The royalty-free, groundbreaking control board and firmware help Bitcoin mining companies to be agile by perpetually tuning for hashrate targets, minimizing mining downtime.
TORONTO, July 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — ePIC Blockchain, a pioneer in blockchain technologies, today reveals that the Universal Mining Control (UMC) product line has achieved a new milestone. The UMC board and custom firmware empower Bitcoin mining enterprises to automate crucial mining parameters and to extend mining uptime. The ePIC UMC and customised firmware now support the M30 and M50 series of Bitcoin miners. Support for other models will soon be released.
By using the Perpetual Tuning feature, the ePIC UMC and firmware automatically adjusts the system to a user-specified hashrate target at the best efficiency. It throttles down when approaching critical shutdown temperatures to minimize mining downtime.
ePIC UMC allows users to change power settings without rebooting the miner. For companies that participate in demand response with power companies, the implication is that the fleet of miners is now able to respond to incoming power curtailment requests with agility. Along with Perpetual Tuning, Bitcoin mining firms can now extend the uptime per day of their machines.
Earl Mai, CTO of ePIC Blockchain, stated, “Our goal is to empower Bitcoin mining enterprises by enhancing their existing fleets. We take pride in offering customer-focused solutions to optimize operating costs and maximize profitability, even in extreme environments.”
“I am pleased to see ePIC Blockchain’s innovation on the mining hardware stack. Their UMC solution has the potential to improve the operating efficiency and performance of mining hardware across manufacturers and models. As Bitfarms is always looking for ways to further improve our operating performance and utilization of our mining assets we welcome this kind of innovation.” noted Ben Gagnon, Chief Mining Officer at Bitfarms.
About ePIC Blockchain Technologies
Based in Toronto, Ontario, ePIC is a leader in semiconductor and system design for Proof of Work (PoW) Blockchains. ePIC offers customized mining rigs, rigs based on the latest Intel® Blockscale™ technology, and fleet enhancement technologies that streamline and automate the performance and efficiency of a mining fleet.
TEL AVIV, Israel, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Chain Reaction, a semiconductor company focused on disruptive blockchain and privacy hardware, and ePIC Blockchain, a Bitcoin mining system leader, announced today they are collaborating to produce ePIC’s next-generation hashing systems for Bitcoin mining. The systems, expected in late 2023, will be based on Chain Reaction’s EL3CTRUM ASICs.
The Bitcoin network is headed towards one zettahash per second of computation speed, necessitating wider adoption of advanced technology. Additionally, as the projected halving in mid-2024 approaches, Bitcoin miners are eagerly sourcing and securing hardware that can provide ever-increasing efficiency.
Partnering to leverage their expertise in ASICs, GPUs, network design and system domains, Chain Reaction and ePIC Blockchain are delivering high-performance and efficient solutions for the Bitcoin proof-of-work problem. This partnership will facilitate scalability and help meet the rapidly evolving requirements of the industry.
ePIC is leveraging Chain Reaction’s expertise and knowledge to deploy new generations of hardware that will benefit its customers.
“We are excited to partner with ePIC Blockchain to deliver the next generation of high-performance hashing systems for Bitcoin mining,” said Alon Webman, CEO of Chain Reaction. “Bringing together our cutting-edge ASICs with ePIC’s expertise in BTC hashing systems enables us to provide data centers with a great opportunity to add capacity.”
“At ePIC Blockchain, we are committed to driving innovation in the BTC mining industry with high efficiency hashing systems,“ said Jim Seto, CEO of ePIC Blockchain. “We are excited to build systems based on Chain Reaction’s best-in-class products and utilize their engineering expertise.”
About Chain Reaction
Chain Reaction is engineering the future of disruptive blockchain and privacy technologies. The company accelerates compute performance, enabling organizations to adopt and scale solutions to the world’s most complex problems. Partnering with cloud and data centers, Chain Reaction transforms compute infrastructure with custom ASICs and systems that optimize for low-power, high-performance compute. Purpose-built and custom-designed, its solutions power the next generation of secure, scalable, and green computing to help protect people, privacy, and the planet.
