Argus Compute Engine 2 (ACE-2)

Evidence-first Qwen2.5-0.5B W4A8 accelerator engineering

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ACE means Argus Compute Engine. ACE-2 was designed, implemented, tested, reviewed, and iterated primarily by Argus under human-owned objectives and release authority.

September 6, 2026: selected engineering highlights

Read the selected milestone highlights and machine-readable highlights. The existing public source baseline is unchanged; this is not a runnable release of the newer local implementation or a comprehensive quality report.

V74 completed 840 RTL layer invocations across 35 causal positions, with persistent K/V, host feedback and two token selections. This is bounded local simulation coverage, not dialogue-quality certification or independent whole-model reference agreement. Regression 0006 added an evidence audit and fresh shell smoke, not another 840-layer replay.

An offline S16 residual profile reduced ordinary-channel merge MAE by 99.30% on one held fixture. This metric concerns the merge only, not normalized-output fidelity or chat quality; runtime/RTL integration remains unimplemented. Earlier broader summaries remain in public Git history; the current presentation is selective, not an assertion that all evaluations passed.

Current scope is local simulation/software diagnosis. Hardware Stage 2, FPGA, synthesis, PPA and U280 work is cancelled. The Alpha 2/3 results and productization plan below are preserved historical records, not current authorization or results for these newer paths. See publication boundaries.

Alpha 3 scope: a public productization-progress snapshot built on the unchanged Alpha 2 certified RTL baseline. It documents the post-Alpha-2 BF16 model-quality program and the exact gates that still block arbitrary-text W4A8 chat and U280 deployment. Alpha 3 does not claim a new certified model, general chat, FPGA execution, routed signoff, or silicon.

Alpha 3 at a glance

Area	Alpha 3 status
Certified RTL baseline	Preserved unchanged from Alpha 2
Layer-0 fixed-point operators	18 / 18 exact PASS
Full runtime commands	13,914 / 13,914 PASS
Demonstrated model path	24 layers, two generated tokens
SKY130 mapped result	62,283 cells, 0.614082704 mm2
Timing	100 MHz PASS, +0.6966 ns setup slack
BF16 successor	S6 sealed at probe-gate NO-GO; official dev was not accessed
Execution admission	V8 recovery package Fresh-L2 accepted; external root still required
Recorded generation diagnostic	Fixed-input two-token execution completed; capability evidence only
Arbitrary-text W4A8 chat	Not yet accepted
Alveo U280 deployment	Not started; external tool/board access required

The machine-readable identities, model revision, image hash, schedule hash, and exact Alpha 2 certification boundary remain summarized in CERTIFICATION.md. See Alpha 3 productization progress for the new work and its explicit non-claims.

The latest public-safe productization result does not advance the certified RTL baseline. The V8 host-trust recovery package passed 58 verifier checks with zero reported issues and received Fresh-L2 acceptance for content SHA-256 07663099352edfad32eb39919ad9475f1f887328ebb549bdb9cae1c48f5ccad1. Its status is BUILD_READY_EXTERNAL_ROOT_REQUIRED: it has not been installed, no privileged execution occurred, and Stage 1 is not complete. See Host-trust recovery status.

Why ACE-2 is an Argus result

ACE-2 is part of the wider body of work published by the Argus AI Team. Argus carried out the iterative engineering loop: architecture decomposition, RTL and oracle implementation, deterministic test generation, long-running verification, failure localization, evidence binding, reviewer handoffs, and fail-closed rollback decisions. Human control remained at the mission, budget, authorization, credential, and publication boundaries.

This attribution is not a substitute for evidence. The repository keeps accepted results, rejected candidates, reproducible demos, and explicit non-claims separate. See Argus design provenance.

An independently reviewed, fixed-input generation record is available in the public two-token diagnostic evidence bundle. It completed 175,855 Verilated commands and two token selections. This demonstrates recorded token generation, not useful language quality or arbitrary-text chat.

