Alif Ensemble E4, E6, and E8 Cortex-M55/A32 MCUs and MPUs feature Ethos-U85 NPU for small language models (SLM)

Alif Semiconductor unveiled the Ensemble E4, E6, and E8 dual-core Cortex-M55 Edge AI microcontrollers and fusion processors, all equipped with Arm Ethos-U85 with the ability to run small language models (SLM) on-device while consuming just 36mW of power on the E4 SKU.

Besides the ability to handle generative AI workloads, the new microcontrollers also integrate two power-efficient Ethos-U55 NPUs for AI vision. They can perform power-efficient object detection in less than 2ms and image classification in less than 8ms. Other highlights include support for up to two MIPI CSI image sensors, a fully hardware-accelerated image signal processor (ISP) pipeline operating at up to 60 FPS at 2MP resolution, and a new wide memory subsystem to enable an inferencing speed of well under a millisecond.

Alif Ensemble E4

Ensemble E4 specifications:

• CPU
  • High-Performance Arm Cortex-M55 core @ up to 400 MHz
  • High-Efficiency Arm Cortex-M55 core @ up to 160 MHz
• GPU – D/AVE 2D Graphics Processing Unit
• NPU
  • Arm Ethos-U85 Neural Processing Unit (NPU) @ 400 MHz for generative AI (NPU-HG); up to 204 GOPS, supports Recurrent Neural Networks (RNN), Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN), and Transformer Networks, Fed by 128-bit wide high-bandwidth local memory at over 12 GB/s
  • 2x Arm Ethos-U55 NPUs, one with 256 MAC/cycle up to 204 GOPS, the other with 128 MAC/cycle up to 46 GOPS
• Memory and Storage
  • 9.75MB total SRAM: 8MB Bulk + 1.25MB M55-HP TCM + 0.5MB M55-HE TCM
  • Optional Data Retention of Bulk SRAM and M55-HE TCM SRAM Contents
  • 4KB Always-On Utility SRAM
  • Up to 5.5MB MRAM Non-Volatile Memory
  • External eMMC flash and 2x SPI flash support
• Display
  • Graphics LCD Controller
  • Display Parallel Interface (DPI), up to 24-bit RGB
  • 2-Lane MIPI D-PHY DSI, 2.5 Gbps each lane
• Camera
  • 2-lane MIPI CSI
  • Option for 2x MIPI D-PHY CSI-2 interfaces by using the MIPI D-PHY DSI in slave mode.
  • Camera Parallel Interface (CPI), up to 16 bits
  • Low-Power CPI, up to 8 bits
• Audio
  • 4x I2S, 1x Low-Power I2S
  • 4x 2-channel Pulse Density Modulation (PDM) microphone inputs
  • 4x 2-channel Low-Power Pulse Density Modulation (LPPDM) microphone inputs
• Communication Interfaces and I/Os
  • 10/100 Ethernet with DMA
  • USB 2.0 HS/FS Host/Device with DMA
  • SDIO v4.1 Channel with DMA
  • CAN FD Channel up to 10 Mbps
  • MIPI I3C
  • 4x I2C, 2x Low-Power I2C
  • 8x UART up to 2.5 Mbps (4x with RS485 Driver Control)
  • Low-Power UART
  • 4x SPI up to 50 Mbps Throughput, 1x Low-Power SPI
  • Up to 136x 1.8V GPIOs
  • Up to 8x selectable 1.8V to 3.3V GPIOs
• Analog
  • 3x 12-bit ADC (18 Single-Ended Inputs)
  • 24-bit ADC (4 Differential Inputs)
  • 2x 12-bit DACs (2 channels)
  • 4x High-Speed Analog Comparators with 2.5-ns Response (16 Inputs)
  • Low-Power Analog Comparator (4 Inputs)
  • Internal Temperature Sensor
  • Internal Precision Reference Voltage
• Supply Voltage – 1.75V to 4.8V
• Power consumption
  • 1.3 µA Consumed in STOP Mode with LPRTC, LPTIMER, LPCMP, BOR, 4KB Utility SRAM, Wake Pins
  • As Low as 27 µA/MHz Dynamic Consumption for High-Efficiency Cortex-M55
• Packages
  • WLCSP216, 0.4 mm Pitch
  • FBGA194, 0.5 mm Pitch
• Temperature Range
  • Extended (ambient): -40°C to 85°C
  • Extended (junction): -40°C to 125°C

Alif E6

Alif Ensemble E6 highlights:

• CPU
  • Single-core Arm Cortex-A32 CPU @ 800 MHz
  • High-Performance Arm Cortex-M55 core @ up to 400 MHz
  • High-Efficiency Arm Cortex®-M55 core @ up to 160 MHz
• NPU/GPU/Memory/Interfaces – Same as Ensemble E4.
• Packages – Same as Ensemble E4
• Temperature Range
  • Extended (ambient): -40°C to 75°C
  • Extended (junction): -40°C to 105°C

The E6 is essentially an E4, but adds an Arm Cortex-A32 application processor to enable Linux support. The temperature range is not quite as wide.

Ensemble E8

Alif Ensemble E6 highlights:

• CPU
  • Dual-core Arm Cortex-A32 CPU @ 800 MHz
  • High-Performance Arm Cortex-M55 core @ up to 400 MHz
  • High-Efficiency Arm Cortex®-M55 core @ up to 160 MHz
• NPU/GPU/Memory/Interfaces – Same as Ensemble E4/E6.
• Packages – Same as Ensemble E4 and E6
• Temperature Range
  • Extended (ambient): -40°C to 85°C
  • Extended (junction): -40°C to 125°C

The E6 adds an extra Arm Cortex-A32 core for better user interface performance. The temperature range is the same as the E4, which may imply an error in the E6 specifications.

All three variants are expected to be integrated into human-to-computer interfaces, healthcare and diagnostics, robotics, transportation, toys and education, smart homes, and smart city equipment.

Ensemble E8 DevKit (DK-E8)

The company also provides the E8-DK single board computer based on an Ensemble E8 dual-core Cortex-A32 + dual-core Cortex-M55 SoC suitable for the evaluation of the E4, E6, or E8 series devices. No information is provided about the specifications and software support; however, the photo above shows 10/100Mbps Ethernet, a USB 2.0 port, 3.5mm audio jacks, a microSD card slot, a MIPI connector, what appears to be a mikroBus connector, and numerous GPIO headers. The GitHub repository for the Ensemble SDK mentions Azure RTOS, FreeRTOS, and ZephyrOS, so those should also be supported on the new devices, and Linux on the E6 and E8 with Cortex-A32 cores.

More details about the Ensemble E4, E6, and E8 Generative AI MCUs and MPUs can be found on the product page and the press release. I could not find pricing information for the chips and the development kit. However, the latter is available for purchase; you’d just need to contact sales, which probably means Alif Semi will select who they want to work with.

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