Based in Toronto, Ontario, ePIC is a leader in semiconductor and system design for Proof-of-Work (PoW) Blockchains. ePIC offers customized mining rigs, including rigs based on the latest Intel® Blockscale™ technology, and fleet enhancement technologies that streamline and automate the performance and efficiency of the mining fleet.
Not too long ago, ePIC rolled out the SC200 Mining Rig for the Siacoin network. This milestone was the culmination of hard work and perseverance of a small, but talented team. Now, looking back, we are so proud of this achievement. It is easy for industry arm-chair quarterbacks to downplay the efforts it takes to design and to produce a mining rig. They would often say, “it’s just a few lines of code.” That may be so for an algorithm, but math alone is not enough to make a profitable mining rig.
From concept to reality, the path to producing a product requires many steps:
designing, fabricating, and testing the mining ASIC
integrating all the components on the PCB
validating the performance and power of the hashboard
modeling the air flow and heat dissipation through the chassis of the rig
developing firmware to control the performance of the rig
writing software APIs to communicate with the external world
implementing factory tests for quality control
We encountered many challenges along the way, and we took them all in stride, making them into valuable learning opportunities.
What has happened in the last 12 months?
Customer Engagement
Not only did we learn how to bring a product to market from scratch, but along our journey we learned a tremendous amount about our mining customers — especially, their challenging and ever-changing requirements. To that end, we introduced ePIC’s Universal Mining Control (UMC) and companion firmware. These ePIC offerings are compatible with mining systems and enable enterprises to maximize the full potential of their mining fleet. The UMC and firmware will allow mining fleets to respond quickly to fluctuations in their requirements, most notably, the changes in power. Fleets will be able to ramp up and ramp down quickly accordingly. Enterprises can respond to power costs, coin prices, curtailments, and so on with the API to control performance and efficiency.
Supply Chain
As a company that produces physical products, we understand the critical importance of supply chain management. The past two years have emphasized this. We have already built strategic relationships with key suppliers, such as TSMC and ST Micro. As we grow our business, we have engaged multiple vendors, and even collaborated with them to make improvements. One such example is with PSUs — to make them more efficient while keeping the costs reasonable. By taking ownership of the supply chain, from materials to place of manufacture, we ensure that our products are robust with a low failure rate.
System Integration
We have a track record of bringing all these things together. But more than that, we understand how all the components work with each other through fine-tuned system integration. From the semiconductors to the software, from the PSUs to the heat dissipation, each of these components has a number of input variables that must be considered such as operating frequency, voltage, output performance, power efficiency, and so on. We can build systems that are tightly integrated, but have the agility to respond to the customer’s requirements, which are usually driven by market dynamics.
Hashboards exiting the SMT Line
Best-in-class FW and GUI
Intel Blockscale
With everything that we have learned and with all the skills and know-how we’ve developed, we are excited to be working on a Bitcoin miner using Intel’s Blockscale chip. Our talented team is well-equipped to design and to deliver this system. Intel’s advanced technology on Blockscale requires experienced engineering.
The Blockscale chip has a wide operating range. This allows for flexibility, but it also creates serious technical challenges. The chip has temperature and voltage sensing capabilities, which we can read, among other parameters. We can then program the chip to find the “sweet spot” for hashing. But, as one can imagine, the temperature and voltage will fluctuate, and many adjustments will need to be made to keep that chip operating in a stable state. All this is for just one chip.
Now, scale this effort to the multiple hundreds of chips in a single mining system. It would be simplistic to think that each chip would be operating identically on a hashboard, and treating them all the same would not maximize the full potential of the hashing power.
Now, scale this effort again, to the thousands of mining rigs that are in a fleet of miners. The engineering effort is enormous.
True to our Fundamentals
We’ve come a long way over the last few years. We’ve grown organically to manage sustainable growth. We’ve tackled new and exciting challenges. Through and through, ePIC’s guiding principle remains the same — bring together world-class engineering and focused operational excellence to deliver dependable, robust and reliable technology.
Full-system burn-in
Final words
Stay tuned and imagine where ePIC can be at our next inflection point.
