Qualcomm Dragonwing™ IQ9 Series
Pioneering Edge AI for Industrial Automation
Qualcomm Technologies has unveiled the Qualcomm Dragonwing™ iQ9 Series, a groundbreaking addition to its IoT SoC roadmap. Designed for scalability and high performance, these Edge AI SoCs enable powerful AI models to run efficiently with industry-leading power consumption. Built to withstand extreme temperatures, they integrate real-time functional safety, fault detection, and fault tolerance, making them ideal for mission-critical applications. With a commitment to long-term availability – exceeding 10 years – Qualcomm Technologies supports industrial-grade reliability and extended software support across multiple operating systems.
Table: IQ-9075S & IQ-9100S
Built for Industrial-Grade Reliability
Built to withstand extreme temperatures, they integrate real-time functional safety, fault detection, and fault tolerance, making them ideal for mission-critical applications. With a commitment to long-term availability – exceeding 10 years – Qualcomm Technologies supports industrial-grade reliability and extended software support across multiple operating systems.
Unlocking AI-Driven Automation
Anticipating the growing demand for AI-driven automation, Qualcomm Technologies has positioned the Dragonwing IQ9 Series to power a wide range of applications, from industrial machines and edge computing boxes to gateways, drones, and robotics. These SoCs are set to play a key role in integrating AI into environments where safety, reliability, and efficiency are paramount.
The need for AI at the edge is accelerating, as organizations look to harness large language models (LLMs) and advanced AI technologies to enhance productivity and streamline industrial operations. According to the World Economic Forum, generative AI and LLMs could impact up to 40% of working hours in the future. In sectors such as manufacturing, logistics, retail, and agriculture, AI-powered systems will enable real-time processing of vast sensor and camera data, allowing machines to interact naturally with untrained human operators.
Highlights of the Dragonwing IQ9 Series
High Edge AI Performance
- Up to 100 TOPS (Tera Operations Per Second) for on-device AI processing
- Optimized for running complex AI workloads, including Large Language Models (LLMs)
- Capable of running Llama2 13 billion parameter model generating 12 tokens per second
- Qualcomm® Hexagon™ Tensor Processors for accelerated AI computations
Industrial-Grade Safety and Reliability
- Dedicated safety island (SAIL) with real-time cores
- Error Correction Code (ECC) memory for enhanced reliability
- Designed to operate in a wide range of temperatures (-40°C to +115°C)
- High ball pitch design to support rugged designs
Powerful Processing
- Kryo Gen 6 CPU with 8 high-performance cores
- Adreno 663 GPU for graphics and multimedia
Advanced Camera and Multimedia Capabilities
- Support for up to 16 concurrent camera inputs
- Qualcomm® Spectra™ ISP for advanced image processing
- High-performance 4K video encoding and decoding
Extensive Connectivity and Peripherals
- Dual Display Port
- Multiple PCIe, USB, and Gigabit Ethernet interfaces.
- Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) support for real-time communication
- Wi-Fi6E capabilities
- Multiple CAN FD interfaces
Memory
- Support for LPDDR5 memory with ECC
MCU-like Subsystem
- Built in MCU-like subsystem for real time enhanced safety monitoring
- Can be used instead of external MCU or for added redundancy
Transformative Use Cases Across Industries
This seamless collaboration between humans and intelligent machines will optimize production and logistics, reduce defects and waste, and enhance resource efficiency. Farmers, for instance, will be able to minimize fertilizer use while increasing yields, while retail supply chains will become more precise, cutting down on surplus stock. Additionally, LLMs will help preserve and transfer institutional knowledge, enabling faster and more effective worker training. These are just a few of the transformative possibilities AI-powered edge computing will bring to industrial applications.
Scalable Edge AI Performance
The Dragonwing IQ9 Series consists of two SoCs – the Dragonwing IQ-9075 and the Dragonwing IQ-9100 processors – in the table shown on the right. Customers with applications requiring lower compute and edge AI performance can opt for the Dragonwing IQ-9075 IQ-9075 processor, with a seamless upgrade path to the Dragonwing IQ-9100 processor. Designed for more demanding applications, such as robotics, the Dragonwing IQ-9100 processor offers enhanced DSP and compute resources to handle concurrent AI workloads while meeting functional safety requirements.
Simplified Integration Through Module Solutions
To simplify the customer’s board design and reduce supply chain complexity, Qualcomm® provides these powerful Edge AI devices as a module solution, which incorporates the Qualcomm SoC, power management ICs, and LPDDR5 RAM. Qualcomm Technologies' leading wired and wireless technologies – including 5G cellular, Bluetooth/Wi-Fi, and GNSS – can be added externally to complement the Edge AI capabilities of these modules.
Comprehensive Software Ecosystem
Powering the Dragonwing IQ9 Series from a software perspective, Qualcomm Technologies uses the Qualcomm Developer Network, an ongoing initiative that provides an end-to-end software environment enabling engineers to develop and deploy powerful Edge AI applications based on the latest Qualcomm® SoCs. In recent years, Qualcomm Technologies has invested heavily to deliver a comprehensive suite of software, starting with the operating system and extending to developer SDKs (computer vision, AI, and robotics) as well as AI deployment tools and workflows, which streamline the development process and enable customers to deploy their applications more quickly.
Long-Term Software Support
Many industrial applications require operating system and middleware support for up to 10 years alongside the SoCs. The Dragonwing IQ9 Series is the latest generation of industrial-grade Qualcomm Technologies SoCs, offering Qualcomm Linux, a comprehensive package of software, tools, and documentation specifically designed to meet industrial software requirements.
Industrial Operating Systems
The Dragonwing IQ9 Series comes with a Yocto Linux LTS build and a separate Ubuntu Linux build, both provided with BSP and security patching for industrial timeframes. Access to the Dragonwing IQ9 Series software and tools is available to registered users on Qualcomm.com via the dedicated landing page for the Dragonwing IQ9 Series. For more information on Qualcomm Linux, product and function SDKs for the Qualcomm® IoT SoCs, please check the previous edition (2024-02) of Impulse for more details.
Access to Developer Resources and Tools
In addition to the available hardware and software resources, there is a wealth of technical collateral supporting new users of the Dragonwing IQ9 Series and other Qualcomm® industrial SoCs.
The landing page for the Dragonwing IQ9 Series on Qualcomm.com offers registered users access to technical reference manuals, datasheets, layout guidelines, design guidelines, and much more. Additionally, Qualcomm Technologies has launched an open community forum for its family of industrial SoCs.
Open Community Forum for Technical Support
This platform allows customers to access technical Q&A and knowledge articles during their projects, based on the collective knowledge of an increasing number of engineers and organizations, as well as Qualcomm Technologies' own experts using Qualcomm Technologies' industrial products. The forum is organized around technical topics such as AI, operating systems, developer tools, profiles, and compilers and is accessible to all users. Once registered with Qualcomm Technologies, users can post their own questions and receive support.
The Dragonwing IQ9 Series landing pages and technical community forum are also complemented by tutorials and knowledge-based videos provided by Qualcomm on Youtube via the Qualcomm Technologies Developer channel.
Your Contact Person
Please contact Thomas Carmody if you would like to learn more about how to get started with the Dragonwing IQ9 Series of devices.
