Innatera, a Dutch neuromorphic chip startup, has officially launched its first commercial microcontroller, Pulsar, bringing "brain-like intelligence" to edge devices. With more than a decade of neuromorphic computing research, Pulsar delivers up to 100x lower latency and 500x more energy efficiency than traditional AI processors, opening up a whole new path for deploying real-time intelligence on the sensor side.
Brain-inspired future: Brain-like intelligence moves towards edge devices
With sensors everywhere, from wearables and smart homes to automotive and industrial systems, there is a growing need for real-time, low-power, and secure data processing at the edge. That's where Pulsar comes in, making it possible for the sensor to think for itself – without the need for an energy-intensive main processor or relying on cloud computing, where complex data processing and intelligent judgment can be done locally.
"Innatera isn't just making an AI chip, it's pushing the intelligent edge into a new era." Sumeet Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO of Innatera, said, "Pulsar is not only the culmination of a decade of technology, but also an important step in our large-scale market. The future requires intelligent systems with real-time response, ultra-low power consumption, and in-place decision-making, and Pulsar is the key to unlocking the door.”
Revolutionary architecture: Fusion of neuromorphic and traditional processing
Pulsar uses a computing architecture based on Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs), an event-driven model inspired by the brain, which only responds when the input changes, effectively reducing energy consumption and latency, making it ideal for real-time decision-making scenarios. At the same time, Pulsar combines neuromorphic computing with traditional signal processing, integrating high-performance RISC-V processors and dedicated CNN and FFT accelerators to achieve high versatility and scalability within a single chip.
David Harold, Senior Analyst at Jon Peddie Research, said: "Pulsar represents the next phase of edge intelligence, enabling sensors to 'think' and respond instantly without relying on the cloud, truly delivering low power, high performance, and real-time performance.”
Boost your device's intelligence and dramatically extend battery life
In traditional systems, where the main processor must be running permanently to parse sensor data, Pulsar does the intelligent processing locally, waking up the main system only when necessary, dramatically reducing energy consumption. In most scenarios, it is even possible to completely eliminate the main processor or cloud connection, and the battery life can be increased by several times. For example, radar-based human presence detection only needs 600 microwatts of power consumption, and audio scene recognition consumes only 400 microwatts, truly achieving an "always-on" intelligent experience.
"The combination of Pulsar and our advanced radar technology is a breakthrough for battery-powered devices by providing a new solution for accurate target identification in low-power scenarios and effective reduction of false alarms," said Matthias Neumann, Senior Marketing Manager at Socionext.”
Pictured: Dutch neuromorphic chip startup Innatera unveils its first commercial microcontroller (Source: New Electonics)
Lower the threshold for integration and accelerate the implementation of smart sensors
Pulsar requires minimal memory resources and can be embedded in space-constrained sensors, eliminating the need for complex external compute blocks and custom DSP pipelines. For sensor manufacturers, this means that plug-and-play smart modules can be quickly rolled out, significantly reducing product development cycles and time-to-market.
Alessio Cacciatori, Founder and CEO of Aria Sensing, said, "Pulsar's excellent energy efficiency ratio makes it ideal for our real-time sensing needs for 1D/2D/3D high-resolution sensing systems. Its neuromorphic architecture will dramatically improve response speed and power consumption.”
The developer ecosystem has taken shape, embracing a wider range of innovations
To lower the threshold for neuromorphic computing, Innatera has launched the PyTorch-based Talamo SDK, which supports integrated model building, simulation optimization, and deployment. At the same time, Innatera is launching a developer program to build an open-source community and model marketplace to further build an ecosystem that supports neuromorphic AI innovation.
Pete Bernard, CEO of EDGE AI FOUNDATION, said: "Pulsar represents a breakthrough in ultra-low-power AI and will play a key role in advancing the entire edge AI ecosystem.”
Bharath Desareddy, CEO of SmartSoC Solutions, said, "Our collaboration with Innatera will help accelerate the adoption of Pulsar in Europe and India, and together advance the development of the next generation of intelligent edge devices.”
Moving into the future: From intelligent perception to self-directed learning
The launch of Pulsar is not only a technology launch, but also an important part of Innatera's vision for a "self-calibrating, self-optimizing" edge AI system. With the intergenerational evolution of products, a series of more adaptable, autonomous and scalable intelligent terminal applications will emerge in the future.
