AMD Unleashes Alveo MA35D Media Accelerator: First 5nm ASIC Design, AV1, 1W Per Channel, $1595 US
AMD Unleashes Alveo MA35D Media Accelerator: First 5nm ASIC Design, AV1, 1W Per Channel, $1595 US
AMD revealed the new Alveo MA35D media accelerator that features two 5nm, ASIC-based video processing units, or VPUs, which support the AV1 compression standard and are purpose-built to power a new generation of live interactive streaming services at scale. The global video market is overtaken 70% of live content, such as low-latency, high-volume interactive streaming applications, watch parties, live shopping, online auctions, and social streaming.
The AMD Alveo MA35D media accelerator will deliver high channel density, powering up to 32 times the 1080p @ 60fps streams per card. Power efficiency and ultra-low-latency performance are crucial to lowering the inflated infrastructure costs that are now demanded in scaling such compute-intensive content. Compared to the previous Alveo U30 media accelerator, the new Alveo MA35D delivers up to four times more channel density, maximum lower latency in 4K resolutions, and almost two times greater compression efficiency to reach the same VMAF score—a standard video quality metric.
We worked closely with our customers and partners to understand not just their technical requirements but their infrastructure challenges in deploying high-volume, interactive streaming services profitably. We developed the Alveo MA35D with an ASIC architecture tailored to meet the bespoke needs of these providers to reduce both capital and operating expenses for delivering immersive experiences to their users and content creators at scale.
— Dan Gibbons, general manager of AECG Data Center Group, AMD
The Alveo MA35D uses a purpose-built VPU to accelerate the entire video pipeline. The VPU will perform all video processing functions, minimizing data movement between the CPU and accelerator, reducing overall latency, and maximizing channel density with up to thirty-two times 1080p @ 60fps, eight times 4Kp @ 60fps, or four times at 8Kp @ 30fps streams per card. The platform will provide deficient latency support for the mainstream H.264 and H.265 codecs and feature next-generation AV1 transcoder engines to deliver up to a 52% reduction in bitrate for bandwidth savings compared to software implementation.
AMD's announcement of the new Alveo MA35D add-in card is an exciting advancement of video acceleration for data centers and is an important step in building out a fully-fledged ecosystem to support royalty-free, high-definition video devices, products, and services. Live streaming providers are looking for higher density, lower power, lower latency AV1 solutions, and by addressing these, Alliance members such as AMD are helping facilitate AV1 deployment and overall adoption.
— Matt Frost, Alliance for Open Media Chair
The accelerator also features an integrated AI processor with dedicated video quality engines that are created to enhance the quality of experience with reduced bandwidths. The AI processor will evaluate content frame-by-frame and dynamically adjust encoder settings to improve perceived visual quality while minimizing bitrates. Optimization techniques include region-of-interest (ROI) encoding for text and face resolution, artifact detection to correct scenes with high levels of complexity and motion, and content-aware encoding for predictive insights for bitrate optimization.
Scaling high-volume streaming services requires maximizing the number of channels per server while minimizing power and bandwidth per stream. By delivering up to 32x 1080p60 streams per card at 1 watt per stream, a 1U rack server with 8 cards delivers up to 256 channels to maximize the number of streams per server, rack, or data center.
— AMD
Developers can access the platform with the AMD Media Acceleration software development kit (SDK), which supports the FFmpeg and GStreamer video frameworks for easy development.
AMD's Alveo MA35D media accelerators are sampling now, with production shipments expected in the third quarter of 2023. The company offers qualified customers an Early Access Program with comprehensive documentation and software tools for architectural exploration. For more information, visit the official product page.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9ldtgD5A1M
News Source: Alvaeo MA35D Product Page
What's Your Reaction?
