ArchiTek Corporation announces “AiOnIc”, its first in-house created chip based on the proprietary ArchiTek Intelligence® Pixel Engine (aIPE) architecture. The ArchiTek Intelligence architecture is at the forefront of Edge AI processors currently in development around the world. In a NEDO funded project[1] using SLAM, an application essential for self-driving vehicles,[2] AiOnIc reduces processing time to 1/20th of the speed of general purpose CPUs. Similarly, when performing OpenPose, an algorithm that calculates skeleton and pose estimation, AiOnIc achieves operating speeds approximately four times faster compared to that of the world’s leading GPUs.
Realizing an ultra-compact, low power and high efficiency “fanless” processor
AiOnIc is the first prototype LSI using ArchiTek Intelligence, proving this high performance architecture can be packaged in a low-power, compact 12 nm silicon. AiOnIc does not need a cooling fan, so a sealed water-proof and dust-proof system can be easily designed and built.
ArchiTek Intelligence supports a variety of algorithms by dynamically recombining hardware components of CPUs, GPUs and application specific LSIs, and then enables the simultaneous execution of multiple processing in real time and with low latency. Due to its highly efficient hardware processing, ArchiTek Intelligence is ideal for use in integrated systems, such as smart security cameras, drones, robots, autonomous vehicles and other applications that have high-performance and low-power requirements for Edge AI.
AiOnIc Specifications
- Process: 12 nm (N12FFC) TSMC
- Package: FCCSP, 12 mm × 12 mm
- Die size: 4.5 mm × 4.5 mm
- Supply voltage: 0.9 V, 1.8 V
- Power consumption: Under 1W
- Built-in CPU SiFive RISC-V[3]
- Built-in SRAM 8MB
- Computer Vision Acceleration
- General purpose matrix adder and multiplier
- High efficiency General Purpose GPU (for parallel processing)
“AiOnIc delivers the holy grail for Edge AI processors by delivering true high performance with extremely low power at a fraction of the price of GPUs,” says Shuichi Takada, ArchiTek CEO. “Our groundbreaking ArchiTek Intelligence computer architecture, combined with our low-cost AiOnIc processor, opens the door to deliver the promise of AR, VR, smart cities and countless other 21st century use cases by proliferating AI on the Edge.”