BRN Discussion Ongoing

[Bravo]

This article is excellent as it outlines how the CIO's of many companies are starting to embrace edge computing and planning edge technologies in their 2025 roadmaps.

One of the CIO's interviewed in the article is Nate Melby from a Wisconsin-based electricity supply company called Dairyland Power Corporations. Nate goes on to explain the advantages of real-time processing on the edge because of it's ability to optimize the performance of their infrastructure.

What is also very interesting is that in the second article posted below, published in April 2024, Nate Melby describes how Dairyland are looking at ways to leverage retrieval generation (RAG). This caught my attention because this is what BrainChip was demonstrating recently at the Edge AI and Vision Summit.

I wonder if Tony Lewis is aware of Dairyland's interest in this area?




Published 16 Oct 2024

AI makes edge computing more relevant to CIOs

The new era of autonomous systems will require rapid data processing closer to the source. This has some CIOs adding AI at the network edge to their 2025 roadmaps.

www.cio.com

Published 9 April 2024

Dairyland powers up for a generative AI edge

Under the leadership of CIO Nate Melby, the Midwestern utility has been an early mover in putting machine learning and LLMs to work to deliver safe, reliable, and affordable electricity to its members.

www.cio.com

EXTRACT

BrainChip demonstration of LLM-RAG at the Edge AI and Vision Summit

 

[Bravo]

It’s All About Edge AI, But Where’s the Revenue?​

By Nitin Dahad 10.15.2024 0
Share Post
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter


Edge AI is the chip industry mantra at the moment. At embedded world North America in Austin, Texas, last week, there was plenty to talk about on this topic. We caught up with Counterpoint Research’s head of AI and IoT, Mohit Agrawal, at the show to get his perspective on key trends and opportunities in AI.
He was fresh from his keynote at Counterpoint’s own AI Summit in Silicon Valley the previous week, where he questioned whether we were in an AI bubble, with billions to trillions of dollars in investments in infrastructure—from training to inferencing—and questions now arising about when and how serious “monetization” will kick in.
In this video interview, Agrawal puts this into context in terms of key trends in the IoT. “In AI at the moment, money is going into infrastructure and models, but not applications as yet,” he said. However, there is potential for revenue from embedded applications.

Agrawal also highlights the amount of compute going into cellular IoT modules and how it is increasing significantly. “We estimate the number of modules with NPUs over the next seven years will be 31× the number being sold today,” he said (see chart below). “That will light up a lot of applications.”

https://www.eetimes.com/its-all-about-edge-ai-but-wheres-the-revenue/

 

[Bravo]

SK Telecom Publishes White Paper on How the Future Telco Infrastructure Will Evolve in the AI Era​

15 October 2024
SK Telecom
PR
• SK Telecom releases 6G white paper, outlining the evolution of wireless and wired infrastructure based on the convergence of AI and telecommunications
• 6G white paper focuses on how Telco Edge AI infrastructure can rerate the value of the network infrastructure, simultaneously delivering real-time data processing and AI services
• SK Telecom emphasizes the need to build a global ecosystem, discover promising business models, and technological evolution in the AI era

SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM, “SKT”) today released its latest white paper, ‘SK Telecom 6G White Paper: View on Future AI Telco Infrastructure,’ laying out the evolution direction of the next-generation telco network infrastructure through the convergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and telecommunications.
In its first 6G white paper published last year, SKT provided an analysis of the key requirements for 6G standardization, technology trends, candidate frequencies, among others.
In this latest 6G white paper released this year, SKT defines the key elements for 6G infrastructure evolution as ‘Cloud-Native, Green-Native, and AI-Native,’ and presents the direction of the 6G infrastructure evolution based on the ubiquitous intelligence emphasized in the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) 6G Framework Recommendations (IMT-2030).
In the 6G era, the company anticipates adopting a flexible network architecture based on ‘Generation Mix,’ which appropriately combines previous generations of mobile communications, while considering data traffic demands and specialized services.
SKT’s white paper also highlights the concept of ‘Telco Edge AI’ infrastructure, which combines telecom network infrastructure and AI to simultaneously provide real-time data processing and AI services.
SKT asserts that the next-generation telecommunications business should move beyond simply generating revenue based on traffic demand and shift its paradigm toward enhancing the value of the infrastructure itself.
To this end, SKT explains that the value of telecommunications networks can be enhanced by integrating AI solutions into telecom infrastructure, allowing real-time AI inference. The white paper further emphasizes that for a successful evolution, it is essential to build global ecosystem partnerships, discover promising business models, and advance technology in areas such as radio access networks, core networks, transport networks, devices, and AI orchestration.
“Through this white paper, we aim to present the direction of the next-generation infrastructure evolution based on Telco Edge AI and explore the expansion of the relevant ecosystem,” said Yu Takki, Vice President and Head of Infra Technology Office at SKT. He added, “We are committed to leading the transition to 6G by developing AI-powered wireless and wired networks that create new value through the convergence of AI and telecommunications.”
The full white paper can be accessed by clicking here.



Here are some extracts from the white paper that I thought were interesting.


1.

2.

3.

Speaking of NPU's, our NPU, AKIDA Pico, is being marketed as THE lowest power.

 

[Deadpool]

Brainchip Akida Architecture Overview​

Last updated on 10/16/24

Brainchip Akida Architecture Overview | Restackio

Explore the innovative BrainChip Akida architecture designed for Neuromorphic AI hardware, enhancing processing efficiency and performance. | Restackio

www.restack.io

 

[SERA2g]

Adam Osseiran gave a presentation on the Akida Pico at the AI Innovation Summit Australia - Indonesia

View attachment 71257 View attachment 71259 View attachment 71260
View attachment 71265

Dam! I went to one of their events a few years ago which Peter presented at and wrote a pretty detailed summary of Peter's presentation and the general Q&A that followed. I didn't get a notification that this event was on otherwise I would have attended and done the same. Shame!

 

[Jimmy17]

Yes, we all have our opinions.

Personally I think they are unscrupulous scum and may as well sit at the same table with the aforementioned, at a function.

Do you think shorters are respectable honest type folk?

They are manipulative opportunists, who relish the manner in which they make money.

Dishonesty is their credo and that is a vein that would run through their lives and interpersonal relationships, it's an unavoidable aspect of their character.

Profit and money is their God and holds importance above all else.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with trading, as long as it's done as it is.

So called "Market Movers" fit in the same bin, they manipulate, purely to profit.

People that attempt to pump a stock (whether or not you believe sentiment affects perceived value) and then sell and reverse to downramping, are just as low life as shorters, in my opinion.

I'm sorry, but disingenuous, dishonest people and even corporations/entities with concern only for themselves and profit, above all else, just disgust me.

Honestly, in all things is a rare quality these days, some seem to think, it's an old fashioned concept.

You're welcome to think, they are just regular good folk, who you may enjoy sharing a beer with.

I agree with this however they work within the rules of the game. It's our Governments and financial regulators that create the environment for the scummy parasites to operate. There are good reasons why shorting has been banned on other stock exchanges.

 

[itsol4605]

Brainchip Akida Architecture Overview​

Last updated on 10/16/24

Brainchip Akida Architecture Overview | Restackio

Explore the innovative BrainChip Akida architecture designed for Neuromorphic AI hardware, enhancing processing efficiency and performance. | Restackio

www.restack.io

Link does not work anymore

 

[HopalongPetrovski]

I agree with this however they work within the rules of the game. It's our Governments and financial regulators that create the environment for the scummy parasites to operate. There are good reasons why shorting has been banned on other stock exchanges.

