Intel and Altera have announced a collaboration to develop a flexible, real-time sensor bridge for Edge & Physical AI applications in healthcare, aerospace and defense, and robotics.
Edge and Physical AI systems may need to combine data from different sensors and interfaces while meeting timing, performance, power and cost requirements. Some applications also call for very high bandwidth or flexible form factors, with input/output (I/O) located away from the compute board. Sensor data must then be streamed rapidly into memory for use by the host Intel processor.
The companies plan to develop modular reference solutions combining programmable hardware with an Intel compute and software foundation. The capabilities will be accessible through Intel’s Open Edge Platform SDK and an Altera SDK. In healthcare, the companies are developing a reference solution for the latency and real-time requirements of advanced healthcare equipment. Their aerospace and defense work targets next-generation mission systems, with a focus on size, weight and power for converged AI and signal-processing workloads. For robotics, they plan to combine Intel compute, connectivity and robotics software with Altera FPGA technology.
Dan Rodriguez, corporate vice president and general manager of the Edge Computing Group at Intel, said: “As sensors multiply at the edge and through Physical AI systems, our customers need a simpler way to turn real-world data into timely action. Together with Altera, we aim to give OEMs a flexible foundation that simplifies integration and helps them move faster from prototype to market deployment while meeting their needs across performance, power and cost.”
