EdgeCortix has made a strategic shift from selling AI intellectual property (IP) to selling its own edge-AI inference chips for line-powered systems. The new die, dubbed Sakura, started as a test chip, but the company says customer interest convinced it to offer the chip as a product. The chips come mounted on one of two cards: a dual-M.2 (M-key) card and a low-profile PCIe card. Based in Japan, EdgeCortix has supplemented its $13,5 million in total funding with revenue from FPGAs and ASICs that employ its soft IP. It targets perception – vision, lidar, and related technologies – are aimed at transportation, augmented/virtual reality, industry, smart cities, and drones.
Sakura, revealed first at the recent Linley Spring Processor Conference, implements the company’s dynamic neural accelerator (DNA) engine, adding on-chip SRAM, two LPDDR4X ports, and I/O. The chip has no host CPU, so it operates under the control of an external host. Sakura has a maximum performance of 40 TOPS; on ResNet-50, it achieves 0,4 ms latency at 4,7 W, yielding 533 inferences per second per watt (IPS/W).
Sakura combines six engines for standard 3D convolutions, six engines for 2D depth-wise convolutions, and three vector engines for activations and other miscellaneous operations. Standard convolutions combine all three colour channels, whereas depth-wise convolutions separate the channels, combining results later to reduce computing operations. To boost utilisation, the Mera tools can convert between standard and depth-wise convolutions to keep all engines occupied. Together, the engines are capable of 25 000 MACs per clock cycle.
Within a vector engine, dedicated blocks implement activation functions. Each block is configurable for a range of variants in a family of activation functions. Although this approach yields better performance, it’s less flexible than a fully programmable engine. A 20 MB on-chip SRAM can hold weights and activations or act as a scratchpad. The runtime software reconfigures the network-on-a-chip (NoC) on the fly, reassigning engines as part of EdgeCortix’s focus on achieving high hardware utilisation.
RFiber Solutions has added this group to its line card.
Module combines 5G and NTN support Quectel Wireless Solutions
Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT
Quectel Wireless Solutions announced the launch of its BG770A-SN ultra-compact 5G-ready satellite communication module, compliant with 3GPP releases 13, 14 and 17.
Read more...Scalable and secure IoT device onboarding and management
Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT
EasyPass is an enhancement within Cambium’s cnMaestro platform, aimed at providing local businesses with secure, efficient, and scalable device management, making it ideal for high-demand environments such as educational institutions, retail spaces, and corporate campuses.
Read more...SIMCom’s A7673X series Otto Wireless Solutions
Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT
SIMCom’s A7673X series is a Cat 1 bis module that supports LTE-FDD, with a maximum downlink rate of 10 Mbps and an uplink rate of 5 Mbps.
Read more...Low SWaP SoM for AI applications RFiber Solutions
AI & ML
Matchstiq’s G20 and G40 are low SWaP-C SDRs tailored for AI and ML applications by combining an RF module, SDR, FPGA, CPU, and GPU into a single transceiver platform.
Read more...Non-terrestrial network module Altron Arrow
Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT
Fibocom unveiled its MA510-GL (NTN), a non-terrestrial networks module which is compliant with 3GPP Release 17 standard.
Read more...Cellular IoT connectivity via satellite Altron Arrow
Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT
The Telit Cinterion cellular LPWA module will enable satellite data communication using the NB-IoT protocol, without any special hardware changes required for the integration of the cellular module in the customer application.
Read more...Wireless module supports up to 600 Mbps iCorp Technologies
Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT
Quectel’s FCU865R is a high-performance Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3 LCC package module which can be used for WLAN and Bluetooth connections.
Read more...Unlocking the future of connectivity
Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT
The battle for the 6 GHz spectrum band is heating up in South Africa, mirroring global debates on the allocation of spectrum between Wi-Fi and cellular operators.
Read more...Quectel wireless module wins accolade iCorp Technologies
Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT
The winners of the 2024 IoT Evolution 5G Leadership Award were recently announced, with Quectel walking away with an award for its modules which make 5G features more easily accessible for IoT applications, notably the company’s RG255C-GL.
Read more...Innovative upgrade process for 2G/3G Otto Wireless Solutions
Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT
What is likely to happen during the sunset period for 2G and 3G signals, especially on the back of already near-obsolescence of 2G network equipment, is for the availability of the connectivity mediums to begin to reduce between now and the shutdown date.
printer friendly version