Edge AI system developers often assume that AI workloads require a GPU or NPU. But when cost, latency, complex I/O or tight power budgets dominate, FPGAs offer compelling advantages.

In this talk we’ll explore how FPGA serve not just a compute block, but as a system-integration and acceleration platform that can combine tailored sensor I/O, signal processing, pre/post-processing and neural inference on one device.

We’ll also show how to map AI models onto FPGAs without doing customer hardware design, using two two practical on-ramps—(1) a software-first flow that generates custom instructions callable from C, and (2) a turnkey CNN acceleration block.

Using representative embedded-vision workloads, we’ll show apples-to-apples benchmarks. Attendees will leave with a decision checklist and a concrete “first experiment” plan.

Mark Oliver is an industry veteran with extensive experience in engineering, applications, and marketing. A native of the UK, Mark gained a degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Leeds. During a ten year tenure with Hewlett Packard, he managed Engineering and Manufacturing functions in HP Divisions both in Europe and the US before heading up Product Marketing and Applications Engineering at a series of video related startups. Prior to joining Efinix, Mark was Director of Worldwide Storage Accounts at Marvell, heading up Marketing and Business Development activities.

To register for this free webinar, please see the event page. For more information, please email webinars@edge-ai-vision.com.

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In the rapidly evolving world of microelectronics, there is a relentless push to reduce size and power consumption while increasing compute capability and throughput. Smart edge devices, the internet of things and now Edge AI have only accelerated this trend. While Efinix FPGAs offer unprecedented compute capability, small physical size and the industry’s lowest power consumption, increasingly designers are seeking to reduce this footprint even further for the most demanding of applications. Efinix has stepped up to this challenge and is offering a range of FPGA devices in SiP Packages.

What is an SiP Package?

In its simplest form a SiP package is a traditional semiconductor package that contains multiple die. The die may be stacked one on top of the other reducing the overall outline in the package and reducing the package’s physical size. The die may be of different technology process nodes and deliver different functionality. For example a single package may contain a microprocessor, memory, power management and more. The result is greater levels of system integration for more compact end devices. Benefits go beyond physical size however. The smaller physical geometries and trace lengths between the die reduce power consumption associated with driving long traces across a printed circuit board. Additionally short physical lengths increase signal integrity and allow for faster signaling between die. Since much of the work to connect the die and analyze signal integrity has been done by the manufacturer, design complexity and time to market for the end user is reduced.

In many cases, SiP packages provide an alternative to full custom ASIC solutions. Whereas ASICs can cost tens of millions of dollars, and take several years to develop, a SiP solution can be put together in a matter of months for very low NRE. The requirement of course for the SiP solution is that the required functionality already exists in silicon ready for integration. If one of the devices is an FPGA however, the solution is configurable and can be programmed to deliver almost any desired functionality. This makes FPGAs an ideal candidate for SiP packages where they can be programmed for ultimate flexibility. Furthermore, whereas an ASIC has fixed functionality and can rapidly become obsolete, an FPGA SiP can be reconfigured to remain up to date. In the case of evolving standards, for example, an interface die within the SiP that contains a PHY for a particular standard can easily be swapped out for a new standard and the controller logic for the new standard can be implemented in the FPGA fabric.

Efinix SiP Portfolio

Efinix has SiP package offerings in both its Trion and Titanium families. The Trion T13Q100 and Trion T20Q100 devices both have 16Mb of internal Flash memory as well as the FPGA device. This gives them a self-booting capability and eliminates the need for an external Flash device. The Titanium Ti60F100 has both 16Mb of Flash and 256Mb of HyperRAM in a tiny 5.5mm x 5.5mm package. The Ti60F100 has been enormously successful in applications such as industrial sensors where the tiny package and low power consumption are ideal for harsh industrial environments. The Flash makes the device self-booting and the HyperRAM provides adequate space for frame buffers and video storage.

