Silicomp RI : some words about us

Site Map | Job Vacancies | Contacting Us | Groupe Silicomp

General > About

History

The Research Institute at Grenoble was created in 1989, originally as a research lab of the Open Software Foundation, with a specific mission to develop operating systems technology in collaboration with European manufacturers (at the time Bull, Nixdorf, Philips and Siemens) and with academic research centers with strong competence in OS (Grenoble University, INRIA, CWI Amsterdam, etc), and to promote the Mach micro-kernel technology in Europe through various collaborations. The initial staff recruited were highly skilled engineers (PhD or MSc) in the areas of networking and operating systems.

The Grenoble lab focused specifically on the Mach microkernel developed at Carnegie Mellon University, and on the concept of a single server, that is an operating system personality running in user mode on top of the micro-kernel. In particular, it developed under contract with Apple the first version of Linux, called MkLinux, running on their PowerMac platforms.

Over time, the focus and the competence of engineers migrated from operating system kernel to middleware, with a focus on real time and networking technology. Simultaneously, competence was developed in the area of compilers and virtual machines with the ANDF project. ANDF, which stands for Architecture Neutral Distribution Format, and which is in some ways the ancestor of Java, as its objective was the same "Program Once, Run Everywhere". However, the technology was quite different: the ANDF code was not interpreted but directly translated into native code using compiler technology. The ANDF effort however paved the way to our Java Program.

Finally, in the last few years, as the Internet has become pervasive, the RI has developed an expertise in Internet security, including authentication, authorization and encryption. Examples of that expertise can be found in the Plugin Authorization Service (PAS) project, as well as the EU funded WIRE (Web Information Repository for the Enterprise) Project.

On 1st April 1999, the lab was acquired by Groupe Silicomp and became Silicomp Research Institute.

Business Model

The Research Institute was initially envisaged as a "shared R&D facility" for the Open Software Foundaiton Sponsors and this model worked well for some years. More recently, there has been a continuing trend of mergers and acquisitions within the industry and the number of companies that are candidates to participate in shared cost research and development projects has decreased. In addition, the large companies that dominate the industry are fiercely competing and have less interest in supporting collaborative projects whose benefits are shared, and thus do not help build unique differentiating value.

These factors are unrelated to the level of technical innovation and the technical track record of accomplishment of the RI. But, shared R&D has been declining over time, and we have migrated towards an exclusive licensing model, whereby the leading edge technology it develops benefits solely its investors. The development cost is higher but it creates a differentiating value.

Increasingly, the major part of funding came from industry, and these industry projects focus on products to be built upon technology delivered within a year. However research collaborations have been maintained so that the RI effectively remains a leading edge technological facility. Government funding, for example from the European Commission or from the Japanese MITI, continues to be sought to complement and leverage revenues from the industry.

The RI skills mostly reside in middleware, in particular:

Networking, including Internet protocols and security

Real time embedded systems, including embedded Java

Java components for electronic publishing

Middleware for industrial applications

Compiler/interpreter technology

Operating systems as the staff includes many engineers who have extended their OS skills to new domains.

Evolution

With its recent acquisition by Groupe Silicomp, the Research Institute has moved from a not for profit, standards oriented organization, to a technology solution and consulting services providing company. Within this new company, the RI has access to a broader set of resources, and this allows us to accompany our customers beyond advanced development prototypes to a full product development.

Companies contracting with the Research Institute benefit from:

An exceptionally talented team of engineers with a broad skill set and diverse backgrounds ranging from senior staff with extensive industry experience to recent top graduates. The staff is capable of top-notch research (as shown by ESPRIT or MITI funded research) as well as product development.

A proven, well managed, highly functional organization which has consistently met its obligations and its customers' expectations.

A continuing stream of government funded research, and a network of academic contacts, to maintain technological leadership and draw upon for industrial development.

Broad managerial competence in dealing with both government and industry, which extends to a wide array of contacts with various decision makers within these entities.

The whole set of technology solutions from Groupe Silicomp.

Home About Contacts Jobs

HOME