Xilinx Readies Versal AI Edge For 2022 Availability

Xilinx has just launched the first edge model of the flexible Versal ACAP (Adaptive Compute Acceleration Platform) family, the third Versal to be announced in addition to the AI, Prime, and Premium models. Versal launched some three years ago and combines flexible reconfigurable logic with hardcoded engines and Arm CPU core. In theory, ACAP's should be higher performance, more flexible, consume less power, and offer greater ease of programmability for developers than traditional FPGAs. To wit, Xilinx claims the AI Edge can be configured all the way up to 228 TOPS in 8-bit integer performance at 75 watts. The Versal ACAP is a big deal for Xilinx, and will be for AMD as well. The edge AI market is set to explode, with Gartner projecting some $50B in chipset revenue in 2025.