The success of the Ti60F100 inspired Efinix to put together a SiP package for the Titanium Ti180. Here the package contains not only the popular Ti180 FPGA but also 2Gb of embedded LPDDR4 in a 15mm x 15mm package. The embedded LPDDR4 removes the need to have an external memory bus pinned out across traces on the printed circuit board. DDR interfaces are notoriously difficult to design with high signal integrity so this benefit alone reduces design complexity, system power and time to market.

The Ti180 SiP, however, demonstrates a not so obvious benefit. The regular Ti180 has a hardened LPDDR4 interface on the silicon die. This is extremely useful where large quantities of system memory, frame buffers or memory for the RISC-V sub system is needed. The LPDDR interface, however, is very pin intensive on the package and consumes pins that could otherwise be available for user I/O. Efinix delivers the Ti180 in several package options, many of which have the LPDDR4 interface pinned out and available for external memory and some of which prioritize user I/O at the expense of the memory capability. The Ti180 SiP package gets around this dilemma offering both 2Gb of LPDDR4 in package and the full complement of user I/O available on the package pins.

The compelling advantages and versatility of SiP packages means that Efinix will continue to provide SiP options for future families of FPGA. Many such SiP devices are already in design and will be announced in the weeks and months to come. Efinix also makes it’s FPGAs available in die form to strategic partners who use them to put together SiP devices of their own.

Conclusion

SiP devices provide a low cost and low risk alternative to custom silicon. They exhibit high signal integrity and shorten time to market for designers. Where the SiP contains an Efinix FPGA die they deliver ultimate configurability in a low power and high-performance footprint.

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April 08, 2024 12:01 AM Eastern Daylight Time–CUPERTINO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Efinix®, an innovator in programmable logic solutions, today announced its Titanium Ti375 high performance FPGA is now shipping in sample quantities to early access customers.

“With today’s proliferation and diversity of applications, there is an insatiable demand for high compute performance and low power in a footprint that can be deployed at the far edge,” said Efinix Co-founder, CEO and President Sammy Cheung. “The Titanium family of FPGAs, particularly the Ti375, is unique in being able to satisfy these requirements and an absolute game changer.”

The Ti375 is manufactured in an advanced 16 nm process node. Titanium FPGAs deliver performance and efficiency through high-density, low power and high compute in small package footprints ranging from 35,000-to-1 million logic elements. Ti375, with a capacity of 375K logic elements, features:

• Quad-Core Hardened RISC-V block at over 1GHz with Linux capable MMU, FPU and custom instruction capability
• Quad SerDes transceivers supporting up to 16 Gbps raw data rates with multiple protocols, including PCIe^® 4.0, Ethernet SGMII and Ethernet 10GBase-KR protocols, as well as PMA Direct mode
• Dual Embedded PCIe Gen4x4 controllers supporting root complex and end point with SRIOV (Single Root I/O Virtualization) and dual hardened LPDDR4/4X DRAM controllers for high bandwidth access to external memory

“The Titanium family of FPGAs has set a new value bar for us in the imaging marketplace. The power and performance points have allowed us to innovate and extend our leadership position with our camera platforms,” said Jan Hartmann, managing director of industrial camera manufacturer IDS Imaging Development Systems GmbH. “The Ti375 elevates that value bar once again, delivering high speed SerDes and compute capability in a small, low power footprint. Efinix continues to deliver against the promise of its revolutionary architecture.”

The Titanium Ti375 FPGA solution enables a wide variety of applications spanning machine vision, video bridges, automotive and communications, to name a few.

“Our Titanium Ti375 makes custom silicon obsolete, making it ideal for the rapidly evolving models used in AI, and will be instrumental in delivering against the requirements for edge intelligence,” said Mark Oliver, Efinix vice president of marketing. “By delivering a unique power, performance, size combination, Ti375 will support edge AI from lab to production, and beyond.”

