AI Chip Center for Emerging Smart Systems (ACCESS) recently participated in the RISC-V Summit China 2025, hosted by the Shanghai Open-Source Processor Innovation Center (SOPIC) from July 16 to 19, 2025, at the Zhangjiang Science Hall in Shanghai. The summit brought together over 3,000 participants from leading enterprises, research institutions, and open-source technology communities worldwide.
During the event, ACCESS showcased several pioneering research achievements, demonstrating its research and technology transfer capabilities in edge AI inference chip area:
- Digital Compute-In-Memory (DCIM) Enabled Portable Genome Analysis Prototype:
ACCESS has pioneered a transformative approach to AI chip design with its DCIM technology, which physically integrates memory and computing units to dramatically enhance energy efficiency and processing speed. The center developed AutoDCIM, the industry's first dedicated EDA tool for DCIM circuit design, streamlining development and accelerating commercialization. This innovation powers a portable genomic analyzer that delivers laboratory-grade DNA testing in resource-limited settings, winning the prestigious "Gold Medal with Jury’s Congratulations" at the 50th International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva. - Ultra-high Energy Efficiency AI Accelerator for Portable Healthcare Devices:
Addressing critical healthcare disparities, ACCESS has created a breakthrough portable AI retinal screening system for early detection of diabetes- and hypertension-related eye diseases. The device incorporates a custom-designed low-power AI chip featuring algorithm-architecture co-optimization, enabling accurate, network-independent diagnostics with professional-grade reliability. This solution specifically targets accessibility challenges in rural and underserved communities, providing rapid screening with complete data privacy protection and eliminating the need for specialized medical infrastructure. - AC-Copilot: Application-Algorithm-Hardware Co-design Workflow and Toolchain
ACCESS's AC-Copilot represents a novel methodology and workflow in AI accelerator development, offering an end-to-end co-design toolchain that bridges algorithms and hardware. The platform's three core modules—neural architecture search, hardware-aware model compression, and automated accelerator optimization—collectively enable performance-power-area (PPA) tradeoffs unmatched by conventional methods. By automatically generating optimized compilers and software stacks, AC-Copilot reduces development cycles by over 40%, establishing a new standard for rapid, cost-effective AI chip design across diverse applications.
These innovations highlight ACCESS’s breakthroughs in AI chip architecture and design methodologies. The center remains committed to advancing integrated development of AI and semiconductor technology through deep collaboration among industry, academia, and research institutions.
About RISC-V Summit China 2025
Held from July 16–19, 2025, in Shanghai, the summit convened global leaders under the theme "Open Architecture, Intelligent Future", showcasing RISC-V advancements in AI acceleration, high-performance computing, and semiconductor ecosystem development.
