NavInfo has signed an agreement with Pure Storage to deploy its unified fast file storage platform, FlashBlade, across its autonomous driving simulations.
In conjunction with the deployment of the integrated AIRI: AI Ready Infrastructure platform, based on NVIDIA DGX-1, the rollout of Pure Storage Flashblade will enable NavInfo to better harness the power of AI in its autonomous driving experiences.
“Using FlashBlade and AIRI, we are able to provide clients in the automotive industry and in other domains (such as smart cities and asset management) with advanced and customised solutions”, says Frank Geujen, Programme Management Office Director, Advanced Research Lab, NavInfo (Europe) BV.
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“The NVIDIA DGX processors in AIRI support highly complex calculations, but that capability must be supported by a storage system that can read and write large volumes of data very quickly. Pure Storage’s data centric design takes away many of the headaches we faced in terms of infrastructure and potential bottlenecks.”
In order to run its complex autonomous driving simulations, NavInfo needed to run complex AI models to produce accurate, up-to-date navigation maps. These maps are then used by car manufacturers across the world to expedite their own autonomous driving research and development programmes. It is therefore essential for NavInfo to be able to process very large data sets in real-time, 24/7.
NavInfo uses AI and deep learning to ensure that the entire environment around the vehicle is accurately recognised, interpreted and included in the navigation mapping, meaning that it requires huge storage capacity to cope with the enormous amounts of data collected. By using these huge data sets to train AI models, accuracy is significantly increased.
“When designing and implementing an effective AI infrastructure, organisations often face challenges in integrating the various components,” says Theo van Teylingen, Managing Director Netherlands at Pure Storage.
“It was clear that NavInfo needed fast time to insight: real-time analysis is essential to providing customers with highly accurate map information and navigation systems. In quickly and efficiently bringing together and analysing large disparate data sets, AIRI enables accelerated performance and provides peace of mind. In addition, it helps NavInfo keep costs under control, which has resulted in a high ROI.”
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