In connected car news are SoundHound, SoC.one Inc, Agero, SiFive, Microchip, FIA, Siemens, Valens, Sony, Nexar, Keysight & LimnTech.
In this Article
SoundHound Intros Edge & Cloud Suite
SoundHound AI, Inc. (Nasdaq: SOUN) (“SoundHound”), a global leader in voice artificial intelligence, announced the availability of a whole suite of Edge and Cloud connectivity solutions that will allow brands to voice-enable almost any product, device, or service. Businesses looking to deploy voice AI can choose from options that match their available processing power and end-user needs. These include fully-embedded Edge technology (including a new EdgeLite option), exclusively Cloud-connected technology, or a hybrid combination of Edge+Cloud.
“Increasingly, consumers are using their voices to interact with products and devices, and yet many brands are still struggling to settle on the best path when it comes to adopting voice AI”
The new offerings mean that automakers, smart device manufacturers, and service providers can select for faster and more accurate response delivery, reduced manufacturing costs, and improved flexibility. Businesses embracing these connectivity options include car brands like Hyundai and prominent smart device manufacturers.
SoundHound’s selection of on-device Edge solutions allow brands adopting voice technology to grant their end-users greater levels of privacy by keeping data stored locally, so it never reaches the cloud. For cloud connectivity, SoundHound allows brands (and not third parties) full control over data privacy so that they can communicate transparently with their users about how information is managed.
“Voice technology is now a must for products destined for the consumer market, but that doesn’t mean it’s one-size-fits-all. Here we’re offering a range of connectivity options that deliver fast and accurate voice AI to meet different needs,” said James Hom, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at SoundHound. “The availability of more Edge options will allow businesses to store and protect sensitive data locally – which could help brands build customer trust. Our hybrid options help supercharge speed and accuracy. So whatever the use case or computing capacity, we can match it for optimal results.”
Available connectivity options:
- EdgeLite
With this fully-embedded voice solution companies can process data locally without cloud-related data privacy concerns. Developers have access to natural language commands with less memory and CPU impact, a bundled wake word, and the ability to instantly update commands. - EdgeLite+Cloud
All the capabilities of EdgeLite, with the added flexibility to access the cloud to answer queries or push product updates. - Edge
Fully-embedded voice AI solution with as much Natural Language Understanding (NLU) capabilities to meet customer demand for hands-free convenience – without cloud-related data privacy concerns. Includes full accessibility to custom commands and the ability to create custom domains for proprietary on-device functionality. - Edge+Cloud
The capabilities of Edge with the flexibility and power of cloud connectivity. Allows companies to deliver the level of cloud connectivity that best matches their products and users. - Cloud-Only
Equips voice assistants with real-time data and information from the cloud for delivery of the most relevant responses to user queries, with no restrictions from device CPU and memory capabilities (while retaining ownership of your customer relationships and access to data and analytics).
SoundHound’s Edge+Cloud solutions use Active Arbitration™ technology to ensure that – regardless of the query – the voice assistant will always return the most accurate answer, fast. Before Active Arbitration, users had to settle for solutions that took several seconds to search one platform and then the other looking for a response. SoundHound’s Active Arbitration technology delivers a query to the cloud and the embedded system simultaneously, which facilitates a faster, more accurate conversational experience.
“Increasingly, consumers are using their voices to interact with products and devices, and yet many brands are still struggling to settle on the best path when it comes to adopting voice AI,” says Keyvan Mohajer, Co-Founder and Chief Executive of SoundHound. “We’re providing this range of solutions to help any company meet customer expectations of speed and accuracy, with results delivered in the style of natural conversation. And with the right technology in place, voice quickly becomes a new channel to strengthen a brand’s relationship with its customers.”
From EdgeLite to Edge to Cloud-only, manufacturers can now use the same implementation software to provide any level of voice-enablement possible. For small device manufacturers and those looking for a smaller processing footprint, EdgeLite solutions allow them to add voice commands to make their equipment safer and easier to use—and the users of the product more efficient.
