Imagination presents IMG B-GPUs with up to 6 teraflops of computing power
Imagination has announced its IMG B series with GPUs. These chips are available under license and can be integrated into chips from third parties. According to Imagination, the GPU series achieves up to 6Tflops in computing power, depending on the model.
The IMG B series is the successor to the current IMG A series, which was introduced in December 2019. Compared to those previous chips, the GPU would use 30 percent less power and the chip surface would have been reduced by 25 percent, claims Imagination. The IMG B series is the 11th GPU generation of the company. According to the company, the different GPUs in the B series can be used in mobile devices, IoT products, microcontrollers, automotive or other devices, among others. The chips will be available as IP, which means that the GPUs will be available under license and can be processed in their products by third parties.
Image via Imagination
With the new chips, Imagination is introducing a new multicore architecture, among other things. The company refers to this as ‘decentralized multi-core’. In a kind of white paper, the company explains that the different cores can work separately from each other, without having to depend on a central chip. “In its simplest form, the different cores can each be seen as separate GPUs, but with the possibility for cores to work together on calculations.” The chips are ‘loosely’ linked, and only share command and tile buffer lists in common memory. This design can also be used in chiplets, Imagination reports.
The IMG B-series also gets Imgic. This is a technique with which images can be compressed in frame buffers. Users can choose from four different compression levels. Imagination, for example, speaks of a lossless mode and, for example, an ‘extreme bandwidth-saving mode’. In the latter mode, the file size is reduced by an average of 75 percent.
Imaginations ‘decentralized multi-core’ design. Image via Imagination
The company comes with four different subseries in the IMG B series, each of which has its own use case. That’s what Imagination calls the IMG BXE series. Those GPUs are mainly intended for controlling screens and entry-level gaming. The BXE chip supports resolutions from 720p to 8k. Imagination also comes with the BXM series, which provide a ‘balance between fill rate and compute performance’. The company states that these chips are suitable for, for example, midrange mobile devices or UI applications such as digital television and set-top boxes.
The IMG BXT is also the most high-end GPU that Imagination offers in this series. The chip will have four cores that together achieve a computing power of 6Tflops. According to a white paper, the BXT GPU is produced on a 7nm process and the chip has a clock speed of 1.5GHz. The BXT chip has four cores. The company comes further with an IMG BXS GPU, which is mainly intended for automotive. This chip can be used for infotainment systems, digital cockpits or human machine interfaces. This GPU also complies with the ISO 26262 standard, Imagination reports.