gives us something in a flat pack.
Which won't work, of course. The first time, anyway :-)
Ivan, Thank you very much for this comment. I have been struggling to communicate similar problems related to scale in the biological sciences. The methodology needed to discover something new is far too "specialized" for the techniques used by the "majors" to be economically viable. I have been pushing for a specification based approach and your account here is the perfect articulation in support of it. I was lucky enough to spot the Mill talks when they first appeared and have been following along from the sidelines. I will keep cheering and look forward to more progress. Best of luck to you and the whole Mill team!
This market strategy dictates the ability to produce many specialized products with small sales for each. That can't be done in the million-monkeys development approach used by the majors, which is why the majors neglect these markets. So we adopted a specification-based design strategy.
In turn, the design strategy dictates the development strategy: first the specification tools; then the assembler and simulator so we could try out various designs in small test cases and improve the architecture; then the tool chain so we could measure real quantities of code and confirm the ISA and macro-architecture. Then, and only then, write what manual RTL is left that the generators working from the specifications can't handle. The combined RTL must be verified, and it is much easier and cheaper to do that in an FPGA than with fab turns. As the message says, the FPGA is next.
Lastly, we will pick a particular market and specify the ideal product for it, run the spec through the process we have been so long building, and the fab gives us something in a flat pack.
Which won't work, of course. The first time, anyway :-)