Axon driver DSP intrinsics

This guide explains how to run Axon NPU DSP intrinsic functions on an Axon-enabled target using the Axon driver API directly, without compiling a TensorFlow Lite model.

To follow this guide, you should be familiar with embedded systems development and C-based APIs. After completing this guide, you will have built and run the Test: DSP intrinsics application and understand how to integrate DSP intrinsics into your own application.

Hardware requirements

Axon NPU library is included as part of the Axon NPU: Hardware Accelerated Machine Learning and provided as compiled binaries for Cortex-M33F architectures. Axon NPU is currently available on the nRF54LM20B device.

Software requirements

Complete Setting up the SDK to install nRF Connect SDK and the development toolchain. No Python compiler environment is required for DSP intrinsics development.

Application development

Use the Axon driver API to initialize the NPU and call DSP intrinsic functions directly on the hardware or in the simulator.

Get compatible hardware

The Axon driver requires direct access to NPU hardware. Obtain a development board with Axon NPU.

Set up the Axon driver

Install the Axon runtime library and driver components on your development system. Complete Setting up the SDK to install nRF Connect SDK and the development toolchain.

Verify your setup

Before developing your own application, verify that DSP intrinsic functions work correctly on your target. Build and run Test: DSP intrinsics and confirm that all test cases pass.

  1. Ensure that the CONFIG_NRF_AXON Kconfig option is enabled in the test prj.conf file.

  2. Run west build from tests/axon/intrinsics.

  3. Flash the application to the device and monitor the UART output for test results.

Develop your application

Once the test passes, integrate DSP intrinsic functions into your application. Follow the Axon DSP intrinsics integration guide for driver initialization and calling intrinsic functions in your code.

Note

See Axon DSP intrinsics for the available intrinsic functions. If you also plan to combine intrinsics with compiled model inference, start from Hello Axon to understand the shared driver initialization flow.

Deploy and optimize

Build your application and flash it to your Nordic device.

To build an application, follow the instructions in Building an application for your preferred building environment. See also Programming an application for programming steps and Testing and optimization for general information about testing and debugging in the nRF Connect SDK.

Next steps

See further documentation: