Open and code-free software raises productivity for AI edge deployments

Claimed to be the industry’s first open and code-free software platform to span the complete edge AI operational workflow from idea to development, deployment and management, AI Studio is by Blaize. The company says it dramatically reduces edge AI application deployment complexity, time, and cost by breaking the barriers within existing application development and machine learning operations (MLOps) infrastructure. It eliminates the complexities of integrating disparate tools and workflows, and introduces multiple ease-of-use and intelligence features. According to Blaize, AI Studio reduces models moving to deployment to months from days.

AI studio introduces user interface, collaborative marketplaces, end-to-end application development and operational management. It can be deployed with the Blaize AI edge computing hardware for application development and MLOps.

The AI Studio code-free visual interface is intuitive, with speech commands such as “Hey Blaize” to summon a contextually intelligent assistant with an expert knowledge-driven recommendation system to guide users through the workflow.

Users can deploy models with one click to plug into any workflow across multiple open standards including ONNX, OpenVX, containers, Python, or GStreamer. According to Blaize, no other solution offers the same degree of open standard deployment support, as most are proprietary and lock in users with limited options. Support for these open standards allows AI Studio to deploy to any hardware that fully supports the standards.

Marketplaces support allows users to discover models, data and complete applications from public or private networks and to collaborate continuously to build and deploy AI applications.

AI Studio supports open public models, data marketplaces and repositories, and provides connectivity and infrastructure to host private marketplaces. Users can continually scale proven AI edge models and vertical AI solutions to effectively reuse across enterprises, choosing from hundreds of models with drag and drop ease to speed application development

The AI Studio model development workflow allows users to easily train and optimise models for specific datasets and use cases, and deploy quickly into multiple formats and packages. Its Transfer Learning feature quickly retrains imported models for the user’s data and use case. Another feature is the edge-aware optimisation tool, NetDeploy, which automatically optimises the models to the user’s specific accuracy and performance needs. Users can build and customise complete application flows other than neural networks, such as image signal processing, tracking or sensor fusion functions.

AI Studio helps users deploy, manage, monitor and continuously improve their edge AI applications. It is built on a cloud-native infrastructure based on microservices, containers and Kubernetes, for scalable and reliable production, says Blaize.

Application areas are smart retail, smart city and industry 4.0 projects. AI Studio is available now to qualified early adopter customers, with general availability in Q1 2021. The AI Studio product offering includes licenses for individual seats, enterprise, and on-premise subscriptions, with product features and services suited to the needs of each license type.

http://www.blaize.com

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800G test from Keysight Technologies validates next-gen data centres

Keysight Technologies has released 800G test solutions for validating electrical and optical interfaces to speed development of next-generation data centre technologies, including what is believed to be the first 100Gbits per second transmitter and receiver pre-conformance test.

Service providers and data centre operators are seeking 800G technology to meet a growing demand in network capacity at the desired cost and power consumption targets. This is primarily driven by data-hungry applications such as video conferencing, streaming and digital entertainment, which are delivered via wireless technologies such as 4G, 5G and Wi-Fi.

Electrical and optical analysis enables an 800G ecosystem, consisting of optical components, chipset, switch and semiconductor IC vendors, as well as system integrators, to speed design, development, test and validation across the entire design cycle.

Dr. Joachim Peerlings, vice president of network and data centre solutions at Keysight Technologies, said: “Access to a portfolio of 800G test solutions across physical and protocol layers, from simulation to design, validation, conformance and manufacturing, enables our customers to verify interoperability and simplify testing across the workflow using common, uniform interfaces and software automation.”

Keysight Technologies’ 800G test solutions include a 100Gbits per second electrical conformance test. It is believed to be first pre-conformance test solution for validating both transmitter and receiver electrical signalling input interfaces according to the 100Gb/s standard currently under development by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF).

It also includes Keysight’s Infiniium UXR-Series real-time oscilloscope or digital communication analyser (DCA), 64Gbaud high performance bit error rate tester (BERT) and pre-conformance test cases for simplified 100, 200, 400 and 800Gbits per second electrical input interface testing, resulting in accurate and repeatable test results.

There is pre-silicon design verification, combining Keysight’s IxVerify software, which generates network traffic, with the Synopsys ZeBu Server 4 emulation system to accelerate pre-silicon design verification of SoCs and 800G Ethernet designs.

This delivers consistent test methodologies, configurations and scripts to accelerate testing from pre-silicon to post-silicon device validation.

