Intel posted a new Linux driver today for VPU support on 14th Gen Meteor Lake CPUs, reports Michael Larabel of the website Phoronix. VPU, or "Versatile Processing Unit", will be featured within the 14th Gen Core Meteor Lake CPUs.
Intel Posts New Linux Driver For VPU "Versatile Processing Unit" Coming With 14th Gen Meteor Lake CPUs
The VPU or versatile processing unit is unique because Intel will utilize it for deep learning applications with AI inference acceleration. The new VPU driver by Intel will be placed into the Linux Direct Rendering Manager, or DRM, similar to the graphics driver from the company. The new Intel VPU driver for Linux is licensed under GPLv2 specifically. The user-space stack is to use the "Intel oneAPI Level Zero API and OpenVINO," continues Larabel.
Intel anticipates having the versatile processing unit's user-space code publicly available in an open-source format at the end of the third quarter. The firmware for the VPU will remain closed-source.
Meteor Lake will get an integrated VPU Accelerator. It's similar to the Neural in the Apple M1 for speech recognition, language models, and conceivably many apps by the time Meteor Lake launches.
— Tom of Moore's Law Is Dead YouTube Channel
Intel was rumored to use the new VPU technology to compete with Apple's Neural Engine, seen in the company's desktops, laptops, iPads, and iPhones. While not knowing much about the VPUs, it is speculated that the unit will take space embedded on the dies next to Intel's CPU core architecture, similar to the architecture of the M1 processor by Apple.
In related news, AMD plans on producing an on-chip machine learning acceleration for Van Gogh and Rembrandt APU series and will potentially be the world's first processor of that caliber to release to mass desktop and mobile computing markets.
Based on the information we have, the VPU would be featured within the SOC Tile for 14th Gen Meteor Lake CPUs and may utilize Atom cores. That's at least what the rumor mill is saying right now. There are expected to be 2 to 4 of these cores within the SOC Tile which is one of the four tiles infused on the Meteor Lake chip.
According to @OneRaichu, there are only two LP-E cores on the Meteor Lake chips and those are present on the SOC Tile which means that these are the ones being used by the VPU.
Intel Meteor Lake Mobility CPU Lineup Expected Features:
- Triple-Hybrid CPU Architecture (P/E/LP-E Cores)
- Brand New Redwood Cove (P-Cores)
- Brand New Crestmont (E-Cores)
- Up To 14 Cores (6+8) For H/P Series & Up To 12 Cores (4+8) For U Series CPUs
- Intel 4 Process Node For CPU, TSMC 3nm For tGPU
- Intel Battlemage 'Xe-LPG' GPU With Up To 128 EUs
- Up To LPDDR5X-7467 & DDR5-5200 Support
- Up To 96 GB DDR5 & 64 GB LPDDR5X Capacities
- Intel VPU For AI Inferencing With Atom Cores
- x8 Gen 5 Lanes For Discrete GPU (Only H-Series)
- Triple x4 M.2 Gen 4 SSD Support
- Four Thunderbolt 4 Ports
The versatile processing unit driver adds over eight thousand five hundred lines of code into the Linux kernel.
Intel Mobility CPU Lineup:
| CPU Family | Panther Lake | Lunar Lake | Arrow Lake | Meteor Lake | Raptor Lake | Alder Lake |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Process Node (CPU Tile) | Intel 18A | TSMC N3B | TSMC N3B | Intel 4 | Intel 7 | Intel 7 |
| Process Node (GPU Tile) | TSMC N3E / Intel 3 | TSMC N3B | TSMC 5nm | TSMC 5nm | Intel 7 | Intel 7 |
| CPU Architecture | Hybrid | Hybrid (Dual-Core) | Hybrid (Triple-Core) | Hybrid (Triple-Core) | Hybrid (Dual-Core) | Hybrid (Dual-Core) |
| P-Core Architecture | Cougar Cove | Lion Cove | Lion Cove | Redwood Cove | Raptor Cove | Golden Cove |
| E-Core Architecture | Darkmont | N/A | Skymont | Crestmont | Gracemont | Gracemont |
| LP E-Core Architecture (SOC) | Darkmont | Skymont | Crestmont | Crestmont | N/A | N/A |
| Top Configuration (Compute Tile) | 4+8 (H-Series) | 4+4 (MX Series) | 6+8 (H-Series) 2+8 (U-Series) | 6+8 (H-Series) 2+8 (U-Series) | 6+8 (H-Series) 8+16 (HX-Series) | 6+8 (H-Series) 8+8 (HX-Series) |
| Max Cores / Threads | 16/16 | 8/8 | 14/14 | 14/20 | 14/20 | 14/20 |
| AI NPU | NPU5 (50 TOPS) | NPU4 (48 TOPS) | NPU3.5 (13 TOPS) | NPU3 (11 TOPS) | NPU2 (7 TOPS) | NPU2 (7 TOPS) |
| Planned Lineup | Core Ultra 300 | Core Ultra 200V | Core Ultra 200 | Core Ultra 100 | 14th/13th Gen | 12th Gen |
| GPU Architecture | Xe3-LPG (Battlemage) | Xe2-LPG (Battlemage) | Xe-LPG+ (Alchemist) | Xe-LPG (Alchemist) | Iris Xe (Gen 12) | Iris Xe (Gen 12) |
| Xe Cores (Max) | 12 Xe3 Cores | 8 Xe2 Cores | 8 Xe Cores | 8 Xe Cores | 96 EUs (768 Cores) | 96 EUs (768 Cores) |
| Memory Support | LPDDR5X-9600 | LPDDR5X-8533 | DDR5-5600 LPDDR5-7500 LPDDR5X-8533 | DDR5-5600 LPDDR5-7400 LPDDR5X - 7400+ | DDR5-5200 LPDDR5-5200 LPDDR5-6400 | DDR5-4800 LPDDR5-5200 LPDDR5X-4267 |
| Memory Capacity (Max) | 128 GB | 32 GB | 128 GB | 96 GB | 64 GB | 64 GB |
| Thunderbolt Support | TB5 | TB5 | TB5 | TB4 | TB4 | TB4 |
| WiFi Capability | WiFi 7 | WiFi 7 | WiFi 7 | WiFi 6E | WiFi 6E | WiFi 6E |
| TDP | 17-45W | 17-30W | TBD | 7W-45W | 15-55W | 15-55W |
| Launch | 2H 2025 | 2H 2024 | 2H 2024 | 2H 2023 | 1H 2023 | 1H 2022 |
About the author: Jason R. Wilson is a member of the Hardware news team at Wccftech. Equipped with a background in graphic design and writing, Jason works daily to improve his craft and continues to create new and innovative ideas every day.
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