Will it be our Gen_2 BTC miner? Will secure real-time settlements on the blockchain be the next driver for high bandwidth and low power designs? Will better HW infrastructure accelerate the adoption of a decentralized internet (aka Web3)?
The constant will be the build-outs from ePIC into these emerging blockchain markets. We are ready and we think differently.
The royalty-free, groundbreaking control board and firmware achieves sub 19 J/TH efficiency, and allows Bitcoin mining companies to gain full control of their mining operations
TORONTO, Jan. 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — ePIC Blockchain, a leader in blockchain technologies, announced today new developments in their Universal Mining Control (UMC) product line. Built with ePIC’s PowerPlay technology, the UMC board and custom firmware allow Bitcoin mining operations to optimize their fleets by providing control over important mining parameters. In the latest development, the ePIC UMC and custom firmware supports the S19 XP Bitcoin miner.
In addition, the UMC product line also supports the S19 J series, and more are under development. By using the UMC board and custom firmware, mining enterprises will have access to the API to enable customers’ specific features in consideration of their particular operating environment, to fine-tune operating metrics, including frequency and voltage.
The S19 XP with ePIC’s UMC is able to achieve an efficiency of under 19 J/TH in a properly air-cooled environment – an important milestone in today’s power cost environment and hashrate difficulty. In addition, as more mining operations are pivoting from air-cooled to liquid immersion, the immersion-ready UMC and its firmware enable users to disable fans and to facilitate a smooth transition to liquid immersion mining.
“The UMC and support of the S19 XP provides the flexibility to operate the miners in the performance and efficiency envelope best suited for the evolving financial conditions and power environment of Bitcoin mining”, says Jim Seto, CEO of ePIC Blockchain. “TCO (total cost of ownership) belongs in the hands of our customers and that is foundational to our royalty-free offering”.
“The firmware and hardware solutions from ePIC are ideally suited for customers to extend the product life cycle of their fleet and to lower their operating costs”, says Kevin Pan, CEO and founder at Poolin. “Poolin looks forward to optimizing our CapEx and OpEx footprint with ePIC solutions”.
About ePIC Blockchain Technologies
Based in Toronto, Ontario, ePIC is a leader in semiconductor and system design for Proof of Work (PoW) Blockchains. ePIC offers customized mining rigs, including rigs based on the latest Intel® Blockscale™technology, and fleet enhancement technologies that streamline and automate the performance and efficiency of the mining fleet.
As crypto continues to take the world by storm, the competition for acquiring PoW cryptocurrencies is becoming fierce. While most miners, including large-scale enterprise ones, still run their fleet with stock Firmware (FW) and in forced air, the sophisticated and forward-looking miners are looking for additional edge and performance.
With the increase in complexity and power of mining rigs continuing to increase, one problem has continued to linger… heat. The enormous processing power of mining rigs produces large quantities of heat. When mining rigs get too hot they don’t perform as efficiently and in extreme cases, they can stop working altogether. Thankfully, there are a variety of solutions to combat this common problem associated with crypto mining rigs.
Location
A typical solution that professional crypto miners have deployed, is simply relocating their entire fleet to a colder geographic location. However, this approach only makes sense for a small portion of mining rig owners and is not scalable.
Forced Air Fans
Fans are the current standard model of cooling mining rigs; the machines come equipped with cooling fans and the Firmware to regulate the fans. For many smaller crypto miners, fans can get the job just fine. But when scaling a large fleet of crypto mining rigs, it is important to reduce operating costs and increase performance and profitability. A great way to achieve this is by using a lesser-known cooling method called “liquid immersion cooling”.
This method of cooling involves submerging your rig in a thermally conductive but electrically insulating dielectric liquid. While this concept sounds complex, this just means the rig is submerged in a liquid that keeps it cool. Immersion is the most economically viable method of cooling, as well as scaling large fleets of mining rigs while reducing costs. The benefits of immersion cooling are quite substantial, which is why it is trending now in enterprise-scale mining operations. However, before addressing immersion cooling it is worth noting that immersion eliminates the need for a cooling fan (and the power consumption and noise associated). Instead of using a fan or relocating to a colder geographic location, the entire mining rig is instead submerged in a solution that maintains an optimal temperature.
