XMOS

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British fabless semiconductor company

title: "XMOS" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["microcontroller-companies", "fabless-semiconductor-companies", "technology-companies-established-in-2005", "semiconductor-companies-of-the-united-kingdom", "british-brands", "2005-establishments-in-england", "british-companies-established-in-2005"] description: "British fabless semiconductor company" topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XMOS" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary British fabless semiconductor company ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]

Field	Value
name	XMOS Limited
type	Private
industry	Semiconductors
founded	July 2005, Bristol, UK
hq_location_city	Bristol
hq_location_country	United Kingdom
key_people	Mark Lippett (CEO & President)
products	Voice controllers, Multicore microcontrollers, xCore, xCORE-200, xCORE-AUDIO, xCORE-VOICE, xCORE VocalFusion, xTIMEcomposer
website
brands	xCORE, VocalFusion
::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/XCORE_XS1-AnA_processor.jpg" caption="xCORE XS1-AnA processor"] ::

XMOS is a fabless semiconductor company that develops generative systems-on-chips designed to integrate control, input/output, digital signal processing, and artificial intelligence functions. The company's XCORE platform enables users to generate customizable system-on-chips with real-time reconfigurability and deterministic parallel architecture, enabling developers to execute multiple tasks simultaneously.

History

XMOS was founded in July 2005 by Ali Dixon, James Foster, Noel Hurley, David May, and Hitesh Mehta. It received seed funding from the University of Bristol enterprise fund, and Wyvern seed fund.

The name XMOS is a loose reference to Inmos. Some concepts found in XMOS technology (such as channels and threads) are part of the Transputer legacy.

In the autumn of 2006, XMOS secured funding from Amadeus Capital Partners, DFJ Esprit, and Foundation Capital.{{cite news | title = XMOS raises $16 million in Series A funding | author = Peter Clarke | url = http://www.eetimes.eu/201804397 | newspaper = EE Times Europe | date = 2007-09-06 | access-date = 2009-02-02 | title = Funding Boost for U.K. Chip Firm Aiming at Amazon, Apple Voice-Control Market | author = Stefan Nicola | url = https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-07/infineon-eyes-amazon-apple-voice-control-market-with-xmos-stake | newspaper = Bloomberg | date = 2017-09-07 | access-date = 2017-09-07

In July 2017, XMOS acquired SETEM,{{cite web |url=http://www.newelectronics.co.uk/electronics-news/xmos-acquires-setem-technologies-to-drive-the-development-of-next-generation-voice-interfaces/157333/ |title=XMOS acquires Setem Technologies to drive the development of next generation voice interfaces |publisher=new electronics |date=2017-07-10 |author=Neil Tyler |access-date=2017-07-10 |archive-date=26 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200826014923/https://www.newelectronics.co.uk/electronics-news/xmos-acquires-setem-technologies-to-drive-the-development-of-next-generation-voice-interfaces/157333 |url-status=dead |author=Clive Maxfield |url=http://www.embedded.com/electronics-blogs/max-unleashed-and-unfettered/4458616/XMOS---Setem-could-be-a-game-changer-for-embedded-speech |title=XMOS + Setem could be a game-changer for embedded speech |publisher=Embedded.com |date=2017-07-12 |access-date=2017-07-14}} a company that specialises in audio algorithms for source separation.

In 2019, XMOS raised $19 million in funding from Harbert European Growth Capital and existing investors.

In December 2023, XMOS signed a joint development agreement with Sonical for Headphone 3.0 technology.

Products

Xmos designs multicore microcontrollers under the XCORE series. While the second generation launched in 2015, had dedicated audiocontroller spun off and were used in soundboards as well as headphone amplifiers, the third generation was launched in 2020 and focused on applications within the AIoT. The fourth generation added RISC-V compatibility and was announced in December 2022.

In 2025, it announced a recategorisation of its XCORE hardware, defining it as a Generative System-on-Chip (GenSoC), a type of SoC that is specifically designed to accommodate generative AI-based natural language tools.

XC programming language

XC is a programming language developed by XMOS to support real-time, embedded, and parallel programming on the company's xcore processor architecture. It is designed to provide deterministic execution and fine-grained concurrency, enabling software-defined solutions for time-critical applications such as audio processing, industrial control, and communications.

XC was introduced by XMOS in the late 2000s as part of its toolchain for programming xcore processors. It was designed to offer a high-level abstraction for expressing parallelism and hardware interaction, building on the principles of the occam programming language and the Communicating Sequential Processes (CSP) model developed by Tony Hoare.

