NXP Semiconductors has announced the i.MX 952 applications processor, part of NXP’s i.MX 9 series.
What’s new: the i.MX 952 applications processor is designed for AI-powered vision, human-machine interfaces (HMIs), and in-cabin sensing applications, leveraging sensor fusion powered by the integrated eIQ Neutron Neural Processing Unit (NPU) to deliver driver monitoring, child presence detection and more. With pin-to-pin compatibility to the i.MX 95 family, the i.MX 952 SoC makes it easier for developers to scale their hardware and software design to address different price points with a single platform design, reducing costs and speeding time to market.
Why it matters: in-cabin sensing systems must become more advanced, driven by global legislation and standards such as Euro NCAP, determining driver attention levels, ensuring airbags are properly calibrated and detecting a child left alone in a car. The i.MX 952 applications processor leverages AI to fuse inputs from different sensors to deliver a more robust, scalable, and cost-efficient interior cabin sensing solution for improved safety and ease of use and to meet the regulatory requirements for the next generation of vehicles.
“AI-powered sensor fusion allows the car to give the driver more accurate and usable information about what’s happening in and around it,” said Dan Loop, Vice President and General Manager, Edge Microprocessor, NXP. “By combining the data from cameras, UWB, ultrasonic, and other sensors, the i.MX 952 SoC enhances the intelligence each system provides to deliver a more intuitive interaction between the driver and car. This allows OEMs and Tier 1s to offer additional value beyond safety, such as health monitoring, personalisation, and more, while scalability with the i.MX 95 family reduces hardware and software total cost of ownership and improves times to market.”
In addition to automotive applications, the i.MX 952 can be used across industrial applications, such as AI-powered surveillance and environment sensing applications, as well as HMI systems. Modern industrial environments often operate with a 24/7 up-time approach requiring rapid identification and response to issues arising from equipment failures, logistics bottlenecks, or safety concerns, with the flexibility to adapt over time as the production environment evolves. The i.MX 952 applications processor leverages AI to provide real-time analysis and anomaly detection across the factory floor, while supporting a low-power, cost effective means to scale to multi-site monitoring and control from a central office.
More details: supported by NXP’s eIQ AI software development environment, the i.MX 952 applications processor is a cost-effective, low-power solution for vision processing and sensor fusion. It features an integrated eIQ Neutron NPU for use with multiple camera sensors, as well as an integrated image signal processor that can process up to 500Mpixel/s and supports RGB-IR sensors. Part of the i.MX 9 series, the i.MX 952 SoC is pin-to-pin compatible with the i.MX 95 family. This provides developers both performance and cost scalability to meet their specific requirements and allows them to begin designing more quickly.
The i.MX 952 SoC combines low-power, real-time, and high-performance processing through a multi-core application domain with up to four Arm Cortex-A55 cores, as well as an independent safety domain comprised of Arm Cortex-M7 and Arm Cortex-M33 CPUs. The i.MX 952 family is designed to enable ISO 26262 ASIL B compliant platforms and SIL2/SIL3 compliant platforms for rapid deployment in industrial safety-critical environments.
Local dimming improves visibility, energy efficiency
The i.MX 952 SoC is also the world’s first automotive and industrial processor with integrated support for local dimming, enabling in-cabin LCD panels and HUDs to use less energy and deliver higher contrast, as well as enhancing outdoor HMI panels by dynamically adjusting brightness for optimal visibility in harsh lighting conditions. This helps to reduce power consumption, as well as eliminate the need for additional components. By reducing screen wash-out in direct sunlight, this can also help improve visibility for two-wheelers and other open-air vehicles, as well as outdoor HMI panels.
Protect against quantum attacks with advanced security
The i.MX 952 applications processor integrates an EdgeLock Secure Enclave (advanced profile) and is designed to address security standards such as ISO 21434 and IEC 62443, as well as regulatory requirements, including European Cyber Resilient Act. The embedded EdgeLock Secure Enclave is a hardware root of trust simplifying the implementation of security-critical functions like secure boot, secure update, device attestation, and secure device access, based on both classic cryptography and post-quantum cryptography (PQC) to maintain security well into the future. Combined with NXP’s EdgeLock 2GO key management services, OEMs can securely provision i.MX 952 SoC-based products with credentials for secure remote management of devices deployed in the field, including secure over-the-air updates (OTA).
Enabling developers with systems solutions
The i.MX 952 applications processor is designed to enable developers with system solutions. This includes enablement with NXP’s PF09 safety system PMIC and PF53 core supply regulator for power management. In-cabin sensing and other automotive applications are enabled with the Trimension NCJ29D6, a fully integrated automotive single-chip Ultra-Wideband (UWB) family combining next-generation secure and precise real-time localisation with short-range radar. The i.MX 952 family also seamlessly integrates with NXP’s broad, scalable portfolio of wireless solutions. This includes the highly integrated IW693 and AW693 SoCs, designed to deliver extended connectivity with Wi-Fi 6/6E concurrent dual Wi-Fi (CDW), Bluetooth/Bluetooth Low Energy, and BLE Audio
The i.MX 952 applications processor is expected to begin sampling in 1H 2026.