Our EdgeLite+Cloud and Edge+Cloud is ideal for circumstances where a cloud connection may not always be reliable—but where the voice user interface is still required to control the equipment or get critical information. Both solutions also use our Active Arbitration technology to get the best, most accurate results by sending the query to the Cloud and embedded system simultaneously.
SoC.one Inc & Imagination Tech Parter for RISC-V
–SoC.one Inc and Imagination Technologies announced a strategic alliance to accelerate the adoption of RISC-V in the automotive design cycle.
Electrification is changing how cars are architected and built. “Software-defined vehicles” open new opportunities to redefine and package transportation and mobility as services. It also presents enormous challenges in the design, verification, and production of connected autonomous vehicles.
The RISC-V open instruction set architecture (ISA) is well positioned for the automotive market. The served addressable market (SAM) for RISC-V in automotive was 4 million cores in 2020, forecast to rise to 150 million cores in 2022, and to 2.9 billion cores by 2025 (source: Deloitte). However, uncertainties around maturity, performance, and security compared to more established automotive ISA have delayed adoption. The strategic partnership between SoC.one and Imagination Technologies aims to address those concerns and position RISC-V as a mainstream, high-performance, secured compute platform for the automotive industry.
SoC.one Cloud is an end-to-end, close-loop, mixed-reality platform that powers the needs of automotive OEMs and suppliers to explore, design, build and train / validate compute solutions critical to the future of the connected and autonomous driving cars. The SoC.one complete ‘Digital Twins’ approach offers a near real-time, realistic, and repeatable setting, needed to create automotive products that perform well in the stochastic and diverse real world.
“The ability to see a design from the immersive experience of the vehicles, occupants, pedestrians, motorbikes and other objects on the road offers OEMs insight and understanding that can minimize risks, improve development time, and increase safety,” said Krishna Raghavan, founder of SoC.one. Raghavan added, “From integration and training for auto-pilot systems, to the fusion of in-vehicle control and infotainment, and integration with automotive edge and cloud data services, the capabilities of SoC.one Cloud will prove to be crucial component of any automotive company’s process and development portfolio.”
“With our longstanding track record of delivery into automotive and our diverse IP offerings, Imagination’s GPU, AI, ethernet and RISC-V CPU cores are ideal for automotive grade, safety-critical applications. An integration of these IPs into SoC.one mix-reality cloud enables the designers to continuously characterize, validate, and develop software for automotive use-cases. We are delighted to be partnering with SoC.one to enable the next evolution of RISC-V automotive design,” said Shreyas Derashri, Vice President of Compute at Imagination.
Automotive devices-under-x extends from onboard elements (sensors, cameras, ECUs, compute solutions) to infrastructure elements (traffic lights, smart signs, wireless communication) and vehicles (cars, trucks, motorcycles), all utilizing IPs from Imagination Technologies. SoC.one Cloud provides the means for developers and software systems to interact with the device-under-x in a close-loop context. Simulation helps the designers understand how an automotive product or device may ultimately function. SoC.one extends this capability to all phases of the product design and development, from conceptualization to stages of implementation and deployment.
Agero Enhances Platform
Agero, whose leading B2B2C software and services enable auto manufacturers, insurers and others to support their customers at every stage of vehicle ownership, announced a series of platform enhancements and services that will further modernize the roadside assistance and vehicle support experience for clients, their customers and Agero’s extensive service provider network. These updates – ranging from digital repair coupons to streamlined event communication and EV battery monitoring – are just the latest steps Agero has taken in transforming the driver support experience to increase efficiency, speed service completion and offer new options for consumers.
“Aging vehicles and higher traffic volumes are equating to robust demand for roadside services, and we continue adding enhancements to our digital platform to ensure the best possible experience in those stressful events,” noted Jeff Blecher, Agero’s Chief Strategy & Digital Officer. “At the same time, we’re rolling out a series of new offerings to ensure our customers can offer motorists the best possible 360-degree support for vehicle ownership.”
