Sondrel, a provider of ultra-complex custom chips for global technology brands, has optimised its SFA 100 platform, making it ideal for battery-powered AI at the Edge applications. The SFA 100 is part of Sondrel’s Architecting the Future chip design platform, offering a pre-designed baseline that allows the company to create bespoke solutions for clients much faster than starting from scratch.
“The drive to AI everywhere was clear at this year’s CES,” said John Chubb, CEO, Sondrel. “It enables companies to create better, more feature-rich products but augmenting with AI is not a simple task. It requires much more powerful processor cores than a standard version of a device to handle the large amounts of data involved which can’t just be added onto an existing design. It requires a design from scratch to make sure that the right processors, memory, DSPs, NoC and other components all fit together against the target Power, Performance, Area and Timing specifications.
“This is where our Architecting the Future approach can save a significant amount of time and engineering effort. We don’t start from scratch every time as we use existing, proven blocks and layouts. By using one of our pre-defined starting architectures, such as the SFA 100, we can rapidly tailor this to create a unique, custom solution for each customer. Effectively we are re-using a framework or chassis and scalable entities such as cores that we have used before along with tools, flows, project management, etc. which reduces risk and, most importantly, time to silicon so that the customer can be fast to market with the AI empowered device.”
The SFA 100 employs an Arm subsystem with a selection of Arm cores and an optional security subsystem. Its low power requirement makes it perfect for battery-powered edge AI applications, such as smart home, smart factory, and sensor fusion devices. The platform supports the integration of a machine-learning engine for various inference-based functionalities like voice activation, image classification, gesture recognition, and filtering.
Additional features, such as a Bluetooth IP block or WiFi, can be added as required. Sondrel also has the capability to incorporate customer and third-party IP by wrapping IP blocks with the necessary interfaces for seamless integration. For more powerful solutions, the SFA 200 or SFA 300 can be utilised as starting points.
The Edge AI market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 33.5%, reaching $76 billion by 2031, according to a report by Transparency Market Research. The key driver is the need to process data locally, eliminating the latency associated with transmitting data to a centralised cloud server. Applications range from industry 4.0, providing real-time decision making, to devices such as drones, smartphones, and cars.
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