2370912_en-US

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Ara240 Run Time Environment (rt-sdk-ara2)

The Runtime SDK for AI/ML acceleration using the Ara240 NPU on NXP i.MX SoCs, provides the runtime environment for the Ara‑2 NPU.

Main Purpose of the Package

 

 1. Provide the runtime environment for the Ara‑2 NPU

This runtime sdk package installs everything needed for an i.MX system to communicate with and utilize the Ara240 NPU hardware, including:

• NPU drivers 
• Low‑level utilities (metrics, hardware bring‑up, flash tools)
• Proxy services that interface applications with the NPU
• Firmware loaders and NPU configuration files

2. Allow users to run AI/ML inference models on the NPU

The Ara240 runtime environment includes tools for:

• Downloading pre‑compiled AI/ML models
• Running performance tests on the NPU
• Running classification, detection, pose, and segmentation models
• Inspecting HW IPS (inference/second) and real hardware performance

 

Scripts such as:

• fetch_models.sh
• ara_metrics.sh
• chip_info.sh
• program_flash.sh
• run_models_perf.sh

3. Automatically configure and optimize the i.MX system

Installation does the following automatically:

• Expands system partition to handle large models (LLMs/VLMs)
• Sets up an 8GB SWAP for devices with limited RAM
• Prepares the runtime environment for AI workloads

4. Manage and update Ara‑2 firmware

The package contains scripts to:

• Check the installed firmware version (chip_info.sh)
• Update firmware if needed (program_flash.sh)

5. Provide systemd service for automatic startup

The SDK installs:

• A systemd service: rt‑sdk‑ara2.service
  

 

Walkthrough Video

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