Microchip Unveils Second-Gen Sensor Bridge for Nvidia Edge AI
Microchip Technology has released its second-generation field-programmable gate array (FPGA)-based sensor bridge, designed to connect multiple cameras to Nvidia edge artificial intelligence (AI) computing platforms over Ethernet. The new product reduces board size by 60% and doubles the number of cameras that can be connected.
The Revision 2.0 of Microchip's PolarFire FPGA Ethernet Sensor Bridge incorporates Nvidia Holoscan Sensor Bridge (HSB) technology, which allows data from multiple cameras to be transmitted over a single Ethernet cable rather than connecting them directly through interfaces such as MIPI CSI-2. This simplifies the design of robots, industrial automation systems, and medical equipment that require multiple sensors.
The new product uses a PolarFire FPGA to receive camera data, convert it to 10Gb Ethernet, and transmit it to Nvidia Jetson or IGX platforms. It supports up to four cameras, twice as many as its predecessor, and also supports USB-C power delivery.