The latest updates to Agero’s evolving, powerful platform and robust – and growing – suite of services include:
Payment Support Options for Consumers
- Self Service Payments: A new online portal gives drivers the ability to securely and quickly process out of pocket payments during the time of service, without needing to provide credit or debit card details to agents.
- Digital Coupons: Twenty percent of drivers need help selecting a tow destination when their vehicle breaks down. With Digital Coupons, consumers can receive convenient, timely, targeted discounts at leading partner facilities from the Agero repair assistance and dealership network, helping reduce the stress and uncertainty for those who need help determining where their vehicle should go.
Intelligent EV Insights For, and From, Automakers
- EV Battery Monitoring: This new capability collects and collates EV battery data from connected vehicles to ensure a safe and seamless customer experience. In the event that EV battery data is outside of normal bounds, roadside assistance and emergency triage can be dispatched to support the customer and their vehicle.
- Dedicated EV Handling Material: Agero’s extensive vehicle handling knowledge portal has been updated to include an extensive list of EV handling guidance and best practices. This material, included in appropriate dispatch details, empowers Service Providers with the right insight at the right time.
At-Your-Fingertips Guidance for Service Providers
- Service Provider Chat: A new, real-time chat functionality built directly into the Swoop provider experience gives busy service providers quick access to live and virtual job support agents at the click of a button. Available 24/7 and with built in automation logic, Service Provider Chat enables the Agero network to quickly communicate job updates and get time back in their day.
- Job Update Button: A new digital workflow for dispatchers allows for rapid updates to job status, directly from the Swoop Mobile App or Swoop Desktop.
Agero has led the driver assistance industry for nearly 50 years. Today the company delivers services and peace of mind in more than 12 million annual service events.
SiFive Intros Three Automotive Products
SiFive, Inc. the founder and leader of RISC-V computing, announced three products as part of the first phase of a long-term roadmap and portfolio designed to meet the specific needs of automotive manufacturers and their suppliers. SiFive Automotive™ E6-A, X280-A, and S7-A solutions address critical needs for current and future applications like infotainment, cockpit, connectivity, ADAS, and electrification, as the market transitions to zonal architectures and manufacturers require the energy efficiency, simplicity, security, and software flexibility that RISC-V offers. SiFive’s high-end applications and real-time processors offer industry-leading performance, with the lowest area and power consumption, and are being tailored to vehicle specific needs for safety, security, and performance. The company also highlighted a growing list of top-tier customers and leading ecosystem partners, and how they are collaborating to deliver comprehensive automotive solutions.
The transformation to the digital automobile has changed, accelerated, and increased the demands on computing requirements, the pace of innovation, and the flexibility required within the automotive supply ecosystem. This rapid evolution is driving the success of RISC-V in the automotive market, which is taking advantage of its flexible, modern architecture, fast growing ecosystem, and proven power and performance benefits to bring solutions that accelerate the pace of innovation in the vehicle space.
“SiFive is combining the best RISC-V benefits in the only end-to-end portfolio designed to meet automotive needs today and long into the future,” said Patrick Little, CEO and Chairman, SiFive. “We are seeing widespread interest in our new RISC-V automotive solutions and are working closely with several leading semiconductor companies and top-tier suppliers, who are turning to the flexibility of our highest performance cores in areas like safety-critical compute applications. Customers are now able to take advantage of our latest, most powerful cores to bring exciting innovations to consumers.”
“Renesas has been closely collaborating with SiFive to bring the strong benefits of RISC-V to many of our products,” said Takeshi Kataoka, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Automotive Solution Business Unit at Renesas. “RISC-V continues to gain momentum around the world, and we plan to leverage SiFive’s portfolio of automotive RISC-V products in our future automotive SoC solutions to meet the exacting demands of these global customers. Partnering with an innovation leader like SiFive is a logical step that allows us to fuel our growth and meet our customer’s evolving requirements.”