A 200Gbits per second option is designed for 800G research and pathfinding. It combines an arbitrary waveform generator (AWG) and an Infiniium UXR-Series real-time oscilloscope to characterise the digital interface including error detection up to 224Gbits per second.

To extend testing into the optical domain, developers can use Keysight’s 60GHz optical-to-electrical (O/E) converter.

The physical layer test system (PLTS) establishes signal integrity measurements and performs data post processing of high speed interconnects, such as cables, backplanes, PCBs and connectors.

It supports de-embedding techniques on a common platform, enabling users to optimise performance margins in 800G channel designs.

According to Keysight, the components are designed to allow users to fully explore design margins, while addressing design and conformance validation challenges in an 800G transceiver market, which is expected to reach $2.5 billion by 2029 according analyst, CIR.

http://www.keysight.com

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O-RAN radio unit is optimised for indoor 5G

Compact O-RAN radio units from Benetel are cost-effective and optimised for indoor deployment. The BNTL-RAN550 O-RAN radio unit (O-RU) delivers 100MHz of instantaneous bandwidth, with up to 250mW of output power per transmitter path.

The combination of performance parameters, small form factor and low total cost of ownership, means that the 5G radio unit is prepared for indoor deployments, for use in access points and private networks, predicts Benetel.

The BNTL-RAN550’s adaptable modular architecture complies with the latest O-RAN interface specification, supporting 7.2 split front haul network configurations. It comes equipped with two 10Gigabit Ethernet ports for front haul network interfacing, and the built-in antennae supports four transmit/four receive (4T4R) multiple input/multiple output (MIMO) operation. The initial version will support the 5G band n78 (3.3 to 3.8GHz), with additional frequencies (upper band n77 and band n79) already under development.

The BNTL-RAN550 O-RUs will be available from January. They are designed for ceiling-mount and wall-mount implementations. The CE/FCC-certified units support an operational temperature range of 0 to +45 degrees C and are powered by a 12V DC supply (or via PoE++).

The BNTL-RAN550 offers a deployment-ready O-RAN solution, says Benetel, for implementing small network trials.

Benetel is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland and its team is driving innovation in the roll-out of a small cell infrastructure. The company develops leading-edge radio solutions for 5G and 4G/LTE small cells. Benetel is committed to supporting the evolving radio access networks around the world by producing hardware and related services. The company’s radio units are available in a variety of frequency bands and output powers, to support customers to increase speed to market of the network infrastructure.

http://www.benetel.com

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Controller provides safety functions for widescreen automotive displays

Two display controllers from Socionext have enhanced security support for high resolution, wide format displays.

The SC1702 display controller meets the automotive market’s demand for high-resolution widescreen automotive displays. Socionext has added a display controller to its SC1701 series, providing low-cost, optimal safety functions for meter clusters. Both display controllers deliver scalable in-vehicle remote display systems with high levels of safety, says the company.

The use of automotive displays is rapidly expanding in instrumentation and vehicle control operations, including meters, climate controls and other dashboard indicators integrated into graphics, as well as head-up displays (HUDs) and e-mirror displays, ranging from conventional small displays to large format, wide screens with some spanning across the entire dashboard.

The SC1702 is capable of transferring data at rates of up to 12Gbits per second, using APIX 3 technology. It is equipped with a newly developed panel interface port (PIP) that supports advanced, high-resolution, wide landscape format displays, such as 8K x 1K, which cannot be supported with conventional interfaces. It is also designed to conform to the HDCP 2.3 encryption technology, making it possible to effectively use rich, 4K-resolution content for multi-displays in a vehicle.

The SC1702 can detect display abnormalities that are unobservable with current technology, advises Socionext. In addition to the conventional safety features, displays can now recognise panel link loss, inconsistencies of CRC of pixel data and other behaviours at the source drivers and gate drivers, enhancing the capabilities to meet further safety requirements.

The SC1701BH5-300 has been added to the SC1701 family, providing additional functions to existing meter systems. Safety features include multi-window signature unit, picture freeze detection, and watchdog, as well as the 2D rendering capability of Deep Color (30 bpp) built-in graphics engine, at a competitive price, says Socionext.

The SC1701BH5-300 is available in an EP-LQFP-216 package, measuring 24 x 24mm and the SC1702AK3 is available in an HS-BGA-319 package, measuring 23 x 23mm.

The join the SC1701BK3-100 and SC1701BH5-100 display controllers.

Samples of the SC1701BH5-300 are now available. Sample shipment of the SC1702AK3 will start in February 2021.

http://www.socionext.com

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