What ACE-2 contains

flowchart LR
    H[Host command stream] --> D[Descriptor + DMA shell]
    D --> N[RMSNorm]
    N --> Q[W4A8 Q / K / V / O projections]
    Q --> R[RoPE + attention score]
    R --> S[Softmax + value composition]
    S --> M[MLP gate / up / SiLU / down]
    M --> A[Residual + KV state]
    A --> L[Final RMSNorm + LM head]
    L --> T[Token IDs]

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The release includes the certified RTL, deterministic fixed-point references, generated test vectors, Verilator/Icarus harnesses, image/runtime utilities, and release-local SKY130 flow scripts. Model weights, proprietary PDK data, private benchmarks, build products, and sealed internal run packets are not distributed.

Current RTL organization

ACE-2 implements one reusable Transformer-layer engine rather than physically replicating all 24 model layers. The host selects a layer, supplies its weights and descriptors, invokes the operators in order, and feeds the resulting hidden state into the next layer.

flowchart TB
    HOST[Host runtime and model package] --> IFACE[128-bit command/data interface]
    IFACE --> SHELL

    subgraph SHELL[ace2_shell]
        CTRL[Command decoder<br/>descriptor, completion, error control]
        MEM[Banked SRAM, DMA and KV state]

        subgraph PROJ[Shared W4A8 projection path]
            MAC[Four MAC lanes]
            PUSE[Q / K / V / O<br/>Gate / Up / Down]
        end

        subgraph VEC[Vector and special-function cores]
            NORM[RMSNorm]
            ROPE[RoPE]
            SM[Softmax]
            SILU[SiLU / SwiGLU]
            RES[Residual and requantization]
        end

        subgraph ATTN[Attention and state]
            KV[KV cache read/write]
            SCORE[Attention score]
            VALUE[Attention value/compose]
        end

        CTRL --> NORM --> PROJ --> ROPE --> KV --> SCORE --> SM --> VALUE
        VALUE --> PROJ --> RES --> NORM --> PROJ --> SILU --> PROJ --> RES
        MEM <--> PROJ
        MEM <--> ATTN
        MEM <--> VEC
    end

    SHELL --> NEXT[Layer output / next-layer input]

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The current design is command-driven and resource-shared:

• the same layer engine is reused across all model layers and token positions;
• seven major projections share one W4A8 MAC path;
• RMSNorm, RoPE, Softmax and SiLU are separate reusable cores;
• KV state persists across token steps;
• operators execute in sequence rather than as a fully autonomous layer pipeline;
• fused opcode 0x0b executes Q, K and V as one ordered descriptor while reusing the activation tile; it does not add three independent projection engines;
• larger Qwen and other decoder-only model shapes still require the planned parameterized model/hardware contract.

This organization keeps area controlled and makes the individual cores reusable, while leaving clear optimization opportunities in MAC parallelism, operator fusion and Prefill/Decode scheduling.

Fused QKV dataflow

The shell can cache one 56-beat, 896-byte activation tile and reuse it across the ordered Q, K and V projection phases. The legacy three-descriptor path remains available. On the frozen Qwen2.5-0.5B-shaped RTL benchmark:

Metric	Legacy Q/K/V	Fused QKV
Commands	3	1
Activation reads	64,512	56
Total reads	97,920	33,464
Simulator cycles	1,044,326	805,011

All 1,152 output bytes match the same fixed-point oracle in both modes. Backpressure, reset/restart, corrupted read tags and legacy compatibility are also checked. This is a bounded projection result, not a full-model chat or whole-shell timing claim.

make fused-qkv-freeze
make fused-qkv-check

Immutable PPA preflight

flow/immutable_ppa/ provides a non-consuming preflight for future base/candidate SKY130 comparisons. It freezes the exact 12 shell parameters, 64 public ports, fused-QKV contract, RTL/SDC/flow hashes, container digest and absolute Yosys/OpenSTA/library paths. The preflight validates and renders commands but deliberately cannot run synthesis or STA.

python3 flow/immutable_ppa/benchmark_interface.py --repo "$PWD"
python3 -m unittest \
  flow/immutable_ppa/test_benchmark_interface.py \
  flow/immutable_ppa/test_immutable_ppa.py

Official comparison namespaces use exclusive creation and reject overwrite or retry. This package itself contains no PPA, timing-closure or FPGA claim.

