Smart car, chip maker's new main battlefield

introduction:

Automotive technology is changing with each passing day, and smart cars are becoming one of the hottest topics. The smart car has become the next new blue ocean, and the development space is full of imagination. Faced with the stubborn and powerful traditional industry of automobiles, under the trend of “Internet-made cars”, IT giants such as Google, Apple and Baidu have begun to infiltrate and subvert the traditional automobile industry. Although both Google and Apple are currently experimentally released, no matter which platform the automakers ultimately decide to use or which Internet company to cooperate with, which car chip is used before that is the car. The first step toward smart is to consider. There is no doubt that smart cars will be the new main battleground for chip manufacturers.

First, the smart car core opportunity

The main challenges facing the future of automotive technology are to reduce the impact of the environment, improve driving safety and achieve barrier-free communication between people, vehicles and vehicles through mobile technology.

The core element of smart cars is to establish an intelligent platform to effectively connect people, vehicles and society, so that the problems of transportation, environment, energy, safety, entertainment and information faced by the development of the automobile industry are truly solved. It is not only for existing The replacement of automobiles will also integrate various network, information and media platforms to develop into a comprehensive information terminal.

According to analysts, by 2025, the potential economic impact of smart cars is estimated to be between $20 million and $1.9 trillion, ranking ahead of 3D printing and ranking sixth in the top 12 disruptive technologies. The popularity of the 3D printing industry in the current market is obvious to all, and the valuation of the smart car industry can surpass the 3D industry, showing its influence.

The development prospects of smart cars will be very broad. What are the most popular and most promising automotive electronic products?

1. ADAS drives high-definition graphics processing needs

The Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) can be understood as an electronic system that assists the driver in driving the car. It contains a human-computer interaction interface that can increase the safety of the road travel of the vehicle. At present, the functions that the mainstream ADAS system can achieve are roughly divided into blind spot monitoring, road departure warning, automatic emergency braking, lane change assist, fatigue warning and 360° panoramic camera monitoring to assist driving and reduce the incidence of road traffic accidents. For the main purpose. Due to the increasing safety standards of automobiles, the level of automotive electronics, and the growing demand for driving safety, the ADAS system with active safety technology is showing rapid development. The vehicle radar can accurately provide relevant data of the driving environment of the car. The 360-degree viewing system can provide information on the road conditions of the vehicle in an instant, and is a key product in the automotive ADAS system for some time to come. This has also led to a surge in demand for high-resolution display chips and high-precision sensor chips.

According to market research company analysis, the global automotive semiconductor market in 2014 was about 28 billion US dollars, an increase of 7.3% over 2013. It is estimated that the market size will reach 29.6 billion US dollars in 2015 and will exceed 40 billion US dollars by 2020. In the global automotive chip market, the Automated Driver Assistance System (ADAS) chip business is the fastest growing, with an average growth rate of 13% by 2020.

Figure 1 Global automotive semiconductor revenue scale 2014-2020

2. V2X becomes a new highlight of the car network

The V2X technology with the "car to the outside world" information exchange as the main function is a new bright spot of the Internet of Vehicles. The new highlight of the V2X is the new application of the car network. If the initial application of the Internet of Vehicles is mainly focused on security theft, car amplifier, and infotainment, then as people pay more attention to driving safety, the future car will form a fast communication for various objects and assist people in safe driving. It will be developed rapidly and become a new driving force for the development of in-vehicle networks.

The core of V2X technology lies in the V2X chipset. In this regard, both NXP and STMicroelectronics have made a long-term layout. NXP is also working with automotive component supplier Delphi to drive mass production of the V2X chipset. NXP provides Delft Automotive with a RoadLINK chip for V2X communication, and Delphi is promoted through partnerships with leading global automakers.

STMicroelectronics has partnered with Autotalks to develop the V2X chipset, complementing ST's R&D experience in automotive, proprietary design system knowledge and capacity quality control capabilities, and Autotalks' proprietary system technology on V2X. The second-generation chipset V2X chipset will be deployed on a large scale by 2017.

