Advancing Embedded Systems: MIPI at embedded world 2026

At the 2026 embedded world Exhibition & Conference in Nuremberg, a series of conference presentations and show-floor demonstrations highlighted how MIPI interfaces are transforming embedded systems.

The conference included five presentations exploring how MIPI interfaces are improving system performance, enabling AI-driven applications and simplifying system design. Meanwhile, several show-floor demos highlighted the transition away from legacy interfaces to future-proof MIPI alternatives.

Read on—and watch the accompanying videos—for key MIPI-related takeaways from the event. 

MIPI I3C Adoption Accelerating 

Each year a growing number of MIPI I3C® enabled devices can be found at the event, demonstrating accelerating adoption as I3C enables new use cases and is being increasingly selected over legacy I2C, SPI and UART interfaces.

MIPI's Michele Scarlatella presented an overview of the I3C interface, including its features, improvements in the recently releases v1.2 specification and ecosystem developments. He highlighted several application areas, such as DDR5 memory management, where legacy interfaces are being replaced by I3C. His presentation concluded with planned features for the next I3C specification release. 

On the show floor, STMicroelectronics demonstrated several new I3C-enabled products, including a new low-power color camera module, a high-resolution time-of-flight sensor and an ultra-low-cost I3C-enabled microcontroller. Binho and Acute Technology also demonstrated their latest I3C test tools, protocol analyzers and exercisers, helping developers fast-track their I3C projects. Play the video to see more. 

MIPI SoundWire I3S (SWI3S) Ushers in a New Era of Audio Capabilities 

A highlight at the show was the new MIPI SoundWire I3S (SWI3S®) audio interconnect, which was the subject of two conference presentations and two show-floor demonstrations. 

The first presentation by Smart DV Technologies explained how SWI3S provided next-generation audio, control and power management capabilities in a single two-wire interconnect. It simplifies system architectures by allowing multiple audio peripherals to operate within one logical system, with highly precise synchronization and optimized network topologies. 

A second presentation by Infineon demonstrated how SWI3S can enable cutting-edge, low-power ambient AI applications by supporting scalable sensor networks and real-time data processing. This highlighted how audio interfaces are becoming critical enablers of intelligent systems. 

On the show floor Infineon presented its first SWI3S-enabled microphones and an associated evaluation board demonstrating four microphones connected over a single two-wire interface, and Smart DV Technologies presented a live demonstration of its MIPI SWI3S IP running on an FPGA. Play the video to see more. 

MIPI A-PHY Advances into Medical and Industrial Applications 

Two conference presentations from Valens Semiconductor highlighted how adoption of the high-speed, long-reach MIPI A-PHY® serial interface is expanding beyond automotive applications into medical and industrial markets. 

The first presentation explained how A-PHY can enhance medical system architectures incorporating high-resolution cameras—such as next-generation digital endoscopes—by enabling ultra-reliable, low-latency data transmission for precise and safe operation, The second presentation focused on industrial smart camera systems, where A-PHY supports reliable, high-speed data transmission over long distances. This enables scalable multi-camera architectures in industrial environments with high levels of electromagnetic interference. 

Several A-PHY-related demonstrations were also featured on the show floor. At the Efinix booth imavix engineering demonstrated how multiple A-PHY-enabled cameras can be integrated into the GigE Vision / GenICam architectures for industrial machine vision systems. At the Solextric booth two demonstrations showed successful integration of long-reach A-PHY camera systems with industrial frame grabbers and fault detection products. Play the video to see more. 

Watch the Full Recap of MIPI at embedded world

As in previous years, the show floor featured numerous MIPI CSI-2®-enabled cameras, MIPI DSI-2™/DSI®-enabled displays and MIPI M-PHY® / MIPI UniPro®-enabled Universal Flash Storage (UFS) products, along with a range of supporting SoCs, microprocessors and microcontrollers. 

The MIPI-related presentations and demonstrations at embedded world 2026 highlighted how MIPI's portfolio of advanced interfaces is central to the future of embedded systems, supporting greater connectivity, efficiency and intelligence across a wide range of industries. Play the video to see more.