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The BenchPress

The Original Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Newsletter, from EEMBC

Issue #62 - Q1'2020

Topics

This Year's tinyML Summit Hosts EEMBC on its Panel of ML Benchmark Experts

The tinyML Foundation is a popular organization in the Bay Area with a very active meetup schedule, and has been aggressively advocating and supporting ML engineering efforts on the smallest of edge devices. After the success of last year's conference, this year's will include a panel on ML benchmarks featuring Peter Torelli, president of EEMBC. February 13-14, 2020, San Jose, California, USA

Visit Embedded World 2020 to Hear to Peter Torelli Explain How EEMBC's MLMark Addresses ML Benchmarking Challenges

EEMBC's involvement in ML benchmarking evolution continues with a presentation at Embedded World 2020. Peter will be giving an overview of the effort and challenges behind the development of MLMark, as well as results, successes, and where we are headed. February 24-27th, 2020, Nuremburg, Germany

Our Wi-Fi Benchmark's Behavioral Model has been Approved, Progress Continues!

Under the direction of our new workgroup lead Chandra Duba (Dialog Seminconductor), EEMBC's IoT working group has voted to approve the behavioral model of our upcoming Wi-Fi benchmark. Development is making good progress as we explore all of the parameters that influence Wi-Fi power efficiency. This new benchmark will include a Wi-Fi gateway configuration to precisely control the both the Access Point and Station parameters. By controlling the AP, the benchmark greatly improves both reliability and insights. A new extensible automation framework will continue to support the EEMBC-certified STMicroelectroncs Power Shield, as well as additional power measurement tools such as the Keysight 6705 power supply system, and the Joulescope high-precision energy monitor. Request information on joining the working group to get involved.

SecureMark-TLS Performance-only Mode Now Available

In 2018, EEMBC launched the SecureMark-TLS Benchmark, designed to evaluate the energy efficiency of an edge platform's TLS implementation and encrypted transmission using an IoT-centric ciphersuite. Users asked for a version that required fewer external components and focused just on performance. This quarter, the working group released a new version of the benchmark that reports the speed of the operations and simplifies connectivity to a single USB port, obviating the need for the energy monitor and IO manager. The performance mark is the inverse weighted sum of the time taken to perform the behavioral task, compared to the original mark which uses Joules instead of seconds. Licensees of SecureMark automatically receive access to this update in the member area.

Next up, this busy group won't be resting on its laurels: the team is currently researching new algorithms and protocols for the next major version of SecureMark. Secure boot, TRNG, and quantum-proof crypto are just a few of the items on deck. Request information on joining the working group to get involved.

EEMBC's Classic OABench and TeleBench Benchmarks are Now Available on GitHub

Between 1997 and 2004, EEMBC created the first-ever benchmarks specifically targeted at embedded MCUs. The five original suites have demonstrated their staying power even as embedded processors have grown rapidly in both speed and complexity. EEMBC is pleased to announce the open-source release of two of the suites: OABench and TeleBench. OABench approximates the performance of printers, plotters, and other office automation systems that handle text and image processing tasks. TeleBench examines workloads found in modem and fixed-telecom applications. They are licensed under Apache 2.0. Visit our GitHub repository for more information.

Member Certifications

Members continue to reinforce the value of EEMBC benchmarks in their datasheets through certifications. Since our last update, several new scores have been certified and published from the following members:


Renesas Electronics Logo

Renesas certified the R5F117GC ULPMark-PeripheralProfile scores at 1.8 and 3.3V:

The R5F117GC controller is a member of the RL78/I1D series suitable for applications such as detectors and sensors requiring low power and integration of analog features:
  • Operational amplifiers
  • 12-bit A/D converter
  • Window comparators
The MCU also supports very low power operation (124 µA @ 1 MHz) and a high speed 4 µs wake up. To reduce CPU load smart peripherals like:
  • DTC (Data Transfer Controller to transfer data between memory and registers without using the CPU)
  • ELC (Event Link Controller to connect and coordinate outputs from peripheral functions without using the CPU)
  • DOC (Data operation Circuit: add, sub, compare) are available. A very low power on chip oscillator is included (34µA) as well.
Eta Compute Logo

Eta Compute was the first company to certify a ULPMark-CoreMark score on their ECM3531 device:

Eta Compute delivers the most efficient AI processing which eliminates battery capacity as a barrier for innovative industrial and consumer applications that make life safer, healthier, and more convenient without sacrificing privacy and security. Our patented Continuous Voltage and Frequency (CVFS) technology results in the world’s lowest power embedded platform and delivers unparalleled machine intelligence for energy-constrained products.

The ECM3531 is our first product using the CVFS technology and in 2018, the company received the Design Innovation Of The Year and Best Use Of Advanced Technologies awards at ARM TechCon for it.

More info may be found on the Eta Compute products page.

Dialog Semiconductor Logo

In another first, Dialog Semiconductor was the first company to certify IoTMark-BLE on their DA14531 SoC, in addition to two new certification's of the DA14531 and DA14585 on ULPMark-CoreMark:

SmartBond TINY (DA14531) is specifically designed to lower the costs of adding BLE functionality to an application to as little as $0.50 in high volumes, fueling the next wave of the IoT, estimated to span over 1 billion devices.

At half the size of its predecessors, DA14531 is available in packages as small as 2.0 x 1.7 mm. Moreover, the SoC’s high level of integration only requires six external passives, a single clock source and a power supply to make a complete Bluetooth low energy system. For developers, this means SmartBond TINY can easily fit into any design, such as electronic styluses, shelf labels, beacons or active RFID tags for asset tracking. It will also be critical for applications that require provisioning such as cameras, printers and wireless routers. Consumers will also reap the benefits of SmartBond TINY’s reduced system size and power, in remote controls as a replacement for infrared (IR) or for other applications such as toys, keyboards or smart credit and banking cards.

SmartBond TINY is based on a powerful 32-bit ARM® Cortex™ M0+ with integrated memories and a complete set of analog and digital peripherals, delivering a record score of 18300 on the latest IoTMark™-BLE, the EEMBC benchmark for IoT connectivity. Its architecture and resources allow it to be used as a standalone wireless microcontroller or as an RF data pipe extension for designs with existing microcontrollers.

ptorelli-100h.png
Peter Torelli, President
peter.torelli@eembc.org