As in politics, religion, society and all human constructs, corruption is inherent in the system.
Doesn't mean that its either all bad or that it cannot be improved, but big change is unlikely in my view.
The system is well protected by those, behind those, whose hands are on the levers, who gain directly the most, from the current settings.
Bit like the state of our cockeyed housing market.
Any government trying to initiate any meaningful change will be crucified at the polls by the majority of voters who want their primary asset to keep appreciating as opposed to the minority currently struggling for a foothold in the market.
The mistake was designating housing not as necessary and required shelter but as wealth enhancement, and then designing and entrenching systems which perverted the tax function towards that end.

 

[Space Cadet]

As in politics, religion, society and all human constructs, corruption is inherent in the system.
Doesn't mean that its either all bad or that it cannot be improved, but big change is unlikely in my view.
The system is well protected by those, behind those, whose hands are on the levers, who gain directly the most, from the current settings.
Bit like the state of our cockeyed housing market.
Any government trying to initiate any meaningful change will be crucified at the polls by the majority of voters who want their primary asset to keep appreciating as opposed to the minority currently struggling for a foothold in the market.
The mistake was designating housing not as necessary and required shelter but as wealth enhancement, and then designing and entrenching systems which perverted the tax function towards that end.

Like or loath Jacqui Lambie, she came up with one of the best opinions I've seen. She was talking about negative gearing in real estate and was being shouted down from other pollies. She pointed put that the pollie doing the most winging had about 20 houses negative geared. She said fair enough to have 1 or 2 houses that had tax incentives but 20 was taking the piss, pretty much.

SC

 

[McHale]

https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/central-libraries/us/en/documents/neuromorphic-computing-loihi-2-brief.pdf

FF shared the above article over on the other site.

Interesting comment in the article: One of the biggest challenges holding back the commercialization of neuromorphic technology is the lack of software maturity and convergence. Since neuromorphic architecture is fundamentally incompatible with standard programming models, including today’s machine-learning and AI frameworks in wide use, neuromorphic software and application development is often fragmented across research teams, with different groups taking different approaches and often reinventing common functionality. Yet to emerge is a single, common software framework for neuromorphic computing that supports the full range of approaches pursued by the research community that presents compelling and productive abstractions to application developers.

Dio do you think our software assists in bridging the gap they are referring to?

Hi @JB49, as I understand it BRN are using several programming models to support the various iterations of Akida, but have wondered myself why a single format could not be implemented/devised.

But the main reason I'm replying is to say that the video you put up Tuesday (post #90,294) regarding Intel and Loihi is quite definitive, with Mike Davies saying that his view is that: Loihi "Is quite some time away" with an emphasis on the "quite" - which made it very clear that it will be no time soon.

Your post came after @Bravo had posted (#90,274) regarding Mercedes working on a project with Intel, being the Naomi4 project which also included working with Univ of Waterloo Canada and Prof Chris Eliasmith, I was initially disappointed, but on reflection realized this is a current research project.

The important fact is that BRN have been partnered with Mercedes for several years and Akida is the only neuromorphic chip that is ready to go. However after watching the video you put up, I don't think anyone will be putting Loihi into a product any time soon, regardless there will be a lot of businesses who will be looking at Loihi because Intel have such a pre-eminent position in chip making.

Which of course goes back to the challenge facing BRN with regard to introducing a disruptive new technology in a business environment dominated by titans like Intel et al.

 

[itsol4605]

I suspect that Intel benefits from German economic development.
An Intel factory should be built in Germany, funded by the German Ministry of Economic Affairs.

Of course, Mercedes will also benefit from this and very much welcome the financial support.
Unfortunately, Brainchip does not have this advantage of the German subsidy.

As is often the case, it's not about better technology, but about many other factors.

 

[Deadpool]

Link does not work anymore

I just tried and it works for me, maybe your cache needs a tidy up?

 

[itsol4605]

I just tried and it works for me, maybe your cache needs a tidy up?

Now it is working again. I have tried it with several browsers when the page was not available and with not one browser it worked.
Maybe the server had a problem.

 

[cosors]

off topic
During my regular rounds for TLG through Swedish press I found this anecdote. A friend of mine had only thrown away 8 at the time.)

