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January 21, 2019

• Analysts’ Choice Winners for 2018
  The Linley Group recognizes 2018’s top products in the categories of embedded, mobile, networking, server, processor IP, and related technology. And the winners are…
  

• Intel Turns Graphics up to (Gen) 11
  The upcoming 10nm Ice Lake processors will employ Intel’s first mainstream GPU with 1Tflop/s of single-precision compute capability. The Gen11 graphics architecture also boosts power efficiency.
  

• Microchip Previews RISC-V FPGAs
  Due to sample in 2H19, the SoC FPGAs combine the PolarFire FPGA design with SiFive’s U54-MC complex, comprising quad 64-bit application cores, a 64-bit monitor core, and an L2 cache. 
  

January 14, 2019

• Year in Review: Mobile Vendors Prepare for 5G
  In 2018, premium processors adopted three-tier CPU configurations even as more customers bought mid-premium phones. AI and 5G will drive upgrades in 2019.
  

• Ryzen Mobile Rises to 12nm
  AMD’s new Ryzen Mobile processors boost CPU and GPU clock speeds for mainstream laptop PCs and entry-level gaming notebooks. They match up well with Intel’s Whiskey Lake products.
  

• Achronix eFPGA Serves AI Two Ways
  The next-generation Speedcore IP targets leading-edge 7nm technology while adding a machine-learning-processor block for AI. Speedster 7nm FPGA chips are scheduled to follow in 1H19.
  

January 7, 2019

• Year in Review: IP Suppliers Push AI Accelerators
  In 2018, intellectual-property vendors launched a range of deep-learning accelerators while open-source CPUs gained ground. Arm will launch its first new Neoverse core in 2019.
  

• Qualcomm Gets Serious About PCs
  The Snapdragon 8cx boosts CPU, GPU, memory, and I/O capabilities well beyond smartphone levels, enabling more-powerful Arm-based PCs beginning in mid-2019.
  

• Barefoot Joins 400GbE-Switch Club
  The startup plans to bring programmability to 400G Ethernet, with samples of its Tofino 2 switch chip due in 1H19. Employing 50Gbps PAM4 serdes, the new product delivers 12.8Tbps of bandwidth.
  

December 31, 2018

• Year in Review: Embedded Processors Embrace AI
  Artificial intelligence, Industry 4.0, edge computing, IoT, autonomous vehicles, functional safety, and security trended in 2018. New chips for 5G infrastructure are coming in 2019.
  

• Editorial: Chiplets Gain Design Winlets
  More companies are deploying multiple die in a single package using 2.5D and 3D approaches, including Intel’s new Foveros technology, but cost remains a problem.
  

December 24, 2018

• Snapdragon 855 Is a Prime Choice
  Qualcomm’s next-generation processor for premium smartphones offers a “prime core,” a new AI accelerator, and multigigabit wireless connectivity, including 2Gbps LTE and optional 5G.
  

• Year in Review: Data Centers Accelerate AI Processing
  Vendors large and small optimized their designs for deep learning in 2018. Market leaders Intel and Nvidia face increasing competition on multiple fronts in 2019.
  

December 17, 2018

• Imagination Revs Its AI Engines
  In multicore configurations, Imagination’s PowerVR Series3NX delivers up to 160 trillion AI operations per second. The new Series9XEP, XMP, and XTP GPUs increase area efficiency.
  

• Intel Gains Myriad Customers
  Intel’s new Myriad X processor, from the former Movidius team, greatly improves AI performance while targeting smart cameras, drones, and other embedded applications.
  

• New MCUs Embrace Cortex-M33
  NXP and STMicroelectronics are sampling the first Arm Cortex-M33 microcontrollers that implement TrustZone and other security features: NXP’s LPC5500 family and ST’s STM32L5 family.
  

December 10, 2018

• Esperanto Maxes Out RISC-V
  The startup has developed a high-performance RISC-V CPU called ET-Maxion that it plans to ship in its first AI accelerator and also license to select customers.
  

• PAM4 Drives Serdes to 100Gbps
  Data centers are on the cusp of 400G Ethernet adoption enabled by 100Gbps-per-lambda optical modules, which require PHYs with sophisticated signal processing. Six vendors are now sampling such chips.
  

• Ambiq Apollo 3 Boosts Wearables
  Ambiq is using its initial success in Huawei wearables to improve its Apollo MCUs. Apollo 3 Blue adds features while reducing power compared with Apollo 2.
  

