ICs & Semiconductors

AMD said that the Versal Premium VP1902 is the world’s largest FPGA-based adaptive SoC for emulation and prototyping. It offers twice the capacity of earlier generation FPGAs said the company.

The VP1902 adaptive SoC is an emulation-class, chiplet-based device designed to streamline the verification of increasingly complex semiconductor designs. Designers can use it to innovate and validate application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and SoC designs.

FPGA-based emulation and prototyping allows fast silicon verification and enables developers to begin software development in advance of silicon tape-out. 

As complexity grows in ASIC and SoC designs, coupled with the rapid advancement of AI and ML-based chips, extensive verification of both silicon and software before tape-out is a must, said AMD. The VP1902 delivers 18.5M logic cells for 2X2 higher programmable logic density and 2X4 aggregate I/O bandwidth compared to the previous generation Virtex UltraScale+ VU19P FPGA.  

For both pre-silicon verification and concurrent software development, the VP1902 finds and addresses bugs before tape-out. The Versal architecture, including the programmable network-on-chip, provides up to 8X5 faster debugging compared to the prior generation VU19P FPGA. 

The AMD Vivado ML design suite provides a comprehensive development platform to quickly design, debug and validate applications and technologies to accelerate time to market. New features that support more efficient development on the VP1902 adaptive SoC include automated design closure assistance, interactive design tuning, remote multi-user real-time debugging and enhanced back-end compilation, which enables end users to iterate IC designs faster, said the company.

AMD has collaborated with EDA vendors, including Cadence, Siemens and Synopsys to help designers access an ecosystem of fully-featured and scalable solutions. 

The AMD Versal Premium VP1902 adaptive SoC will begin sampling in Q3 to early access customers with production expected in the first half of 2024.

Kirk Saban, corporate vice president, Product, Software, & Solutions Marketing, Adaptive and Embedded Computing Group, AMD, commented: “Chip designers can confidently emulate and prototype next-generation products using our VP1902 adaptive SoC, accelerating tomorrow’s innovations in AI, autonomous vehicles, Industry 5.0 and other emerging technologies.”

https://www.amd.com

Modems developed by Qualcomm in collaboration with non-terrestrial network (NTN)  service provider, Skylo to provide uninterrupted remote monitoring and asset tracking. They enable low power connectivity for IoT devices across satellite and cellular networks, said Qualcomm.

The modems follow the 3GPP Release 17 standards for satellite communications on GEO / GSO (geosynchronous equatorial orbit / geostationary orbit) satellites, making connectivity available globally and providing easy device set up and orientation.

Both chipsets support the Qualcomm Aware platform, which provides real time asset tracking and device management in remote areas to support critical decision making.

Qualcomm Technologies has announced the Qualcomm 212S and the Qualcomm 9205S modem chipsets with satellite capability. They power off-grid industrial use cases that require standalone non-terrestrial network (NTN) connectivity or hybrid connectivity alongside terrestrial networks, and allow IoT enterprises, developers, ODMs and OEMs to harness real time information and insights to manage business projects.

The Qualcomm Aware platform allows companies to better monitor and track valuable assets virtually anytime and anywhere around the world. The 212S and 9205S chips advance IoT tracking and monitoring capabilities to provide connectivity and coverage even in the most remote areas, said Qualcomm. 

It is designed with ultra-low power consumption for applications in remote, fixed locations, helping promote an extended usable life. Applications include gathering telemetry and data from water and gas tanks, meters, and other infrastructure equipment. It is also suitable for utility grid monitoring, early fire detection reporting, on-shore and off-shore mining installations, and environmental management.

The Qualcomm 212S is Qualcomm Technologies’ first IoT-NTN-only modem that supports the 3GPP Release 17 standards for satellite communications. It is designed for cost efficiency and value, with only the essentials necessary for satellite communications and nothing more, added Qualcomm.

The Qualcomm 212S is also compatible with the recently announced Qualcomm QCM4490 processor to deliver low power satellite connectivity to industrial handheld devices. This important integration powers time-critical, two-way messaging capabilities and one-way payload delivery between devices and customer end points or the Qualcomm Aware cloud, all while helping promote extended usable device time.

The Qualcomm 9205S modem chipset enables IoT devices to easily connect to cellular and satellite networks for virtually gap-free coverage, and integrates GNSS to provide location data.

It is suitable for industrial applications that require always-on, hybrid terrestrial and satellite connectivity for goods and assets on the move. Applications include transoceanic shipping container tracking, agricultural equipment and livestock tracking, global fleet and freight tracking for supply chain management including for logistics partners that perform remote deliveries.

The Qualcomm 9205S uses virtually the same architecture as the Qualcomm 9205 modem, making it easy to upgrade equipment designs to include satellite connectivity and enable hybrid connectivity. The Qualcomm 9205S helps enable hub-type use cases through a highly capable applications processor and peripheral support for a wide variety of IoT applications.

Like the Qualcomm 212S, the Qualcomm 9205S adheres to 3GPP Release 17 standards for satellite communications, making it easy to establish IoT-NTN connectivity using GEO/GSO satellites and eliminates the need for orientation-specific device positioning.

The Qualcomm 212S modem will be available later this year and Qualcomm 9205S modem is available now. 

http://www.qualcomm.com