With the rapid development of intelligent and electric vehicles, the demand for automotive chips is constantly increasing. As one of the world's largest automotive markets, China plays a crucial role in the independent research and development and production of automotive chips. In recent years, Chinese-made automotive chips have made significant progress in technological innovation and market application, attracting considerable attention. This article will introduce ten promising Chinese-made automotive chips and explore their application prospects in the automotive field.
I. Autonomous driving chips
Huawei Kirin autonomous driving chip
Huawei's Kirin autonomous driving chip employs advanced AI algorithms and high-performance computing capabilities to provide powerful computing support for autonomous driving systems. Its efficient energy management and programmable architecture provide vehicles with precise perception and decision-making capabilities, and it is widely used in autonomous vehicles.
HiSilicon intelligent driving chip
HiSilicon's intelligent driving chip, based on deep learning and computer vision technologies, possesses powerful image processing and perception capabilities. It can identify and analyze the road environment in real time, providing precise navigation and driving assistance functions for autonomous driving systems.
II. In-vehicle entertainment chip
MediaTek smart entertainment chip
MediaTek's intelligent entertainment chip utilizes a high-performance multi-core processor and graphics processing unit, supporting high-definition video playback and multimedia applications. It boasts powerful audio processing capabilities and network connectivity, providing excellent performance and user experience for in-vehicle entertainment systems.
Quanta Electronics in-vehicle entertainment chip
Quanta Computer's automotive entertainment chip integrates a high-performance video decoder and audio processor, supporting playback of various audio and video formats. Its rich interfaces and low-power design give it excellent compatibility and stability in vehicle electronic entertainment systems.
III. Smart Cockpit Chips
Cambricon Smart Cockpit Chip
Cambricon's intelligent cockpit chip integrates powerful computing capabilities and machine learning algorithms, enabling a high degree of automation and personalized customization of intelligent cockpit systems. It can sense passenger needs and provide functions such as intelligent driving assistance, voice recognition, and facial recognition, bringing passengers a more comfortable and convenient driving experience.
Megvii Technology's intelligent cockpit chip
Megvii's intelligent cockpit chip, based on deep learning and artificial intelligence technologies, possesses high-precision facial recognition and emotion analysis capabilities. It can recognize the driver's expressions and movements to provide personalized driving assistance and safety warnings, creating a safer and more comfortable driving environment.
IV. Vehicle security chip
Meiya Intelligent Vehicle Security Chip
The Meiya intelligent vehicle security chip features highly reliable vehicle encryption and authentication functions, effectively preventing unauthorized vehicle intrusion and data leakage. It supports vehicle network security and remote monitoring, providing comprehensive vehicle security protection.
Guoke Micro Vehicle Security Chip
Guoke Micro's vehicle security chip employs advanced encryption algorithms and secure communication protocols to protect the integrity and confidentiality of vehicle data. It also features protective control and anti-interference capabilities, providing reliable vehicle anti-theft and tracking functions, offering car owners a safe and secure driving experience.
V. Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) Communication Chips
ZTE vehicle networking communication chip
ZTE's vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication chip supports multiple communication protocols and frequency bands, enabling high-speed communication between vehicles and cloud platforms, other vehicles, and traffic infrastructure. It features low power consumption and high anti-interference performance, providing reliable data transmission and real-time interaction for V2X applications.
Unisoc vehicle networking communication chip
Unisoc's vehicle networking communication chip features low power consumption and high integration, and supports a variety of wireless communication technologies and network protocols.
It provides seamless connectivity between vehicles and intelligent transportation systems, navigation systems, and the mobile internet, enabling vehicles to provide real-time navigation, remote control, and intelligent interaction capabilities.
in conclusion
China's domestically produced automotive chips have made significant progress in independent research and development and innovation, and have gained widespread recognition from the industry and the market. The ten Chinese-made automotive chips listed above cover multiple fields, including autonomous driving, in-vehicle entertainment, smart cockpits, vehicle safety, and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, demonstrating the breadth and depth of China's automotive chip industry. With the rapid development and technological innovation of China's automotive industry, these promising automotive chips will play a crucial role in future intelligent vehicles, enhancing the driving experience, improving vehicle safety, and promoting the sustainable development of the automotive industry.
As the automotive industry moves towards intelligence, electrification, and automation, automotive chips, as core components of automotive electronic systems, are attracting increasing attention. This article will provide a detailed introduction to the types of automotive chips, major chip manufacturers, and manufacturing processes, while also providing examples of chip types used in several mainstream automobiles.
I. Types of Automotive Chips
1. Controller chip: The controller chip is responsible for controlling the car's engine, transmission, brakes and other systems, and is a key part of the car's electronic system.
2. Sensor Chip: Sensor chips are used to detect various physical quantities, such as temperature, pressure, and speed, providing real-time data for the operation of the vehicle.
3. Communication chip: The communication chip is responsible for enabling communication between the vehicle and the outside world, such as vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication.
4. Entertainment System Chip: The entertainment system chip is responsible for implementing entertainment functions such as audio and video, including navigation and speakers.
5. Driver chip: The driver chip provides drive signals for motors, actuators and other components in the automotive electronic system, and is a key part of vehicle operation and control.
6. Navigation Chip: The navigation chip is used to process and analyze signals from satellite navigation systems such as GPS and GLONASS, providing accurate positioning and navigation services.
7. Safety system chip: The safety system chip enables the active safety functions of the car, such as collision warning and automatic braking.
