NVIDIA recently released JetPack 4.4, so our team of Jetson Experts dug into this newest release to help you navigate upgrading your project.

This release builds on the 4.4 Developer Preview, supporting the latest member of the Jetson platform – the Xavier NX. In addition, JetPack 4.4 updates NVIDIA’s most popular libraries including production versions of CUDA, TensorRt, and cuDNN.  In general, the latest release results in better overall CNN/DNN inferencing performance across the entire Jetson platform. The updates to the CUDA 10.2, cuDNN 8 and TensorRT 7 resulted in an overall improvement in FPS as compared to JetPack 4.3, especially for larger models.

Highlights

  • Vulkan 1.2 support
  • Support for upgrading L4T version using Debian package management tool
  • Support for Generic Timestamping Engine (GTE) for Jetson AGX Xavier and Jetson Xavier NX
    • Kernel driver for GTE
    • Sample GPIO driver using GTE for timestamping input state transitions
  • Support for Dynamic Frequency Scaling (DFS) for VIC using actmon
  • Samples to demonstrate hardware backed authentication and encryption capabilities of Jetson TX2, Jetson AGX Xavier, and Jetson Xavier NX
  • Utility to burn fuse with multiple Jetson devices simultaneously
  • For Jetson Nano and Jetson Xavier NX Developer Kits:
    • Option to select APP partition size on the microSD card during initial configuration at first boot
  • 1 Debian package-based L4T upgrade is supported only starting with L4T version 32.3.1

Updated Libraries, APIs, and Development Tools

CUDA 10.2
Tensor RT 7.1.3
cuDNN 8.0.0 (Developer Preview)
VPI 0.3.0 (Developer Preview)
NVIDIA Nsight Systems 2020.2
NVIDIA Nsight Graphics 2020.1
NVIDIA Nsight Compute 2019.3

Click here to view the full JetPack 4.4 Release Notes.

Reminder: all hardware needs to have the appropriate software updates in order to be compatible with the JetPack 4.4 release.

To take advantage of the latest features introduced in JetPack 4.4, you will need to use the latest BSP for your Connect Tech solution. The software will be specific to the NVIDIA module utilized, please follow the appropriate link to download the BSP that will allow you to upgrade your projects to JetPack 4.4:

AGX Xavier Xavier NX TX2 TX2i TX2 4GB TX1 Nano
JetPack 4.4 BSP JetPack 4.4 BSP JetPack 4.4 BSP JetPack 4.4 BSP Coming Soon Coming Soon JetPack 4.4 BSP

How to Install a L4T Board Support Package

The Connect Tech L4T Board Support Package adds support for all standard devices and carriers using Linux4Tegra. The provided software package includes any extra files required to use the hardware’s features and I/O set with the selected NVIDIA SDK.

Click here for Step-by-Step instructions to navigate the NVIDIA SDK Manager and upgrade the hardware’s BSP.

Software for Non-Standard Hardware

Any Connect Tech hardware that has been modified or custom designed will need a software package developed specifically for their project. CTI offers engineering services to quickly develop a BSP specifically for your project. Contact us to learn more.