Silent pillar of on-board intelligence, the semiconductor propels the modern car to autonomy, hyperpersonalization and connectivity.
The semiconductor crisis has become, during the pandemic, the symbol of the fragility of supply chains, putting industries around the world under pressure. With between 1,000 and 3,000 electronic chips on board each modern vehicle, the automotive sector was one of the hardest affected. While the crisis is fading, the global market for car semiconductors heads for a threshold of $ 88 billion by 2027. Several major trends fuel this growth:
The concept of vehicle defined by the software is no longer a vision of the future but a reality. The new models are now designed around their software architecture, with around 100 million lines of code in a conventional car. The on -board software covers a wide range of systems and applications, essential for the proper functioning of the vehicle, its performance, its safety and the user experience. Motor parameters such as setting up the injection, the air-carrant ratio, ignition or slow motion are now managed by software, just like security systems (airbags, ABS, etc.).
Advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS) have radically transformed the driving experience, with features such as adaptive cruise control, line crossing alert, blind spot monitoring, collision avoidance, traction control or recognition of traffic signs.
These features require a consistent real-time data processing capacity, made possible by semiconductor components specialized in EDGE Computing. The chips play a central role in the collection and analysis of the data from the sensors, and in the triggering of almost instantaneous reactions. They also make it possible to update, correct and develop the on-board applications remotely, via Over-Air updates. Software Defined Vehicle (SDV) announces a switch to virtualization and containerization technologies, well established in the IT world, to modernize the software architecture of vehicles.
The software automation of the functions mentioned above has now become the standard. This evolution marks a decisive step towards the autonomous vehicle, which could take up to 300 million lines of code, and require high-performance automobile semiconductors capable of processing the massive volumes of data from on-board sensors.
For example, the LIDAR sensors (Light Detection and Ranging) measure the flight time for laser pulse emitted to determine the distance between the vehicle and the surrounding objects. Semiconductors carrying advanced data processing and artificial intelligence capacities, -Via of machine learning algorithms, merge these measures with data from other sensors (cameras, radars) in order to generate a precise and dynamic 3D map of the environment.
This treatment is carried out in real time to allow the vehicle to make instant decisions to run safely in road traffic and adapt to driving conditions. The development of Edge Computing and the EDGE AI strengthens the need to integrate a high performance calculation infrastructure (HPC) on board, capable of locally managing massive volumes of data with strict latency and reliability requirements.
Major actors such as Qualcomm, Intel or Nvidia have invested massively in high-performance car semiconductors dedicated to autonomous driving.
NVIDIA even offers a complete platform incorporating Data Center infrastructure, software solutions and adapted workflows, covering the entire development cycle of autonomous driving technologies: from data collection to the test and validation phase.
An autonomous vehicle cannot operate in isolation: it must be in permanent connection with other systems: other vehicles, road infrastructure, car manufacturers, service providers, or even pedestrians, in order to exchange continuous information: speed, location, traffic condition, potential dangers, tracking of track closings, vehicle diagnostics, etc.
The global connected vehicle market is experiencing rapid growth, with projections that exceed $ 500 billion by 2033.
5G wireless technology is essential to guarantee reliable vehicle connectivity in real time. It also plays a key role in the deployment of Over-Air software updates to on-board systems. Automobile semiconductors support this connectivity by ensuring data integrity during their transmission, allowing secure communication between the vehicle and its ecosystem.
Electrification of the automobile offers many advantages: better energy efficiency, synonymous with smaller emissions intelligent batteries in hybrid vehicles, as well as energy recovery thanks to regenerative braking.
Semiconductors are not content to control these complex functions with precision: their ability to activate or deactivate in less than a millisecond makes it possible to significantly reduce energy losses, thus extending the lifespan of batteries and the autonomy of electric vehicles.
) Today, automotive personalization reaches a completely different level, carried by connectivity, on-board software and the semiconductors that pilot them.
For example, ADAS systems can adapt the behavior of the vehicle according to driving style and driver preferences. Other features make it possible to synchronize the agenda with GPS navigation, to personalize the temperature or the room lighting, or even to automatically adjust the seat according to the driver’s habits.
Information and entertainment systems also offer a high degree of personalization: interfaces, displays, recommended playlists can be configured to enrich the experience on board.
If the software is at the heart of the modern automobile, it is the semiconductors that give life to these software.
Today’s vehicles require high-performance fleas to activate autonomous driving, connectivity, electrification and personalization, but also to keep and correct their multiple software applications via Over-Air updates.
