At the world’s leading industrial trade fair, companies from the mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and digital industries as well as the energy sector will come together to present solutions for a high-performance, but also sustainable industry at Hannover Messe. This year, Qualcomm brought its DX Summit to Hannover Messe, putting together business and technology leaders to discuss digital transformation solutions and experiences that are moving enterprise forward today, from manufacturing to logistics, transportation, energy and more.

Canonical will join the Qualcomm DX Summit at Hannover Messe on April 23rd , 2024, where industry experts will delve into the cutting-edge technologies that are driving Industry 4.0 forward.  We’re looking forward to meeting our partners and customers on-site to discuss the latest in open-source innovation, and solutions on edge AI. Fill in the form and get a free ticket for Qualcomm DX Summit and Hannover Messe from Canonical.

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Canonical and Qualcomm collaborate to speed up Industry 4.0 adoption

Last week, Canonical and Qualcomm Technologies announced strategic collaboration to bring Ubuntu and Ubuntu Core to devices powered by Qualcomm® processors which offers an easy solution for developers to create safe, compliant, security-focused, and high-performing applications for multiple industries including industrial, robotics and edge automation.

Secure and scale your smart edge AI deployments with Ubuntu

During the event, Canonical will present a talk using a real-world case-study to showcase our joint offering with Qualcomm and illustrate how Canonical solutions benefit enterprise IoT customers to bring digital transformation and AI to their latest IoT projects. 

Presenter: Aniket Ponkshe, Director of Silicon Alliances, Canonical

Date and time: 2:20 pm – 2:40 pm, April 23rd, 2024

Location: Hall 18

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This blog is co-authored by Gordan Markuš, Canonical and Kumar Sankaran, Ventana Micro Systems

Unlocking the future of semiconductor innovation 

RISC-V, an open standard instruction set architecture (ISA), is rapidly shaping the future of high-performance computing, edge computing, and artificial intelligence. The RISC-V customizable and scalable ISA enables a new era of processor innovation and efficiency. Furthermore, RISC-V democratizes innovation by allowing new companies to develop their own products on its open ISA, breaking down barriers to entry and fostering a diverse ecosystem of technological advancement. 

By fostering a more open and innovative approach to product design, the RISC-V technology vendors are not just a participant in the future of technology; they are a driving force behind the evolution of computing across multiple domains. Its impact extends from the cloud to the edge:

• In modern data centers, enterprises seek a range of infrastructure solutions to support the breadth of modern workloads and requirements. RISC-V provides a versatile solution, offering a comprehensive suite of IP cores under a unified ISA that scales efficiently across various applications. This scalability and flexibility makes RISC-V an ideal foundation for addressing the diverse demands of today’s data center environments.
• In HPC, its adaptability allows for the creation of specialized processors that can handle complex computations at unprecedented speeds, while also offering a quick time to market for product builders.  
• For edge computing, RISC-V’s efficiency and the ability to tailor processors for specific tasks mean devices can process more data locally, reducing latency and the need for constant cloud connectivity. 
• In the realm of AI, the flexibility of RISC-V paves the way for the development of highly optimized AI chips. These chips can accelerate machine learning tasks by executing AI centric computations more efficiently, thus speeding up the training and inference of AI workloads.

One of the unique products that can be designed with RISC-V ISA are chiplets. Chiplets are smaller, modular blocks of silicon that can be integrated to form a larger, more complex chip. Instead of designing a single monolithic chip, a process that is increasingly challenging and expensive at cutting-edge process nodes, manufacturers can create chiplets that specialize in different functions and combine them as needed. RISC-V and chiplet technology is empowering a new era of chip design, enabling more companies to participate in innovation and tailor their products to specific market needs with unprecedented flexibility and cost efficiency.

Ventana and Canonical partnership and technology leadership

Canonical makes open source secure, reliable and easy to use, providing support for Ubuntu and a growing portfolio of enterprise-grade open source technologies. One of the key missions of Canonical is to improve the open source experience across ISA architectures. At the end of 2023, Canonical announced joining the RISC-V Software Ecosystem (RISE) community to  support the open source community and ecosystem partners in bringing the best of Ubuntu and open source to RISC-V platforms. 

As a part of our collaboration with the ecosystem, Canonical has been working closely with Ventana Micro Systems (Ventana). Ventana is delivering a family of high-performance RISC-V data center-class CPUs delivered in the form of multi-core chiplets or core IP for high-performance applications in the cloud, enterprise data center, hyperscale, 5G, edge compute, AI/ML and automotive markets. 

The relationship between Canonical and Ventana started with a collaboration on improving the upstream software availability of RISC-V in projects such as u-boot, EDKII and the Linux kernel. 

Over time, the teams have started enabling Ubuntu on Ventana’s Veyron product family. Through the continuous efforts of this partnership Ubuntu is available on the Ventana Veyron product family and as a part of Ventana’s Veyron Software Development Kit (SDK).

Furthermore, the collaboration extends to building full solutions for the datacenter, HPC, AI/ML and Automotive, integrating Domain Specific Accelerators (DSAs) and SDKs, promising to unlock new levels of performance and efficiency for developers and enterprises alike. Some of the targeted software stacks can be seen in the figure below.  