"Oops – he happened to throw bitcoin worth billions at the dump​

Just over ten years ago, a hard drive with thousands of bitcoins ended up in landfills. Now a British man is waging a desperate battle against his hometown to try to get them back.​

16 October 2024
Some decisions can be regretted for the rest of your life. Just ask James Howells, a computer engineer who lives in the Welsh city of Newport in the UK.
Just over ten years ago, Howells and his then-partner decided to throw away various broken gadgets from his home office. One of the things that went into a black garbage bag was one of several hard drives that collected dust in a desk drawer.

Had 7,500 bitcoin in crypto wallet​

The next day, the partner went to the city's landfill. James Howells didn't think any more about it – but that would change.
As a technology enthusiast, Howells had taken an early interest in the cryptocurrency bitcoin. In a couple of years, his holdings had grown to 7,500 bitcoin. He stored these in a crypto wallet in the form of a hard drive that was in his office.
In the fall of 2013, his digital treasure cache was worth the equivalent of just over $14.6 million. At that time, James Howells began to suspect trouble. What had actually happened to the storage unit that contained all the bitcoins?
To his dismay, Howells discovered that he had accidentally mixed up his hard drives during the deep cleaning. The one with all the bitcoins was no longer at home – but had ended up in the dump, writes The New Yorker .

Must go through 100 tons of rubbish ​

Since then, James Howells has waged an increasingly desperate battle, trying to convince Newport City Council to dig up the landfill to snoop on the hard drive. According to his own statement, Howells has offered the city to put together a team that can dig through 100 tons of garbage.
He has also promised a juicy ransom: If he gets his way and the storage device is found, the city will pay ten percent of what the crypto coins are worth.
Newport has so far ignored James Howell's repeated applications. Therefore, he has now decided to sue the city for just over SEK 6 billion – a sum that corresponded to the value of SEK 7,500 when the application was submitted.

"The municipality is sitting on my stolen property"​

According to Newport's municipal council, the work would cost at least SEK 135 million and is estimated to take between 18 and 36 months to complete. After the excavation, it would also require at least another year of work to restore the soil on and around the soptation.
"The municipal executive board has made it clear to James Howells several times that the excavation is impossible to carry out. It would also cause a major environmental impact on surrounding areas," says a spokesperson from the city of Newsport in a comment.
But Howells doesn't give up. If the hard drive were to be found, he estimates that there is still an 80 percent chance that the digital coins can be retrieved from it.
"I see it as the municipality has been sitting on my stolen property for ten years," James Howells told The Sun ."

Hoppsan – han råkade slänga bitcoin värda miljarder på tippen

För drygt tio år sedan hamnade en hårddisk med tusentals bitcoin på soptippen. Nu för en brittisk man en desperat kamp mot sin hemstad för att försöka få dem tillbaka.

www.nyteknik.se

Ooops - $503,928,825 thrown away

 

[DK6161]

off topic
During my regular rounds for TLG through Swedish press, I found this anecdote. A friend of mine had only thrown away 8 at the time.)

"Oops – he happened to throw bitcoin worth billions at the dump​

Just over ten years ago, a hard drive with thousands of bitcoins ended up in landfills. Now a British man is waging a desperate battle against his hometown to try to get them back.​

16 October 2024
Some decisions can be regretted for the rest of your life. Just ask James Howells, a computer engineer who lives in the Welsh city of Newport in the UK.
Just over ten years ago, Howells and his then-partner decided to throw away various broken gadgets from his home office. One of the things that went into a black garbage bag was one of several hard drives that collected dust in a desk drawer.

Had 7,500 bitcoin in crypto wallet​

The next day, the partner went to the city's landfill. James Howells didn't think any more about it – but that would change.
As a technology enthusiast, Howells had taken an early interest in the cryptocurrency bitcoin. In a couple of years, his holdings had grown to 7,500 bitcoin. He stored these in a crypto wallet in the form of a hard drive that was in his office.
In the fall of 2013, his digital treasure cache was worth the equivalent of just over $14.6 million. At that time, James Howells began to suspect trouble. What had actually happened to the storage unit that contained all the bitcoins?
To his dismay, Howells discovered that he had accidentally mixed up his hard drives during the deep cleaning. The one with all the bitcoins was no longer at home – but had ended up in the dump, writes The New Yorker .