In conjunction with embedded world Exhibition & Conference kicking off tomorrow in Nuremberg, Germany, Efinix representatives will be conducting live demos of the Titanium Ti375. Visit Efinix at booth 4-549 in Hall 4.

About Efinix

Efinix^®, an innovator in programmable products, is committed to delivering the low power and reconfigurability of its high-performance Titanium FPGA silicon platforms for applications in the mainstream market. Efinix FPGAs deliver power, performance, and area advantages over traditional FPGA technologies, unlocking new applications and delivering rapid time to market. Titanium devices range from 35K to 1M logic elements, have a small form-factor, low-power, and are priced for high-volume production. The Efinity^® Integrated Development Environment provides a complete FPGA design suite from RTL to bitstream. For more information, visit http://www.efinixinc.com.

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March 25, 2024 12:01 AM Eastern Daylight Time–CUPERTINO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Efinix^®, an innovator in programmable logic solutions, today announced a line of FPGA solutions designed specifically for the automotive industry to drive forward the long-term design and development of the rapidly growing numbers of electronic applications in-and-outside vehicles. The line, now automotive qualified, and Efinix’s Efinity tool suite that has achieved ISO26262 certification extend the company’s capabilities for the automotive manufacturers.

The FPGA solutions for the automotive industry include the newly launched Titanium Ti375. Manufactured in an advanced 16 nm process node, Titanium FPGAs deliver performance and efficiency through lower power and high compute in small package footprints ranging from 35,000-to-1 million logic elements. Titanium devices are AEC-Q100 qualified, currently, at Grade 1.

Efinix solutions for the automotive industry also include the Trion^® T13 and T20, which provide 13,000 and 20,000 logic elements respectively. These two FPGAs are AEC-Q100 Grade 2 qualified.

“The modern vehicle has become a data center on wheels,” said Sammy Cheung, Efinix co-founder, CEO, and president. “In essence through our line of automotive solutions, we are delivering the platform to automotive manufacturers to not only keep up with emerging technologies and techniques, but a powerful, adaptable technology to support their design process through their long development cycles.”

Target electronics in vehicles include the proliferation of sensors, cameras, including AI algorithms, in-cabin displays and infotainment, among a vast array of others thanks to the explosion in the complexity of automotive electronics. Efinix FPGAs are already being used by manufacturers of LiDAR units, camera monitoring system that replaces rear-view mirrors and a variety of display controllers.

“Efinix FPGAs are quickly proving to be a game-changer for the automotive industry where low power, high performance and embedded AI are key,” said Ching-Lun Yan, VP of Intelligent Solutions Group. “The completion of our automotive qualification initiative is timely for a number of customers worldwide that are taking advantage of the unique Efinix value proposition.”

Efinix’s unique architecture delivers critical security for automotive applications with encryption to protect configurations from theft and alterations, and authentication, which results in future proof designs through trusted configurations and over-the-air updates. Supporting the Titanium and Trion FPGAs is the Efinix Efinity tool suite, which is ISO26262 certified, and supports designs up to ASIL-D.

In support of the roll out, Efinix will be presenting at AspenCore’s Automotive Tech Forum, a virtual event this week (March 27-28). Mark Oliver, VP marketing, will speak to the latest innovations in the automotive ready FPGA devices from Efinix and how they apply to the market. Register for free to learn more and hear from Oliver at: https://www.automotiveforum.eetimes.com/.

About Efinix

Efinix^®, an innovator in programmable products, is committed to delivering the low power and reconfigurability of its high-performance Titanium FPGA silicon platforms for applications in the mainstream market. Efinix FPGAs deliver power, performance, and area advantages over traditional FPGA technologies, unlocking new applications and delivering rapid time to market. Titanium devices range from 35K to 1M logic elements, have a small form-factor, low-power, and are priced for high-volume production. The Efinity^® Integrated Development Environment provides a complete FPGA design suite from RTL to bitstream. For more information, visit http://www.efinixinc.com.

