Qualcomm Snapdragon Neural Processing Engine SDK to boost deep learning on an 820 Series processor

Qualcomm Inc. announced Monday that its subsidiary, Qualcomm Technologies is offering a deep learning software development kit (SDK) for devices powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processors. The SDK, called the Qualcomm Snapdragon Neural Processing Engine, is powered by the Qualcomm Zeroth Machine Intelligence Platform, and is optimized to utilize Snapdragon’s heterogeneous compute capabilities to provide OEMs an energy efficient platform for delivering intuitive and engaging deep learning-driven experiences on device.

The Snapdragon Neural Processing Engine SDK is expected to be available for Snapdragon 820 processors in the second half of this year.

This SDK is the latest software addition to Snapdragon 820 and demonstrates Qualcomm Technologies’ continued leadership by adding value for users of the Snapdragon portfolio, the chipmaker said at the Embedded Vision Summit in Santa Clara, California.

The Snapdragon Neural Processing Engine SDK offers accelerated runtime for on-device execution of convolutional and recurrent neural networks on the Snapdragon 820 cores (Qualcomm Kryo CPU, Qualcomm Adreno GPU, Qualcomm Hexagon DSP); support for common deep learning model frameworks, including Caffe and CudaConvNet; a lightweight, flexible platform designed to utilize Snapdragon heterogeneous cores to deliver optimal performance and power consumption; and provide support to companies in a range of industries, including healthcare, automotive, security and imaging, to run their own proprietary trained neural network models on portable devices.

Qualcomm Technologies, with the introduction of the Snapdragon Neural Processing Engine, is the first mobile SOC provider to offer a deep learning toolkit optimized for mobile.  This SDK will allow OEMs to run their own neural network models on Snapdragon 820 devices such as smart phones, security cameras, automobiles and drones, all without a connection to the cloud. Common deep learning user experiences that can be realized with the SDK are scene detection, text recognition, object tracking and avoidance, gesturing, face recognition and natural language processing.

The Zeroth Machine Intelligence Platform is a Snapdragon-optimized software platform designed for mobile machine learning. Zeroth technology currently drives visual intelligence software such as Snapdragon Scene Detect and advanced malware detection software found in Snapdragon Smart Protect.

“The demand for untethered, mobile learning-driven user experiences is increasing rapidly and Qualcomm Technologies’ customers have been clamoring for tools to help them realize their product visions,” said Gary Brotman, director of product management, Qualcomm Technologies. “With the introduction of the new Snapdragon Neural Processing Engine SDK, we are making it possible for myriad sectors, including mobile, IoT and automotive to harnesses the power of Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 and make high-performance, power efficient on-device deep learning a reality.”


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