Must go through 100 tons of rubbish ​

Since then, James Howells has waged an increasingly desperate battle, trying to convince Newport City Council to dig up the landfill to snoop on the hard drive. According to his own statement, Howells has offered the city to put together a team that can dig through 100 tons of garbage.
He has also promised a juicy ransom: If he gets his way and the storage device is found, the city will pay ten percent of what the crypto coins are worth.
Newport has so far ignored James Howell's repeated applications. Therefore, he has now decided to sue the city for just over SEK 6 billion – a sum that corresponded to the value of SEK 7,500 when the application was submitted.

"The municipality is sitting on my stolen property"​

According to Newport's municipal council, the work would cost at least SEK 135 million and is estimated to take between 18 and 36 months to complete. After the excavation, it would also require at least another year of work to restore the soil on and around the soptation.
"The municipal executive board has made it clear to James Howells several times that the excavation is impossible to carry out. It would also cause a major environmental impact on surrounding areas," says a spokesperson from the city of Newsport in a comment.
But Howells doesn't give up. If the hard drive were to be found, he estimates that there is still an 80 percent chance that the digital coins can be retrieved from it.
"I see it as the municipality has been sitting on my stolen property for ten years," James Howells told The Sun ."

Hoppsan – han råkade slänga bitcoin värda miljarder på tippen

För drygt tio år sedan hamnade en hårddisk med tusentals bitcoin på soptippen. Nu för en brittisk man en desperat kamp mot sin hemstad för att försöka få dem tillbaka.

www.nyteknik.se

Ooops - $503,928,825 thrown away

The first think that comes to mind is that there is limited number of Bitcoins issued, whereas there is no limit on the number of shares Brainchip will issue

 

[Diogenese]

Hi @JB49, as I understand it BRN are using several programming models to support the various iterations of Akida, but have wondered myself why a single format could not be implemented/devised.

But the main reason I'm replying is to say that the video you put up Tuesday (post #90,294) regarding Intel and Loihi is quite definitive, with Mike Davies saying that his view is that: Loihi "Is quite some time away" with an emphasis on the "quite" - which made it very clear that it will be no time soon.

Your post came after @Bravo had posted (#90,274) regarding Mercedes working on a project with Intel, being the Naomi4 project which also included working with Univ of Waterloo Canada and Prof Chris Eliasmith, I was initially disappointed, but on reflection realized this is a current research project.

The important fact is that BRN have been partnered with Mercedes for several years and Akida is the only neuromorphic chip that is ready to go. However after watching the video you put up, I don't think anyone will be putting Loihi into a product any time soon, regardless there will be a lot of businesses who will be looking at Loihi because Intel have such a pre-eminent position in chip making.

Which of course goes back to the challenge facing BRN with regard to introducing a disruptive new technology in a business environment dominated by titans like Intel et al.

A lot to think about McH,

Note to self:
A. models
B. Mercedes NAOMI4
C. s/w

A. Models are what the NN has to search through.

I'll confine my thoughts to images and speech, but other sensor inputs are treated on the same principles.

Images: Static (photos, drawings); Moving (Video)


Sound: Key word spotting, NLP; other sounds.

Each of these can be divided into several layers of sub-categories with increasing specificity. In a NN, the larger the model, the more power is consumed in making an inference/classification, because the processor needs to examine each example in th model to see which the sensor input most nearly resembles.

Thus it make sense to have specific models foe spcific tasks. The narrower the task, the smaller the model can be.

For example, with image classification in an ADAS/AV, images of astronomy of scuba diving are irrelevant. So ADAS models are compiled from millions of images captured from vehicle-mounted cameras/videos.

