Ambiq Launches heliaCORE for Apollo Edge AI Devices

Ambiq has announced heliaCORE, a software layer for its Apollo system-on-chip family that provides AI kernels and operator acceleration for edge AI applications. The software forms part of the company's HELIA ecosystem and is intended for AI deployment on resource-constrained embedded devices.

heliaCORE is built for Apollo SoCs and is based on the Arm CMSIS-NN ecosystem. According to Ambiq, the software accelerates both neural network kernels and inference operations including activations, padding, reductions, reshapes, and data movement.

Validation Across 40 AI Models

Ambiq states that heliaCORE has been validated across more than 40 AI models, covering 53 operator types, 247 unique operators, and 963 operator instances.

The company reports that this represents approximately 12 times more operator instances than MLPerf Tiny. Ambiq positions the validation effort as a way of providing broader coverage of real-world AI workloads deployed on edge devices.

The software is intended for production edge AI applications rather than benchmark-specific demonstrations.

More Than 200 Accelerated Operators

According to Ambiq, heliaCORE includes more than 200 accelerated operators optimized for Apollo devices. The software supports both MVE and DSP acceleration across current and previous generations of Apollo SoCs. Ambiq states that the software is designed to integrate with existing embedded AI development workflows through its CMSIS-NN foundation.

The company also notes that heliaCORE can be used through CMake, CMSIS-Pack, Zephyr, and neuralSPOT-X development flows.

Part of the HELIA Ecosystem

heliaCORE joins other components of Ambiq's HELIA software platform, including heliaRT and heliaAOT. According to Ambiq, the HELIA platform is intended to support AI development and deployment on Apollo devices through a combination of runtime, compilation, and kernel-layer software components.

heliaCORE is available now to Ambiq customers and partners through the company's developer portal and GitHub resources.

Learn more and read the original announcement at www.ambiq.com

Technology Overview

heliaCORE is an AI kernel software layer for Ambiq Apollo SoCs. The software provides more than 200 accelerated operators and supports MVE and DSP acceleration across multiple Apollo generations. Ambiq states that heliaCORE has been validated across more than 40 AI models, covering 53 operator types, 247 unique operators, and 963 operator instances.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is heliaCORE?

heliaCORE is an AI kernel software layer for Ambiq Apollo SoCs that provides accelerated operators and inference functions for edge AI applications.

How many operators does heliaCORE accelerate?

Ambiq states that heliaCORE includes more than 200 accelerated operators optimized for Apollo devices.

Which development environments are supported?

The software is available through CMake, CMSIS-Pack, Zephyr, and neuralSPOT-X integration flows.