Leading artificial intelligence chipmaker Hailo has partnered with NXP Semiconductors to launch a number of joint AI solutions for automotive electronic control units (ECUs). The joint solutions will combine NXP’s safe and efficient automotive processors, S32G and Layerscape, along with the high-performance Hailo-8 AI processor.

The Hailo-8 outperforms other available AI processors for edge computing with up to 26TOPS at a typical power consumption of 2.5W. These scalable solutions will enable power-efficient AI acceleration at low size and energy usage.

High-Performance Auto Chip Solution

The first such solution delivers up to 52TOPS as it is powered by the Arm-based NXP S32G processor combined with up to two Hailo-8 AI processors. It offers the automotive industry a high-performance, real-time application and processing solution for service-oriented gateways, domain and zonal controllers, and safe compute platforms.

The second solution is powered by the Arm-based NXP Layerscape platform combined with up to six Hailo-8 AI processors. It delivers a high-performance of up to 156TOPS, scalable compute platform with state-of-the-art AI performance.

“We are excited to partner with a major player like NXP to demonstrate the true potential of AI for automotive and beyond,” said Orr Danon, CEO and Co-Founder of Hailo.

“This partnership strengthens our position in the automotive sector. It enables us to further address the rapidly growing need for efficient and reliable technologies that process sensory information more efficiently and at greater speeds – in order to pave the way towards full autonomy. We look forward to continuing to work with NXP to expand our unmatched edge processing solutions to a broad range of demanding applications including industrial & heavy machinery applications, robotics, and more.”

Company Adoption

The NXP-Hailo joint solutions are already being utilized by multiple customers, including Insurtech company MOTER Technologies, Inc. MOTER uses the Arm-based NXP S32G processor combined with a Hailo-8 M.2 AI accelerator module for Usage-Based Insurance (UBI) applications for automotive.

The miriac AIP-S32G274A and miriac AIP-LX2160A NXP-Hailo automotive based application-ready platforms are available from MicroSys, as well as development platforms by NXP: BlueBox 3.0 (Layerscape LX2160A and S32G and GoldBox (S32G). Both are compatible with Hailo-8 M.2 AI Acceleration Modules.

Scalable AI Compute

Vehicles require high-performance computing power to process a growing number of sensors’ data and provide new data-driven services. NXP and Hailo’s joint solutions enable scalable AI compute while maintaining top safety standards and keeping low the entire power envelope. Thus, it solves major pain points for automotive OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers. The solutions address power efficiency and independent scalability in generic and AI compute. They offer an open software ecosystem for applications and software stacks.

“NXP’s vehicle processing platforms are designed to meet the needs of next-generation driver demands and support industry innovation,” said Brian Carlson, Global Marketing Director for Vehicle Control and Networking Solutions at NXP.

When combined with Hailo’s high-performance AI chip, Carlson said they can provide power-efficient, scalable, and safe AI solutions to the automotive industry for a new era of intelligent vehicles.