A new edge inference solutions company has been making news over the past few days, claiming an outstanding power efficiency. Other updates this week are mostly from research works in different areas.

AI edge processing at 55 TOPS/Watt

On March 31st Perceive Corporation emerged from stealth mode and debuted its first product, the Ergo edge inference processor. According to Perceive, Ergo delivers more than 4 sustained “GPU-equivalent” floating-point TOPS, with the ability to run heterogeneous, large neural networks simultaneously, and offering a power efficiency of more than 55 TOPS/Watt. For example, Ergo can run YOLOv3 at up to 246 frames per second (batch size =1) at 30 frames per second while consuming about 20 mW. The processor has a 7×7 mm package and requires no external RAM. Ergo targets applications such as video object detection, audio event detection, and speech recognition, in consumer devices such as security cameras, smart appliances, and mobile phones. Perceive also announced that Ergo has been selected by two major providers of smart connected camera and security products – one of them being Arlo – to integrate advanced neural network applications into future products. The Ergo chip and reference board are currently being sampled to leading customers; the company expects to be ready for mass production in the second quarter of 2020. Founded in 2018 and based in San Jose, CA, Perceive is a majority-owned subsidiary of Xperi Corporation, the company known for brands such as DTS, IMAX Enhanced, HD Radio, and Invensas.
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