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March 09, 2022 12:01 AM Eastern Standard Time–SANTA CLARA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Efinix®, an innovator in programmable product platforms and technology, today announced that Greg Barrett has joined the Efinix executive team as Chief Financial Officer. Barrett brings a wealth of experience to the team as Efinix prepares to embark on the next phase of its expansion delivering the efficiency of the quantum fabric to an increasingly diverse array of end markets.

Prior to joining Efinix, Barrett held positions of vice president of Finance at Supermicro and Rambus, and a senior position at Micron. He also held a senior position at Altera where, during an 18-year tenure, he was instrumental in guiding the company through a critical period of its evolution.

“Efinix is experiencing unprecedented growth as the value proposition of our technology is embraced by our customers across a broad range of markets and applications,” said Sammy Cheung, Efinix co-founder, CEO, and president. “We are delighted to have Greg on-board as we navigate the next phase of the company’s journey bringing our groundbreaking FPGA fabric, our RISC-V ecosystem and our intuitive acceleration flows to edge and AI applications.”

With the market success of the Trion® and Titanium families, Efinix has seen adoption across a broad spectrum of markets and geographies where operational efficiencies and world class quality systems have fueled revenue growth. Under Greg’s leadership Efinix will institutionalize the financial and operational strategies required to execute against the next phase of the company’s expansion.

“Greg will be a tremendous asset during this period of unprecedented market adoption,” said Ming Ng, chief operating officer. “His insight will be invaluable as we put in place financial plans to meet both short-term operational requirements and the strategic long-term planning to assure growth and return on shareholder investment.”

About Efinix

Efinix®, an innovator in programmable products, is committed to delivering the low power and reconfigurability of its high-performance Titanium FPGA silicon platforms for applications in the mainstream market. Efinix FPGAs deliver power, performance, and area advantages over traditional FPGA technologies, unlocking new applications and delivering rapid time to market. Titanium devices range from 35K to 1M logic elements, have a small form-factor, low-power, and are priced for high-volume production. The Efinity® Integrated Development Environment provides a complete FPGA design suite from RTL to bitstream.

For more information, visit http://www.efinixinc.com.

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Efinix Quantum Acceleration provides a predefined and easy to use acceleration framework to facilitate rapid hardware / software system partitioning. This demo provides an overview of the new Efinix Titanium FPGA series and explores a case study on the use of Quantum Acceleration. It shows how, in an edge AI application, progressively migrating software bottlenecks into hardware accelerators increases overall system performance and minimizes time to market.

The post Efinix Demonstration of Using Titanium FPGAs with Quantum Acceleration to Optimize Edge AI Performance while Reducing Time to Market appeared first on Edge AI and Vision Alliance.

The first products to be released with AEC-Q100 qualification are the Trion T13 and T20 FPGAs in the F169 and F256 packages. These popular devices feature a rich mix of I/O and embedded MIPI CSI-2 controllers, making them ideal for vision and display systems. AEC-Q100 Grade 2 qualification will enlarge the available market space for these devices and will pave the way for their adoption in automotive applications.

“With the increasing levels of technology in modern vehicles, the automotive semiconductor market is growing rapidly,” said Mark Oliver, VP of Marketing at Efinix. “Our drive to bring AEC-Q100 qualification to the Efinix portfolio of FPGAs demonstrates our commitment to bringing the renowned Efinix quality and our revolutionary performance and efficiency to the automotive market.”

As Efinix continues to expand its portfolio of AEC-Q100 qualified devices to Titanium FPGAs, the unprecedented power, performance, and area (PPA) advantages of these devices will be made available with the same qualification standard. This rollout will expand usage of the high-performance, ultra-low power Titanium family in new markets. The growing portfolio of AEC-Q100 qualified devices forms the foundation of a comprehensive automotive strategy that includes the goal of ISO-26262 certification to complement AEC-Q100 qualification in automotive designs.