Akida excels at classifing static images, and can do this at many frames per second. However, Akida 1 then relied on the associated CPU running software to process the classified images to determine an object's speed and direction. That's the genius of TENNS - it is capable of performing the speed analysis in silicon or in software far more efficiently than conventional software.

I prefer to talk about images/video because Natural Language processing is something I struggle to comprehend, but apparently TENNS makes this a cakewalk too.

Open AI tries to have everything in its model, but that burns a massive amount of energy for a single inquiry - a bit like biting off more than it can chew.

So now we have RAG, where subject-specific models can be downloaded depending on what the NN procesor is intended to do.

B. NAOMI4 - Yes This is a German government funded research project and will not produce a commercial outcome any time soon.

C. H/W v S/W

Valeo does not have an Akida silicon in its SCALA 3. It uses software to process the lidar sensor signals. Because we've been working with them for several years in a JD, I'm hopeful that the software will iclude Akida 2/TENNS simulation software. Sean did mention that we now have an algorithm product line.

The rationale for this was explained in the Derek de Bono/Valeo podcast posted yesterday that software allows for continual upgrading. He also mentioned that provision for some H/W upgrades could also be accommodated. Given TENNS young age, it will have developed significantly in the last couple of years, so it could not be set in silicon at this early stage, although Anil did announce some now deferred preparations for taping out some months ago.

Again, I am hopeful that Akida2/TENNS will be included in the software of both Valeo and Mercedes SDVs (and in other EAP participants' products) because it produces real-time results at a much lower power consumption.

Then there's PICO ... the dormant watchdog ...

 

[manny100]

ASX ann dated 6th March 2023 - GEN 2 introduced.

https://announcements.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20230306/pdf/45mc0vvb61xnn9.pdf

No doubt select clients had access to GEN 2 from March'23. Hopefully engagements from around this time should be getting close to conclusion within the next 3 to 6 months tops??
General availability of GEN 2 ANN OCT'23

BrainChip Launches Second-Gen Akida Platform to Advance Edge AI

Discover the revolutionary 2nd generation Akida platform by BrainChip, powering energy-efficient Edge AI devices with advanced neural network models.

brainchip.com

" “This is a significant step in BrainChip’s vision to bring unprecedented AI processing power to Edge devices, untethered from the cloud,” said Sean Hehir, CEO, BrainChip. “With Akida’s 2nd generation in advanced engagements with target customers, and MetaTF enabling early evaluation for a broader market, we are excited to accelerate the market towards the promise of Edge AI”.
My bold above.

 

[Frangipani]

I haven’t watched it, yet, but here is a recent interview (focusing on Akida Pico) with our CMO Steve Brightfield by William Wong, Senior Content Director of Electronic Design:

 

[Dallas]

#tesla #autopilot #safetyfirst #dailyaibytes #ai | Daily Ai Bytes | 32 comments

𝗧𝗲𝘀𝗹𝗮 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆! 🚗🤖 In a close call in Romania, a Tesla Autopilot system made a split-second decision to avoid a pedestrian by colliding with another car. This shows just how advanced AI is becoming in ensuring safety on the road. #Tesla #Autopilot #SafetyFirst #dailyaibytes #ai...

www.linkedin.com

 

[Draed]

I was reading an article about one of the problems AI is facing (sorry, I dont have the link). It was about how most of the data available on the internet has been reviewed and classified and incorporated into models already. The challenge moving forward is generating and capturing new data to continuously improve these models.

My question to the group is. Could we foresee our akida products being used in combination with other more sophisitcated but power hungry chips or software.

For example with mercades. Our chip or software at the edge and at the sensor. Quick, and power efficient inference done in realtime on input like voice activation, learning someones accent, vocal manerisms etc. But then that more refined data is processed in larger and more power hungry systems in the car or cloud for model improvements.

I see pico being such a device. Not intended to run independently. But more of a extreme edge device at the sensor, that just does data collection and refinement, but doesn't make any decisions on anything...

I might be way off. But that's my impression.

Cheers

Draed