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Getting Started With Movidius

Introduction

Intel® Movidius™ Vision Processing Units (VPUs) are the industry’s first always-on vision processors. Movidius VPUs provide high-performance vision processing even in power-constrained environments, making them ideal for embedded applications. Intel’s Movidius Myriad™ VPU line includes the Myriad 2 and Myriad X. OnLogic offers a wide range of computer systems with vpu, based on both the Myriad 2 and Myriad X ASICs.


Initial Set-up

Installing OpenVINO SDK (Linux + Windows 10)

Information about the Open VINO SDK Can be found here.

NCSDK (Optional) Not Supported By OnLogic

Important Note: OpenCV requires a CPU supporting the AVX2 instruction set. Supported CPU Families: Intel Core i Series (Haswell & newer), Intel Xeon (Haswell & newer)

  • Supported Frameworks include: TensorFlow, Caffe, and tinyYOLO.
  • Any Linux distribution with kernel 4.15 or greater. Kernel 4.15 is known to be a good kernel. (NCSDK)
  • Windows 10 or any Linux Distribution with Kernel 4.15 or greater (OpenVINO)
  • The installation of Python 3.4 or greater (NCSDK ONLY). This is done by using the following commands in a Linux terminal:
Sudo apt-get install update
Sudo apt-get install python-dev

How To…


Other Useful Resources


Troubleshooting

FAQs

Why can’t my unit successfully install NCSDK without any errors?

NCSDK includes the TensorFlow framework. This error occurs when trying to install NCSDK onto a device that does not support the AVX2 instruction set.  Supported Intel CPU Families include: Intel Core i Series (Haswell And Newer), Intel Xeon (Haswell and Newer).

How do I know if Movidius is being detected and interacting with the Operating System?

Movidius mPCIe expansion currently communicates with the system via USB signaling. Movidius will appear in the Windows Device Manager or by typing “lsusb” in Ubuntu.

Why doesn’t my virtual machine detect Movidius?

This issue occurs when an incorrect configuration has occurred. Please be sure to enable USB passthrough in the Virtual Machine to ensure that USB devices are properly detected within the virtual environment.

Why is OpenVINO recommended over NCSDK?

Intel is further developing OpenVINO while supporting it on all of their platforms. They will be able to address any issues regarding interactions with Movidius and provide significantly more support than the NCSDK team. OpenVINO also has gone through more rigorous validation to ensure Movidius is compatible with Intel products.

Known Limitations

OnLogic has identified some limitations with the Movidius Accelerators. Please find a list of these limitations below:

  • Customers opting to use Intel Atom® processors will notice that the processor does not support the AVX2 instruction set. Due to this, the systems will not be able to compile or leverage TensorFlow applications used in NCSDK. To avoid this limitation, please use the OpenVINO toolkit as it has been optimized for use with Intel Atom® processors.
  • Customers using the older Movidius Expansion card (SKU: mPER-TAIC-A10-001) will be bandwidth limited, because the main interface link with the expansion card is USB 2.0. USB 2.0 only offers up to 480Mbps transfer speeds. Due to Movidius’ efficiency, OnLogic has not run into any data transfer bottlenecks while using the USB 2.0 interface.
  • Due to OpenVINO being an actively worked on project, there will be updates released. OnLogic will inform customers of an update when any of the following criteria are met:
    • Security Vulnerabilities
    • Significant performance optimizations
  • We have implemented a specific thermal solution to cool the Movidius Accelerator. It is important to note that the thermal seal integrity may be compromised once the unit has been opened. If you do choose to open the system, it’s imperative to be mindful that thermal solution integrity is maintained following reassembly to ensure all rated specifications defined by OnLogic continue to be met.
  • Customers installing Movidius Accelerators will notice a decrease in operating temperature ranges. This is due to the limitations of the Movidius Silicon. Customers exceeding the environmental specifications may encounter thermal irregularities with the device.

Updated on July 31, 2020

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