Over time, XMOS has shifted its development tools toward standard C and C++ compilers, but XC remains a key part of the legacy toolchain and is still supported in the XTC Tools suite.{{Cite web |title=XMOS Software Tools |url=https://www.xmos.com/software-tools/ |website=XMOS |access-date=2026-01-01

Design and Features

XC combines elements of C with concurrency and communication constructs inspired by occam. Key features include:

Parallelism: Built-in support for concurrent tasks using the par construct.
Communication: Channel-based communication between tasks, enabling deterministic message passing.
Hardware Abstractions: Language-level primitives for interacting with hardware resources such as:
- port for I/O
- timer for precise timing
- lock for mutual exclusion
Events: A mechanism unique to xcore that enables low-latency, interrupt-free signaling between hardware and software components.{{Cite web |title=Programming xcore using FreeRTOS – XMOS |url=https://www.xmos.com/programming-xcore-using-freertos |website=XMOS |access-date=2026-01-01 |archive-date=17 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240917225130/https://www.xmos.com/programming-xcore-using-freertos |url-status=dead

XC is supported by the XTC Tools suite, which includes:

Standards-compliant C/C++ compilers
XC compiler
Simulator and symbolic debugger
Runtime instrumentation and trace libraries

Execution Model

XC programs are compiled and executed on xcore processors, which feature multiple logical cores capable of executing tasks in parallel. The language allows developers to statically assign tasks to cores and define communication topologies using channels. This model supports deterministic execution, making XC suitable for applications requiring precise timing and low-latency I/O.

Current Status

As of version 15.3 of the XTC Tools, XMOS has shifted its focus toward using standard C for xcore programming, citing broader developer familiarity and ecosystem support. However, the XC language remains available and continues to be used in legacy and specialized applications.{{Cite web |title=Transitioning from older tools releases – XTC Tools v15.3 |url=https://www.xmos.com/documentation/XM-014363-PC/html/tools-guide/tools-ref/transitioning/index.html |website=XMOS |access-date=2026-01-01 |archive-date=13 November 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251113201720/https://www.xmos.com/documentation/XM-014363-PC/html/tools-guide/tools-ref/transitioning/index.html |url-status=dead |title=XC to C cheat sheet |url=https://www.xmos.com/documentation/XM-014363-PC/html/prog-guide/prog-ref/cheat.html#cheat |website=XMOS |access-date=2026-01-01 |archive-date=13 November 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251113061625/https://www.xmos.com/documentation/XM-014363-PC/html/prog-guide/prog-ref/cheat.html#cheat |url-status=dead

References

"XMOS 2025 Company Profile: Valuation, Funding & Investors {{!}} PitchBook".
(2018-06-25). "SETsquared Bristol case study: XMOS".
Wiggers, Kyle. (2020-02-13). "XMOS unveils Xcore.ai, a powerful chip designed for AI processing at the edge".
"Transputer inventor gets funding for his latest semiconductor start up".
(2014-07-21). "XMOS Adds Bosch, Huawei and Xilinx as Strategic Investors to Complete $26M Investment Round".
(2006-10-02). "Transputer inventor gets funding for his latest semiconductor start up".
(2017-07-14). "XMOS acquires Setem Technologies, Inc., to drive the development of next generation voice interfaces".
(2017-07-12). "XMOS + Setem could be a game-changer for embedded speech".
"XMOS secures $19M funding to accelerate growth".
Flaherty, Nick. (2023-12-08). "Sonical, XMOS team on Headphone 3.0 dongle".
(2015-03-23). "XMOS shipping hi-res audio". electronicsweekly.com.
(2020-02-17). "EVGA Nu Audio Pro Review: Who Needs a Sound Card in 2020?". tomshardware.com.
(2019-08-28). "miniDSP Launches IL-DSP Tiny Headphone Amplifier Based on XMOS xCORE-200". audioxpress.com.
(2020-02-10). "XMOS adapts Xcore into AIoT 'crossover processor'".
(2022-12-12). "Brit chip company picks RISC-V for next-gen microcontrollers". theregister.com.
(2023-05-30). "XMOS Joins RISC-V Ecosystem". eetimes.com.
Ward-Foxton, Sally. (2025-10-08). "GenAI Can Raise Level Of Abstraction For XMOS Tools".

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