Intel Arc enters embedded systems

Intel is launching six new Arc GPUs.

It’s been more two years since first Arc Alchemist GPUs were released. Intel started the launch with Arc A3 series featuring the smallest ACM-G11 GPU featuring up to 8 Xe-Cores. In April 2024, Intel is not launching its Battlemage GPUs yet, but there are as many as six new Arc GPUs based on Alchemist launching for an entirely different market.

The systems on the edge/embedded systems sometimes do need a lot of GPU power. Today Intel launched its Meteor Lake CPU series equipped with Arc Alchemist integrated graphics, capable of delivering powerful video encoding supporting the latest graphics APIs. Sometimes systems are already in place and only need an upgrade to newer GPU architecture, and that is now possible thanks to the updated with the Alchemist embedded GPUs, the Arc Axx0E series.

Arc A380E Embedded, Source: Advantech

Intel has outlined several features of the Arc on Edge, such as:

• Reduced Latency: Real-time responses are possible without the delay of sending data back and forth to the cloud.
• Improved Bandwidth Efficiency: Local processing reduces the need for sending large amounts of data to the cloud, saving bandwidth.
• Better Privacy and Security: Sensitive data can remain on the device or premises.

Intel Arc GPUs for the Edge, based on Intel Xe architecture, support AI acceleration, visual computing, and media processing. They enable high-performance AI applications using the OpenVINO toolkit, which allows developers to deploy AI models across Intel hardware platforms.

The Intel Arc A7xxE GPU provides high performance for tasks like facial recognition and conversational speech. The Intel Arc 5xxE GPU offers immersive visual experiences and AI inferencing capabilities. The Intel Arc 3xxE GPU series, with up to 6 GB of GDDR6 memory, is suitable for low-power and small form factor designs.

Officially, there are six SKUs today, featuring from 6 Xe-Cores (Arc A310E) to 24 Xe-Cores (Arc A750E). There is no option featuring the full 32 Xe-Core setup. Worth noting that Intel is not confirming the memory specs for A580E and A750E yet.

Source: Intel