• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Imagination's new Catapult CPU is Driving RISC-V Device Adoption

TheLostSwede

News Editor
Joined
Nov 11, 2004
Messages
16,187 (2.27/day)
Location
Sweden
System Name Overlord Mk MLI
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 SE with offsets
Memory 32GB Team T-Create Expert DDR5 6000 MHz @ CL30-34-34-68
Video Card(s) Gainward GeForce RTX 4080 Phantom GS
Storage 1TB Solidigm P44 Pro, 2 TB Corsair MP600 Pro, 2TB Kingston KC3000
Display(s) Acer XV272K LVbmiipruzx 4K@160Hz
Case Fractal Design Torrent Compact
Audio Device(s) Corsair Virtuoso SE
Power Supply be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 850 W
Mouse Logitech G502 Lightspeed
Keyboard Corsair K70 Max
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores https://valid.x86.fr/yfsd9w
Imagination Technologies today unveils the next product in the Catapult CPU IP range, the Imagination APXM-6200 CPU: a RISC-V application processor with compelling performance density, seamless security and the artificial intelligence capabilities needed to support the compute and intuitive user experience needs for next generation consumer and industrial devices.

"The number of RISC-V based devices is skyrocketing with over 16Bn units forecast by 2030, and the consumer market is behind much of this growth" says Rich Wawrzyniak, Principal Analyst at SHD Group. "One fifth of all consumer devices will have a RISC-V based CPU by the end of this decade. Imagination is set to be a force in RISC-V with a strategy that prioritises quality and ease of adoption. Products like APXM-6200 are exactly what will help RISC-V achieve the promised success."




The APXM-6200 CPU is a 64-bit, in-order application processor with an 11 stage, dual-issue pipeline that delivers a 65% improvement in normalised performance and 2.5x improvement in normalised performance density compared to equivalent CPUs already on the market. Customers can choose between single-, dual- and quad-core configurations depending on their performance requirements, with per-core power control for maximum system efficiency, and cache coherency. AI capabilities are underpinned by support for the RISC-V vector extensions along with fast data-coupling for AI accelerators.

"Imagination removes the barriers for companies looking to benefit from RISC-V based designs," says Shreyas Derashri, Vice President of Compute, Imagination Technologies. "We are heavily investing in the open-source software ecosystem so that when APXM-6200 ships in silicon, the software stacks will be available and performant. On the hardware side, our engineering team follows a rigorous design and verification process, perfected over Imagination's thirty years' experience of designing and supporting complex semiconductor IP, to ensure that Catapult CPUs are of the highest quality and built with customer satisfaction in mind."

"Imagination has shown leadership both within the RISC-V community and across the industry with dedication to bringing compelling innovations to market," said Calista Redmond, CEO of RISC-V International. "Imagination's strategic investment in RISC-V is a fantastic example of the unique design potential that only RISC-V offers through a set of modular standard specifications together with proprietary differentiation."

Ease of Design Migration with Customer Flexibility
Imagination's RISC-V solution includes the Catapult SDK (Software Development Kit) which provides everything an embedded developer needs to write, build, and debug software for the target application, including a new set of vector compute libraries to boost performance for AI workloads. Outside of the SDK, Imagination also offers an extension for Microsoft's popular Visual Studio Code Integrated Development Environment (IDE): the Catapult Studio extension. Now, any Visual Studio user can visit the Marketplace and install the Catapult extension into their regular development environment. Included are QEMU (Quick Emulator) and Catapult software models, that developers can start using to build and run RISC-V software today, ahead of hardware availability.

In the AI-powered, connected world of today, security is paramount for both consumer and industrial applications. With the proliferation of RISC-V, seamless migration to established security frameworks is imperative. APXM-6200 can be easily designed into a SoC without compromising security thanks to a multi-domain isolation solution that integrates seamlessly with well-known and established security frameworks.

APXM-6200 is Android and Linux ready. It is expected to ship in devices such as Smart TVs, Smart Home Hubs and Digital Signage, many of which also require a GPU to handle the graphical user interface. As the industry's preferred supplier of GPU IP for RISC-V based SoCs, Imagination is uniquely able to design the CPU, GPU system to deliver better performance. Bus utilisation is doubled and memory traffic halved when APXM-6200 is paired with an Imagination GPU.

In addition, we are partnering with trusted industry leaders like Lauterbach and ProvenRun to expedite our customers' route to market, ensuring timely deployment at reduced costs.

"Security is a fundamental concern for the electronics industry," says Thierry Chesnais, CEO, ProvenRun. "As chips grow in complexity and cost, designers need to be able to source the best IP for their use case without introducing unwanted risk or redesigning the security architecture. ProvenRun is working alongside Imagination on the development of ProvenCore TEE support for APXM-6200 to ensure that its security package meets industry standards and can be supported by our products and services."

"The tools market is ready to support companies interested in building with RISC-V IP," says Stephan Lauterbach, Chief Technology Officer, and Managing Director, Lauterbach GmbH. "For example, our Lauterbach TRACE32 toolset allows designers to debug and control any RISC-V core in any SoC, including those in Imagination's Catapult range. Today we are announcing a partnership with Imagination not only support APXM-6200 but also to work together towards the wider success of RISC-V. This means that companies can invest in RISC-V products safe in the knowledge that they can get their products to market quickly and at the quality levels their customers expect."

To learn more, visit Imagination Technologies at Embedded World, Hall 4, Booth 4-659, from 9-11 April, or visit our CPU page, to sign up for info about the Imagination Catapult CPU range.


View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source
 
Joined
Oct 6, 2021
Messages
1,484 (1.55/day)
Is this driving adoption? Where?