Qualcomm is also beginning to focus on the market in this area. At this year's CES, Qualcomm, which was affected by the peak of the smartphone market, began to “heavy heavy assembly” vehicle network communication market, and launched a variety of automotive solution products: Snapdragon 820A, Snapdragon 602A, Snapdragon X12 LTE modem, Snapdragon X5 LTE modem and Qualcomm VIVE 802.11ac technology hope to support Wi-Fi 802.11ac hotspots through seamless combination of Wi-Fi and dedicated short-range communication (DSRC), such as V2V (vehicles and vehicles), V2I (vehicles and foundations) Facilities) and other security applications.

3. Intelligent introduction of power technology

With the development of the automobile industry and the rise of people's awareness of environmental protection, the green power of energy conservation has become the mainstream of automobile development and the hot spot of consumers' attention. Introducing intelligence into power technology and improving energy efficiency in an intelligent way is the future development trend.

STMicroelectronics has introduced a new family of high-voltage N-channel power MOSFETs for the automotive market. The new product passed the AEC-Q101 automotive test certification, using ST's most advanced MDmeshTM DM2 super junction manufacturing process with built-in fast recovery diode. The breakdown voltage range is 400V to 650V, and D2PAK, TO-220 and TO-247 are available. Kind of packaging. The 400V and 500V new products are the first AEC-Q101 certified power MOSFETs in the market, while the 600V and 650V products outperform existing competitors. Designed for automotive applications, the entire family integrates fast body diodes, commutating behavior with higher softness coefficient (commutaTIon behavior) and back-to-back zener diode protection. It is an ideal choice for full bridge zero voltage switch topologies.

The companies that currently supply chips to automakers are mainly manufacturers that have established strong relationships with them a few years ago: the top ones are NXP (which has acquired Freescale), Renesas Electronics, Infineon, and Italy. French semiconductor. Intel, Qualcomm and NVIDIA are among the top 10 players.

Figure 2 Top 10 global automotive semiconductor manufacturers' revenues in 2014 (US$ million)

Second, the chip giant hair smart car

The development prospects of smart cars will be very broad. In order to gain a place in the functions of in-vehicle infotainment system and driver assistance system, Intel's processing performance, NVIDIA graphics processing and Qualcomm's wireless communication technology have become the mainstay of chip manufacturers. The advantages.

Intel, Qualcomm and NVIDIA have all placed big bets on smart cars. At this year's CES show, major semiconductor companies such as Intel, Qualcomm and NVIDIA highlighted the chip products of their smart car series. In the future, the chip will play an increasingly important role in the field of car entertainment systems, body networks, advanced driver assistance systems, power systems, satellite navigation and other fields. In the field of these promising automotive electronics, how do chip manufacturers layout?

Intel's layout is still early, they began to deploy car networking in 2008. By the end of 2011, the car innovation and product development center was established in Karlsruhe, near Munich, Germany. From the beginning, more than 200 R&D personnel were recruited from local car companies. This is the first of the big companies in Silicon Valley. Big handwriting.

For the automotive market, Intel has come up with a complete platform-based solution that consists of a range of hardware and software products that help automakers and their suppliers reduce product development time by 12 months. In other words, Intel has gradually transitioned from selling chips to cars to a provider of integrated automotive solutions. Intel's solution is based on its own strengths, and it is difficult for the rush car factory to help shorten the development cycle, save development costs, and quickly adapt to the market rhythm.

Exceeding traditional solutions in terms of speeding up development and reducing costs. Intel will invest heavily in product development, automotive industry value chains and advanced technology research to help provide solutions that improve safety, efficiency and convenience in the car.

Intel has listed BMW, Hyundai and Infiniti as customers, and has established research partnerships with Ford to jointly develop new applications for smart cars.

The Mobii, developed jointly by Intel and Ford in 2014, is imaginative. It integrates multiple technologies including camera, sensor data, driver behavior patterns, and perceptual computing technology. It is connected to a smartphone or tablet with an in-camera camera and related intelligent systems. Interoperate to reshape the interactive experience between people and cars.

As the leader in the smartphone chip market, Qualcomm has received orders from tens of millions of wireless modems from automakers. In addition, Qualcomm's Halo system for wireless charging will also be available for electric use in 2017. The car's wireless charging module.

Qualcomm has been working with the world's leading automakers and has become a key player in the Connected Cars program, with its Opteron Automotive solutions integrating cutting-edge mobile technology into a new generation of in-vehicle experiences.

Qualcomm's latest generation of Snapdragon 820 series platform, in addition to the global automotive electronics market, the 820A and 820Am two series of solutions, through a single breath integrated 64-bit CPU, GPU, DSP as a single chip, with sensing components Applications such as ADAS and other security products are expected to accelerate the expansion of the market share in the automotive chip market.

The latest in-vehicle Qualcomm® SnapdragonTM 602A processor integrates 3D graphics and multimedia capabilities into infotainment systems, while 3G/4G LTE Advanced wireless modems support security and security applications, as well as Qualcomm® VIVETM Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technology that can be integrated into personal mobile devices.

The company's automotive solutions are designed to enhance the connected driving experience of the future and provide better service to customers. Strive to create a new generation of car user experience, equipped with Wi-Fi hotspots, mobile device content sharing, lane departure detection system, car owner attention alarm, rear seat entertainment system and advanced car owners infotainment platform to bring customers safer and more efficient A more user-friendly driving experience.

Based on Snapdragon's global leadership in mobility and computing technology, the integrated software and hardware platform for automotive provides a range of navigation and multimedia capabilities, using Opteron processors and modems with GNSS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technology And support for pre-integration capabilities provided by QNX and the Android operating system. More than 15 leading automakers are working hard to connect tens of millions of cars globally, and Qualcomm will continue to develop and promote basic technologies to create the next generation of connected cars for automakers and their suppliers. Information processing system. Snapdragon modems support 4G LTE, LTE Advanced, LTE Broadcast (eMBMS), Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.1, GNSS multi-satellite positioning and DSRC automotive-to-vehicle (V2V) solutions, which will further drive innovation in the automotive industry.

NVIDIA completely withdrew from the mobile phone market earlier, specializing in automotive chips. NVIDIA's NVIDIA DRIVETM solution provides the power and flexibility for automakers, Tier 1 suppliers and automotive research organizations to develop systems that enable them to observe, think and learn. The DRIVE PX is a powerful, self-driving car designed to run deep neural networks, paving the way for autonomous vehicles. DRIVE CX is a complete hardware and software solution for 3D advanced navigation and infotainment, high-resolution digital instrument clusters, natural voice processing and surround vision.

NVIDIA's NVIDIA DRIVE PX, which combines data from cameras, other sensors and navigation devices, calculates a safe path and everything is done in real time. Fully autonomous control and driver assistance technology have become the focus of attention for every car manufacturer and transportation service and technology company. Cars need to know exactly where they are, identify nearby objects, and continually calculate optimized paths for a safe driving experience. This contextual awareness and environmental perception of the car and its surrounding objects requires a powerful visual computing system to support it.

NVIDIA has a 12-core DRIVE PX2 chip solution that integrates the next-generation ARM Cortex-A75 CPU IP and its own GPU IP. It supports 12 image processing functions in one go, and upgrades the future car in smart learning. The function of ambient environment sensing.

Based on the automotive market's need for more powerful GPUs, NVIDIA has introduced the new graphics processor Tegra K1 for automotive applications, which was officially exhibited at the 2014 CES. Correspondingly, they also developed a special version of the "Tegra K1 VCM" (visual computing module using Tegra K1 processor) for the migration to the car, and provided it to automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers. The Tegra K1 VCM chip can be The vehicle provides a complete computer system capable of running multiple operating systems including QNX, Android, Linux or Windows, and is widely used in automotive security and multimedia entertainment systems. Compared with the previous processing chip, Tegra K1 has stronger performance. In the advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) sensing system based on radar camera, it can realize functions including pedestrian detection, traffic identification, lane recognition, etc. Collision Prevention (PCS), Lane Offset Warning (LDW), and Active Cruise Control (ACC) systems.

In fact, NVIDIA's four-generation Tegra series chips have been widely used in production cars, such as BMW, Volkswagen, Peugeot Citroen and BYD. With the Tegra K1 processor, the car's development process has been greatly optimized, while also bridging the gap between the speed of innovation in the consumer electronics sector and the often long development cycle in the automotive industry. More importantly, the power consumption of the new processor will be greatly reduced. Under the same power consumption, the performance of the Tegra K1 can be increased by 40%, and at the same frequency, the power consumption of the Tegra K1 can be saved by 55%.

NVIDIA has made the auto-driving dream come true as soon as possible. Not only has Volvo's strong support, but also the previous Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Ford, and also the technical cooperation of Nvidia. In the list, product and technology cooperation with each other.

