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Just to be clear Brainchip in 2018 switched direction to target the far edge as a sales and marketing tactic not because it was the only place where Peter van der Made’s technology would work from a technical, scientific or engineering perspective.I believe Akida is still at the “far-edge”, to use a term coined by Rob Telson (I believe). Where the actual inputs are processed to differenciate the important stuff from the noise. And where micro- and milli-watts are consumed
The term “edge” has unfortunately seemed to shift a fair way away from the far-edge. It now encompasses not only the entire smart sensor but actuators to respond to sensor, mechanisms to perform an activity, and mechanisms to provide feedback up the chain - ultimately to a human operator . i.e. the entire system. Power consumption will still be important, but I dare say it might be slipping up into partial watts.
Maybe this edge is more the point from which the human operator no longer needs to care about what goes on under the bonnet. This definition of an edge could be applied to physical objects such as cameras, car dash boards and the like.
The SiFive—BrainChip partnership seems to be creating something that will satisfy this edge, and that’s Ok by me because that is an easy edge to market and for the world to relate to. The world loves a system that does something tangeable. I think the general consumer market struggles to recognise the advantages of a spiking neural network. So let’s stop confusing them.
A Polish colleague of mine, who learnt English as a second language and hence was VERY specific with grammar, would have said this edge is not “the edge” but rather is just “an edge”. There are many interfaces that can be called “an edge” and even “another edge” but there is only one that can be called “the edge”.
“The edge” is, in all reality, the “far-edge”! The point where the stimuli and initial responses exist!
The far edge was empty with no incumbency to work against AKIDA gaining access.
Peter van der Made has always claimed his artificial neural networks would dominate from the cloud to the far edge.
Indeed when you listen to Rob Lincourt of DELL Technologies it seems DELL had already worked out it had greater potential than just A plethora of edge products.
When you read the Forbes article concerning SiFive and its ambition to compete directly with ARM it too has a similar ambition to that of Peter van der Made.
My opinion only DYOR
FF
AKIDA BALLISTA