IN Brief:
- AMD has added three compact devices to the Versal Prime Series Gen 2 adaptive SoC family.
- The Versal 2VM3454, 2VM3254, and 2VM3104 target embedded systems needing high scalar compute in smaller footprints.
- Adaptable compute platforms are gaining ground across robotics, industrial IoT, broadcast, Pro AV, and edge systems.
AMD has expanded its Versal Prime Series Gen 2 adaptive SoC family with three devices aimed at embedded applications that need high scalar compute in smaller package options.
The new Versal 2VM3454, 2VM3254, and 2VM3104 devices deliver up to 100k DMIPs of scalar compute, with package options as small as 23mm x 23mm. AMD is targeting embedded systems in Pro AV, broadcast, industrial IoT, robotics, and related applications where processing performance, programmable logic, and footprint must be balanced.
The devices use an optimised processing system that combines four Arm Cortex-A78AE application cores, six Arm Cortex-R52 real-time cores, and a smaller Arm Mali-G78AE GPU. They sit below the higher-core Versal Prime Gen 2 devices, which include eight Cortex-A78AE application cores and ten Cortex-R52 real-time cores, giving designers another point on the performance, area, and resource curve.
The 2VM3254 and 2VM3104 devices will be available in 23mm x 23mm packages, which AMD says are 27% smaller than the previous minimum package size in the Versal Prime Series Gen 2 family. The new range also offers more programmable logic per square millimetre than comparably sized eight-core devices in the same family.
AMD is supporting a migration path across the Versal 2VM3654, 2VM3454, 2VM3254, and 2VM3104 devices using a common footprint. Board designers can build one hardware platform that supports different devices, reducing the need to redesign the PCB when product requirements change.
The devices combine embedded CPUs, programmable logic, video encode/decode IP, and support for DDR5 and LPDDR5X memory. The 2VM3654 and 2VM3454 are expected to sample later this year, while early access design tools for the 2VM3654 are available now. The 2VM3254 and 2VM3104 are expected to follow in 2027.
Many industrial and professional systems now require more than a fixed microprocessor or conventional FPGA. They need deterministic control, video and sensor handling, security, machine vision, AI-adjacent processing, and software reuse across product generations. Adaptive SoCs allow system designers to combine programmable logic with hard processing resources and specialised interfaces without splitting the design across too many devices.
Robotics, industrial vision, and edge systems are also becoming more capable without moving every workload to a cloud or server platform. A design may need low-latency control, local image processing, sensor fusion, and high-speed interfaces in one enclosure. Board area, thermal design, and power budget then become limiting factors, not secondary concerns.
At the infrastructure end of compute, Delos Data’s Nonstop AI platform reflects the same pressure around interconnect, utilisation, and system architecture. AMD’s compact Versal expansion addresses a different tier, where adaptable compute is pushed into embedded products that still need controlled latency, long lifecycle support, and hardware-level flexibility.
The common-footprint migration option may prove especially useful. Embedded platforms often live through multiple product variants and refresh cycles, while carrier boards, I/O layouts, enclosures, and certifications are expensive to change. A scalable adaptive SoC family can help preserve a hardware platform while selecting different compute and logic densities for each product tier.
As edge systems absorb more sensing, video, control, and local processing, processor choice is becoming inseparable from system architecture. AMD’s smaller Versal Prime Gen 2 devices are aimed at that space, where compute density has to be useful, adaptable, and physically buildable.
