Platforms

Six capability families. One organisation.

A platform is a capability family, not a catalogue item. They are separated this way because a connected product almost never needs one in isolation — a tracker needs Connected Edge and Radio, a smart card needs Silicon and Secure, an inspection cell needs Vision and Connected Edge.

Faststream Silicon Faststream Radio Faststream Vision Connected Edge Faststream Secure Mobility & Rail

2foundry PDK relationships

PLATFORM 01

Faststream Silicon

Custom silicon, from a blank specification to a mask set.

Architecture, RTL, verification, design for test, static timing, physical implementation and mixed-signal integration — across mature and advanced nodes, chosen by what the application needs rather than by which number is smallest.

ASIC and SoC, architecture through tapeout
FPGA design and FPGA-to-ASIC conversion
UVM verification and coverage closure
DFT, ATPG and production test
Mixed-signal and analog integration
TSMC and GlobalFoundries PDKs

Explore Silicon RTL to GDSII — the full flow →

3.9–4.1%system EVM, published

PLATFORM 02

Faststream Radio

The block that decides what a radio site costs to run.

5G and O-RAN radio units, RF and baseband, software-defined radio, and satellite and non-terrestrial links. The digital front end is where amplifier efficiency is won, and the amplifier is where a network’s energy goes.

O-RAN radio unit IP: small cell, massive MIMO, macro
Digital pre-distortion and crest factor reduction
PHY datapath on FPGA and ASIC
Private 5G with multi-connectivity
Satellite modem and SDR platforms
IEEE 1588 network timing

Explore Radio The 5G protocol stack, layer by layer →

5–50 mstypical edge inference budget

PLATFORM 03

Faststream Vision

Lighting decides more than the model does.

Industrial machine vision built to run on a line that will not slow down: imaging chain, illumination geometry, encoder-locked capture, edge inference, PLC handshake and reject actuation — engineered in that order, because reversing it is the expensive mistake.

Surface, dimensional, presence and assembly
OCR, OCV and code grading
Illumination geometry by defect physics
Edge inference inside the cycle time
PLC handshake and part tracking
Drift monitoring and retraining

Explore Vision How inspection integrates with PLC and MES →

6link layers, one asset family

PLATFORM 04

Connected Edge

A prototype becomes a product at provisioning and update.

Everything between the sensor and the dashboard: acquisition, embedded firmware, wireless links, gateways, device protocols, factory provisioning, staged over-the-air update and cloud ingest. The unglamorous half is the half that decides support cost.

BLE, UWB, NFC, Wi-Fi and Thread
LTE-M, NB-IoT, LoRaWAN and NTN satellite
Multi-protocol gateways and edge processing
MQTT, MQTT-SN, CoAP, Modbus and OPC UA
Auditable factory provisioning
Staged OTA with rollback

Explore Connected Edge Designing over-the-air update before you ship →

4threats it explicitly does not cover

PLATFORM 05

Faststream Secure

Identity anchored in the part, not asserted by software.

Silicon-rooted hardware identity, verified boot, cryptographic subsystem integration, secure provisioning and anti-cloning properties. Described at property level, with the threat model and its boundary both stated — including what it does not cover.

Hardware-anchored device identity
Verified boot from immutable first stage
Cryptographic primitives and key handling
Auditable credential provisioning
Anti-cloning and tamper evidence
Low-power and contactless operation

Explore Secure Silicon root of trust, and its boundary →

12 mstiming error = 18 cm at 15 m/s

PLATFORM 06

Mobility & Rail

A system that cries wolf gets switched off within a fortnight.

Fleet telematics, ADAS integration, in-cab driver monitoring, sensor fusion and LiDAR-based railway corridor safety — environments where the sensor is dirty, the power is intermittent, the network drops for hours, and a false alarm costs as much as a missed detection.

Fleet telematics over CAN and OBD
Infrared driver fatigue and distraction
Camera, LiDAR, radar and inertial fusion
LiDAR corridor and track monitoring
Rugged design for vibration and thermal
Store-and-forward through coverage gaps

Explore Mobility & Rail Sensor fusion: timing before estimator →

HOW THEY COMBINE

Most programmes use two or three.

Which is the point of separating them this way. The combination is the normal case, and the boundary between two platforms is where a programme is most likely to stall.

Platform combinations by product type
Product	Primary platform	Also draws on
Cellular asset tracker with satellite fallback	Connected Edge	Radio, Silicon
Inline optical inspection cell	Vision	Connected Edge
Smart card or secure element	Secure	Silicon
O-RAN radio unit	Radio	Silicon
Rail corridor LiDAR safety system	Mobility & Rail	Vision, Connected Edge
Mixed-signal sensor ASIC	Silicon	Connected Edge
Fleet telematics unit	Mobility & Rail	Connected Edge, Radio

Platform, product, solution

A platform answers what domain we can work in. A product answers what you can license, buy or evaluate — it has a datasheet and a commercial model. A solution answers what business outcome can be delivered. ASIC design is therefore not a product: it is work that gets done, and it lives under System Integration.

COMMON QUESTIONS

What engineers ask before they call.

What is the difference between a Faststream platform and a service?

A platform is a capability family — the domain expertise and tooling Faststream maintains. A service is a specific engagement within it, such as RTL verification or timing closure, and those are described under System Integration.

Can a project span more than one platform?

Most do, and the boundary between two platforms is where programmes are most likely to stall. A cellular tracker with satellite fallback draws on Connected Edge for the device and cloud, Radio for the link budget and modem, and Silicon where custom hardware is involved.

Which platform should I start from?

Whichever matches the constraint that is binding. If the power budget will not close, start at Silicon or Connected Edge. If a defect is escaping inspection, start at Vision. If coverage is the problem, start at Radio.

KEEP READING

Related work.

PRODUCTS

Bring us the difficult part.

Tell us the specification, the constraint and the deadline. Programmes that cross silicon, radio, embedded and AI are where Faststream is strongest.

Start a project Request an architecture review