Why does heat matter?
To understand why immersion cooling is the superior method, first, we need to revisit how heat affects mining rigs. In a high-heat environment, the mining rigs will run less efficiently due to leakage current, which will lead to a vicious cycle where the chips will keep drawing more power because of the heat, and the heat causes more leakage so that it’s perpetually drawing more power while the performance does not increase proportionally. The excessive heat and power draw will also cause components in the machine to melt and potentially cause irreversible damage. Fortunately, most of the popular miners have temperature sensors so that the mining rigs will shut down when the temperature exceeds a defined threshold.
The heat is exactly why overlocking air-cooled mining rigs is such a delicate balance: on one hand, you want to draw more power to achieve higher hash rates, on the other, the heat kills efficiency. This is how immersion comes in. The dielectric liquid in the immersion tank cools the miners quickly creating better conditions for efficient overclocking where the system can achieve higher performance vs. air-cooled ones.
Types of Immersion Cooling
There are generally two variables in the immersion cooling set-up: single-loop and double-loop, and two types of liquids: single-phase and double-phase.
In a single loop, the dielectric liquid is pumped directly through a radiator. The fluid is cooled in the radiator and then fed back into the ASIC reservoir.
This shows a single-loop system. Image via Shun Zhang
In a double loop, the dielectric liquid is first pumped to a heat exchanger. The heat from the exchanger is then transferred to a water line. The heated water is then pumped from its loop to a cooling tower or dry cooler to cool down. This second loop usually contains a solution that is a better conductor of heat than simple water.
This shows a double-loop cooling system. Image via Fujitsu
In a single-phase coolant, the fluid stays in the liquid state. This is the simplest solution to immersion cooling and is very tolerant to errors. For example, if a pump stops working, the miner will shut down when the temperature reaches the limit. As the liquid cools, the miner will resume.
This shows the mechanisms of a single-phase coolant. Image via grcooling
In a double-phase coolant, the fluid switches between the liquid and the gas states. The cooling is achieved after a series of evaporation and condensation. This setup requires more precision or otherwise will risk damaging the machinery.
This shows the mechanisms of a double-phase coolant. Image via grcooling
Immersion Cooling Setup Considerations
It’s crucial to remember that immersion-compatible firmware is essential to the whole operation. Depending on how the firmware is set up, running air-cool mode on immersion-cooled machines may cause unnecessary hassles, e.g. excessive power to the fans while they are not required in the fluids, not achieving the maximal performance because of the clock limits imposed by the air-cooled firmware.
So before considering immersion, it’s important to research what mining machines the immersion-compatible firmware supports
Additional Benefits
In general, immersion operation costs about the same or even less than the traditional air-cooled operation while providing higher performance. Simply put: it is a far more efficient operation -a crucial consideration for large-scale enterprise miners. As a side benefit, Immersion cooling also greatly reduces the amount of noise produced by mining rigs. Additionally, it also reduces maintenance costs since it’s now more difficult for dust or debris to enter the system. These are just a select few of the many reasons why immersion cooling is a viable option for enterprise and at-scale crypto mining operations.
Immersion is the Future
Immersion is quickly gaining the reputation of being a very scalable technology for large deployments of data centers and cloud servers. Companies such as Intel have touted immersion cooling for their data centers as a revolutionary technology and thus invested large sums of money. Intel alone is investing $700 million into immersion cooling research and development for their data centers and cloud technologies. It is likely that as time continues we will see more industry pioneers get behind immersion cooling.
ePIC Blockchain Technologies supplies reliable immersion cooling technologies. Our solution spans the electronics, MCU board, and FW to upgrade an existing fleet, or to build a customized large-scale immersion cooling fleet from scratch. ePIC is a North American-based company focused on developing PoW (Proof of Work) blockchain chips, customized mining rigs, and technologies to enhance the efficiency and performance of large-scale mining fleets.