RISC-V: Meeting Automotive Requirements Today and Into the Future
RISC-V brings a host of benefits to the automotive industry. Using a single instruction set architecture (ISA) across all product offerings – from safety islands to real-time products to highest performance ADAS and central zone compute – increases code portability and can greatly reduce cost and time-to-market, while RISC-V vector extensions bring enhanced machine learning and DSP capabilities. The global RISC-V ecosystem is growing rapidly, particularly in the U.S. and China, and consists of more than three thousand members. This provides wide choice and ensures future support and innovation. Working without proprietary lock-in, companies can license from multiple vendors and have more flexibility to design their own IP where needed, while maintaining software and ecosystem compatibility.
“Semiconductors are rapidly becoming the most critical component to the next generation of vehicles. With chips set to be over 20% of the BoM for cars by the end of the decade, the development of power-efficient, highly performant chips will continue to be a key priority for automotive manufacturers seeking to develop the most innovative automobiles for the future,” said Daniel Newman, Principal Analyst for Futurum Research. “SiFive continues to play an important role in leading the evolution of chip designs based on RISC-V, which I expect will gain market momentum as auto manufacturers seek to level up their vehicles to meet the increased demands of consumers wanting the most forward thinking, safe, and secure technology in their cars.”
The company is also working with a growing list of ecosystem partners to build a comprehensive RISC-V automotive solution set. Check out the partner list below.
The SiFive Automotive E6-A, S7-A, and X280-A Series of Processors
The SiFive Automotive processor family offers the highest level of flexibility from any CPU IP vendor, with options that enable both area and performance optimization for different integrity levels like ASIL B, ASIL D, or mixed criticalities with split-lock, in line with ISO26262.
- E6-A series for a variety of real-time, 32-bit applications, from system control to hardware security modules (HSMs) and safety islands, and as standalone in microcontrollers.
- S7-A is a 64-bit, high-performance real-time core perfectly suited to the needs of modern SoCs with performant safety islands, requiring both low latency interrupt support and the same 64b memory space visibility as the main application CPUs.
- X280-A builds on the successful performance and power efficiency of the X280 and is ideal for sensors, sensor fusion, and other vector or ML intensive workloads in automotive applications.
The SiFive Automotive family will also expand its portfolio in 2023 with a very high performance, out of order, application CPU with best-in-class performance and automotive capabilities.
SiFive’s automotive products are accompanied by relevant safety packages that include documentation to accelerate the integration of the Safety Element out of Context (SEooC) and, with it, our customers’ time-to-market. Independent assessments of ASIL claims will support SiFive’s safety claims.
Enabling solutions include proven SiFive WorldGuard security solutions. With tailored levels of integrity for functional safety, SiFive Automotive products are also compliant with relevant cybersecurity standards, such as WP.29, R155, and ISO21434.
Future Automobiles will be Powered by RISC-V
SiFive is creating a complete lineup of compute IP for MCUs, MPUs, and high-performance SoCs, as well as vector processing solutions tailored for automotive applications, with the first high-performance, out-of-order, Automotive family cores planned for late 2023.
“We are making a significant long-term investment into the future of automotive, and we are continuing to assemble a world-class team of automotive CPU design experts who are collaborating with industry leaders to drive the digital vehicle forward,” continued Little.
From technologists like Monia Chiavacci who is a globally recognized pioneer in Functional Safety (FuSA) applied to systems-on-a-chip, a critical auto safety innovation, to Chairman and CEO, Patrick Little, who helped build the successful automotive business at Qualcomm, SiFive has put in place the team and tools to advance the digital automobile with RISC-V.
“One of the things that brought me to a leader like SiFive was the incredible potential of RISC-V, enabled by SiFive’s innovations, to develop solutions for some of the automotive industry’s greatest challenges while ensuring flexibility and faster time to market for both suppliers and manufacturers,” said Monia Chiavacci, SiFive Senior Principal Architect. “In addition to delivering our powerful processors, we are equally focused on ensuring the highest levels of functional safety without compromising performance and innovation.”
