NVIDIA Holoscan and IGX Orin For Industrial & Medical Edge AI

PNY organized an event focusing on industrial and medical edge AI, featuring a webinar on NVIDIA Holoscan and NVIDIA IGX platforms. We attended this insightful event and have summarized the key points discussed. You will learn essential information about this ecosystem, including its features, applications, and benefits for various industries.

What is IGX Orin?

IGX Orin is a two-part solution consisting of:

1. Hardware: A robust computing platform with a 10-year lifecycle, designed for far-edge applications.
2. Software: An end-to-end software stack, including an enterprise operating system with long-term support, enabling quick setup and deployment.

What is NVIDIA Holoscan?

NVIDIA HoloScan is part of the IGX platform, offering a multimodal solution for real-time high-bandwidth sensor AI processing at the edge. It is designed to handle various applications, from industrial inspection to medical devices, providing an end-to-end platform for data movement, accelerated computing, data processing, and AI inference.

Applications of NVIDIA IGX and Holoscan

IGX Orin and Holoscan offer vast applications across different industries, enhancing efficiency and productivity in various domains:

Industrial Applications

• Smart Cities: Traffic management and public safety.
• Manufacturing: Predictive maintenance and quality control.
• Logistics: Optimizing supply chain operations.

Medical Applications

• Enhanced Patient Care: Real-time AI at the clinical edge.
• Medical Imaging: Faster and more accurate diagnostics.
• Surgical Robotics: Improved precision and safety during surgeries.

Key Features of IGX Orin and Holoscan

Enterprise-Level Support

IGX Orin provides enterprise-level support, including:

• An enterprise operating system.
• A complete AI and deep learning framework.
• High-performance compute capable of running generative AI models and LLMs at the edge.

Security and Safety

IGX Orin ensures data security and integrity through:

• End-to-end encryption.
• Advanced security features to protect data at rest and in transit.
• Programmable safety extensions for customized safety features.

Performance and Scalability

IGX Orin supports scaling compute by adding discrete GPUs and offers:

• High bandwidth and low latency through NVIDIA’s ConnectX technology.
• Real-time processing capabilities for dynamic environments, such as factory floors and autonomous vehicles.

Real-World Benefits and Use Cases

Medical Devices and Imaging

NVIDIA Holoscan enables the development of AI-enabled medical devices, ensuring real-time AI processing at the clinical edge. It positions developers to quickly bring next-generation medical devices to market.

Industrial and Robotics

The IGX platform supports applications in manufacturing, scientific computing, and smart agriculture, enhancing the performance and safety of industrial robots and other automated systems.

Developer Support and Integration

NVIDIA and PNY provide extensive support to developers and enterprises through:

• Developer kits.
• Software tools.
• A global network of partners.

This support ecosystem ensures the successful integration and operation of IGX Orin solutions in various applications.

Compatibility with AI Frameworks and Tools

IGX Orin supports a wide range of AI frameworks and tools, including TensorFlow, PyTorch, NVIDIA Triton Inference Server, and NVIDIA DeepStream SDK, allowing developers to leverage their existing tools and expertise.

Frequently Asked Questions About NVIDIA Holoscan and IGX Orin Platform

What are the connectivity options available on the NVIDIA IGX Orin platform?

When integrating IGX Orin into existing systems, it’s important to consider hardware compatibility, network infrastructure capabilities, and industry regulations and standards, especially in medical applications. Key connectivity options include:

• HDMI
• PCIe
• Ethernet
• Wi-Fi

Additionally, IGX Orin supports GPU direct RDMA and ConnectX technology, providing up to 200 gigabits per second networking speed for high bandwidth, real-time applications.

How does the NVIDIA IGX Orin platform handle software updates and maintenance?

NVIDIA offers top-of-the-tree releases every six months, along with NVIDIA AI Enterprise on IGX, which provides:

• Monthly CVE patches for cybersecurity vulnerabilities and critical bug fixes.
• Quarterly updates for long-term support branches, ensuring a stable software stack for your applications.

This ensures a stable software environment, enabling developers to build and maintain applications without frequent disruptions.

How does IGX Orin handle power efficiency in edge applications?

IGX Orin is designed with power efficiency at its core, leveraging NVIDIA’s Ada Lovelace architecture. This delivers exceptional performance per watt, making it ideal for edge applications where power resources are limited. By optimizing power usage without compromising performance, IGX Orin ensures efficient execution of demanding AI tasks, crucial for remote or mobile environments.

How does IGX Orin differ from the Jetson Orin family, and what’s new about IGX and Holoscan?

The Jetson family is known for enabling many edge and embedded applications with maximum design flexibility. The IGX family, however, focuses on production readiness and accelerated development, offering:

• Reference design for faster time to market.
• Production readiness with components and enterprise-level support.

New features include the IGX 500, which combines design flexibility with production readiness, Holoscan sensor bridge for direct GPU data transfer, and NVIDIA AI Enterprise support for a stable software stack.

What AI frameworks and tools are compatible with NVIDIA IGX Orin?

IGX Orin supports a wide spectrum of AI frameworks and tools, including:

• TensorFlow
• PyTorch
• NVIDIA Triton Inference Server
• NVIDIA DeepStream SDK

Additionally, Holoscan allows for the “bring your own model” approach, enabling developers to integrate models built with their preferred machine learning frameworks.

How does IGX Orin support real-time AI processing in dynamic environments?

IGX Orin excels in real-time AI processing through its robust hardware and software capabilities, including:

• Powerful GPUs based on the Ada Lovelace architecture.
• Low latency data processing for quick reaction to changing conditions.
• Support for advanced scheduling algorithms.

This makes it ideal for dynamic environments such as autonomous vehicles, industrial automation, and factory floors.

Why does NVIDIA AI Enterprise matter to developers?

NVIDIA AI Enterprise provides a stable software stack essential for mission and safety-critical applications. It offers:

• API stability and consistent software build material.
• Protection against cybersecurity threats.
• Long-term support for industries with extended product lifecycles.

This allows developers to leverage cutting-edge AI technologies without exposing themselves to the vulnerabilities of open-source and third-party dependencies.

What are the application frameworks designed to help IGX accelerate AI adoption in different vertical markets?

NVIDIA IGX supports several application frameworks to accelerate AI adoption, including:

• NVIDIA Holoscan: For domain-agnostic, real-time sensor processing.
• NVIDIA ISAAC: For robotics applications.
• NVIDIA Metropolis: For smart cities and industrial automation.

These frameworks enable developers to move from fixed-function devices to software-defined devices that can iterate and improve at the speed of software.

Conclusion

NVIDIA Holoscan and IGX Orin represent a comprehensive solution for industrial and medical edge AI, offering robust hardware, extensive software support, and a wide range of applications. Whether it’s enhancing patient care in hospitals or optimizing operations in smart cities, these platforms provide the tools and capabilities needed to harness the power of AI at the edge.