Conclusion
For crypto miners, immersion has become a sought-after method of cooling. As crypto-mining competition continues to grow, large enterprise miners will need to ensure their fleet is as efficient and high-performing as possible. While immersion cooling is still a relatively new concept for many people, now is the perfect time to make the switch… before the competition catches up. At the very least, it would be a wise idea to speak with the immersion technology experts at ePIC Blockchain Technologies.
In the last blog post, we shared the most accessible level of crypto mining at home. In this post, we are showcasing home-mining that involves more skills. Our engineer, foenix, walks us through how he sets up his miner on his balcony.
Miner Profile
Name: foenix
Mining Experience: 5 years
Motto: Passive, silent money is good money
As an electrical engineer by trade, working on chip design, I was always fascinated by how generic hardware, such as GPUs, can be used for other applications other than 3D graphics. When Bitcoin became popular, my first encounter with mining was with an old i7–3930k. It was a great introduction to how the whole ecosystem worked. I then moved on to ETH using old AMD cards that were lying around, and now, I’m into ASICs designed strictly for mining.
With limited power at home, I am always looking for hardware that can help power blockchains that provide valuable services. With SC200 miners, I am able to mine the Siacoin needed to use the awesome Sia-powered tools such as Skynet and Siastream. Currently, I am working to transition all my digital backups and media onto the Sia network, even hosting a bit of storage myself to help contribute.
With that said, I have my miners set up on my balcony. In Toronto where I reside, the average monthly temperature does not exceed 30°C, which is perfect for mining. If you live in a colder climate, mining outdoors might be a good option for you.
One of the benefits of mining on the balcony is that you don’t hear the noise once you close the door, and the setup does not add to the clutter at home.
Materials Needed
A plastic storage box
– This is the one I have, but you can use any storage box you like
I cut two holes in the storage box. One is for the freestanding power outlet at the bottom, and one is for ventilation with the orange-framed car filter on the side. If your outlet is on the wall, then you should cut a hole on the side of the box, just big enough for the cords to pass through. You may need a drill to help cut the storage box.
Most people have an outlet like this on their balcony
My outlet looks more like this
Since the box resides outdoors, filtered airflow will prevent dust from accumulating inside of the rig. I chose a filter that is smaller than the sides of the box but big enough that it would allow ample air ventilation. Either a car or furnace filter should work.
Then I measured the filter, marked where I wanted to place the filter on the box and cut along the marked lines to create a hole. I covered the hole with the filter. I got mine from Canadian Tire and the filters are easily found in any hardware store. The more affordable options may be available at dollar stores.
After the box was cut, I arranged the placement of all the components inside the box. You can see how I arranged the mine from the picture below. I put a metal rack inside the box so that I could stack the PSUs on top.
This is what the inside looks like with the lid open
I could have stacked more miners. As per our previous post, we have explained how to calculate your power usage. My balcony outlet is 15 AMP, 120V. Technically speaking, I could support up to 1800 watts in total. This translates to running 2 SC200s at 500 watts each, saving 700 watts for the espresso machine 🙂
I then set up the miner as per the instructions. Once the miner is running, close the lid, and it’s done!
The benefit of the storage box is that it looks way more clean than just having the cables and the machines laid out. You can even decorate the box to suit your aesthetics. Since I am leaving my miners out on the balcony, which I barely use, I left the box as it is.
And that’s my two cents for mining at home. If you feel inspired or would like to share your setup, please feel free to comment down below or tag us on Twitter @epicblockchain.
Disclaimer
By using this website and or blog, the user agrees as follows:
The information given to the user with the understanding that neither the author nor publisher is engaged in rendering any legal, business, or financial advice to the purchaser or to the general public. The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of ePIC Blockchain. Any content provided by our bloggers or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual or anyone or anything.
Although we make strong efforts to make sure our information is accurate, Rigaku cannot guarantee that all the information on this website and or blog is always correct, complete, or up-to-date.
In this blog post, an ePIC staff member shares her at-home mining experience. For clarity in this blog post, people or entities who are mining crypto are referred to as “miners”, and the machines that solve the algorithmic puzzles to earn the crypto are referred to as “rigs”. The intended audience for this post is the novice hobbyist who wants to start mining with the SC200.
