Intel accelerates AI at the Edge through an open ecosystem

Intel is unveiling its new Intel AI Edge Systems, Edge AI Suites and Open Edge Platform initiatives. These offerings help streamline and speed up AI adoption at the edge across industries such as retail, manufacturing, smart cities, and media and entertainment by simplifying integration with existing infrastructure.

With over 100,000 real-world edge implementations with partners, many leveraging AI today, Intel understands the unique challenges of edge AI. These challenges vary significantly by industry, with each having distinct performance and power needs. What works for cloud providers is not suitable for enterprises at the edge, which need to maintain existing platforms and software, while integrating AI, to get the best total cost of ownership (TCO) and power efficiency.

Unlike large data centres with dedicated AI infrastructure, edge AI deployments must seamlessly integrate into preexisting IT systems in space-constrained, low-power and cost-sensitive environments.

Intel AI Edge Systems, alongside Edge AI Suites and the Open Edge Platform, address these challenges by building on Intel’s pervasive technology foundation at the edge. These efforts empower the ecosystem to bring edge AI to market faster and more efficiently.

The open edge approach allows Intel to deliver better end-to-end performance and overall TCO in a variety of key industries. In an edge AI video analytics use case, tera operations per second (TOPs) alone don’t deliver real-world performance needs. When comparing Intel Core Ultra processors to leading AI competition, although competition may lead in TOPs, Intel delivers up to a 2.3x increase in end-to-end pipeline performance, and up to 5x better performance per dollar2.

While many edge deployments today incorporate AI using traditional machine learning and computer vision, Intel’s AI Edge Systems, Edge AI Suites and Open Edge Platform are designed to accelerate the deployment of advanced AI applications. Through a robust ecosystem of trusted partners, Intel enables enterprises to tackle industry-specific challenges and drive innovation in edge AI deployments.

Intel’s edge systems speed up AI deployment at the edge. Builders – original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and original design manufacturers (ODMs) – have access to standardised blueprints, benchmarks and verification tools optimised for edge AI use cases. These resources enable customers and solution providers to easily configure systems to meet the performance needs of use cases like vision AI or generative AI (GenAI). With a range of power levels, sizes and performance options, these solutions ensure optimal integration of hardware and software.

Edge AI Suites: Edge AI Suites are open, industry-specific AI software development kits (SDKs) for independent software vendors (ISVs), system integrators and solutions builders. These suites simplify the creation of custom AI solutions for various industries by providing curated reference applications, sample code and benchmarks to accelerate application development. Currently, Intel offers four suites, optimised for retail, manufacturing, smart cities, and media and entertainment.
Open Edge Platform: The Open Edge Platform is a modular, open source platform that simplifies the development, deployment and management of edge and AI applications at scale. With cloud-like simplicity, this platform allows ISVs, solution builders and operating system vendors to integrate software components efficiently and leverage performance optimisations from Intel’s latest software advancements. Partners can easily deploy containerised workloads on remote edge devices — without the need for on-site visits — and manage these deployments with tools like Intel vPro®/Intel® Active Management Technology, enabling collaboration and innovation across the software ecosystem.

https://newsroom.intel.com/

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Renesas unveils Lithium-Ion battery management platform with pre-validated firmware

Renesas has introduced all-in-one solutions for managing lithium-ion battery packs in a wide range of battery-powered consumer products, such as e-bikes, vacuum cleaners, robotics and drones. With pre-validated firmware provided, the R-BMS F (Ready Battery Management System with Fixed Firmware) will reduce the learning curve for developers, enabling rapid designs of safe, power-efficient battery management systems.

Designed for lithium-ion batteries in both 2-4 and 3-10 cell series (S), R-BMS F solutions include Renesas’ fuel gauge ICs (FGICs), an integrated microcontroller (MCU) and an analog battery front end, pre-programmed firmware, software, development tools and full documentation – all available in complete evaluation kits that are now ready to ship.

Firmware is essential in battery management systems as it is used to monitor batteries’ state of charge (SoC), state of health (SoH), current, and temperature, as well as actively balancing the voltages of the individual cells, and detect faults. In some cases, however, consumer electronics developers may lack the highly specialised expertise needed to develop control algorithms that keep the batteries operating in a safe temperature region and ensure adequate battery life over many charge/discharge cycles.

