Zoho-Backed Netrasemi Brings Out A2000 Edge AI SoC for Smart Cameras, Drones, and Robotics
In the Indian market, the Netrasemi A2000 Edge AI System-on-Chip has now been introduced. It has been unveiled as a homegrown AI chip, which aims to bring advancements in the semiconductor and Edge AI ecosystem of the country.
Read more about it and its features below.
Netrasemi A2000 Edge AI SoC – Introduced in India
The newly-introduced Netrasemi A2000 Edge AI SoC has been brought out in India as the flagship Edge AI SoC from Kerala-based startup Netrasemi, and the startup is also backed by Zoho. As per what has been revealed, the chip is built on TSMC’s 12nm process, and customer trials have already started. With the launch of the A2000 Edge AI SoC, Netrasemi has achieved another notable step in India’s semiconductor and AI hardware development journey
Netrasemi’s A2000 aligns with India’s goal of attaining self-reliance in the advanced chip design industry, and brings a reliable and homegrown AI chip technology for the nation. As mentioned, the chip has achieved successful silicon bring-up and is now getting ready for commercial production. It has been designed for smart cameras, drones, robots, CCTV systems, industrial automation, and other such applications. Real-time video analysis, computer vision support, and on-device AI processing are a few of its key features.
Speaking more, as it is built to run AI tasks directly on the device itself, it will reduce the need to depend on cloud servers. This will help devices powered by the chip to offer faster responses, while also improving privacy as the data does not have to be sent to the cloud for processing. Thanks to its advanced design, it can also be used in devices that need to see, understand, and react to what is happening around them in real time.
To explain in simple terms, Edge AI means that AI runs directly on the device itself instead of sending everything to cloud servers. SoC or System-on-Chip means that multiple important components are packed into a single chip. CPU or Central Processing Unit is the general-purpose processor that handles everyday computing tasks, while NPU or Neural Processing Unit is a dedicated AI engine that speeds up tasks like object detection, image recognition, and AI inference. VPU or Vision Processing Unit is designed to process photos and videos efficiently, and ISP or Image Signal Processor improves image and video quality before the AI analyses them.
Thus, a device powered by the A2000 chip will be able to identify a vehicle on a road, detect a person on a security camera, or help a drone navigate much faster. Since India is still in the early stages of building its semiconductor ecosystem, the development of the A2000 Edge AI SoC by a Kerala-based startup will provide a good platform for the country’s growing talent base. Also to add, it marks another step forward in the advancement of India’s semiconductor and AI chip ecosystem.