Miner Profile
Name: Juno
Job: Marketing Staff at ePIC
Mining Experience: 5 months
Motto: It’s NEVER too late to start!
I have been in the industry for a year now since I have joined ePIC. As a newbie to the crypto scene, I thought it would be helpful for any aspiring home-miner to showcase my experience mining with SC200 Siacoin miner.
SC200 is a mining rig that mines coins on the blake-2b algorithm. For more information, visit epicblockchain.io
Electrical Requirements
This is probably the most math-intensive part of this blog. Before you even turn on the machine, first figure out the specifications of your electrical outlets.
Most homes have multiple outlets connected to one breaker. Traditional breakers can range from 10A to 20A in residential settings and different regions of the world have different AC Voltages ranging from 120V to 240V.
Then, it would be helpful to understand the miner’s power usage which can be found in the product specifications:
Note: the specs are subject to +/- 10% deviation.
I also had to find out the electric current of each outlet by looking at the breaker. The numbers are typically labeled on the switch:
The first step is to calculate the wattage (or power), that the outlet can tolerate. The outlet I chose to plug the rig into was 20A. The max wattage is calculated with this formula:
P is the power consumption measured in watts (W), I is the electric current of the circuit measured in amperes (A), and V is the voltage measured in volts (V). The voltage in North America is 110 V.
My particular outlet can support the SC200’s highest operating mode, which is about 1300 watts.
If you have small appliances plugged into the same breaker, you may still be able to plug in your rig depending on the performance mode you choose. You need to ensure that the total power does not exceed the maximum wattage for the outlet.
For instance, if you have a hair dryer that uses 1000W and your outlet is 20A, and the voltage is 110V. Your rig can only go up to 1200W or otherwise, you would trip your breaker.
Setting Up the Rig
Instructions are available online and they are easy to follow. Basically, all I had to do was plug in a few wires and the rig would start running. It took about 15 minutes for the rig to calibrate, during which the fans can be a little loud. But once the machine has been calibrated, the fans will adjust according to your power setting.
Setting up Rig Configuration
I used the ePIC Dashboard to manage my rig. With the dashboard, I can tell the rig what mining pool to use, what wallet to mine to, and what mode to operate in. The SC200 does have periodic firmware and dashboard updates so be sure to check GitHub or your inbox for updates. Overall, it was pretty easy to set up. For SC200 users, you can email support@epicblockchain.io if you run into any issues.
Mining Pool
I personally use Luxor as my mining pool since they have a Bitcoin conversion product called Catalyst. If you would like to hold Sia, you can use other pools like siamining.com, f2pool, and DxPool.
As the power consumption goes up, the rig works harder, and the fans in the rig turn faster, resulting in an increase in noise level. In the 500W Ultra-Efficiency mode, which is the mode that I am personally comfortable with mining in my studio apartment, the noise level is negligible. If you put the rig in Efficiency mode in a separate room like a guest bedroom, you probably won’t be able to hear the rig unless you are Dolores from the Disney Movie Encanto.
Ease to Adjust Power Settings
With the ePIC dashboard, I could adjust the performance mode very easily. Sometimes I bring the operating mode up to 1000W Efficiency mode when I am not home (because of the fan noise) and down to 500W Ultra-Efficiency mode when I am home. Hopefully a scheduling mode will be added in the future to automate this process even further.
Electricity Cost
For me, a monthly cost of $30 CAD covers the electricity for mining, but if you are a renter and your utility fees are all included in your maintenance fees, then that’s even better! Go crazy on mining (but please don’t burn your home down).
Final Comment
The ePIC SC200 has been an effortless rig to use for home-mining. It doesn’t require getting electrical work done to operate if you are only running a few rigs, spreading things out in different outlets. If you are new to mining, the setup is foolproof. For me, the SC200 was very easy to navigate and allows for flexible options for a new home miner like me.
Disclaimer
By using this website and or blog, the user agrees as follows:
The information given to the user with the understanding that neither the author nor publisher is engaged in rendering any legal, business, or financial advice to the purchaser or to the general public. The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of ePIC Blockchain. Any content provided by our bloggers or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual or anyone or anything.
