Electronics engineers struggle to balance device performance with cost

More than half of electronics engineers (56%) say that their on-device processing requirements are already 'high' or 'very high', and almost half again (40%) want to add even more on-device processing capabilities.

However, 38% are saying that they actively want to reduce the BOM cost, but 48% are struggling to do so. When asked why, 65% blamed power consumption and 49% blamed design complexity.

These are the findings from Bristol-based AI and voice processing firm, XMOS in its 'Edge of Tomorrow' report, which uncovers the sheer potential of the AIoT and what electronics engineers believe are the biggest market- and device-level barriers to unlocking the industry.

The $3tn AIoT market has been touted as one of the biggest technology revolutions since the advent of the cloud, thanks to its potential to effectively make electronic devices think for themselves. Experts have indicated that the AIoT has the potential to revolutionise life and business as we know it in almost every sector.

Mark Lippett, CEO at XMOS, said: “Balancing cost and performance has always been the ultimate engineering challenge. Getting the best of both requires flexible forms of compute and connectivity in a single device, which not only would keep the cost low, but also improve the design flexibility.”

Earlier this year, XMOS announced xcore.ai, its new, disruptive crossover processor for the AIoT market. Priced at just $1 xcore.ai heralds an entirely new generation of embedded platform with the potential to underpin the AIoT and drive the next technological revolution. According to the company, it represents the most versatile, scalable, cost effective and easy-to-use processor on the market today.