Key technical features of the Arm Cortex-A53-based quad-core processor platform include an integrated neural processing unit (NPU) for AI computing power and an image signal processor (ISP) for real-time parallel processing of high-resolution images and video streams from the two integrated MIPI-CSI camera interfaces. The extensive ecosystem of this new SMARC module—including application-ready 3.5-inch motherboards, Basler camera support, and an AI software stack—enables rapid proof-of-concept product launch. Vertical markets for these credit-card-sized, low-power vision and AI modules span a wide range of sectors, from smart agriculture and industrial manufacturing to retail, transportation, and smart cities and buildings.
“If engineers leverage the rich and highly efficient feature set of the new SMARC modules, along with our extensive ecosystem, and implement more application-specific functions via PCIe Gen 3, as well as 2x USB 3.0 and 2x SDIO, they have a highly reliable and robust 2-6 watt low-power platform for vision and AI. Depending on the variant, the new modules can even be used in the extended temperature range of -40°C to 85°C,” explains Martin Danzer, Director of Product Management at congatec.
With its various specialized processing units, the new SMARC module based on congatec’s i.MX 8M Plus processor enables embedded vision and AI applications with impressive responsiveness and extremely low power consumption. Advantages include:
• The NPU adds 2.3 TOPS of dedicated AI computing power to the four powerful cores of the Arm Cortex-A53 multipurpose processor.
• The integrated ISP processes high-definition video streams at up to 3x 60 frames per second for enhanced video quality.
• The high-quality DSP enables local speech recognition without requiring a cloud connection.
• The Cortex-M7, which can also be used as a failover unit, provides real-time control along with an Ethernet port for time-synchronized networking.
• In addition to an encryption module (CAAM) for hardware-accelerated ECC and RSA encryption, Arm TrustZone also integrates a Resource Domain Controller (RDC) for isolated execution of critical software, and High Assurance Boot to prevent unauthorized software from running during startup.
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- Category: Embedded Systems
Congatec SMARC 2.1 with NXP i.MX 8M Plus processor
Congatec introduces its new low-power SMARC 2.1 modules with the NXP i.MX 8M Plus processor for industrial edge analytics, embedded vision, and artificial intelligence (AI). With its machine and deep learning capabilities, the new ultra-low-power conga-SMX8-Plus module enables embedded industrial systems to see and analyze their environment for situational awareness, visual inspection, identification, monitoring and tracking, as well as touchless machine operation based on gestures and augmented reality.
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