Socionext and Foxconn to deliver cutting-edge AI solutions

January 24, 2020 11:33 am

Socionext Inc., one of the global leading system-on-chip (SoC) solutions providers, has introduced new, intelligent, scalable edge-AI solutions developed in partnership with Foxconn Technology Group and Network Optix Inc.

Socionext has partnered closely with Foxconn, a leader in smart manufacturing, together with Network Optix, a creator of innovative Video Management Software (VMS) on the high-performance edge system. The newly launched solutions are powered by a scalable, 24-core Arm Cortex-A53 SoC offering exceptional CPU performance, which provides excellent processing speed and power savings. The new system is designed to support the most demanding edge computing, smart energy, Internet of Things (IoT), and real-time data processing applications.

Socionext and Foxconn have also collaborated on the development of Foxconn’s BOXiedge, a high-density, fan-less, and highly efficient edge server that measures a compact 200 x 200 mm (1U) and typically consumes only 30 W of power.

The BOXiedge is ideal for industrial internet AI applications as it provides over 20TOPS in total with an AI accelerating card that offers excellent performance in object classification.

It also supports the mainstream Caffe and TensorFlow AI development frameworks, so no additional learning time is required. In order to support additional computational offloading of real-time applications, Foxconn will be pre-installing Network Optix’s Witness VMS to the BOXiedge server for better optimisation. Additionally, it provides immediate support for a broad range of IP cameras on the market.

“Socionext has been a reliable and trusted technology partner in ASSP for many years and shares the same vision with us at Foxconn of innovating the next-generation AI solutions,” said Gene Liu, VP of Foxconn Technology Group. “We are pleased to partner with Socionext again to integrate the “Nx Witness VMS” into Foxconn’s BOXiedge in order to deliver even greater value to HW-SW integrated ARM solutions, bringing a more powerful and cost-effective solution to the retail and manufacturing industry,” added Liu.

The new edge computing system developed with Network Optix combines the ultra-fast processing capabilities of Arm-based CPU with Network Optix’s Nx Witness VMS that integrates seamlessly with other products ‘Powered-by-Nx’ built on the Nx Meta Video Development Platform for analysing and enriching video data. It enables multiple video input processing in real time and provides a powerful and intuitive user interface to view and manage multiple incoming IP video streams. The lightweight VMS can run on most hardware and leading server platforms.

This compact and efficient edge-AI server is ideal for real-time edge inference applications such as being able to recognise and filter video input using metadata to identify objects, people, commodities, human faces and even pathways. Potential applications include smart retail, smart manufacturing, surveillance, medical AI, and more.

Socionext aims to continually expand its current ecosystem of partners and introduce solutions to help in the growing mobile, edge and cloud computing markets.