MPU series with vision-optimised AI accelerator

Renesas Electronics Corporation now offers the RZ/V series of MPUs, which offer DRP-AI, the company’s exclusive vision-optimized artificial intelligence (AI) accelerator. The first product in the series is intended to provide a combination of real-time AI inference and industry-leading power efficiency in embedded devices.

The device leverages the DRP-AI’s great power efficiency to achieve power consumption as low as 4W (typ). This removes the requirement for heat sinks and cooling fans, greatly simplifying heat dissipation measures. This allows the device to be employed in compact devices or assist in reducing equipment sizes, increasing the opportunities to include AI in embedded devices. It also serves to decrease BOM costs.

“The new RZ/V Series delivers both high performance and low power consumption, the two key issues that are keeping Vision AI processing from achieving a higher level of real-time performance,” said Hiroto Nitta, senior vice president, head of SoC Business, IoT and Infrastructure Business Unit at Renesas. “The RZ/V Series will dramatically expand the range of AI applications in embedded devices through object recognition, for example, cameras in smart shopping cart systems that automatically calculate totals based on the cart items, robots in factories that can safely work together with humans, and medical cameras that assist doctors in making diagnoses.”