8. ADAS chip: ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) chip enables various advanced driver assistance functions, such as automatic parking and automatic cruise control.
9. Battery Management Chip: The battery management chip is used to monitor and control the battery pack of an electric vehicle to ensure a safe and efficient charging and discharging process.
II. Major Automotive Chip Manufacturers
1. Intel
2. Texas Instruments
3. Broadcom
4. Micron Technology
5. STMicroelectronics
6. NXP Semiconductors
7. Infineon Technologies
8. Renesas Electronics
9. ON Semiconductor
10. Analog Devices
III. Automotive Chip Manufacturing Process
Currently, the mainstream automotive chip manufacturing processes are 28nm, 16nm, 14nm, and 10nm. With technological advancements, future automotive chip manufacturing processes will move towards lower nanometer processes, higher performance, and lower power consumption, such as 7nm, 5nm, and 3nm processes.
IV. Types of Chips in Several Mainstream Cars
1. Tesla Model S: Intel Atom E8000 series processor, NVIDIA Tegra X1 GPU.
2. Mercedes-Benz S-Class: Texas Instruments TDA3x processor.
3. BMW 7 Series: Intel Atom E3800 series processor.
4. Audi A8: Intel Atom E3800 series processor.
5. Tesla Model 3: Intel Atom E8000 series processor, NVIDIA Tegra X1 GPU.
6. Nissan Leaf: Intel Atom E3800 series processor.
7. Chevrolet Bolt EV: Texas Instruments TDA3x processor.
8. BYD Han EV: Huawei Kirin 990 processor.
As a core component of automotive electronic systems, automotive chips are diverse, encompassing multiple fields such as controller chips, sensor chips, and communication chips. With the development of the automotive industry, major manufacturers are constantly launching more advanced automotive chips. Currently, mainstream automotive chip processes include 28nm, 16nm, 14nm, and 10nm, with future developments moving towards even lower nanometer processes, higher performance, and lower power consumption. Understanding the characteristics and applications of various automotive chips helps us better understand the operating principles and future development trends of automotive electronic systems.
The global MCU market's downstream consumption is mainly in automotive electronics, industrial control, and computer networks, accounting for 34%, 27%, and 18% respectively, according to ASPENCORE data.
In the Chinese market, consumer electronics is the main downstream application area for MCUs, accounting for 26%, while automotive electronics and industrial control, which are relatively high-end markets, account for a smaller share, at 15% and 10% respectively.
In the automotive field, MCUs mainly play a role in core safety and driving aspects, including the control of intelligent driving assistance systems, chassis safety, body control, power control, infotainment, etc., with a very wide range of applications.
Applications of MCUs in vehicles:
Source: ChipON Microelectronics
According to data from IC Insights, global MCU sales reached $19.6 billion in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 23%. The compound annual growth rate is projected to be 6.70% from 2021 to 2026, with sales reaching $27.2 billion in 2026.
With breakthroughs in production bottlenecks, total MCU shipments are expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 3.0% from 2021 to 2026, reaching 35.8 billion units in 2026.
MCU Chip Industry Overview
MCU: MicroControl Unit, also known as Single-Chip Microcomputer, refers to a chip-level computer that integrates the CPU, RAM, ROM, timers, and various I/O interfaces of a computer onto a single chip, which is formed by the emergence and development of large-scale integrated circuits. It can perform different combinations of control for different applications.
According to data from Xingxingcha, MCUs were first proposed by Intel. They are available in various bit widths, including 4-bit, 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit, and even 64-bit MCUs. Performance increases with the number of bits, and their applicable scenarios become more diverse.
8-bit and 16-bit MCUs are mainly used in general control applications where the use cases do not involve an operating system, while 32-bit MCUs are mostly used in complex scenarios such as multimedia processing and network operation, which generally require the use of an embedded operating system.
Currently, the market is dominated by 8-bit and 32-bit MCUs. In the future, as product performance requirements continue to increase, the market size of 32-bit MCUs will further expand.
From the perspective of memory structure, MCUs can be divided into Harvard structure and Von Neumann structure.
In the Harvard architecture, program instructions and data reside in separate memories, resulting in higher efficiency but also higher cost.
The Von Neumann architecture places program instructions and data in the same memory, which is cheaper but also less efficient.
From the perspective of instruction set architecture, MCUs can be divided into CISC architecture and RICS architecture, namely Complex Instruction Set Computing and Reduced Instruction Set Computing. Compared with CISC, RICS architecture has lower hardware costs and faster processing speed, but its software development is more complex.
Common classifications of MCUs:
Data source: IC Insights
Different application markets have different requirements for MCU specifications.
Based on their application level, MCUs can generally be divided into commercial grade, industrial grade, automotive grade, and military grade.
In terms of requirements for operating temperature, delivery yield, and service life, commercial-grade MCUs, which are mainly used in consumer electronics, have relatively lower requirements. Next are industrial-grade MCUs used in industrial computers and equipment control. However, automotive MCUs used in automotive electronics have much higher requirements and are more difficult to manufacture than the first two types, second only to military-grade MCUs.
In the field of automotive electronic chips, MCUs have a wide range of applications, from the vehicle powertrain to body control, infotainment, and driver assistance, from engine control units to windshield wipers, windows, power seats, air conditioning, and other control units. The realization of each function requires the support of complex chipsets, among which MCUs play the most important role.
Of all the semiconductor devices in a car, MCUs account for about 30%, with an average of more than 70 MCU chips per car. These chips are needed to enable various in-vehicle applications while ensuring sufficient security.