Renesas’ R-BMS F solutions include built-in, pre-tested firmware designed to work with the FGIC’s on-board MCU. The firmware includes critical pre-programmed functions to maximize battery life and ensure safe operation. These include cell balancing, current control, and voltage and temperature monitoring. For added flexibility, the battery management system lets developers set many parameters to meet specific requirements and adjust the solution for different cell chemistries via a graphical user interface (GUI), without the need for a full integrated development environment (IDE).

Both R-BMS F solutions contain a full evaluation kit, which has all the hardware, software, tools and documentation required to start developing. The underlying hardware powering the R-BMS F is Renesas’ FGIC solution, which combines an analog battery front end and an ultra-low-power RL78 MCU into a single, small package. The analog portion provides accurate measurements of cell voltage, current and temperature, as well as controlling the external MOSFETs and converting analog data to digital signals. The digital section is where synchronous functions reside, including the main CPU, clocks, timers and serial interfaces. Also included in the evaluation kits are: pre-programmed firmware stored in embedded flash memory with the flexibility to set the battery pack and cell chemistry parameters; the USB System Management Bus (SMBus) interface; GUI-based software; cables to communicate with the host system; dedicated development tools for parameter setting; and full documentation, including schematics and an engineering bill of materials (eBOM). With these resources, developers can confidently innovate intelligent power management systems that safely monitor battery usage and provide longevity, while reducing their impact on the environment. Renesas plans to include turn-key R-BMS F solutions in all future FGICs.

The R-BMS F for 2 to 4S cell (~8V to 16V) solutions targets small vacuum cleaners, robotic vacuums, consumer and medical devices and runs on Renesas’ RAJ240055 Li-ion battery FGIC. Renesas offers Smart Robot Vacuum Cleaner | Renesas by combining this FGIC with other devices from its portfolio.

The R-BMS F for 3 to 10S cell (~12V to 40V) solutions runs on Renesas RAJ240100 and RAJ240090 Li-ion battery FGICs, with target applications including e-bikes, e-mobility, vacuum cleaners, robotics, drones and industrial, consumer and medical systems.

https://www.renesas.com

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Microchip introduces electric two-wheeler ecosystem to accelerate E-Mobility innovation

The electric two-wheeler market is transforming the transportation industry as consumers embrace e-scooters and e-bikes for both recreational use and daily commuting. Microchip has announced the launch of its Electric Two-Wheeler (E2W) ecosystem, a suite of pre-validated reference designs that addresses key challenges in e-scooter and e-bike development, including power efficiency, system integration, safety and time-to-market. By offering automotive-grade, scalable solutions, Microchip enables manufacturers to streamline development and build reliable, feature-rich electric two-wheelers.

Microchip’s automotive-grade components and modular reference designs provide a flexible, scalable platform that adapts to various power levels and feature requirements. Backed by design files, schematics, Bill of Materials (BOM), and global technical support, developers can quickly bring next-generation e-scooters and e-bikes to market with optimised power, safety and intelligence.

“Manufacturers often struggle with optimising power efficiency, ensuring seamless system integration and meeting evolving safety standards,” said Joe Thomsen, corporate vice president of Microchip’s dsPIC business unit. “Microchip’s Electric Two-Wheeler Ecosystem directly addresses these design challenges with pre-validated, high-performance solutions that help accelerate product development and enhance vehicle reliability.”

Key Solutions of Microchip’s E2W Ecosystem

Optimised Power and Battery Efficiency
• Advanced Battery Management System (BMS) with intelligent power conversion and sensing maximises energy utilisation to extend battery life and vehicle range, as well as increases safety.
• 48V to 12V Power Conversion Reference Design ensures high-efficiency power distribution, improving overall system reliability.

Fast and Flexible Charging Solutions
• 7.4 kW Single-Phase AC EV Charger Reference Design offers reliable home charging with built-in protection features.
• USB-PD Dual Charging Port is designed to provide fast, flexible charging for mobile devices to enhance user convenience.

High-Performance Traction Motor Control
• 350W to 10 kW traction motor control reference designs deliver smooth acceleration, improved energy efficiency and precise control.
• Pre-integrated firmware and modular design simplify system development and reduces time-to-market.

Seamless System Integration and Smart Vehicle Control
• Vehicle Control Unit (VCU), Remote Keyless Entry (RKE), Hands-On/Off Detection and Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System (AVAS) work together to enhance the security and safety of the electric two-wheeler.
• Integrated telematics and asset tracking provide real-time monitoring, theft prevention and fleet management capabilities.

