New Qualcomm chip creates 'conscious cameras'
Targeting the growing field of internet security cameras, Qualcomm has created a chip that recognises what it is looking at. A typical smart camera only records when it sees something. The camera then has to connect with the cloud to recognise the object, sometimes continuing to record and consuming bandwidth, power and storage. However, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 618 IP camera platform can carry out on-camera analytics, performing face detection, object recognition and object tracking on the camera. Qualcomm also included better power management for its battery-powered cameras and the chip includes an integrated LTE modem for cameras that need to connect away from a Wi-Fi network.

Sure we like to call various gadgets "smart" these days but the actual devices are often pretty dumb. That is, when they do some wondrous high-tech trick -- like real-time verbal translation -- most of the actual computing is done in the cloud.

Qualcomm wants to reverse that trend, at least a little, in order to make a better, more efficient connected camera. Taking direct aim at the growing field of Internet security cameras, the company created a new kind of chip specifically for connected cameras, one that will actually be able to recognize what it's looking at -- without running to the Internet.

[seealso slug="nest-cam-review"]

A typical smart camera, especially the consumer variety, doesn't record all the time. It only turns on when it sees something, usually motion, but what can happen is mundane stuff like the cat, mailman or robot vacuum activating it. The camera then has to connect with the cloud to recognize the object, and sometimes when it does that, it still records, consuming bandwidth, power and storage.

"The cameras are typically not very high-performance, both in terms of resolution and capability," says Raj Talluri, Qualcomm's senior vice president of product management. "They have a hard time recognizing the difference between a car driving down the street or someone coming up to the door."

On the other hand, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 618 IP camera platform can do on-camera analytics, so things like face detection, object recognition and object tracking are all done on the camera. That means the next time a cat jumps in front of your security camera, the cam will recognize it as the non-event it is, and never fully power up or tax your Internet connection.

"First of all, we can improve the image quality quite a bit [over current cameras]," says Talluri. "But we can also put a lot more intelligence to it, so there are fewer false positives that go over the network."

Those are nice conveniences for any camera, but essential features for a connected camera that's battery-powered, and Qualcomm included better power management for those cameras, too. The chip also includes an integrated LTE modem for cameras that need to connect away from a Wi-Fi network.

Qualcomm is also announcing two new LTE modem chips made specifically for Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The two modems (one for continual connections, one for low data rates) each prize power efficiency above all. That could potentially lead to a new class of always-on, always-connected devices (think medical wearables that don't need to pair with a phone) with tremendously long battery lives.

Talluri says its cameras and devices using its new platforms could start to appear in the first half of next year.