Although we make strong efforts to make sure our information is accurate, ePIC cannot guarantee that all the information on this website and or blog is always correct, complete, or up-to-date.
Pairing strong execution and innovation is how ePIC can harden its trajectory to becoming a premiere hardware supplier in the blockchain ecosystem. To that end, ePIC is pleased to announce that Jim Seto will be joining the Board of Directors and stepping up from his current Chief Operating Officer (COO) role to become the next Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ePIC Blockchain.
Seto said, “The past two years have been an exciting time for ePIC Blockchain Technologies. It has been a privilege to work with the angel investors and with the core team members. Completing the ASIC miners, going to market, and generating a revenue stream in an early seed stage is a reflection of the company’s potential. The next growth phase for ePIC promises to be more spectacular and I look forward to executing our ambitious goals.”
In the fabless semiconductor industry, Jim is recognized as a domain expert in setting up and building robust execution engines that drive product delivery, from product concept to full production. His three decades of experience from his time at Qualcomm, AMD, and ATI, will position ePIC well for the rapid growth in blockchain hardware infrastructure.
The skillset of his semiconductor expertise and operational acumen will lead ePIC into the emerging growth phase of the enterprise. This transition has already begun and will be completed over the next 30 days.
Henry Quan will carry on as ePIC’s Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and will continue to focus on business development, sales, and marketing deliverables for ePIC. The Board of Directors thanks Henry for bringing the team together and providing leadership and guidance over the past three years.
“With his extensive industry experience, Jim will ensure ePIC delivers to its customers by managing product execution and building critical partnerships. Under Jim’s leadership, ePIC is well-positioned for its next phase of growth. As a fabless start-up in North America, ePIC Blockchain can focus on its customers, the end market opportunities, and innovative products. The GSA (Global Semiconductor Association) looks forward to supporting the ePIC team, as it executes on its vision,” said Jodi Shelton, the CEO and Co-Founder of Global Semiconductor Association.
About ePIC Blockchain ePIC Blockchain is North America’s only Cryptocurrency ASIC and Mining Rig supplier. ePIC’s engineering team has developed semiconductor technology for many popular products over the past decade including 10 generations of AMD GPUs and 6 generations of GPU IP for game consoles including the Playstation 4 and 5.
ePIC makes superior products for Altcoin mining. ePIC is currently shipping SC200 Mining Rig for Siacoin and has 2 ASIC Mining Rigs slated for release during 2021. For more information, please visit www.epicblockchain.io
Argo Blockchain PLC(LON:ARB) said it has signed a commercial supply and collaboration deal with ePIC Blockchain Technologies which it said will allow it to receive priority access to state-of-the-art ASIC mining machines.
The cryptocurrency mining firm said as part of the deal it has committed to an initial purchase of US$8mln of ePIC’s mining rigs and will have priority on all future production runs of ePIC machines globally for 2021 and 2022. Delivery of the machines will begin early in the fourth quarter of this year, while larger-scale delivery will commence in 2022.
Argo also said it will assist in the development and testing of future products and will be given the first right of refusal to purchase additional production. The company added that it will provide space and capacity at one of its facilities for ePIC’s research and innovation engineering teams for the development of future machines.
Based in North America, ePIC has experience in high-performance computing, parallel processing, and power efficiency and has designed and delivered semiconductors for firms such as Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT).
“This will be a game changer for Argo and ePIC. We are excited with the synergy between our teams. With the expertise of ePIC on the chip side combined with the mining capabilities of Argo, we truly believe this will enable us to be at the cutting edge of mining, from chip to data centre,” Argo’s chief technical officer Perry Hothi said in a statement.
“We are really excited about this agreement and working with ePIC, one of the industry’s preeminent ASIC design firms. This partnership will not only give Argo priority in accessing the most advanced mining infrastructure available, but it also highlights our reputation within the sector as an innovative and forward-thinking cryptocurrency miner. By working with a world-class supplier of ASICs at the development and [research & development] phase to collaboratively create machines to our own specification, it will only further our technical capabilities and efficiency in our mining operations,” added Argo chief executive Peter Wall.
