World’s first Armv9 edge AI platform optimised for IoT

The ultra-efficient Arm Cortex-A320 leverages Armv9 to enhance efficiency, performance and security in IoT markets, driving advancements in industrial automation, smart cameras and beyond.

Arm Kleidi for IoT boosts performance by up to 70 per cent and empowers over 20 million developers to seamlessly integrate with leading AI frameworks, streamlining edge AI development, the company says.

It adds that the AI revolution is no longer confined to the cloud. “As our world becomes increasingly connected and intelligent, from smart cities to industrial automation, the need to process AI workloads at the edge is not just advantageous, but essential,” Arm says.

The company adds: “Today marks a significant milestone in this evolution with the introduction of the Armv9 edge AI platform, featuring the new Arm Cortex-A320 CPU and the leading AI accelerator for edge AI, Arm Ethos-U85 NPU, enabling AI models of over one billion parameters to run on-device.

“OEMs are under pressure to deliver solutions faster than ever before. They need to meet the growing computing demands across IoT applications, such as autonomous vehicles navigating factory floors, smart cameras that can adapt their functionality through software updates, and human-machine interfaces that offer more natural, AI-driven interactions.

“To innovate and scale at pace, they need the flexibility to execute their AI workloads where it makes sense, more robust security and increased software flexibility – and Armv9 technology delivers this at scale. 

“The platform delivers an 8x improvement in machine learning performance compared to the Cortex-M85-based platform we launched last year. The ubiquity of our technology means that our partners can now deploy the power of Armv9 technology across the spectrum of computing, from cloud to edge.”

From silicon partners licensing this technology to build SoCs, to ODMs and OEMs building their next generation devices, the development has been welcomed by leading partners across the industry.

The launch of the new edge AI platform marks a significant milestone in the evolution of edge computing. The Cortex-A320 brings advanced AI capabilities and developer benefits to IoT, extending the features of the Armv9 architecture to power efficient devices, alongside comprehensive software support.

Cortex-A320 takes advantage of Armv9 architectural features, such as SVE2 for ML performance, and delivers a 10x ML performance uplift and 30 percent scalar performance uplift compared to its predecessor, Cortex-A35.  

The platform’s Armv9.2 architecture also brings advanced security features like Pointer Authentication, Branch Target Identification and Memory Tagging Extension to even the smallest Cortex-A devices. Arm says that this is crucial as edge devices often operate in exposed environments and handle sensitive data.

As edge AI continues to consolidate on Arm, with this new addition to the portfolio, the company says it now offers the most advanced family of Armv9 Cortex processors for IoT, ranging from ultimate performance, to cost and energy-constrained devices.

Paul Williamson, SVP and GM, IoT Line of Business, Arm said: “This isn't just another incremental step forward – it represents a fundamental shift in how we approach edge computing and AI processing. 

“For the first time, we're seeing an Armv9 CPU specifically optimised for IoT applications, bringing together ultra-efficiency and advanced AI capabilities in a way that hasn't been possible until now.”