EdgeCortix Launches SAKURA-II Platform to Power the Next Wave of Generative AI at the Edge
May 21 2024 - 2:03PM
Business Wire
The next-generation high performance, energy
efficient Edge AI accelerator addresses the latest Generative AI
solutions at the edge from vision to billions of parameters large
language models
EdgeCortix® Inc., a leading fabless semiconductor company
specializing in energy-efficient AI processing at the edge, today
unveiled its next-generation SAKURA-II Edge AI accelerator.
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This state-of-the-art platform, paired with EdgeCortix’s
innovative second generation Dynamic Neural Accelerator (DNA)
architecture, is engineered to tackle the most challenging
Generative AI tasks in the industry. Designed for flexibility and
power efficiency, SAKURA-II empowers users to seamlessly manage a
wide range of complex tasks including Large Language Models (LLMs),
Large Vision Models (LVMs), and multi-modal transformer-based
applications, even within the stringent environmental constraints
at the edge. Featuring low latency, best-in-class memory bandwidth,
high accuracy, and compact form factors, SAKURA-II delivers
unparalleled performance and cost-efficiency across the diverse
spectrum of edge AI applications.
Well-suited for numerous use cases across the manufacturing,
industry 4.0, security, robotics, aerospace, and telecommunications
industries, SAKURA-II features EdgeCortix’s latest generation
runtime reconfigurable neural processing engine, DNA-II. Leveraging
this highly configurable intellectual property block, SAKURA-II
delivers power efficiency and real-time processing capabilities
while simultaneously executing multiple deep neural network models
with low latency. SAKURA-II can deliver up to 60 trillion
operations per second (TOPS) of effective 8-bit integer performance
and 30 trillion 16-bit brain floating-point operations per second
(TFLOPS), while also supporting built-in mixed precision for
handling the rigorous demands of next-generation AI tasks.
The SAKURA-II platform, with its sophisticated MERA software
suite, features a heterogeneous compiler platform, advanced
quantization, and model calibration capabilities. This software
suite includes native support for leading development frameworks
such as PyTorch, TensorFlow Lite, and ONNX. MERA's flexible
host-to-accelerator unified runtime is adept at scaling across
single, multi-chip, and multi-card systems at the edge,
significantly streamlining AI inferencing and shortening deployment
times for data scientists. Furthermore, the integration with the
MERA Model Library, with seamless interface to Hugging Face
Optimum, offers users access to an extensive range of the latest
transformer models, ensuring a smooth transition from training to
edge inference.
"SAKURA-II's impressive 60 TOPS performance within 8W of typical
power consumption, combined with its mixed-precision and built-in
memory compression capabilities, positions it as a pivotal
technology for the latest Generative AI solutions at the edge,"
said Sakyasingha Dasgupta, CEO and Founder of EdgeCortix. "Whether
running traditional AI models or the latest Llama 2/3,
Stable-diffusion, Whisper or Vision-transformer models, SAKURA-II
provides deployment flexibility at superior performance per watt
and cost-efficiency. We are committed to ensuring we meet our
customer’s varied needs and also to securing a technological
foundation that remains robust and adaptable within the swiftly
evolving AI sector."
Key Benefits of SAKURA-II include:
- Optimized for Generative AI: Tailored specifically for
processing Generative AI workloads at the edge with minimal power
consumption.
- Complex Model Handling: Capable of managing
multi-billion parameter models like Llama 2, Stable Diffusion,
DETR, and ViT within a typical power envelope of 8W.
- Seamless Software Integration: Fully compatible with
EdgeCortix’s MERA software suite, facilitating seamless transitions
from model training to deployment.
- Enhanced Memory Bandwidth: Offers up to four times more
DRAM bandwidth than competing AI accelerators, ensuring superior
performance for LLM and LVM.
- Real-Time Data Streaming: Optimized for low-latency
operations under real-time data streaming conditions.
- Advanced Precision: Provides software-enabled
mixed-precision support for near FP32 accuracy.
- Sparse Computation: Supports sparse computation to
reduce memory footprint and optimize bandwidth.
- Versatile Functionality: Supports arbitrary activation
functions with hardware approximation for enhanced
adaptability.
- Efficient Data Handling: Includes a dedicated Reshaper
engine to manage complex data permutations on-chip and minimize
host CPU load.
- Power Management: Features on-chip power-gating and
power management capabilities to facilitate ultra-high efficiency
modes.
SAKURA-II will be offered as a stand-alone device, two different
M.2 modules with varying DRAM capacity, single and dual-device
low-profile PCIe cards. Customers can reserve M.2 modules and PCIe
cards today for delivery in the second half of 2024.
Reserve SAKURA-II accelerators today by registering here.
About EdgeCortix
Pioneering the future of the connected intelligent edge,
EdgeCortix is a fabless semiconductor company focused on
energy-efficient AI processing of Generative-AI workloads at the
edge. Founded in 2019 with R&D headquarters in Tokyo, Japan,
EdgeCortix delivers a software-first approach with its patented
“hardware and software co-exploration” system to design an AI
specific runtime reconfigurable accelerator processor from the
ground up. EdgeCortix’s products disrupt the rapidly growing edge
AI hardware markets including defense, aerospace, smart cities,
industry 4.0, autonomous vehicles and robotics.
For more information about EdgeCortix and SAKURA-II, visit
https://www.edgecortix.com/en/.
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Racepoint Global for EdgeCortix
edgecortix@racepointglobal.com