Many of the smart/IoT devices you'll purchase are powered by some form of Artificial Intelligence (AI)--be it voice assistants, facial recognition cameras, or even your PC. These don't work via magic, however, and need something to power all of the data-processing they do. For some devices that could be done in the cloud, by vast datacentres. Other devices will do all their processing on the devices themselves, through an AI chip. But what is an AI chip?

Over the past decade, designers have developed silicon technologies that run advanced deep learning mathematics fast enough to explore and implement artificial intelligence (AI) applications such as object identification, voice and facial recognition, and more. Machine vision applications, which are now often more accurate than a human, are one of the key functions driving new system-on-chip (SoC) investments to satisfy the development of AI for everyday applications. Using convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and other deep learning algorithms in vision applications have made such an impact that AI capabilities within SoCs are becoming pervasive. It was summarized effectively by Semico's 2018 AI Report "...some level of AI function in literally every type of silicon is strong and gaining momentum." In addition to vision, deep learning is used to solve complex problems such as 5G implementation for cellular infrastructure and simplifying 5G operational tasks through the capability to configure, optimize and repair itself, known as Self Organizing Networks (SON).

First of all, Provino Technologies is not an AI chip startup. There are already too many of those. But the secretive 40-member company, established in 2015 by Shailendra Desai, who had cut his teeth at PA Semi and Apple for system-on-chip (SoC) designs, is getting intense interest from a select few Fortune 500 companies because of his team's network-on-chip (NoC) IP. Although the potential number of IP licensees might not be huge, they are a few "large established chip companies" and those "newly getting into the semiconductor business," explained Desai. They have surprised Desai by considering ways to use Provino's scalable interconnect architecture for broader applications in -- you guessed it -- AI.