Alif Semiconductor announced the launch of its Ensemble™ and Crescendo™ product families. Built to power the exponential expansion of next-generation, always-connected IoT products, the Ensemble and Crescendo families fill the market need for scalable, genuinely power-efficient devices that integrate AI/ML acceleration, multi-layered security, LTE Cat-M1, and NB-IoT connectivity, GNSS positioning, and plenty of integrated memory to enable the design of products that seamlessly integrate into everyday life, whether the processing is done locally or in the cloud.
The Ensemble family is built on the latest generation embedded processing technology that scales from single Arm Cortex-M55 MCUs to a new class of multi-core devices — fusion processors — that blend up to two Cortex-M55 MCU cores, up to two Cortex-A32 microprocessors (MPU) cores capable of running high-level operating systems, and up to two Arm Ethos™-U55 microNPUs for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) acceleration. Ensemble family devices contain an advanced secure enclave that provides multiple layers of security, such as device integrity protection, secure identity, strong root-of-trust, secure lifecycle management, and more. Together with large on-chip SRAM and non-volatile memory, accelerated graphics, imaging, and class-leading power characteristics, the Ensemble family is ideal for smart home products, appliances, point-of sale, robotics applications, and much more.
The Crescendo family offers the same functionality as the Ensemble family, and in addition adds LTE Cat-M1 and NB-IoT Cellular connectivity, optional iSIM for simplified subscriber management, integrated RF, power amplifiers, and a concurrent GNSS receiver for positioning, thus delivering the key capabilities required for next-generation smart city, connected infrastructure, asset tracking, healthcare devices, wearables, and more — all in a single chip.
Many deployed IoT devices are battery-powered, and battery life is critically challenged when there is a high requirement for local processing, AI/ML, and wireless communication. To address this, Alif Semiconductor is introducing its exclusive Autonomous Intelligent Power Management (aiPM™) technology that allows fine-grained control of when resources in the chip are being powered. This technique produces class-leading low-power operation, enabling intelligent devices to last longer on smaller batteries.
“The next generation of IoT applications requires more intelligent, secure, AI-capable endpoint devices at scale,” said Mohamed Awad, vice president of IoT & Embedded at Arm. “Alif’s new product families, based on Arm’s proven technology, will unleash the potential of AI and enable developers to create innovative solutions that fuel the continued growth of the IoT.”
Ensemble and Crescendo devices are sampling now to lead customers. These devices are supported by Alif Semiconductor’s software, development tools, and kits. Production qualification will be complete in 1Q22.
