Synaptics expands family of SoCs
January 27, 2021
Synaptics Incorporated has announced customer sampling of its VideoSmart VS640, a next generation edge computing SoC that is AI-enriched for emerging set-top boxes, streaming OTT devices, video soundbars and smart displays. The cost-effective VS640 shares a common architecture as the higher-end VS680 SoC introduced last year and developers can leverage a common SDK for faster time-to-market. The VS640 edge computing SoC is a single multimodal platform with an integrated CPU, GPU, audio DSP and an NPU that is purpose-built with AI to enhance the user experience.
The high-performance, low power VS640 includes a quad-core multimedia processor with a dedicated dual-core audio DSP, and Synaptics’ integrated far-field voice processing and custom wake word capabilities. The platform offers the next generation AV1 video decode format — a requirement for future YouTube and Netflix content — and is designed to support the latest version of all major operating system frameworks including Android TV, RDK, Linux and AOSP, enabling service providers to integrate applications and custom user interfaces at their choice.
Open AI Development Tools Utilizing Integrated Secure Processing
To provide higher levels of privacy, security and real-time interaction for end-users, the VS640 leverages SyNAP™ (Synaptics Neural Network Acceleration and Processing). The SyNAP toolkit is an open, full-stack solution that builds upon industry-standard AI frameworks such as TensorFlow, TensorFlow Lite and ONNX to simplify the implementation of customized machine learning inferencing. As part of the SyNAP framework, Synaptics’ SyKURE™ technology protects the privacy of users while exceeding the required levels of security for content providers. The SyKURE framework supports all the major Conditional Access Systems (CAS) and Digital Rights Management (DRM) vendor technologies.
“Based on our proven AI-enabled platform, this new offering expands the types of applications and systems that can benefit from our highly integrated SoC solutions for video processing,” said Venkat Kodavati, senior vice president and general manager, Multimedia Division at Synaptics. “Our flexible architecture allows product developers to combine the performance, power and security features they need to differentiate in competitive edge-based computing markets. In addition to the VS640, we have now infused AI across nearly our entire portfolio of video, vision, voice, audio, biometrics, touch, display and security solutions.”