Parameterized Qwen2.5 model contracts

ACE-2 now includes executable model/hardware descriptors for Qwen2.5 0.5B, 1.5B, 3B and 7B. The shared schema validates model dimensions, GQA geometry, precision choices, memory-layout requirements and estimated weight/KV capacity.

make model-hardware-contract-check

Model	Contract scope	Estimated packed weights	Maximum weight + KV estimate
Qwen2.5-0.5B	Existing package/runtime preflight	526.7 MB	740.6 MB
Qwen2.5-1.5B	Structural only	1.25 GB	3.19 GB
Qwen2.5-3B	Structural only	2.18 GB	2.81 GB
Qwen2.5-7B	Structural only	4.65 GB	8.53 GB

The larger-model descriptors establish machine-checked structural contracts; they do not claim that 1.5B, 3B or 7B has executed in RTL. The maximum capacity figures use each model's declared maximum context and therefore are planning bounds rather than measured board allocation.

Mixed-precision planning

The same validation command also generates deterministic precision plans for all four model contracts:

Policy	Intended use	Current status
w4a8	W4 projections with A8 activation/KV paths	Current RTL format
w8a8	Higher-precision projection candidate	Structural candidate; no RTL execution claim
mixed_w4a8_a16_bf16	W4 projections with A16/BF16-sensitive operator classes	Structural candidate; no RTL execution claim

Each plan records per-operator precision, estimated weight/KV capacity, maximum-context decode traffic, descriptor hashes and explicit hardware-support status. The validator fails closed on schema/type mismatches and includes a signed-int4 ties-to-even packing reference. W8A8 and mixed BF16 support remain software/hardware co-design plans until corresponding RTL is implemented and verified.

Open IP Library

The ACE-2 Open IP Library organizes the canonical RTL into nine reusable packages with machine-readable manifests. It distinguishes standalone cores (rmsnorm, rope, softmax, projection, and SiLU/SwiGLU), standalone attention cores with shared shell integration, the shell-owned KV write path, and MLP/Transformer-layer integration bundles.

make ip-list
make ip-validate
make ip-demo IP=rmsnorm
make ip-softmax

Package results are emitted under build/ip_library/. The existing 18 operator demos prove the listed ACE-2 paths, but not every operator name is a separate standalone core. See each manifest for canonical sources, Qwen2.5-0.5B parameters, interfaces, dependencies, proof mapping, and limitations. This packaging does not claim arbitrary Transformer support, full-model chat completion, or FPGA deployment.

Run the visual demo

Install Python 3, GNU Make, Verilator, and Icarus Verilog, then run:

make demo

The demo does not replay the billion-cycle full-model certification. It runs a fast, public-safe, machine-local evidence chain:

1. verifies every certified RTL file hash;
2. checks the open-source toolchain;
3. lints the complete accelerator shell;
4. regenerates deterministic RMSNorm vectors with the independent oracle;
5. simulates 15 RTL cases x 56 beats against expected results;
6. generates a fresh unpredictable local challenge and recompiles the RTL;
7. emits a VCD waveform for the challenge run;
8. proves the checker rejects an intentionally corrupted expected result;
9. generates fresh seeded random questions for five Transformer core groups, computes bit-accurate Python answers, and compares them with RTL output;
10. runs six selected ace2_shell integration modes;
11. displays all 18 certified Layer-0 operators, distinguishing fast-demo execution from slow extended-shell coverage;
12. produces a standalone visual evidence dashboard with the local challenge, tool versions, source commit, logs, and output hashes.

Expected final marker:

ACE2_LOCAL_RTL_DEMO_PASS

Open the generated dashboard:

build/DEMO_REPORT.html

View a sample Alpha 2 evidence report without installing the simulation toolchain.

See DEMO.md for the complete walkthrough and raw artifact map.

To run the complete public shell regression, including the slower projection, KV-write, and attention-value paths:

make demo-extended

Replay a reported random challenge with make demo SEED=<seed>.

Inspect one Layer-0 operator at a time:

make demo-operators              # list all 18 names
make demo-softmax
make demo-mlp-up                 # slow: full 896 x 4864 projection
make demo-operator OP=kv-write   # equivalent generic form

Each command writes a focused log and result.json under build/single_operator/<operator>/. RoPE Q/K and residual/post-norm have separate commands but transparently share their paired shell proof path.

