“AI solutions often require imaging and audio capabilities which are typically found only on higher performing multi-core microprocessors that consume much more power,” claimed the company.
The IC, SAMA7G54, includes both MIPI CSI-2 and traditional parallel camera interfaces, and for audio: four I2S digital ports, an S/PDIF transmitter-receiver, a four stereo channel sample rate converter and an eight microphone array interface – the latter allowing sound source localisation for smart speakers or video conferencing.
Alongside with the processor IC comes a power management chip, MCP16502, which “is supported by Microchip’s mainline Linux distribution for the SAMA7G54, allowing for easy entry and exit from available low-power modes, as well as support for dynamic voltage and frequency scaling”, said the company.
For security, the main processor has Arm’s TrustZone virtualisation technology for programme separation, secure boot, secure key storage and cryptography acceleration. “Customers can work with Microchip’s security experts to evaluate their security needs and implement the level of protection that’s right for their design,” it said.
The SAMA7G54-EK evaluation kit (EV21H18A, pictured) is available, and alongside the Linux distribution, is bare-metal and RTOS support from MPLAB Harmony v3.