It could initially appear at least on TVs and Smartwatches that usually only run a specific set of apps, so you can ensure they work well more easily.

According to the website it's exactly what I expected: TVs, Smartwatches, IoT etc...
 
Last edited:
Joined
Oct 18, 2013
Messages
5,556 (1.44/day)
Location
Everywhere all the time all at once
System Name The Little One
Processor i5-11320H @4.4GHZ
Motherboard AZW SEI
Cooling Fan w/heat pipes + side & rear vents
Memory 64GB Crucial DDR4-3200 (2x 32GB)
Video Card(s) Iris XE
Storage WD Black SN850X 4TB m.2, Seagate 2TB SSD + SN850 4TB x2 in an external enclosure
Display(s) 2x Samsung 43" & 2x 32"
Case Practically identical to a mac mini, just purrtier in slate blue, & with 3x usb ports on the front !
Audio Device(s) Yamaha ATS-1060 Bluetooth Soundbar & Subwoofer
Power Supply 65w brick
Mouse Logitech MX Master 2
Keyboard Logitech G613 mechanical wireless
Software Windows 10 pro 64 bit, with all the unnecessary background shitzu turned OFF !
Benchmark Scores PDQ
Wow, all that techno-babble, and yet no real, practical explanation of exactly what this development is gonna do for the average everyday joe-schmoe end user :)

Oops.... my bad, I forgot this is simply a marketing PR to drum up support for whatever it is they are making, hehehe :)
 
Joined
Feb 20, 2020
Messages
9,340 (6.03/day)
Location
Louisiana
System Name Ghetto Rigs z490|x99|Acer 17 Nitro 7840hs/ 5600c40-2x16/ 4060/ 1tb acer stock m.2/ 4tb sn850x
Processor 10900k w/Optimus Foundation | 5930k w/Black Noctua D15
Motherboard z490 Maximus XII Apex | x99 Sabertooth
Cooling oCool D5 res-combo/280 GTX/ Optimus Foundation/ gpu water block | Blk D15
Memory Trident-Z Royal 4000c16 2x16gb | Trident-Z 3200c14 4x8gb
Video Card(s) Titan Xp-water | evga 980ti gaming-w/ air
Storage 970evo+500gb & sn850x 4tb | 860 pro 256gb | Acer m.2 1tb/ sn850x 4tb| Many2.5" sata's ssd 3.5hdd's
Display(s) 1-AOC G2460PG 24"G-Sync 144Hz/ 2nd 1-ASUS VG248QE 24"/ 3rd LG 43" series
Case D450 | Cherry Entertainment center on Test bench
Audio Device(s) Built in Realtek x2 with 2-Insignia 2.0 sound bars & 1-LG sound bar
Power Supply EVGA 1000P2 with APC AX1500 | 850P2 with CyberPower-GX1325U
Mouse Redragon 901 Perdition x3
Keyboard G710+x3
Software Win-7 pro x3 and win-10 & 11pro x3
Benchmark Scores Are in the benchmark section
Hi,
So looking to get youtube clicks ?
 
Joined
Jul 10, 2010
Messages
1,230 (0.24/day)
Location
USA, Arizona
System Name SolarwindMobile
Processor AMD FX-9800P RADEON R7, 12 COMPUTE CORES 4C+8G
Motherboard Acer Wasp_BR
Cooling It's Copper.
Memory 2 x 8GB SK Hynix/HMA41GS6AFR8N-TF
Video Card(s) ATI/AMD Radeon R7 Series (Bristol Ridge FP4) [ACER]
Storage TOSHIBA MQ01ABD100 1TB + KINGSTON RBU-SNS8152S3128GG2 128 GB
Display(s) ViewSonic XG2401 SERIES
Case Acer Aspire E5-553G
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC255
Power Supply PANASONIC AS16A5K
Mouse SteelSeries Rival
Keyboard Ducky Channel Shine 3
Software Windows 10 Home 64-bit (Version 1607, Build 14393.969)
Is this driving adoption? Where?

It could initially appear at least on TVs and Smartwatches that usually only run a specific set of apps, so you can ensure they work well more easily.

According to the website it's exactly what I expected: TVs, Smartwatches, IoT etc...
It could also potentially go into cheaper wireless routers:
Higher performance specint => lower power to achieve the same performance. If it is high enough it can probably replace A73s in high-end while still being safe with in-order.

Hopefully, we will see it in WiFi 7 in low-power. I really don't want to buy another >36W-consuming router just to get latest spec. I feel bad for those getting the BE routers with 65W from the wall.
 
Last edited:
Joined
May 3, 2018
Messages
2,355 (1.07/day)
Still have no idea what the performance is compared to something we are familiar with. Any benchmarks comparing RISC-V to x86 (any gen), ARM etc.

Will the high performance version be called Trebuchet?
 
Joined
Jan 31, 2012
Messages
2,489 (0.55/day)
Location
East Europe
System Name Sandfiller
Processor I5-10400
Motherboard MSI MPG Z490 GAMING PLUS
Cooling Noctua NH-L9i
Memory 32GB Corsair LPX 2400 Mhz DDR4 CL14
Video Card(s) MSI RX 5700 XT GAMING X
Storage Intel 670P 512GB
Display(s) 2560x1080 LG 29" + 22" LG 1080p
Case SilverStone Raven RV03
Audio Device(s) Creative Sound Blaster Z
Power Supply Fractal Design IntegraM 650W
Mouse Logitech Triathlon
Keyboard REDRAGON MITRA
Software Windows 11 Home x 64
Will the high performance version be called Trebuchet?
Dude...I can't :D :D had me rolling...I am still rolling....ohhh the burn.

Now, how cool would be if they really do that? ;)
 
Top