This year's Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco is being held under the banner of virtual reality. A central element of Intel's connection between the real and virtual worlds is the "RealSense" technology, a combination of several cameras with Intel processors and software. This technology is also the driver for a new Maker module that Intel presented at the Developer Forum: the 'Joule' kit.

The 'Joule' platform is actually a computer module combined with a carrier board and a customized Linux operating system. According to Intel, the system is aimed at industrial IoT applications, robotics, micro servers, image processing, drones, virtual and augmented reality.

The computer module is available in two versions: The higher-end, 'Joule 570x' contains an Intel Atom processor T5700 with 1.7 GHz clock speed (briefly up to 2.4 GHz), 4 GB RAM, 16 GB eMMC flash and a graphics unit that can record and play back 4K video. The small version 'Joule 550x' contains the Atom processor T5500 with a clock frequency of 1.5 GHz, 3 GB RAM and 8 GB eMMC. Peripheral connections are available: USB, WiFi, Bluetooth, CSI and DSI (Camera and Display Serial Interface respectively), GPIO, I²C and UART. Both modules support the Real Sense cameras and software.

RealSense: Recognizing the world

With RealSense, a 1080p camera, an infrared camera and an infrared laser projector work together. This combination of sensors can perceive the environment in a similar way to the human eye, namely with spatial depth and motion detection. RealSense can be used to record 3D scans, for example: The infrared laser projector and camera recognize the shape of an object, while the visible light camera recognizes the texture, i.e. the appearance of the surface. Another example that Intel has already demonstrated is a drone flying through a forest and making its way through the trees. All of this requires high computing power.

At the Intel Developer Forum, for example, the 'Joule' kit was shown together with VR glasses that could show maintenance staff in industry which steps need to be carried out during assembly. A French company has developed a head-up helmet display for police officers on motorcycles that recognizes information from the surroundings and displays, for example, the license plate of a license plate and the number of surrounding vehicles. Important information can be replayed. Several robots were also mentioned: a bartender robot from Japan that communicates and can be controlled using natural language or a robot from Microsoft that accompanies children with diabetes and reminds them to pay attention to their blood sugar levels. There is also a robot from Canonical that works with RealSense cameras and is controlled by an Ubuntu Linux.

Slightly more expensive

The 'Joule-Kit 570x' with the carrier board is now available from Intel distributors. The individual 'Joule' computer modules and the 550x kit will be available from the end of the fourth quarter of 2016.

Mouser lists the 'Joule-Kit 570x' at a price of 430 euros. If you want the RealSense camera technology, you have to add around 250 euros. This clearly sets 'Joule' apart from inexpensive maker platforms such as Arduino, BeagleBone or Raspberry Pi, which cost between 30 and 50 euros. This also makes it clear why Intel is targeting industrial applications: For a hobbyist, the purchase price is likely to significantly exceed the budget. As a rapid prototyping system for a professional application, however, the 'Joule' kit is inexpensive. With this technology, Intel wants to promote the cost-effective and rapid integration of virtual reality into industrial applications and thus create new demand for its processors.

News on Intel's FPGA strategy

On the last day of the IDF, Intel's CEO Brian Krzanich took to the stage together with FPGA head Daniel McNamara, once VP at Altera for the embedded sector, to launch a kind of sub-event of the IDF, namely the Intel SoC FPGA Developer Forum (ISDF).

The first piece of news: the Altera brand name is history, the Intel logo is now emblazoned on the FPGA packages. The FPGA business unit will have full access to new manufacturing and packaging technologies, and the Stratix 10 will be available in 2016, manufactured in Intel's 14 nm FinFET process.

x86 and ARM on one die

As expected, a kind of technical revolution was also announced: Future chips for IoT, network and cloud server applications (let's call them software-defined server processors with differentiation via FPGA logic) will continue to include FPGA blocks with ARM CPUs alongside x86 CPUs. This will mean x86 and ARM Cortex-A on two pieces of silicon on one carrier; corresponding prototypes with embedded multi-die interconnect bridges already exist (the Stellarton-Atoms from 2010 in an SiP, on the other hand, used PCIe to connect both silicon plates in one housing).

However, it is also conceivable that additional FPGA models with x86 processors will be added to the portfolio in the future, according to CEO Krzanich.

According to Intel, x86 CPUs such as Xeons, accelerators such as the new Xeon Phi Knights Mill and various FPGAs will work together in servers in the future, thus optimally sharing the workload. Another important message for the industry was that product support will not be shortened. Today, Intel chips have average life cycles of twelve years. When a product is discontinued, the company always contacts customers in advance to jointly determine an exit plan.