SecureLang® 232
SecureLang’s 232 CPU is a second-generation processor architecture for 32-bit and 64-bit microcontrollers. The 232’s lightweight system management features give it security options comparable to a real desktop or server CPU in a much smaller package.
This architecture is inspired by mainframe computers of ages past but is being optimised for use on cheap & modern FPGA packages. Custom silicon options may follow in the coming years.
Unique advantages of this design include extreme vertical integration options with your CPU, compiler, kernel and desktop GUI all available from the same vendor with customised design. The downside of this approach obviously is I can’t make every component the best available, so the processor in this case will be limited to microcontroller type applications unless any big businesses want to get involved.
Second-Generation In-House Design
The 232 architecture is a second-generation architecture originally based on my (founder’s) earlier “gen1cpu” project. The original project was 64-bit only, with the 232 update being characterised by also enabling a more lightweight 32-bit option. This makes the platform easier to test by hand on FPGAs and in general enables smoother automated testing for reliability as well because small updates can be tested first on a smaller build.
Supported FPGA Platforms
The original architecture was tested on Intel Cyclone, this worked okay for it’s purpose but was very cumbersome for builds. The updated version of the platform is tested primarily on Gowin FPGA hardware and SiPEED Nano Tang 20K (at least when testing smaller configurations). The chip and test framework currently take up around half of the space on the 20K, this is expected to improve a little but may also get more complicated if features are added or fixed.
Original Flagship® Product
This section will be replaced or updated…
SecureLang’s flagship product is a new programming language SDK which was mostly completed a couple of years ago but has only been demonstrated to a few individuals.
This product is a “bytecode” based system designed for static & dynamic typing, featuring template-driven programming and allowing for extreme levels of customisation.
Although the technology is okay, I made a very sane decision to withhold release to avoid what I call the “FFI crapware effect” when people launch new programming languages then start rapidly adding features without actually having an ecosystem to support the language. Seeing other tools get negative feedback for things like slow compilation time also caused me to reevaluate the competitive landscape and opt for a slow launch to make sure my significant efforts aren’t wasted.
So for this reason the flagship product remains “top secret” while I develop more conventional infrastructure to support the new system. For the short term my business will primarily be supporting “tried and tested” C-based techniques instead and I hope to also offer extended support for legacy languages like C, but it is possible to demo this new system for any clients who may be interested in next-gen technologies.
In the meantime, I am happy to work with alternative languages such as D (which in my view is actually still better than most other “C++ replacement” efforts, despite being a little rough around the edges sometimes).