“Automotive applications demand assurance of quality by design and longevity in harsh environments,” said Ming Ng, SVP of Operations and Applications at Efinix. “Delivering AEC-Q100 qualification across our product portfolio and working to achieve ISO-26262 certification as part of our comprehensive automotive initiative demonstrates our commitment to delivering the level of quality that is designed into every Efinix product.”

T13F169, T13F256, T20F169, and T20F256 devices with AEC-Q100 Grade 2 qualification are available immediately.

About Efinix

Efinix®, an innovator in programmable products, is committed to delivering the low power and reconfigurability of its high-performance Titanium FPGA silicon platforms for applications in the mainstream market. Efinix FPGAs deliver power, performance, and area advantages over traditional FPGA technologies, unlocking new applications and delivering rapid time to market. Titanium devices range from 35K to 1M logic elements, have a small form-factor, low-power, and are priced for high-volume production. The Efinity® Integrated Development Environment provides a complete FPGA design suite from RTL to bitstream.

For more information, visit http://www.efinixinc.com.

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April 07, 2021 12:01 AM Eastern Daylight Time–SANTA CLARA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Efinix®, an innovator in programmable product platforms and technology, today announced the expansion of its Titanium product line to include devices up to 1M logic elements (LEs). Expanding the product portfolio unlocks the Titanium family’s true potential by making high-performance, high-capacity FPGA devices available to the cost and power sensitive mainstream market.

“Since receiving first silicon last year we have seen tremendous demand for Titanium devices and have built a large backlog of development kits and samples,” said Sammy Cheung, Efinix co-founder, CEO and president. “We continue to build upon that momentum and are on track to enter production with several additional Titanium family members as we strive to deliver the promise of high-performance FPGA technology to the global market.”

Titanium FPGAs offer superior Power, Performance, and Area (PPA) advantages over traditional FPGA technologies, demonstrating power reductions of up to 70 percent. Titanium devices redefine possibilities in high-volume, mainstream markets by delivering the density, flexibility, and performance previously associated with expensive, high-end FPGAs.

“Efinix technology is truly disruptive,” said Rich Sevcik, Efinix board member. “As compute requirements at the edge continue to explode, Titanium FPGAs promise to displace ASICs by offering reprogrammable flexibility with low power and at a performance point previously found only in high-end and prohibitively expensive FPGAs.”

As Efinix continues to roll out the Titanium family, many of the early access customers and partners have been able to rapidly take advantage of their improved performance and reduced power. One such customer is HCFA whose VP of Engineering Pengfei Yan, explained, “In our designs we have been able to run our RISC-V cores at greater than 400 MHz while simultaneously reducing system power. For us, a small footprint with high performance and low power, is everything. The Titanium family delivers all three without compromise, something that we have not seen before in the market.”

The Titanium family ranges from devices with 35K to 1M LEs. Their breakthrough PPA finds applications in markets ranging from consumer and edge compute to industrial automation, communications, and automotive. Hardened features such as high-speed SERDES, security blocks, and MIPI interfaces ensure that Titanium devices meet the stringent requirements of their target markets.

“The exponential growth of connected devices has increased the need for security to protect users’ data and prevent malicious attacks,” said Mark Oliver, Efinix’s VP of marketing. “Titanium devices come with public key authentication and encryption capabilities, which ensures that only trusted bitstreams can configure the devices and user data is encrypted.”

About Efinix

Efinix®, an innovator in programmable products, is committed to delivering the low power and reconfigurability of its high-performance Titanium FPGA silicon platforms for applications in the mainstream market. Efinix FPGAs deliver power, performance, and area advantages over traditional FPGA technologies, unlocking new applications and delivering rapid time to market. Titanium devices range from 35K to 1M logic elements, have a small form-factor, low-power, and are priced for high-volume production. The Efinity® Integrated Development Environment provides a complete FPGA design suite from RTL to bitstream.

For more information, visit http://www.efinixinc.com.

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