Synaptics Announces Availability of the Katana™ Evaluation Kit on Edge Impulse Studio™ to Accelerate Deployment of Custom ML Models

SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 01, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Synaptics^® Incorporated (Nasdaq: SYNA) today announced that the evaluation kit (EVK) for its Katana ultra-low-power Edge AI SoC platform is now available within Edge Impulse’s web-based Studio environment. Machine learning (ML) models developed within Studio using the Katana EVK will be automatically optimized for the Katana SoC platform, allowing for quick deployment of efficient inference capability for voice, vision, sound, and other sensor inputs on low-power edge AI Internet of things (IoT) devices. The EVK enables industrial and consumer applications such as people detection and counting, object and pattern recognition, keyword spotting, sound event detection, fall detection, asset or inventory tracking, digital meter reading, and environmental sensing.

“Applications for AI at the edge are growing exponentially, but scaling AI development is challenging due to the uniqueness of the design requirements and datasets involved,” said Venkat Kodavati, SVP and Chief Product Officer at Synaptics. “It’s critical that embedded developers be armed with the right hardware and development platforms to more rapidly and efficiently get their concepts to market in this increasingly competitive space.” 

Edge Impulse Studio simplifies the development of custom algorithms, allowing developers to create datasets and pre- and post-process data efficiently. Hosting the Katana EVK on Edge Impulse Studio enables the training and optimization of ML models specifically for the Katana platform, using developers’ own application datasets. This allows developers to quickly create custom ML models that take full advantage of the Katana Edge AI SoC platform, particularly its low-power characteristics.

“This is an exciting announcement as it brings together Synaptics’ strengths in integrated, low-power SoC implementations and Edge Impulse’s efficient methodologies for customized ML model development,” said Zach Shelby, CEO at Edge Impulse. “Developers will benefit greatly from having a robust and streamlined environment for quickly designing, training, testing, and deploying the next generation of Edge AI innovations on the advanced Katana platform.”

The Katana SoC platform features a multi-core architecture optimized for ultra-low-power and low-latency voice, sound, and vision applications. Its integrated advanced neural network engine supports simultaneous inference for both computer vision and sound event detection (SED) with the ability to process both AI models in parallel. The Katana EVK integrates Synaptics’ market-leading Wi-Fi and Bluetooth solutions with a camera, microphone, accelerometer, and ambient temperature sensors to provide a complete module that further simplifies system design and implementation.

Availability: 
The Katana KA Evaluation kit is available now; contact your local Synaptics sales representative. Edge Impulse Studio can be accessed at edgeimpulse.com. 

About Edge Impulse:
Edge Impulse is the leading machine learning platform, enabling all enterprises to build smarter edge products. Their technology empowers developers to bring more ML products to market faster and helps enterprise teams rapidly develop industry-specific solutions in weeks instead of years. The Edge Impulse platform provides powerful automation and low-code capabilities to make it easier to build valuable datasets and develop advanced ML with streaming data. Used by over 45,000 developers and 4,000 enterprises across 100,000 ML projects worldwide, Edge Impulse offers a seamless integration experience to validate and deploy with confidence across the largest hardware ecosystem. To learn more, visit www.edgeimpulse.com.

About Synaptics Incorporated: 
Synaptics (Nasdaq: SYNA) is changing how humans engage with connected devices and data, engineering exceptional experiences throughout the home, at work, in the car, and on the go. Synaptics is the partner of choice for the world’s most innovative intelligent system providers who are integrating multiple experiential technologies into platforms that make our digital lives more productive, insightful, secure, and enjoyable. These customers combine Synaptics’ differentiated technologies in touch, display, and biometrics with a new generation of advanced connectivity and AI-enhanced video, vision, audio, speech, and security processing. Follow Synaptics on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, or visit www.synaptics.com.

Synaptics and the Synaptics logo are trademarks of Synaptics in the United States and/or other countries. All other marks are the property of their respective owners. 

Media Contact
Synaptics Incorporated
Patrick Mannion
Dir. of External PR and Technical Communications
+1 631-678-1015
patrick.mannion@synaptics.com 

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/02777963-0c1f-4b72-9845-d1411faf10b6