December 3, 2018

• AMD Ships Industry’s First 7nm GPU
  By moving its Vega GPU architecture to 7nm, AMD boosted the performance of its Radeon Instinct cards, which support AI and scientific computing but not PC graphics.
  

• TI Samples Its First 64-Bit Arm
  Texas Instruments’ new Sitara AM65x processors combine up to four Cortex-A53 CPUs, three real-time-control subsystems, two 32-bit Cortex-R5F microcontroller cores, and an optional GPU.
  

• Renesas Focuses on ADAS Cameras
  A computer-vision processor for camera-based automotive systems, the Renesas R-Car V3H integrates the company’s hard-wired accelerators and custom vision DSP along with a programmable AI engine.
  

November 26, 2018

• NovuMind Relieves Tensor Headaches
  The startup’s NovuTensor neural-network accelerator runs its compute engines at just 400MHz, but by combining hardware parallelism and time-division multiplexing, they deliver 15 trillion operations per second.
  

• NXP’s i.MX RT600 Listens for Less
  NXP’s new “crossover” processor combines an Arm Cortex-M33 CPU with a Cadence HiFi 4 DSP for audio processing and deep learning.
  

November 19, 2018

• Intel, AMD Monsters Battle for HPC
  SC18 brought new server-processor disclosures from Intel and AMD. The former announced its 48-core Cascade Lake Advanced Performance while the latter disclosed new details of its 64-core Rome. 
  

• Arteris Upgrades NoC for AI
  The new version of Arteris IP’s network-on-a-chip (NoC) intellectual property adds several upgrades, including features that help to design artificial-intelligence processors and other SoCs.
  

• Imagination Cuts GNSS Power
  A new package of synthesizable intellectual property (IP) for integrating a low-power global-navigation receiver in SoCs, the Ensigma Series 4 takes “snapshots” to save energy when determining location.
  

November 12, 2018

• SiFive Raises RISC-V Performance
  At the Linley Fall Processor Conference, SiFive revealed its 7 Series cores. The new CPU is its most complex yet, moving into the same class as Arm’s “little” Cortex-A family.
  

• Editorial: AI Competition Begins to Bloom
  Several new vendors are challenging Nvidia’s performance lead in neural-network inference and training, including Cornami, Graphcore, Habana, Intel/Nervana, Wave, and Xilinx.
  

• Wave Exposes Broad Roadmap
  Wave Computing is offering evaluation versions of its initial AI-acceleration systems while developing a second-generation ASIC, new MIPS cores, and its first licensable AI accelerators.
  

November 5, 2018

• LS1028A Targets Cars and Factories
  NXP’s Layerscape LS1028A adds IEEE 802.1 Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) and a graphics unit to its Ethernet controllers for mission-critical industrial and automotive applications.
  

• Flex Logix Spins Neural Accelerator
  Known for its embedded-FPGA IP, the startup is developing the NMax inference engine, a licensable core that scales from 512GMAC/s to 74TMAC/s or more.
  

• Cadence HiFi 5 Is a Smart Listener
  The new licensable DSP handles speech recognition in digital assistants and other devices with voice interfaces. Relative to HiFi 4, it doubles audio-DSP performance and quadruples inference-engine performance.
  

• PowerVR Halves GPU-Memory Needs
  Imagination’s new PVRIC4 compression guarantees bandwidth savings of at least 50%, enabling designers to optimize their memory subsystem.
  

• AIware3 Adds Rings to Neural Engine
  AImotive’s third-generation licensable engine for autonomous-vehicle neural networks employs a new configurable ring structure that can connect multiple compute units to boost performance.
  

October 29, 2018

• Tachyum Tries for Hyperscale Servers
  The startup is developing a 64-core server processor, targeting tapeout late next year. The 7nm design implements a VLIW instruction set with custom vector and matrix instructions and a custom fabric.
  

• Eta Compute MCU Puts AI in IoT
  The startup’s new Tensai chip combines an MCU with a DSP for machine learning. Eta completes its solution with optimized neural-network software for machine learning.
  

• Editorial: NXP Drives to the Future
  Facing a future without Qualcomm, NXP will focus on its core automotive and industrial markets while de-emphasizing networking and mobile. Its new AI strategy focuses on software.
  

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