VeriSilicon has launched a new GPU family, the Vitality series. Available to license now, it includes tensor cores (matrix-math engines) for AI processing and L3 caches up to 64 MB. Separating it from other licensable designs (IP), it supports DirectX 12. Arriving with Windows 10, it’s Microsoft’s graphics and multimedia API. Although customers can integrate the GPU into chips addressing any application, a key target is cloud gaming.
In cloud gaming, a remote server executes game software and streams the output to client devices, which can be simple and low cost because the server handles most computation. Although Microsoft (Xbox), Sony (PlayStation), and Valve (Steam) all offer cloud gaming, the target here are Asian companies seeking to host Windows-based titles. They require GPUs capable of hosting multiple players, and each Vitality GPU supports 128 channels per core. To scale out, a customer’s chip can integrate multiple cores.
In this segment, VeriSilicon’s primary competitor is Imagination Technologies, which offers a DirectX 11 GPU—putting it behind VeriSilicon in the vintage of games it supports. Both companies also target other markets, including China-market business PCs, automobile cockpits, and various embedded systems. For VeriSilicon, GPU IP is part of a broader portfolio that complements its design services. Because few companies license GPUs and Arm focuses especially on the lucrative high-performance smartphone market, SoC developers will find VeriSilicon offers a valuable technology with unique capabilities.