China's Taiwanese chip giant MediaTek, although also highly interested in the global smart car chip market, but the internal R & D team is still inclined to take the attitude of duck diving first, coupled with more emphasis on cross-strait automotive industry chain upstream and downstream companies first cooperation, Therefore, it is still not willing to let go of the cooperation with customers. In Taiwan, MediaTek has set up a research and development team of more than 100 people to develop car entertainment system chips. In 2013, MediaTek signed a contract with the Hefei Municipal Government of Anhui Province to invest up to US$500 million to set up R&D and production centers in the region to develop automotive electronic chip solutions.

Other chip makers such as NXP (which has acquired Freescale), Infineon, STMicroelectronics, Samsung, TI, ON, and Xilinx have also taken advantage of their respective smart car applications. It can be seen that all chip manufacturers are scrambling to find a market stage that they can play in the era of smart cars.

At present, the lack of core technology in China's semiconductor chips has also led to the dependence on imports of automotive chips in the Chinese automotive industry. Developing automotive chips will be an opportunity for China's auto industry to get rid of people

Third, the smart car core challenge

Smart cars are not only hot spots in the consumer electronics exhibitions in the past two years, but also highly anticipated by the industry. Driverless and autonomous driving have become the direction of smart cars. However, the development of smart cars has a long way to go. .

Chip makers have to go through two hurdles in the automotive industry:

1. The automotive industry has more stringent industry standards than PCs or mobiles, and automakers rely on safety-monitored partners in their existing supply chains.

2. A car is a complex system that emphasizes efficient coordination. It requires chip vendors to build deep connections and relationships in the industry. This is another rigorous test for their resource integration and integration capabilities.

The application environment inside the car is relatively complicated, and the requirements for anti-interference, high and low temperature are very high, and there are corresponding industry standard specifications for the design and production of automobile chips. The product life cycle of the automotive industry is also different from that of consumer products. The production lead time of the car-scale chip even takes more than 10 years, which is unimaginable for traditional consumer electronics manufacturers.

For automotive chips, they are not only able to withstand temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius, but also withstand temperatures up to 160 degrees Celsius. PwC's research report shows that chips supplied to automakers must be warranted for 30 years and meet zero failure rates. Unlike the on-board chip, the chip life of the consumer device takes only one year, and the failure rate does not exceed 10%.

The automotive industry is a century-old store, and various supply chain networks have long been ingrained. Not only that, but it is also a deep trust based on technology and business. In this area, NXP (which has acquired Freescale), Renesas Electronics and STMicroelectronics have been deeply involved for many years, and they have received almost 90% of the entire industry. In addition to the bundled interests, in terms of product safety and reliability, barriers in this area can not be broken in the short term, so car manufacturers are more willing to choose to cooperate with them.

Automakers' attitudes toward unverified chipmakers remain tepid, depending on whether the chipmaker's products pass strict security testing. When the computer crashes, the user may only lose some data; but in the event of a car accident, the user may be injured.

In-vehicle chips need to pass strict security testing, which is even more challenging for Intel, Qualcomm and NVIDIA to enter the chip makers. For these consumer electronics chip makers, the safety and reliability standards are that they enter the automotive industry. The main obstacle.

The rise of the concept of smart cars has provided a new direction for chip manufacturers to break through. From the CES show in recent years, the enthusiasm of chip manufacturers for smart cars has been fully revealed. Although the fully-automobiles have not yet officially entered the consumer market, the pace of development of smart car technology will not stop with the current trends of major manufacturers and capital markets. The Consumer Electronics Association of the United States expects that the first fully-automobile car will appear in 2020. However, the safety of a car is related to many aspects of people, such as life safety, information security, etc., so the safety of smart cars must be raised to a new level, and as a core component of smart cars, chips can be described as smart cars. The heart, controlling the various components of the car, is the key to the key, so when chip manufacturers are vigorously developing smart car chips, they need to control the door at all times.

With the infiltration of new technologies such as autonomous driving, car entertainment, and satellite navigation into the automobile life, the degree of intelligentization of automobiles is increasing, and the automotive chips that determine the degree of intelligence of automobiles will build the core competitiveness of automobiles. There is no doubt that smart cars will be the new main battleground for chip manufacturers.