GPP, GPU or Embedded Vision Dedicated Processor?

By SemiWiki

April 14, 2015

Before answering the question we should try to define what is behind “Vision”, which type of applications and evaluate this heterogeneous market weight. Embedded Vision (EV) is the use of computer vision in embedded systems to interpret meaning from image or video. In fact vision processing requires a lot of maths functions that General Purpose Processor (GPP) doesn’t support. Gaming is probably the oldest vision application, at least as old as the PC. Graphic Processor Unit (GPU) has been initially developed to support gaming and GPU is dedicated to vision, no doubt about it. But traditional GPU are burning a lot of power and require a large amount of (external) memory, again burning extra power. Even if GPU is well tailored for game console or PC gaming, GPU cost and power dissipation is prohibitive for the many innovative applications like surveillance, home automation, and gesture recognition or object detection. Just add automotive related applications to support driver comfort or security and you realize why embedded vision systems is an exploding market expected to weight up to $300 billion in 2020 – exhibiting 35% CAGR!

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