STMicroelectronics introduces the second generation of Industrial 4.0 edge AI microprocessors

     STMicroelectronics, the world's leading semiconductor company serving multiple electronic applications, has launched the second generation of STM32 microprocessor (MPU). Based on the inheritance of STM32 ecosystem, this product adopts a new processor architecture to improve the performance and security of industrial and Internet of things edge applications. With a temperature range of -40°C to 125°C, the new products simplify thermal management design and improve reliability of industrial equipment. In addition, like other STM32 MPUs for industrial applications, the STM32MP2 series MPUs enjoy the ST's 10-year service life commitment.

     The new line of processors offers a variety of packaging options, including a 0.8mm ball pitch package (TFBGA) that simplifies PCB design and wiring, allowing developers to use economical designs of four-layer PCBS and save expensive laser hole passing costs. With the new family of MPUs, developers can also benefit from the rich development resources of the STM32MPU ecosystem, such as the popular OpenSTLinux distribution, which includes the complete AI framework X-Linux-AI, and the STM32Cube development tools. The STM32Cube's bare run program or RTOS can be run from the Cortex-M33 kernel.

     Ricardo De Sa Earp, Executive Vice President and General Manager, General Microcontroller Sub-Product Division, stmicroelectronics, said: "The new STM32MP2 family of products further enhances our investment in application processors by combining 64-bit processor cores, edge AI acceleration units, advanced multimedia capabilities, graphics processors, and rich digital peripheral interfaces. The new family of MPUs also integrates advanced hardware security features to meet new opportunities emerging in Security Industry 4.0, the Internet of Things and multiple user interface applications."

     The first product line of a new generation of microprocessors, the STM32MP25, features one or two 64-bit Arm®Cortex®-A35 cores with a 1.5GHz dominant frequency and high energy efficiency. It also integrates a 400MHz Cortex-M33 core to handle real-time tasks. The built-in dedicated neural processing unit (NPU) boosts processor throughput to 1.35 TOPS(1.35 teraflops), enabling it to provide more edge AI acceleration for advanced machine vision, predictive maintenance, and other applications. STM32MP25 supports 32-bit DDR4 and LPDDR4 memory, providing long-term guarantee for cost optimization design.

     The STM32MP25 product line also supports the Gigabit Time-sensitive Network (TSN) specification with dual-port Gigabit Ethernet TSN Switch modules and PCIe, USB 3.0 and CAN FD peripherals to provide high density connectivity for real-time industrial applications, data concentrators, gateways, and communications devices. Enhanced data processing capabilities combined with network connectivity enhance the performance of security applications and industrial automation detection and feature recognition. For example, an MPU can stream video at 30 frames per second from a five-megapixel image sensor, analyze the video using an edge AI accelerator, and then send related video with detection metadata (encoded using a hardware encoder) via a Gigabit Ethernet TSN, and control the entire process in real-time in streaming mode.

     The built-in 3D Graphics processing Unit (GPU) supports 1080p resolution graphics and video for a rich user interface. Vulkan real-time graphics processing makes Android apps unimpeded. The product also has built-in 1080p video codecs, multiple display interfaces LVDS, four-channel MIPI DSI, and MIPI CSI-2 camera interfaces that simplify the connection of digital cameras and displays including raw-Bayer image sensors.

     Advanced security features such as Arm's TrustZone® trusted architecture, Resource Isolation Framework (RIF), coupled with key secure storage, secure booting, unique device ids within disposable programmable (OTP) memory, hardware encryption engine and dynamic DDR encryption/decryption algorithms ensure processors are SESIP Level 3 authenticated.