Today, Ventana and Canonical collaborate on a myriad of topics. Together through their joint efforts across open source communities and as a part of RISC-V Software Ecosystem (RISE), Ventana and Canonical are actively contributing to the growth of the RISC-V ecosystem. We are proud of the innovation and technology leadership our partnership brings to the ecosystem. 

Enabling the ecosystem with enterprise-grade and easy to consume open source on RISC-V platforms

Ubuntu is the reference OS for innovators and developers, but also the vehicle to enable enterprises to take products to market faster. Ubuntu enables teams to focus on their core applications without worrying about the stability of the underlying frameworks. Ventana and the RISC-V ecosystem recognise the value of Ubuntu and are using it as a base platform for their innovation. 

Furthermore, the availability of Ubuntu on RISC-V platforms not only allows developers to prototype their solutions easily but provides a path to market with enterprise-grade, secure  and supported open source solutions.Whether it’s for networking offloads in the data center, training AI models in the cloud, or running AI inference at the edge, Ubuntu is an established platform of choice.

Learn more about Canonical’s engagement in the RISC-V ecosystem 

• Linux made easy on RISC-V with Ubuntu 
• Demo: The Future of Ubuntu on RISC-V – Gordan Markus, Canonical 
• Download Ubuntu for RISC-V Platforms 
• Ubuntu continues expanding RISC-V enablement in 2022
• Silicon Programme | Partners 

Contact Canonical to bring Ubuntu and open source software to your RISC-V platform.

Learn more about Ventana

• http://www.ventanamicro.com

The collaboration will bring Ubuntu and Ubuntu Core to devices powered by Qualcomm® processors

Today Canonical, the publisher of Ubuntu, announced a collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., the latest major System-on-Chip manufacturer and designer to join Canonical’s silicon partner program.

Through the partner program, Qualcomm Technologies will have access to a secure, open source operating system, and optimised flavour of Ubuntu for Qualcomm Technologies’ software.  In addition, optimised Ubuntu and Ubuntu Core images will be available for Qualcomm SoCs, enabling enterprises to meet their regulatory, compliance and security demands for AI at the edge and the broader IoT market with a secure operating system that is supported for 10 years. 

Security-first and AI ready

The massive growth in AI and edge computing is exciting for device manufacturers. However, it also brings considerable challenges due to cybersecurity regulations which place increased security demands on embedded devices. On top of this, devices have to be easy to adopt and use by developers, and need to remain performant. 

To help meet these challenges, Qualcomm Technologies chose to partner with Canonical to create an optimised Ubuntu for Qualcomm IoT chipsets,  giving developers an easy path to create safe, compliant, security-focused, and high-performing applications for multiple industries including industrial, robotics and edge automation.

“The combination of Qualcomm Technologies’ processors with the popularity of Ubuntu among AI and IoT developers is a game changer for the industry,” commented Dev Singh, Vice President, Business Development and Head of Building, Enterprise & Industrial Automation, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “The collaboration was a natural fit, with Qualcomm Technologies’s Product Longevity program complementing the 10-year enterprise security and support commitments made by Canonical.”

Ideal to speed up time to market

Canonical and Ubuntu offer Qualcomm Technologies the tools and peace of mind to meet new IoT, AI and edge computing market challenges head on. 

By placing Ubuntu and Ubuntu Core at the centre of its devices and products, Qualcomm Technologies is creating a generation of devices that will be easy for developers to use and adopt.

The collaboration between Qualcomm Technologies and Canonical will provide options to the industry to accelerate time to market and reduce development costs.  Developers and enterprises can benefit from the Ubuntu Certified Hardware program, which features a growing list of certified ODM boards and devices based on Qualcomm SoCs. These certified devices deliver an optimised Ubuntu experience out-of-the-box, enabling developers to focus on developing applications and bringing products to market. 

“Canonical’s partner programs, in conjunction with Canonical’s expertise in guiding customers navigate their AI and IoT journey, help set the industry bar for performance with robustness, security and compliance. The work to integrate and optimise Qualcomm Technologies’ software with Ubuntu will enable channel partners and manufacturers to bring Ubuntu and Ubuntu Core platforms to a wide range of devices“, said Olivier Philippe, VP for Devices Engineering at Canonical.

Join Canonical and Qualcomm at Embedded World

The collaboration between Canonical and Qualcomm Technologies kicks off at the Embedded World conference, held at the exhibition centre in Nuremberg, Germany, on 9 to 11 April 2024. 

• Visit Canonical booth at [4-354]
• Visit Qualcomm booth at [5-161]

To find out more about Canonical’s partnership and optimised services for IoT, edge and AI products, stop by Canonical’s booth , or visit https://ubuntu.com/internet-of-things

About Canonical 

Canonical, the publisher of Ubuntu, provides open source security, support and services. Our portfolio covers critical systems, from the smallest devices to the largest clouds, from the kernel to containers, from databases to AI. With customers that include top tech brands, emerging startups, governments and home users, Canonical delivers trusted open source for everyone. Learn more at https://canonical.com/

Qualcomm branded products are products of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. Qualcomm patented technologies are licensed by Qualcomm Incorporated.

Qualcomm is a trademark or registered trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated.