Qualcomm unveils two newly designed chipsets with improved camera capabilities for IoT gadgets

Qualcomm has just revealed the  Vision Intelligence Platform, a new platform along with the new chipsets for IoT gadgets. [caption id=“attachment_4428525” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Qualcomm Vision Intelligence Platform. Image: Qualcomm.[/caption] This is a shift from Qualcomm’s stance where it repurposed existing processors to make them work with smart home solutions. The two new SoC’s that the company launched are  QCS605 and QCS603 and they are aimed at powering devices such as 360-degree cameras, robot vacuums and smart displays. The new SoC’s focus on artificial intelligence, power efficiency and camera processing according to a detailed report by Engadget. Qualcomm has added the support for AI and neural processing frameworks such as Google’s Tensorflow, Caffe, Caffe2, Android Neural Network API and even the Open Neural Network Exchange format in addition to its in-house engines. Introduction of the  Vision Intelligence platform will make it easier for the company to develop dedicated applications. The platform supports basic functions such as object detection, avoidance, tracking and facial recognition. To help developers, Qualcomm has launched its AI engine, Snapdragon Neural Processing Engine (NPE) for improving the on-device machine learning. In addition to this, the company has also launched SDKs (Software Development Kits) so that developers can incorporate the code for improved camera processing and computer vision in their new apps.

#IoT devices like cameras, smart displays, #VR, and #robotics become a lot more useful when they understand their surroundings. See how the Qualcomm Vision Intelligence Platform is using #AI to make it happen:

— Qualcomm (@Qualcomm) April 11, 2018

Both the QCS605 and QCS603 will come with ARM-based multi-core CPUs along with Adreno 615 GPU, Spectra image signal processor and Hexagon vector processor. QCS605 packs an eight-core CPU where two cores of the CPU are clocked at 2.5 GHz and rest are clocked at 1.5 GHz while the QCS604 packs a quad-core CPU where two cores are clocked at 1.6 GHz and rest run at 1.7 GHz. According to the report, the company claims that the new chipsets will “enable ‘superb image quality’ thanks to the Spectra 270 ISP”. The SoC can support up to dual 16 MP camera sensor along with the ability to run two streams of 4K video at 60 fps and 5.7K at 30 fps at the same time or more streams of video at a lower resolution. This additional capacity likely means higher quality for security cameras or VR headsets. In terms of connectivity options aimed at IoT devices, the new SoC’s come with 2x2 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.1 and a number of Qualcomm’s in-house audio technologies including AptX. While talking to Engadget, Seshu Madhavapeddy, VP of IoT product management at Qualcomm added that the company’s work with cameras in smartphones has helped it improve the low light performance in IoT devices. For instance, security cameras can process noise reduction in environments with low light or even pitch dark. He also added that Qualcomm has added more imaging tricks “to prevent the ‘ghost’ effect in HDR video, advanced electronic image stabilisation, dewarp, de-noise (and) chromatic aberration correction.” The company is already working with its partners and you should expect products with the new SoCs in the second half of the year.