NXP Enables 3D Face Recognition for Secure Access Control with MCU-based EdgeReady Solutions

Turnkey solution leverages NXP’s high performance crossover MCU with 3D camera to enable faster secure face recognition under challenging lighting conditions

What’s New

NXP^® Semiconductors has announced the expansion of its NXP EdgeReady solution portfolio, adding a solution for secure face recognition that leverages a high-performance 3D structured light module (SLM) camera combined with the i.MX RT117F crossover MCU. This is the first solution to combine a 3D SLM camera with an MCU to deliver the performance and security of 3D face recognition at the edge, thereby removing the need to use an expensive and power-hungry Linux implementation on an MPU, as is traditionally required with high-performance 3D cameras.

Why It Matters

The newest EdgeReady solution enables developers of smart locks and other access control systems to add machine learning-based secure face recognition quickly and easily to smart home and smart building products. The solution delivers reliable 3D face recognition in indoor and outdoor applications, across varied lighting conditions, including bright sunlight, dim night light, or other difficult lighting conditions that are challenging for traditional face recognition systems.

The use of a 3D SLM camera enables advanced liveness detection, helping distinguish a real person from spoofing techniques, such as a photograph, imitator mask or a 3D model, to prevent unauthorized access.

The i.MX RT117F utilizes an advanced machine learning model as part of NXP’s eIQ machine learning software running on its high-performance CPU core that enables faster and accurate face recognition to improve both the user experience and power efficiency.

Similar to the i.MX RT106F MCU-based NXP EdgeReady solution for secure face recognition, advanced liveness detection and face recognition are all done locally at the edge, making it possible for personal biometric data to remain on the device. This helps address consumer privacy concerns, while also eliminating the latency associated with cloud-based solutions.

Pricing and Availability

The development kit for this 3D face recognition solution, SLN-VIZN3D-IOT, will be available later in November from NXP and authorized distributors, priced at MSRP of $299 (USD) each. Part of the i.MX RT1170 family of crossover MCUs, the i.MX RT117F MCU is based on an Arm ^® Cortex-M7 CPU with 2 MB of on-chip SRAM, running at up to 1 GHz. The i.MX RT117F includes a license to use the NXP 3D face recognition software development kit (SDK), and is available in consumer, industrial and automotive temperature grades, with a suggested resale price starting at $7.02 (USD) for 10,000-unit quantities.

More information can be found at http://www.nxp.com/mcu-vision3D.

About NXP EdgeReady Solutions

NXP EdgeReady solutions bring the power of edge compute intelligence to your applications. Each ready-for-the-edge platform includes hardware optimized for cost and form-factor, and comes with fully integrated, self-contained software, fully tested and certified by NXP. Find out more at EdgeReady.

About the i.MX RT Series of Crossover MCUs

The i.MX RT series of crossover MCUs, which are designed to bridge the gap between high-performance and integration while minimizing costs to meet today's need for high performance embedded processing at the edge. The series delivers advanced microcontrollers (MCUs) with the functionality of applications processors, at low costs, enabling advanced computation and machine learning capabilities in millions of connected edge devices.

About NXP Semiconductors

NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI) enables secure connections for a smarter world, advancing solutions that make lives easier, better, and safer. As the world leader in secure connectivity solutions for embedded applications, NXP is driving innovation in the automotive, industrial & IoT, mobile, and communication infrastructure markets. Built on more than 60 years of combined experience and expertise, the company has approximately 29,000 employees in more than 30 countries and posted revenue of $8.61 billion in 2020. Find out more at NXP Semiconductors.

NXP, the NXP logo and EdgeReady are trademarks of NXP B.V. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners. All rights reserved. © 2021 NXP B.V.