With several lead customers already, the SiFive Automotive E6 products will ship in Q4 of this year and the S7A and X280A are expected to be available shortly after.
Microchip Intros PIC32CM JH Microcontroller MCU
To provide manufacturers with an MCU solution equipped with components that meet ISO 26262 functional safety and ISO/SAE 21434 cybersecurity engineering standards, Microchip Technology Inc. today announces the PIC32CM JH microcontroller (MCU). This is the industry’s first MCU-based on the Arm® Cortex®-M0+ architecture with AUTOSAR support, Memory-Built-In Self-Test (MBIST) and secure boot.
The PIC32CM JH is compatible with AUTOSAR, an open software architecture, providing suppliers with the ability to change to lower-level hardware but keep the original application code, making it easier to migrate between different designs. AUTOSAR-ready is designed to streamline the development process and reduce overall costs. When using AUTOSAR, Microchip offers ASIL B microcontroller abstraction layers (MCALs) for functional safety applications — providing the lower-level hardware interface to the MCU.
Automotive industry OEMs require both functional safety and cybersecurity protection for many in-vehicle applications including touch buttons and touch wheels, door controls and console controls, and body applications such as Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). The PIC32CM JH, when paired with one of Microchip’s Trust Anchor TA100 CryptoAutomotive™ security ICs, is compliant to ISO/SAE 21434, the new Cybersecurity Standard for Automotive. The TA100 employs ultra-secure hardware-based cryptographic key storage and cryptographic countermeasures to eliminate potential backdoors linked to software weaknesses.
“With the PIC32CM JH MCU, Microchip is addressing the growing need for microcontroller solutions that are designed with functional safety and cybersecurity protection, which is particularly important in the automotive industry,” said Rod Drake vice president of Microchip Technology’s 32-bit MCU business unit.
“OEMs and other manufacturers now have the option to use an entry-level Arm Cortex-M0+ based MCU to meet compliance requirements previously only available on higher-end MCUs.”
The secure boot is part of the hardware. It authenticates the code to make sure it is valid and prevents malicious code from being loaded onto the MCU. Other hardware features included on the PIC32CM JH MCU are Error Correction Code (ECC) with fault injection, loopbacks on the communications interfaces, system memory protection unit and MBIST, all of which are safety mechanisms used to meet ISO 26262 and IEC 60730 standards.
MBIST is the industry-standard method of testing embedded memories and can quickly test the integrity of the Static Random-Access Memory (SRAM) to ensure it is functioning properly before the code is run to mitigate failures. To support developers with implementation, the PIC32CM JH comes with functional safety collateral such as a safety manual, Failure Modes Effects and Diagnostic Analysis (FMEDA) and diagnostic code targeting ISO 26262 ASIL B (Automotive Safety Integrity Level) safety levels.
Additionally, the PIC32CM JH includes advanced touch with Driven Shield Plus, providing noise and water tolerant operability. This feature is necessary for home appliances, industrial and automotive applications where the touch must work in a variety of harsh environments.
FIA Slects Siemens Digital as Official Sustainability PLM Software Supplier
Siemens Digital Industries Software announced today that the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), the governing body of world motor sport and the federation of the world’s leading motoring organizations, has selected Siemens as “Official Sustainability PLM Software Supplier” and has adopted solutions from the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio to collaborate with F1 Teams and to support FIA and its championships including F1 in sustainability efforts.
The FIA will begin implementing the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio to enable the design of vehicles and regulations that reduce energy consumption and emissions. Through this collaboration, Siemens will support the FIA in achieving its sustainability goals through innovative thinking, pioneering approaches in motor sport and new technological advances that could be impactful across the automotive industry.
