Sophgo BM1688
Product Overview
The BM1688 is the highly integrated edge TPU processor released by SOPHGO in 2023, positioned as the "edge intelligence heart" for deep learning and machine vision. Compared with the BM1684X, it further strengthens integration and professional imaging capability, integrating an 8-core ARM Cortex-A53, a proprietary NPU, a professional security ISP, and a video codec unit on a single chip.
The BM1688 delivers 16 TOPS INT8 / 32 TOPS INT4 / 4 TFLOPS FP16-BF16 / 0.5 TFLOPS FP32 of compute, supports intelligent analysis of 16 HD video streams, 16-channel hardware decoding, and 10-channel hardware encoding, and integrates a 4Kp60 professional security ISP (with hardware acceleration for binocular depth, image stitching, fisheye expansion, etc.). It can run edge large models such as ChatGLM3-6B, Qwen-7B, and Qwen2.5-VL-3B locally, making it ideal for smart cameras, edge boxes, and micro-servers.
Core Specifications
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Architecture | Sophgo highly integrated edge TPU, integrating 8-core ARM Cortex-A53 @ 1.6GHz + proprietary NPU |
| Process Node | Not disclosed (estimated 12nm-class, same generation as the BM1684X) |
| FP16 / BF16 Compute | 4 TFLOPS |
| INT8 Compute | 16 TOPS (up to 32 TOPS at INT4) |
| FP32 Compute | 0.5 TFLOPS |
| Memory Capacity | 8 / 16GB (LPDDR4/LPDDR4X 64-bit @ 4266 Mbps, also supports DDR4 2×32-bit) |
| Memory Type | LPDDR4 / LPDDR4X |
| Memory Bandwidth | Not disclosed |
| TDP | Not disclosed (paired whole devices typically draw about 7.2 W; lower for the chip alone) |
| Interconnect | Dual Gigabit Ethernet, PCIe, USB, HDMI, MIPI-CSI, CAN FD |
| Interface | SoC on-board (micro-server SE9 / module) |
| Launch | 2023 |
| Mass Production/Availability | Released and mass-produced in 2023 |
Key Features
- Edge large models: supports local inference of ChatGLM3-6B, Qwen-7B, Qwen2.5-VL-3B, and more.
- Professional security ISP: 4Kp60 image processing with hardware acceleration for binocular depth, stitching, and fisheye expansion.
- Multi-stream video: 16-channel HD intelligent analysis, 16-channel decoding, 10-channel encoding.
- Full precision support: INT4 / INT8 / FP16-BF16 / FP32 mixed precision.
- Rich peripherals: PCIe / USB / HDMI / MIPI-CSI / CAN FD, convenient secondary development.
- Full-stack frameworks: mainstream frameworks such as PyTorch and TensorFlow, with the SophonSDK one-stop toolchain.
Vendor Information
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Company | SOPHGO |
| Headquarters | Beijing, China |
| Founded | 2019 |
Use Cases
- ✅ Smart cameras, edge boxes, micro-servers, smart cities, intelligent transportation, private large-model deployment
- ❌ Large-model training, ultra-high-density (>16-channel) concurrent analytics (weaker than the BM1684X)
Related Cards
- /docs/cards/others/sophgo-bm1684x — High-compute version in the same series
- /docs/cards/others/sophgo-bm1684 — Predecessor in the same series
- /docs/cards/others/moore-threads-mtt-s5000 — Domestic GPU compute card comparison
- /docs/cards/others/hailo-15 — Smart camera SoC comparison