Operator	Command	Operator	Command
Input RMSNorm	make demo-input-rmsnorm	Q projection	make demo-q-proj
K projection	make demo-k-proj	V projection	make demo-v-proj
RoPE Q	make demo-rope-q	RoPE K	make demo-rope-k
KV write	make demo-kv-write	Attention score	make demo-attention-score
Softmax	make demo-softmax	Attention value	make demo-attention-value
O projection	make demo-o-proj	Attention residual	make demo-attention-residual
Post-attention RMSNorm	make demo-post-attention-rmsnorm	MLP gate	make demo-mlp-gate
MLP up	make demo-mlp-up	SiLU	make demo-silu
MLP down	make demo-mlp-down	MLP residual	make demo-mlp-residual

The dashboard marks all 18 rows PASS only after the default shell log contains ACE2_SHELL_TB_PASS and the dedicated MLP-up replay contains ACE2_SHELL_MLP_UP_TB_PASS. Neither command replays the sealed full-model schedule or claims FPGA execution.

Engineering progression

ACE-2 reached timing closure through measured, tree-specific iterations rather than by hiding failed candidates:

RTL frontier	Setup slack	Result
Initial complete runtime tree	-0.1484 ns	NO-GO
Low-fanout shell control repair	-0.5275 ns	NO-GO
RMSNorm capture-enable repair	-0.1741 ns	NO-GO
RMSNorm final-sum preload split	+0.6966 ns	100 MHz PASS

The final split introduces ST_MEAN_PRELOAD, separating the 48-bit final sum-of-squares carry from dividend loading. The exact final tree is bound by CERTIFIED_RTL.sha256.

What is proven, and what is not

Proven and carried forward unchanged from Alpha 2

• all 18 Layer-0 operator boundaries;
• 13,914-command, 24-layer, two-token RTL execution;
• exact model/image/schedule identities;
• mapped SKY130 100 MHz and 2.0 mm2 area-cap compliance;
• independent Fresh Reviewer certification.

Not yet claimed

• arbitrary natural-language conversation or unrestricted generation;
• stable tokenizer, host, or deployment API;
• FPGA emulation, bitstream, or board execution;
• routed timing, power signoff, DRC/LVS, GDS, tapeout, or silicon.

See KNOWN_LIMITATIONS.md for the full list.

Historical Alpha 3 productization path

This preserved plan is superseded by the September 6 scope above; its hardware stages are not current work.

• Current gate: an independent external-root channel must authenticate and invoke the exact accepted V8 recovery package. The current account cannot self-establish that trust root.
• Next: design and independently review a new BF16 successor after S6 failed closed at probe lock. S6 may not be retried, resumed, or rescored.
• Stage 1: arbitrary-text prefill, tokenizer/host integration, KV reuse, readable multi-token decoding, quantized-reference/RTL agreement, and a one-command accelerator-facing chat demo.
• Stage 2: AMD/Xilinx Alveo U280 PCIe/XRT + HBM2 integration, build evidence, and board execution when the external toolchain and hardware are genuinely available.
• Later: board validation expansion and physical-design signoff.

Productization work is not part of the certified baseline until it receives reproducible evidence and an independent Fresh Reviewer verdict.

Repository map

rtl/                  Certified synthesizable RTL
constraints/          Release-local timing constraints
flow/                 SKY130 synthesis/STA scripts
verification/         Deterministic vectors, tests, and runtime harnesses
tools/                Fixed-point references and image/runtime utilities
docs/                 Architecture, PPA, and traceability summaries
CERTIFIED_RTL.sha256  Exact certified RTL manifest
CERTIFICATION.md      Evidence identities and claim boundary
CHANGELOG.md          Version history

Versions

• v0.3.0-alpha.1 — ACE-2 Alpha 3, productization progress with the certified Alpha 2 baseline preserved.
• v0.2.0-alpha.1 — ACE-2 Alpha 2, certified two-token RTL snapshot.
• v0.1.0-alpha.1 — ACE-2 Alpha 1, accepted prefix through layer_0.v_proj.

Tags preserve previous snapshots; main describes the latest version.

License

Licensed under the Apache License 2.0. The license applies to ACE-2 source, tools, and documentation in this repository, including preserved historical versions, unless a file explicitly states otherwise.