Intelligent Touch Display and Connected User Experience
• 720×720 round LCD Instrument Cluster using Microchip’s SAM9X75 MPU with MIPI® DSI, dual GbE and NAND Flash offers real-time data visualisation and smart connectivity.
• maXTouch ATMXT640UD and ATMXT641TD touchscreen controllers offers accurate touch performance in extreme weather and rain with thick gloves.
• Cloud-enabled remote diagnostics and performance tracking enhance the rider experience and optimise fleet operations.

Microchip’s Electric Two-Wheeler Ecosystem delivers pre-validated, high-performance solutions that help manufacturers reduce development time, optimise power efficiency and enhance safety in e-scooters and e-bikes. To learn more, visit Microchip’s Electric Two-Wheeler web page.

https://www.microchip.com.

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ADI introduces expanded CodeFusion Studio Solution to accelerate product development

Analog Devices has unveiled an expanded version of its developer-centric offerings with new solutions to drive more efficiency and security for developers and provide increased customer value. The CodeFusion Studio System Planner helps customers deliver innovations for the Intelligent Edge with enhanced capabilities and reduced time-to-market. The new Data Provenance Software Development solution establishes a trust framework for data created at the Intelligent Edge, ensuring the data remains trustworthy and preserves its fidelity from creation to consumption or storage.

“The work required of embedded developers is more complicated than ever, from increasingly complex processors to new challenges presented by multiple development teams and a more challenging security environment,” said Rob Oshana, Senior Vice President of the Software and Digital Platforms group at ADI. “We have heard from customers time and again they want to be able to more quickly and easily manage their system design, allocate resources, quickly show proof-of-concept, and do it with data integrity at the edge, all of which inspired this expanded CodeFusion Studio™ System Planner and Data Provenance Software Development solution offerings.”

In recent years, embedded devices have exponentially increased processing speed, core count, functionality, and complexity – delivering reduced cost and space, but increasing the complexity of software development pipelines. Legacy developer tools often lack the flexibility and customisation required to integrate into these pipelines and the established code bases central to effective modern system design. ADI’s CodeFusion Studio System Planner solves many of these project creation and resource partitioning challenges on complex, heterogeneous devices.

Using a permissibly licensed, open-source architecture, ADI’s CodeFusion Studio System Planner enables flexible project creation across multiple cores and graphical resource allocation of memory and peripherals. The offering also includes config tools that are aware of the real-time operating system or firmware platform being used on a given core, exposing context-aware config settings for a peripheral or memory block assigned to a core. With added insight into system performance and accessible, open-source tools to improve resource allocation, developers will have greater ability to efficiently optimise their designs.

Additionally, System Planner enables developers to generate the code they need via a plugin-based project creation system. This system gives developers as much flexibility as possible while benefiting from a common set of configuration tools. A set of plugins for common firmware platforms – Zephyr RTOS, ADI’s SDK, etc. – will be provided out of the box, but customers are free to duplicate and modify those project creation and config plugins for their requirements. The plugin system makes use of a templating engine beneath the surface. Static files are modified by replacing strings in specific locations, and the code generation logic can be augmented with JavaScript or TypeScript functions.

Finally, System Planner provides a graphical utility to partition memory resources, assigning partitions to one or more cores. This utility aims to help customers generate linker scripts or Device Tree memory overlay files. Peripheral blocks can also be graphically assigned to a core, with RTOS-aware config settings.

In addition to the CodeFusion Studio System Planner, ADI is also announcing an upgraded ADI Assure Trusted Edge Security Architecture with the early access release of the company’s first Data Provenance Software Development solution ensuring data trust and traceability for customers across its life cycle.

Now available in early access, ADI’s new Data Provenance solution establishes a trust framework for signal chain data, ensuring that data created at the Intelligent Edge retains its integrity, authenticity, and preserves its fidelity as it moves through the system. The Data provenance solution allows appending secure metadata, enhancing the trust and fidelity of the generated data; fidelity comes from the addition of information about the history of the data across its journey. Trust is established by a strong cryptographic proof, allowing users to assess the authenticity and integrity of their data across complex networks more easily, whether it’s being used for simple dashboard displays or sophisticated machine learning models.

By establishing end-to-end trust and enhancing data fidelity, Data Provenance leads to more accurate and safe model outputs and greater decision-making precision. The immediate applications include building more reliable algorithms or AI models that operate on authentic, high-quality data, extracting verified sensor insights to improve understanding of signal chain outputs and operational reliability, simply reducing data waste, and rendering the proof of integrity and authenticity easier.

Early access kits and software downloads for the solution will be available through https://developer.analog.com/ on 25th April

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