Intel and Altera have announced a collaboration to develop a flexible, real-time sensor bridge for edge and Physical AIartificial intelligenceAI stands for artificial intelligence systems. The effort is aimed at applications in healthcare, aerospace and defense, and robotics, where connecting many sensors, processing their data and acting on it in real time has become increasingly complex.
The planned approach combines Intel compute, connectivity and software with Altera FPGAfield-programmable gate arrayReconfigurable logic device whose internal circuits can be programmed after manufacturing.s. The companies want to give OEMoriginal equipment manufacturers a modular foundation that can handle the growing mix of sensors, interfaces and workloads in sensor-rich edge environments. In these systems, data often has to be merged from different inputs while still meeting strict requirements for timing, performance, power and cost.
Some applications also need very high bandwidth or flexible form factors, including cases where input/output is placed away from the compute board. In such designs, sensor data must be streamed quickly into memory so the host Intel processor can use it across edge and robotics workloads. The collaboration is intended to address these constraints with reference solutions built on programmable hardware and a consistent Intel compute and software base.
Intel and Altera say the goal is to make it easier for OEMoriginal equipment manufacturers to adapt systems as sensors, applications and workloads evolve. The companies frame the reference designs as a way to move more efficiently from prototype to deployment while keeping performance, power and cost in balance.
The collaboration is also being extended across specific market segments. In healthcare, the two companies are jointly developing a reference solution for advanced equipment with stringent latency and real-time requirements. In aerospace and defense, the focus is on next-generation mission systems with size, weight and power constraints for converged AIartificial intelligenceAI stands for artificial intelligence and signal-processing workloads.
For robotics, Intel and Altera plan to combine Intel compute, connectivity and robotics software with Altera FPGAfield-programmable gate arrayReconfigurable logic device whose internal circuits can be programmed after manufacturing. technology to address sensing, timing and real-time processing requirements in intelligent machines. Developers will be able to access the capabilities through Intel’s Open Edge Platform SDKSoftware Development KitThese are tools and libraries used to build applications on a platform. and an Altera SDKSoftware Development KitThese are tools and libraries used to build applications on a platform..
Intel describes itself as designing and manufacturing advanced semiconductors, while Altera positions itself as a provider of programmable compute and connectivity solutions. Altera is presented as the largest pure-play FPGAfield-programmable gate arrayReconfigurable logic device whose internal circuits can be programmed after manufacturing. provider with a portfolio spanning data centers, communications networks and critical embedded systems.