The China Household Appliances and Consumer Electronics Expo (hereinafter referred to as “AWE 2024”) was held in Shanghai on March 14, showcasing unprecedented splendor. Major appliance manufacturers launched new products while also demonstrating innovations in the appliance sector using new technologies such as AI. For example, AI energy-saving air conditioners and AI smart weighing washing machines. Overall, the intelligence and low-carbonization of appliances were the biggest highlights of the entire AWE exhibition, as well as the innovations that consumers most look forward to and can intuitively feel.At the Haisheng booth, I noticed that Haisheng showcased its latest achievements under the theme “Leading New Realms with Innovation”—the “5+2” intelligent terminal solution, which includes five product solutions based on audio-visual media: “Honghu Media”, “Zhuque Display”, “Yueyi Visual”, and connectivity solutions: “Lingxiao Network”, “Balong Wireless”, along with two ecological solutions: “Xingshan IoT” and “A²MCU”, providing a more powerful innovation platform for customers and developers to accelerate new product research and development.Among them, the Haisheng A²MCU solution is one of the two ecological solutions, focusing on the next generation of embedded AI control MCU, making appliances smarter and more energy-efficient, helping household appliances move towards intelligence and low-carbonization.The A²MCU refers to dual-driven embedded AI on the edge and application-specific solutions, deeply empowering the smart upgrade of appliance scenarios. Haisheng combines its understanding of appliance industry customers and scenarios to innovatively launch three major features based on the RISC-V instruction set: embedded AI, scenario-based core algorithms, and a minimalist scheduler, deeply optimizing from the instruction set to the compiler, helping customers achieve green energy-saving and intelligence in appliance scenarios.In December 2023, Haisheng and customers jointly released the energy-saving feature of air conditioners, which, compared to traditional air conditioners, saves 16% of energy consumption during the temperature adjustment phase with the new edge-side embedded AI solution. Haisheng releases over 100 million RISC-V based IoT/MCU cores every year, allowing for instruction set definitions based on specific scenarios, greatly enhancing computational efficiency in specific situations.Edge-side Embedded AI Makes Appliances Smarter and More Energy-EfficientBased on the second-generation RISC-V instruction set and minimalist scheduler, deep optimization from the instruction set to the compiler, combined with industry application characteristics, enables embedded AI. Haisheng produces over 100 million units covering various IoT and MCU applications annually, allowing for instruction set definitions based on specific scenarios, greatly enhancing computational efficiency in specific situations.Edge-side AI does not require internet connectivity, and the architecture is minimalist. The advantage of Haisheng A²MCU edge-side AI over cloud AI is that it doesn’t require internet connectivity, does not consume cloud computing resources, and achieves AI functionality at a lower cost without requiring devices to connect to the network, reducing users’ concerns about privacy leakage. Additionally, the absence of cloud resource limitations means that AI-supported appliances can truly enter thousands of households. The minimalist architecture supported by the embedded AI solution, along with its extreme performance and ease of development and deployment, allows for rapid deployment and application of embedded AI in various appliance scenarios. A²MCU is already collaborating on projects with multiple appliances and has achieved significant results in energy-saving and other features.
Established a Comprehensive Core Algorithm Library for Motor Control: Complete Algorithms and Excellent PerformanceComplete Algorithms means that Haisheng’s entire algorithm library includes a complete basic algorithm library that can cover multiple scenarios such as motors, power supplies, and batteries. In terms of type, it can cover various applications including large appliances, small appliances, primary and secondary power supplies, battery management, and vehicle management, thus meeting customers’ algorithm needs in different scenarios.Excellent Performance means that Haisheng’s algorithms can provide excellent performance when applied to specific scenarios. For example, the single-resistor sampling algorithm can produce better current waveforms and lower harmonics, resulting in better control performance and lower electromagnetic noise; the adaptive torque compensation algorithm adjusts compensation adaptively based on the torque characteristics of single-rotor compressors in air conditioners, achieving lower energy consumption and smoother operation.Minimalist Scheduler Provides a Multi-Task Development FrameworkAs user demands continue to increase, the algorithms for MCUs are becoming increasingly complex, with the volume of algorithm code also increasing. Based on practical development experience, in traditional MCU development models, 50,000 lines of code is generally the limit that a typical developer can maintain. The minimalist scheduler can provide a multi-task development framework that simplifies development while ensuring high timing tasks are not affected; significantly improving the development and maintenance efficiency of engineers regarding the code.
Haisheng, through innovations in embedded AI, industry-specific algorithms, and minimalist schedulers, leads the evolution of MCUs from general-purpose to A²MCU, truly bringing intelligence and green energy-saving into the appliance industry. In washing machine scenarios, intelligent OOB algorithms help washing machines save water and electricity while reducing noise. With the promotion of A²MCU in the industry and the increasing number of scenarios being implemented, it will undoubtedly drive continuous innovation in household appliances towards intelligence and low-carbonization, thus providing consumers with a better experience.The waves of digitalization and connectivity are still surging, while the tide of intelligence and low-carbonization has already arrived. The era calls for innovation, which is the source of new productive forces and also the essence of Haisheng’s genes. Haisheng envisions enabling intelligent terminals that connect all things, continuously innovating in three major scenarios: household appliances, consumer electronics, and automotive electronics, while developing new productive forces through original innovations in audio-visual, Xingshan, RISC-V, and AI in collaboration with partners, leading the high-quality development of the industry.
