Edge compute was already growing rapidly before the advent of artificial intelligence. As a strategy to reduce latency, reduce data volume to the cloud (which saves both time and money) and a way of reducing system complexity, and provide local decision making, edge compute has been a cornerstone of the massive expansion of the Internet of Things (IoT).
Smart home devices, factory and industrial applications, healthcare and autonomous vehicles are turning to RISC-V based devices for real-time or near-real-time processing. RISC-V offers powerful performance with great power efficiency, power density important for small, often battery powered edge devices. Flexible and compatible software reduces system costs and makes it easier to integrate edge devices quickly. Flexible, ultra-low power applications are a great fit for SiFive product solutions.
With it’s clean architecture and common software RISC-V is driving interest for applications in AI accelerators and devices for AI and ML at the edge.
The SiFive Essential series is helping lead the shift of devices to the edge in many industries.
