Inttegral Solutions is building an R&D center in Armenia to test chips using a Siemens supercomputer
YEREVAN, May 20. /ARKA/. Armenian semiconductor company Inttegral Solutions has begun construction of a new office and research center in Yerevan's Engineering City. The complex will house high-tech infrastructure for the design, testing, and verification of microchips, including the Veloce emulator purchased from Siemens, which the company describes as a supercomputer for verifying chips before production.
A commemorative capsule was laid in the foundation stone of the future building on May 20 by Armenian Minister of High-Tech Industry Mkhitar Hayrapetyan and Inttegral Solutions co-founders Armen Baldryan and Eduard Musaelyan.
From Architecture to a Technological Mission
Chief Architect and Project Team Leader Semyon Barseghyan stated that the architectural concept for the future complex draws on the imagery of Armenian monastic ensembles, particularly Sanahin, while simultaneously embracing a contemporary style.
According to him, the project is conceived not simply as an office building, but as a space for intellectual work and social interaction: the complex will feature open spaces, relaxation and discussion areas, a library, free-work areas, and a terrace overlooking Mount Ararat. The finishing materials will include basalt, travertine, and modern sun protection glass.
"This is practically a research center, and we are honored to be part of the birth of this idea, which is aimed at the future," Barseghyan noted.
He estimates that construction is expected to be completed in approximately two to two and a half years.
A full-cycle Armenian chip design company
Eduard Musaelyan, co-founder and director of Integral Solutions, stated that the company not only designs integrated circuits but also verifies them, effectively closing a key part of the chip development chain.
He emphasized that modern microelectronics requires fundamentally new approaches to testing. While verification accounted for up to 30% of the entire chip development process in the 1990s, today, according to him, its share reaches approximately 80%.
"Modern chips are verified using emulators, or, as we say, supercomputers, because there is simply no other option," Musaelyan said.
The Siemens Veloce emulator installed by Integral Solutions allows for testing of chip architecture even before physical production, identifying errors, and reducing rework costs. According to Musaelyan, such an infrastructure can double the speed of designing complex microchips.
The supercomputer is already operational, and once construction of the center is complete, it will be relocated to Engineering City. In the future, several similar systems could operate on a single site.
From AI Models to AI Chips
A separate area that Inttegral Solutions intends to develop in Armenia involves the use of artificial intelligence in microchip design and the creation of AI chips.
Musaelyan noted that today, Armenia can lay claim to being more than just a user of AI technologies.
"We want to not only create AI models and design chips, but also develop AI chips in Armenia. Artificial intelligence can help create more advanced solutions even at the chip design stage," he stated.
According to him, Inttegral Solutions hopes that the new infrastructure will make Armenia more attractive to startups and companies working in the semiconductor industry, as it will allow for faster and more accessible validation of new ideas.
A New R&D Center and Hundreds of Engineering Jobs
Armenia's Minister of High-Tech Industry, Mkhitar Hayrapetyan, called the Inttegral Solutions project an important step in the country's transition from a service export model to the creation of its own high-tech products.
According to him, the new center will become one of the key domestic R&D projects in the field of semiconductor design. It will serve not only the company's own interests but also provide infrastructure to other Armenian engineering companies and, in some cases, universities.
"A new supercomputer center will be built in Engineering City, which will serve not only Inttegral but the entire engineering community," Hayrapetyan said.
The minister announced that 300-400 engineering jobs are planned to be created in the new Inttegral Solutions complex. The center will cover the full cycle of research and design work—from concept and theoretical development to prototyping, testing, and verification of solutions.
While the actual industrial production of the chips will be carried out abroad at specialized factories, the intellectual property and development of the final product will remain Armenian.
According to Hayrapetyan, the emergence of companies like Inttegral Solutions means that Armenia is gradually developing its own engineering ecosystem with high added value—from chip design to testing and validation.
Groundbreaking Ceremony
A message placed in a commemorative capsule along with a bottle of cognac states that Inttegral Solutions was established as an Armenian semiconductor company to develop integrated circuits of strategic importance of Armenian origin.
It will contribute to Armenia's continued progress in engineering and high-tech fields, stimulating the country's economic competitiveness and productivity growth, while also strengthening Armenia's security. Inttegral Solutions, together with the Ministry of High-Tech Industry and private sector partners, will contribute to the formation of an Armenian semiconductor cluster, the development of the semiconductor industry, and the creation of world-class Armenian high-tech products.
Signatories: Mkhitar Hayrapetyan, Armen Baldryan, Eduard Musaelyan.
