New Versal AI Edge adaptive compute acceleration platforms (ACAPs) from Xilinx is designed to enable AI innovation from edge to the endpoint in automotive, robotics, healthcare, and aerospace applications. These ACAPs offer 4 times higher AI performance-per-watt and 10 times greater compute density than the previous-generation adaptive SoCs. The portfolio integrates new accelerator RAM with an enhanced memory hierarchy for evolving AI algorithms which contributes in delivering 4 times higher AI performance-per-watt versus GPUs and lower latency thus resulting in far more capable devices at the edge.
Versal AI Edge devices can help accelerate the applications from the sensor to AI to real-time control with ease and delivers 10 times more compute density as compared to Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoCs thereby resulting in more intelligent autonomous systems. Supporting multiple safety standards across industrial (IEC 61508), avionics (DO-254/178), and automotive (ISO 26262) markets, the Versal AI Edge devices enable vendors to meet ASIL C random hardware integrity and ASIL D systematic integrity levels.
The production-proven 7nm Versal architecture enables the platform to miniaturize it for AI compute at low latency with power efficiency as low as six watts and safety and security measures required in edge applications. It matches the engine to the algorithm, with Scalar Engines for embedded compute, Adaptable Engines for sensor fusion and hardware adaptability, and Intelligent Engines for AI inference that scales up to 479 (INT4) TOPS unmatched by ASSPs and GPUs targeting edge applications and for advanced signal processing workloads for vision, radar, LiDAR, and software-defined radio.
The connectivity blocks of the platform range from LPDDR-4266, 32Gb/s transceivers to meet all the necessary protocols in edge applications, 40G multirate Ethernet, PCIe Gen4 with CCIX, and native MIPI support for vision sensors up to eight-megapixel resolution and beyond, critical to Level-2 ADAS and above. Accessible to both hardware and software developers, Versal AI Edge ACAPs provide a design entry point for developers.
The Versal AI Edge ACAPs include Vivado design tools for hardware developers, the Vitis unified software platform for software developers, Vitis AI for data scientists, and domain-specific operating systems, frameworks, and acceleration libraries for the platform’s target applications. The shipments of Versal AI Edge series design documentation and support is expected to start from the first half of 2022 and is available to early access customers. Additionally, the customers will get a roadmap for automotive- and defense-grade devices.
