// Decision Engine 10

Calculate stream capacity for your edge AI hardware

Plan multi-stream inference capacity for edge AI deployments. Select hardware, model architecture, and resolution to estimate per-stream FPS, maximum camera streams, and total system throughput — including pipeline overhead from capture, pre-processing, and NMS decode. Supports NVIDIA Jetson (5 modules), Google Coral TPU, and Hailo-8 / 8L.

// Hardware context

01
Use Case (optional)
// Pre-fills typical stream count and target FPS
Security / Surveillance
Robotics
Traffic / ITS
Retail / Analytics
Custom
02
AI Hardware Platform
// Select your primary hardware vendor
Loading hardware catalog…
03
Module / Accelerator
// Specific hardware module within the platform
// Select a platform first
04
Runtime / Framework
// Inference engine — availability depends on hardware

// Model configuration

05
Model Family
// Primary inference model architecture
06
Model Variant
// Specific model size within the family
// Select a model family first
07
Precision
// Quantization level — directly affects throughput

// Stream requirements

08
Target FPS per Stream
// Minimum acceptable frame rate per camera
30 fps
15 fps
10 fps
5 fps
09
Desired Stream Count
// How many camera streams you want to run simultaneously
1
2
4
8
16
32
10
Input Resolution
// Frame resolution — FPS scales inversely with pixel count
224×224
320×320
416×416
640×640
1280×720
1920×1080
11
Pipeline Overhead
// Pre/post-processing time per frame (decode, resize, NMS)
Include (4ms pre+post)
Inference only
// Select hardware, runtime, and model to continue
Stream Capacity
Max streams @ 30fps
Max streams @ 15fps
Max streams @ 10fps
Baseline FPS (1 stream)
Effective FPS (with overhead)
Feasibility Assessment
Desired streams
Required total FPS
Available FPS
Accelerator utilisation
Planning Notes
Configure inputs to see planning recommendations.
Assumptions
Configure the system to see detailed assumptions.
// RELATED TOOLS
→ Tool 08: Inference Throughput Estimator → Tool 09: Memory Estimator
JSON EXPORT
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Edge AI Stream Capacity — Planning Guide

How this stream capacity calculator works

The calculator estimates multi-stream inference capacity by dividing the hardware's effective FPS — after pipeline overhead — by the target FPS per stream. Pipeline overhead accounts for image capture, resize/normalize preprocessing, and NMS postprocessing per frame (typically 3–8ms in real deployments). Select your hardware, model, resolution, and target FPS to see how many camera streams your deployment can sustain simultaneously.

What affects multi-stream inference capacity

Edge AI stream capacity is determined by several compounding factors: model complexity (parameter count and layer depth), input resolution (FPS scales roughly inversely with pixel count), inference runtime (TensorRT INT8 vs FP16 vs ONNX), GPU or accelerator utilization, and pipeline preprocessing cost. On Jetson Orin modules, unified memory shared between CPU and GPU further constrains how many concurrent AI video analytics streams can run before memory becomes the bottleneck rather than compute.

Related tools

Inference Throughput Estimator — estimate single-stream FPS and latency by model and hardware.
Memory Estimator — calculate VRAM and RAM requirements before sizing stream count.
Module Power Calculator — size PSU and thermal budget for multi-stream deployments.
Full Deployment Planner — combine stream capacity, memory, and power into an end-to-end edge AI BOM.

FAQ
What does "feasible" mean?

Feasible means the hardware's effective FPS (after pipeline overhead) is ≥ (desired streams × target fps). A 4-stream @ 30fps requirement needs 120 fps minimum from the inference engine.

What is pipeline overhead?

In a real deployment, each frame requires pre-processing (resize, normalize), inference, and post-processing (NMS decode). The 4ms overhead per frame covers this — real deployments often see 3–8ms. Disable in Advanced for pure inference comparison.

Why does resolution matter so much?

FPS scales roughly inversely with pixel count. Running at 1920×1080 vs 640×640 means ~9× more pixels per frame — FPS drops by ~7–9× for pixel-bound operations. TensorRT with INT8 is less sensitive, but the effect is still significant.

How accurate are stream counts?

Benchmark-backed estimates are ±15%. Interpolated estimates are ~65% accurate. Theoretical estimates are planning-only (±30–50%). Resolution scaling adds ±25% additional uncertainty. Always test on device with representative workloads.