The recent pandemic has made us look at things differently, focused our attention on critical infrastructure, and forced us to adapt to new challenges. As a response, old ideas have come back in fashion again showing how foundationally important they are. While new ideas have accelerated ahead spurring on important innovations.
Take for example virtual home workouts. Exercise is an enduring element of daily life. New workout routines and training programs have been created for home, but delivered interactively and streamed in real time. The content might be new, but adoption and success of this new paradigm depends on fast and reliable internet access. Internet access has never been more crucial — so much so, that it is a de facto essential service.
Good system design will lead to dependable infrastructure that is reliable and robust.
Emerging blockchain hardware: ASIC mining
In response to cryptocurrency markets, various companies, often with inadequate experience, have produced ASIC miners. In the rush to capitalize on the market, robust system design is often an afterthought by some companies. There could even be an argument that this aspect is completely overlooked. Producing an ASIC is more than just writing a few lines of code.
The adoption and success of a mining operation depends on full-system thinking, end-to-end reliability, and close collaboration with mining farms.
Who can step up to these challenges?
Some of the recent ASIC hardware providers have been struggling with poor integration into the mining infrastructure, field failures and major gaps between specifications and real-life results. While others have just disappeared.
But there are also new players emerging.
Introducing ePIC Blockchain Technologies
This brings us to a promising North America based start-up, ePIC Blockchain Technologies.
This high performance, experienced team applies the best practices for engineering design and operational excellence from the telecom, PC and mobile industries to the ASIC hardware mining space.
SoC design and system design are highly specialized fields of engineering. Combining these specialized design skills with a deep understanding of architectural trade-offs and blockchain algorithms is the recipe for success.
At its core, this is the team inside ePIC.
To date, the industry has been preoccupied with nano-marketing name dropping. It is fashionable for companies to tout their ASIC based on the technology node. However, that may be a distraction from what is lacking.
The end-customer should not care which node their ASIC is manufactured on. What matters is the quality of the design.
The proliferation of multiple variants, 5–6 in some cases, of a manufacturer’s product is another interesting artifact of the current suite of mining providers. Is it a deliberate marketing plan for different price-points? Or is it a design and manufacturing flow that is not well understood and controlled? Could it be a very wide cross-section of performance and power outputs that are produced and pushed out to the unsuspecting customer?
What really matters to the ASIC mining customer?
The answer is simple. Get the job done right and on-spec.
Launched recently, the SC200 miner is the product that showcases ePIC’s world-class system design capabilities.
From ASIC to mining rig: a visual glimpse into bringing a product to market
Work doesn’t stop just because silicon is in hand.
Full understanding of the system is required to bring a quality product to market. Having a chip that works in isolation is not enough. Having both the depth and breadth is what distinguishes ePIC from other companies.
Here are a few examples of the behind-the-scenes due diligence taken prior to the introduction of the SC200 to the market. And it serves as a macro lens into the systematic approach that is needed for future generations of ASIC hardware miners.
Initial socket testing for full characterization of SoC followed by Individual hashboard testing for performance and power validation
Simulated heat-map of chip substrate to model on-die IR drops. Advanced 3D modelling of heatsink and chip positioning
Mechanical design and modeling including 3D modeling of the enclosure to study fan requirements and airflow dynamics
Polycarbonate case to study thermal losses and mechanical fitment
Infrared imagery to validate results
Fan and airflow validation with a thermal load (yes, that is the heating element of a 1200W hairdryer)
Calibration of temperature ramp on a per chip basis to validate heat transfer characteristics of a hashboard. This is done in an immersion tank to measure the profiles in a controlled environment.
Leading the way
In any industry, what distinguishes the leaders is straight forward — “what they deliver just works as advertised”.
ePIC Blockchain Technologies is bringing this philosophy and track record to the ASIC hardware blockchain mining industry. World-class engineering design and a maniacal focus on operational excellence are ingrained in the ePIC culture.
To be called out so early as the “Dyson of ASIC Miners” is a distinction to be proud of and the team will press on to provide dependable, robust, and reliable technology.
