Himax Unveils AI-Embedded WiseEye ASIC to Enable Tiny Machine Learning for Ultra-Low Power Applications
TAINAN, Taiwan, Sept. 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: HIMX) (“Himax” or “Company”), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today announced the WiseEye WE-I Plus, an AI accelerator-embedded ASIC platform solution for application developers to develop and deploy CNN-based machine learning (ML) models on AIoT applications including smart home appliances and surveillance systems.
The WiseEye WE-I Plus ASIC adopts a programmable processor with enhanced DSP features and a power-efficient CDM, HOG and JPEG hardware accelerator for real-time motion detection, object detection, and image processing. To address the issue of rising security risk surrounding AIoT applications, the WiseEye WE-I Plus ASIC is equipped with comprehensive hardware and software integrated security solutions such as security boot, security OTA and security metadata output over TLS. In order to meet the demand for ultra-low power and long battery life, in addition to low-power-driven ASIC design, the embedded LDO and multi-state PMU have been purposely built to support shutdown, AoS (always on sensing) and CV efficient operation modes. Furthermore, an associated software library with a comprehensive tool chain is provided for efficient implementation of ML technology when processing captured data from image, voice and ambient sensors.
A key element of the WiseEye WE-I Plus ASIC platform solution is a user-friendly evaluation kit (EVK) which will enable application developers to speed up their system design and therefore product release schedule. The EVK incorporates the WE-I Plus ASIC, AoS (always on sensing) sensor, PIR sensor, temperature sensor, ambient light sensor, microphones and LEDs. It also provides WiFi and USB extension boards for UART, I2C and SPI link with PC. From a software perspective, the EVK provides comprehensive ML library and DSP library and supports the use of ICE, all under a user-friendly programming environment.
“The demand for battery-powered smart devices with AI-enabled intelligent sensing is rapidly growing, especially in markets such as home appliances, door lock, TV, notebook and building control or security. Our WiseEye WE-I Plus ASIC platform solution can be used with popular ML frameworks for the development of a wide range of applications in audio, video and signal processing where power is a strict constraint and on-device memory is limited. We are receiving positive feedbacks from our partners and leading industry players,” said Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax Technologies.
Himax will showcase the WiseEye WE-I Plus ASIC platform solution at the upcoming Synopsys ARC Processor Summit 2019 on September 19 at Santa Clara Marriott Hotel, California.
About Himax Technologies, Inc.
Himax Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: HIMX) is a fabless semiconductor solution provider dedicated to display imaging processing technologies. Himax is a worldwide market leader in display driver ICs and timing controllers used in TVs, laptops, monitors, mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras, car navigation, virtual reality (VR) devices and many other consumer electronics devices. Additionally, Himax designs and provides controllers for touch sensor displays, in-cell Touch and Display Driver Integration (TDDI) single-chip solutions, LED driver ICs, power management ICs, scaler products for monitors and projectors, tailor-made video processing IC solutions, silicon IPs and LCOS micro-displays for augmented reality (AR) devices and heads-up displays (HUD) for automotive. The Company also offers digital camera solutions, including CMOS image sensors and wafer level optics for AR devices, 3D sensing and machine vision, which are used in a wide variety of applications such as mobile phone, tablet, laptop, TV, PC camera, automobile, security, medical devices, home appliance and Internet of Things. Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Tainan, Taiwan, Himax currently employs around 2,100 people from three Taiwan-based offices in Tainan, Hsinchu and Taipei and country offices in China, Korea, Japan, Israel, and the US. Himax has 2,931 patents granted and 561 patents pending approval worldwide as of June 30th, 2019. Himax has retained its position as the leading display imaging processing semiconductor solution provider to consumer electronics brands worldwide.
Forward Looking Statements
Factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially include, but not limited to, general business and economic conditions and the state of the semiconductor industry; market acceptance and competitiveness of the driver and non-driver products developed by the Company; demand for end-use applications products; reliance on a small group of principal customers; the uncertainty of continued success in technological innovations; our ability to develop and protect our intellectual property; pricing pressures including declines in average selling prices; changes in customer order patterns; changes in estimated full-year effective tax rate; shortages in supply of key components; changes in environmental laws and regulations; exchange rate fluctuations; regulatory approvals for further investments in our subsidiaries; our ability to collect accounts receivable and manage inventory and other risks described from time to time in the Company's SEC filings, including those risks identified in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in its Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2018 filed with the SEC, as may be amended.
Company Contacts:
Jackie Chang, CFO
Himax Technologies, Inc.
Tel: 9 Ext.22300
Or
US Tel: Ext.252
Fax: 7
Email:
Sky Wang, Investor Relations
Himax Technologies, Inc.
US Tel: Ext.223
Fax:
Email:
Investor Relations - US Representative
Maili Bergman, Managing Director
MZ North America
Tel: 949-298-4320
Email:
