Axera AX8850 edge platform arrives in a pyramid-style design

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M5Stack introduced today an embedded platform with an unusual pyramid-shaped edge computing system built around the Axera AX8850 system-on-chip. Two models are offered for local AI inference workloads as well as applications that require multimedia processing and dual Ethernet connectivity.

Both systems are based on the Axera AX8850 SoC, which integrates an octa-core Arm Cortex-A55 CPU running at up to 1.7 GHz alongside a 24 TOPS INT8 NPU.

The processor is paired with a dedicated hardware video engine supporting 8K H.264 and H.265 encoding and decoding, as well as up to 16 parallel 1080p video streams. This configuration supports local AI inference, vision analytics, and multimedia processing without relying on cloud-based resources.

AI Pyramid Computing Box Bottom View(click image to enlarge) 

The two models primarily differ in memory configuration and multimedia I/O. The standard AI Pyramid includes 4 GB of LPDDR4x memory, divided evenly between the operating system and hardware acceleration resources. The AI Pyramid-Pro doubles this to 8 GB, again reserving half of the memory for NPU and video workloads.

Both versions include 32 GB of onboard eMMC storage, a microSD card slot for expansion, dual Gigabit Ethernet ports, and multiple USB interfaces, including USB 3.0 Type-A and USB Type-C with Power Delivery support.

AI Pyramid Computing Box Top View(click image to enlarge) 

Audio and system management are handled by dedicated codecs and an onboard STM32 microcontroller, supporting a microphone array, speaker amplifier, RGB LEDs, user buttons, and a small OLED display for basic system status information such as IP address and resource usage. Cooling is provided by an actively managed fan with intelligent thermal control.

AI Pyramid Computing Box(click image to enlarge) 

According to the product documentation, both systems support secure boot and hardware-accelerated encryption, and include native AXCL tooling for deploying common neural network models and media pipelines.

Memory partitioning is fixed to ensure predictable performance for AI inference and multimedia workloads. Power is supplied via USB Power Delivery with a minimum requirement of 9 V at 3 A, and 5 V adapters are not supported.

AI Pyramid Computing Box Pro(click image to enlarge) 

Specifications listed for the AI Pyramid-Pro include:

• Memory:
  
  • 8 GB 64-bit LPDDR4x (4266 Mbps, 4 GB + 4 GB partitioned for system and acceleration)
• Storage:
  
  • 32 GB eMMC 5.1
  • MicroSD card slot
• Display:
  
  • HDMI 2.0 output up to 4K at 60 fps
  • HDMI 2.0 input (Pro variant)
• Connectivity:
  
  • 2× Gigabit Ethernet ports (10/100/1000 Mbps)
• USB:
  
  • 4× USB-A 3.0 (3× external, 1× internal)
  • 2× USB Type-C
    
    • 1× USB Host
    • 1× USB-C with USB PD 3.0 (up to 100 W)
• I/O Interfaces:
  
  • 2× HY2.0-4P expansion headers
  • UART debug interface
• Mechanical:
  
  • Pyramid-style enclosure
  • ~114.5 × 105.0 × 62.0 mm
  • ~195 g

Further Information

The AI Pyramid Computing Box 4 GB version (AX8850) is priced at $199, while the AI Pyramid-Pro variant is listed at $249 on the M5Stack website.