# QIMP SDK overview
The Qualcomm^®^ Intelligent Multimedia Product (QIMP) SDK is a collection of four standalone function SDKs, namely, Qualcomm^®^ Intelligent
Multimedia SDK (IM SDK), Qualcomm^®^ Neural Processing SDK, Qualcomm^®^ AI Engine direct SDK, and TensorFlow Lite (currently known as Lite Runtime or LiteRT).
It also includes reference applications that you can use to develop use cases.
This guide explains how to:
- Explore the inbuilt sample applications and command-line use cases.
- Create applications using the QIMP SDK workflow.
- Compile the Extensible SDK (eSDK) from source and upgrade function
SDKs.
Get started
 [QIMP SDK workflow](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-70018-51/topic/install-sdk.html#install-sdk)
 [Download and install eSDK](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-70018-51/topic/install-sdk.html#section-b5c-z3k-5bc)
Develop applications
 [Develop your first application](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-70018-51/topic/content-develop-your-first-application.html#content-develop-your-first-application)
 [Customize existing sample applications](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-70018-51/topic/customize-sample-applications.html#customize-sample-applications)
 [Troubleshoot common issues](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-70018-51/topic/troubleshooting.html#troubleshooting)
Customize eSDK
 [Build platform image with QIMP layer](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-70018-51/topic/building-platform-image-with-qim-layer.html#building-platform-image-with-qim-layer)
 [Build a custom eSDK](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-70018-51/topic/build-the-platfrom-esdk.html#build-the-platfrom-esdk)
 [Upgrade QIMP SDK](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-70018-51/topic/incremental-qim-product-sdk-flash.html#incremental-qim-product-sdk-flash)
>
>
>  [Upgrade other SDKs](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-70018-51/topic/upgrade-individual-sdks.html#upgrade-individual-sdks)
Important
- Ensure that the host machine uses Ubuntu 22.04.
- The commands in this guide are compatible with Qualcomm^®^ Linux^®^ 1.4. [Verify your Qualcomm Linux release version](https://docs.qualcomm.com/bundle/publicresource/topics/80-70018-253/set_up_the_device.html#verify-the-qualcomm-linux-version), and if it isn't 1.4, [update the software](https://docs.qualcomm.com/bundle/publicresource/topics/80-70018-253/upgrade-rb3gen2-software.html).
- The sample applications and AI procedures in this guide are compatible with Qualcomm AI^®^ Runtime SDK v2.32 and LiteRT (or TFLite) v2.16.1. Ensure that you download the matching SDKs to your host machine before starting AI/ML development..
- See [hardware SoCs](https://docs.qualcomm.com/bundle/publicresource/topics/80-70018-115/soc.html) that are supported on Qualcomm Linux.
## Architecture
The figure shows the various software components of the QIMP SDK.

**Figure : QIMP SDK software stack**
## QIMP SDK components
The QIMP SDK integrates specialized components called function SDKs, listed as follows:
Function SDKs in QIMP SDK
| Function SDK | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Qualcomm IM SDK | Provides Qualcomm hardware-accelerated Gstreamer-based
plugins for optimized application development. |
| Qualcomm Neural Processing SDK |
It is also known as Snapdragon Neural Processing Engine
(SNPE)
It is a software-accelerated runtime for executing deep
neural networks.
SNPE offers tools to convert and quantize neural
networks, and accelerate them on hardware accelerators
including CPU, GPU, and Qualcomm® Hexagon™ Tensor
Processor.
|
| Qualcomm AI Engine direct SDK |
It provides a unified Qualcomm Neural Network (QNN) API
and tools to accelerate the AI/ML models, use cases on
Qualcomm chipsets and AI acceleration cores.
It provides a unified API and modular and extensible
per-accelerator libraries, which form a reusable basis
for full-stack AI solutions.
It supports runtimes such as Qualcomm Neural Processing
SDK and LiteRT AI Engine direct delegate.
|
| LiteRT | LiteRT is an open-source deep learning framework
designed for on-device inference. QIMP includes delegates
and tools from the compatible LiteRT package. |
## Sample applications
The QIMP SDK sample applications show how to use the SDKs and develop
end-to-end edge analytics use cases. For more information, see [Sample
applications](https://docs.qualcomm.com/bundle/publicresource/topics/80-70018-50/example-applications.html).
## Qualcomm Linux distribution
Qualcomm Linux is a Linux distribution that supports the QIMP SDK. For more information on Qualcomm Linux,
see [Software Overview](https://docs.qualcomm.com/bundle/publicresource/topics/80-70018-252/qualcomm-linux-sw-overview.html).
## Development kits
Development kits are Qualcomm reference devices built to support
Qualcomm Linux. They're used to develop and test software applications.
A development kit includes necessary hardware and interfaces such as
sensors, inertial measurement units (IMU), and other peripherals.
You can use these development kits to test the capabilities of Qualcomm Linux.
For more information, see [Development
Kits](https://docs.qualcomm.com/bundle/publicresource/topics/80-70018-115/dev-kits.html).
## Supported component versions
The current release of the QIMP SDK integrates the following components:
| Components | Version |
| --- | --- |
| Qualcomm Neural Processing SDK | 2.32.0.250228 |
| Qualcomm AI Engine direct SDK | 2.32.0.250228 |
| LiteRT | 2.16.1 |
| GStreamer | 1.22.12 |
## QIMP eSDK
The eSDK is a package generated from the Qualcomm Linux image. It's
installed on an Ubuntu host and provides a Yocto‑based environment that
you can use for application development.
The eSDK uses the
[devtool](https://docs.yoctoproject.org/ref-manual/devtool-reference.html)
mechanism of Yocto Project to download, compile, and install reference
applications and plugins.
The following figure shows the components of the QIMP eSDK.

**Figure : QIMP eSDK**
Last Published: Feb 02, 2026
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