There is a processor launched by NXP that has attracted much attention from the industry as soon as it came out. This is the i.MX 8M Plus, the first i.MX integrated with a dedicated neural processing engine (NPU). NXP officially positioned this processor as "capable of realizing advanced machine learning reasoning at the edge in fields such as industry and the Internet of Things", and in NXP's subsequent related publicity, it also emphasized that the i.MX 8M Plus processor can realize applications related to machine learning and intelligent vision for the industrial edge. However, the actual situation is that the product and industry applicability of the i.MX 8M Plus is not limited to this. Its powerful performance and configuration can maximize its value in fields such as smart medical care, smart transportation and industrial Internet of Things. There is no doubt that this processor, which integrates NPU (with a computing power of up to 2.3TOPS), dual Gigabit Ethernet, two integrated MIPI CSI camera interfaces and dual-camera image signal processors (ISP), and supports three-screen display, HiFi voice and other multimedia functions, will surely occupy a place in the surging embedded ARM market.
▲i.MX 8M Plus application processor block diagram
Martyn Humphries, vice president and general manager of NXP's i.MX application processors for consumer and industrial markets, once said: "In the process of transforming the 'smart' edge to the 'intelligent' edge, the i.MX 8M Plus is an important milestone product and it will become a trend leader in processing solutions." This confidence is not groundless and is due to the power of the i.MX 8M Plus.
Let's take a closer look at the i.MX 8M Plus. Using advanced 14nm LPC FinFET process technology, the i.MX 8M Plus can simultaneously execute multiple highly complex neural networks, such as multi-object recognition, speech recognition of more than 40,000 English words, and medical imaging. The powerful NPU is capable of processing Mobilenet, a popular image classification network, at a classification rate of more than 500 images per second.
Engineers can offload machine learning inference functions to the NPU, allowing high-performance Cortex-A and Cortex-M cores, DSPs, and GPUs to perform other system-level or user application tasks. The vision part integrates dual ISPs and supports high dynamic range (HDR) and fisheye lens correction. The ISP supports two high-definition cameras for real-time stereo vision or a single 12-megapixel resolution camera. These features provide support for real-time image processing applications such as surveillance, smart retail applications, robotic vision, and home health monitors.
i.MX 8M Plus offers
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2.3 High-performance NPU with TOPS computing power (tera operations per second)
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Quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 subsystem with up to 2GHz (industrial 1.6GHz)
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Independent real-time subsystem based on Cortex-M7 with a main frequency of up to 800MHz
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High-performance 800MHz audio DSP for speech and natural language processing
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Dual camera image signal processor (ISP)
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3D GPU for rich graphics rendering
To support voice applications, i.MX 8M Plus integrates a high-performance HiFi 4 DSP to enhance natural language processing performance by pre-processing and post-processing voice streams. This has obvious advantages for applications that require guaranteed video communication quality, such as medical remote diagnosis and treatment systems.
In industrial applications, i.MX 8M Plus can improve industrial productivity and automation, detect, measure, accurately identify objects, and achieve predictive maintenance of equipment by accurately detecting abnormal machine operation. In addition, by combining accurate face recognition, voice/command recognition, and gesture recognition, the factory human-machine interface can be more intuitive and safer. i.MX 8M Plus supports Industry 4.0 IT/OT convergence, integrates Gigabit Ethernet with time-sensitive networking (TSN), and combines the real-time processing capabilities of Arm Cortex M7 to provide deterministic wired network connectivity and processing. Even more exciting is that the i.MX 8M Plus supply cycle will be as long as 15 years, which is very important for users of products with long life cycles.
It is worth mentioning that the new IPs (such as NPU and ISP) integrated in the i.MX 8M Plus application processor are powerful, but they may also bring development challenges to engineers. Although many engineers are capable of solving these problems, the increased complexity will undoubtedly bring more pressure to the project deadline. Therefore, NXP's gold partner Feiling Embedded launched the OKMX8MP-C development board and FETMX8MP-C core board based on the i.MX 8M Plus processor to help engineers solve the pain points of developing products using i.MX 8M Plus and shorten the time to market. With the mature OKMX8MP-C development board and FETMX8MP-C core board, engineers can reduce the time spent on hardware design and driver development and improve the stability of the product.
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