NXP's i.MX 94 SoCs Boast Edge AI Acceleration, Post-Quantum Security, and Time-Sensitive Networking

NXP Semiconductors has announced the latest entry in its i.MX family of application processors, the i.MX 94 — delivering a neural coprocessor for edge artificial intelligence (edge AI) workloads, post-quantum cryptographic functions, and the company's first model to feature an integrated Time Sensitive Networking (TSN)-compatible Ethernet switch.

"Connectivity is more complex than ever before, and the i.MX 94 family is designed to help simplify that complexity," claims NXP's Charles Dachs of the company's latest launch. "The i.MX 94 family delivers the high-performance edge processing needed for today’s industrial automation, as well as automotive telematics applications, with the advanced networking, security, safety, and AI capabilities needed to enable tomorrow's innovations."

The i.MX 94 processorrs offer up to four Arm Cortex-A55 cores, two Cortex-M33 cores, and two Cortex-M7 cores on a single system-on-chip (SoC), with an additional eIQ Neutron neural processing unit (NPU) delivering a claimed 0.5 tera-operations per second (TOPS) of minimum-precision compute for on-device machine learning, computer vision, and artificial intelligence workloads — including, NXP promises, on-device predictive maintenance, operator guidance, and intrusion detection for the industrial user.

The parts are also NXP's first to offer so-called "post-quantum" cryptography, a version of public-key cryptography that is designed to withstand theoretical attacks on current-generation cryptosystems from as-yet unachievably-large quantum computers. Othe security features include EdgeLock Secure Enclave (Advanced Profile), which delivers trusted-state restoration, secure boot, and secure debug, and EdgeLock Accelerator (Prime), which NXP says delivers real-time message signing, authentication, and encryption "at 5G speeds."

The i.MX 94 range are NXP's first in the family to deliver an integrated 2.5-gigabit Ethernet Time Sensitive Networking (TSN) switch, with support for rapid initialization and low-power modes. This, the company says, supports hardware virtualization and software-defined networking, making the chips "well-suited for current and future industrial automation applications."

More information on the i.MX 94 family is available on the NXP website; the company has confirmed it expects to begin sampling the parts in the first quarter of 2025, but has not yet announced a date for general availability.