The Processor Research group at the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) in South Korea have successfully developed Aldebaran5, a processor for self-driving cars. The device integrates nine cores for high computing power as well as safety mechanisms to ensure reliability for automotive applications. Notable, power consumption is 1W and the device fits in a form factor smaller than the size of a nail head.
The Aldebaran 5 is described as a significantly upgraded version of its predecessor. Four of its nine cores are dynamically programmable to operate for performance or for reliability. Safety features adhering to international standards ensure reliability with 99% detection coverage of faults and malfunctions and includes recovery mechanisms to mitigate potential negative effects. Also, dedicated custom-designed acceleration circuitry for image recognition and high efficiency video coding as well as CAN bus communication hardware and an image signal processor (ISP) are integrated into the SoC.
Research and development to integrate neural network acceleration hardware to provide artificial intelligence capabilities are near completion and expected to be announced within the year. For more enlightenment, visit ETRI.