Alif Semiconductor Pioneers Generative AI in Edge and Endpoint Devices with 2nd Generation Low-Power Ensemble MCUs

Alif's second-generation products embrace the latest energy-efficient neural processing technology  supporting transformer networks enabling generative AI in products at the edge and endpoint bringing fluid and satisfying user experiences all while being powered from small batteries.

PLEASANTON, Calif., Jan. 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Alif Semiconductor®, a leading global supplier of secure, connected, power efficient Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) microcontrollers (MCUs) and fusion processors, has reinforced its position as the pioneer of endpoint AI MCUs with the announcement of the second generation of its Ensemble ® family of products.

The new E4, E6 and E8 Ensemble MCUs and fusion processors will integrate the latest neural processing unit (NPU) from Arm®, the Ethos ™ -U85, with Alif's unique high bandwidth memory and intelligent power management architecture to support NPU operators required by transformer networks to efficiently execute generative AI workloads. Transformer networks enrich endpoint use cases by focusing on the most relevant parts of older portions of an acquired input sequence while rapidly processing in parallel the current acquired sequence to enable deeper contextualization. For localized use this results in an instant, accurate, and more satisfying experience when using multimodal AI in endpoint products focused on vision, voice, text, and sensor fusion without relying on the cloud.

Reza Kazerounian, President of Alif Semiconductor, said: "Alif's original Ensemble controllers in full production today remain at the forefront of the market for AI/ML performance, on-chip resources, energy efficiency, and small footprint. We specifically chose Arm's standardized Ethos NPU IP because of its widely supported broad ecosystem in addition to superior performance and efficiency. Alif's second-generation controllers will dial up benefits again enabling developers to create products that previously they could only wish for, unleashing endless new use cases that will enter our everyday lives."

The new Ensemble devices are based on the proven system architecture which made the first-generation E1, E3, E5, and E7 products so popular. These included large, fast on-chip tightly coupled memories to feed pairs of Arm Cortex®-M55 CPUs coupled to Ethos-U55 NPUs, Alif's proprietary aiPM™ granular power management, a hardware-isolated secure enclave, and multiple ways to stream image, sound, and sensor data into the device. Ensemble devices can readily perform inferencing for neural networks using only its internal memory, and with external memory if required.

The second generation of Ensemble introduces a set of improvements to give even higher AI/ML performance at lower power consumption, and to provide more integrated support for embedded vision and audio applications. New features integrates a wider internal memory bus topology bringing abundant localized data bandwidth for NPU consumption, dual MIPI-CSI camera interfaces, a fast hardware image signal processor operating up to 200 frames per second, and a pair of faster interfaces to external memory each capable of 800MBytes/s. And finally, new broader options for SRAM data retention gives designers more flexibility to wake from sleep faster.

Paul Williamson, Senior Vice President and General Manager, IoT Line of Business at ARM, said: "As edge AI deployments continue to grow at pace, we need to deliver smarter, faster, and more secure processing on the devices closest to the data source. With the world's first implementation of the Ethos-U85 in an endpoint AI MCU, Alif is enabling on-device generative AI, which is particularly valuable in voice and vision applications. OEMs can now embed AI into battery-powered applications, illustrating why edge AI is being built on the energy-efficient Arm compute platform."

Pete Bernard, Executive Director of the EDGE AI FOUNDATION, added his appreciation of the role that Alif has played in enabling AI at the edge. He said: "The use of transformer networks in endpoint devices such as smart glasses or earbuds promises to make interactions with devices astonishingly intuitive and natural. Alif is opening a pathway to this new opportunity by implementing the Ethos-U85 NPU in the high-performance, low-power Ensemble architecture."

The second-generation Ensemble E4, E6 and E8 devices will be available for lead customers, contact Alif for samples. The first generation E1, E3, E5 and E7 Ensemble devices continue to be actively supported for new designs and are in volume production.

To learn more about the Ensemble family of endpoint AI MCUs and fusion processors, please visit alifsemi.com. 

About Alif Semiconductor:

Alif Semiconductor is the industry-leading supplier of next-generation secure AI/ML-enabled 32-bit microcontrollers. Since 2019, Alif's expanding offering of microcontrollers and fusion processors has been revolutionizing the way developers can create broad, scalable, and connected AI-enabled embedded applications that are genuinely power efficient. Alif Semiconductor is the only choice for power efficient microcontrollers that can handle heavy AI and ML workloads for battery-operated IoT devices. For more information go to https://alifsemi.com/.

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