STMicroelectronics boost embedded AI in its new NPU-accelerated STM32 MCUs

STMicroelectronics announced a new microcontroller series with improved embedded artificial intelligence (AI) capability by integrating, for the first time, accelerated machine-learning (ML) capabilities. This to provide high-performance features leveraging computer vision to cost-sensitive, power-conscious consumer and industrial products. Suggested areas also include audio processing, sound analysis and other algorithms making small embedded systems more AI capable. The STM32N6 microcontroller (MCU) series is ST’s most powerful to date, and the first to embed ST’s proprietary neural processing unit (NPU), the Neural-ART Accelerator, delivering 600 times more machine-learning performance than a high-end STM32 MCU today. The STM32N6 has been available to selected customers since October 2023 and is now ready to be offered in high volumes. “We are on the verge of a significant transformation at the tiny edge. This transformation involves the increasing augmentation or replacement of our customers’ workloads by AI models. Currently, these models are used for tasks such as segmentation, classification, and recognition. In the future, they will be applied to new applications yet to be developed,” said Remi El-Ouazzane, President, Microcontrollers, Digital Ics and RF Products Group (MDRF) at STMicroelectronics. “The STM32N6 is the first STM32 product to feature our Neural-ART...