Valens & Sony Demos MIPI A-PHY
Valens Semiconductor announced the successful completion of a joint interoperability testing session between a transmitter developed by Sony Semiconductor Solutions and a Valens Semiconductor receiver. Testing included high-speed data transmission, demonstrating key MIPI A-PHY communication features including error correction and retransmission mechanisms.
“As a pioneer in MIPI A-PHY technology, Valens Semiconductor’s primary goal has been to expand and strengthen the MIPI A-PHY ecosystem and Sony Semiconductor Solutions, a leader in the sensor market, is a great partner to enable this growth,” said Gideon Kedem, SVP and Head of Automotive at Valens Semiconductor. “MIPI A-PHY is the most robust and resilient automotive connectivity technology available, and the successful completion of the interoperability testing is a significant achievement for the ecosystem. The addition of more suppliers providing A-PHY compliant IC products continues the momentum towards widescale market adoption of this standard”.
“Interoperability between multiple vendors’ components is crucial for the success of any standard, and we are happy to reach this important milestone with MIPI A-PHY,” said Kenji Onishi, General Manager, Automotive Business Department, Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation. “As market leaders, it is highly important for Sony Semiconductor Solutions to introduce cutting-edge technology into our image sensors, and MIPI A-PHY serializer integration will provide significant cost and performance benefits for our automotive customers.”
WANDisco Joins SOAFEE
WANdisco, the data activation company, announced its membership to The Scalable Open Architecture for Embedded Edge (SOAFEE) to build an open, standardized cloud-native architecture for automotive innovation and design. In direct collaboration with leaders across the automotive, semiconductor, and cloud industries, WANdisco will support the development of software solutions that enable an array of automotive applications in software-defined vehicles (SDV).
SOAFEE includes enterprise companies from across the automotive, semiconductor, and cloud industries, and is governed by AWS, Bosch, and ARM, among others. WANdisco will work with fellow SOAFEE members to develop an open, cloud-native architecture that standardizes automotive hardware and software requirements to meet the real-time and safety demands of SDVs. As a leader in large-scale data activation, WANdisco brings unmatched expertise in the flow of data between edge and cloud environments which fuels AI and ML in the cloud, supports the development of new technologies and functionalities, and unlocks new revenue streams from connected car data.
“As software-defined vehicles increasingly dominate the automotive industry, the role of continuous data movement will become an integral component of connected car infrastructure,” said Dr. Frank Moser, Global Head of IoT Solutions and VP of Strategic Accounts at WANdisco. “In joining SOAFEE, WANdisco brings vast expertise in enterprise-scale data transfers between edge and cloud environments to key stakeholders across the industry, supporting the evolution of both hardware and software solutions to support next-generation automotive applications.”
Earlier this year, WANdisco launched WANdisco Edge to Cloud, making it possible for exabytes of edge data to be efficiently transferred for use in any cloud environment. Edge to Cloud directly connects stores of sensor-generated data with cloud-based AI, machine learning, and analytics applications, allowing every data point to add business value.
Edge to Cloud is already supporting one leading automotive component manufacturer in moving exabytes of sensor data from the edge to the cloud to fuel AI and ML and develop new business models. As automotive manufacturers continue to innovate in the cloud, large-scale edge-to-cloud data movement will play an important role in meeting the demands of SDV software updates that are critical to long-term performance and safety
Nexar Video Shows AI Parking Space Finder
Nexar, the leading computer vision AI company, released a video demonstrating the first ever AI-powered parking space-finder app. Demonstrated with Oracle & KDDIs’ mobile and edge infrastructure, the app reviews dash cam footage to detect on-street free curb space in Tokyo’s busy streets using edge compute environments. Nexar, KDDI and Oracle are part of the Automotive Edge Computing Consortium (AECC), which works to create the computing and connectivity infrastructure for connected cars of the future.
Nexar’s app can dynamically and safely scale the sharing of transient conditions in near real-time. This demonstration comes on the heels of a similar real-time on-street parking app pilot in New York City, where thousands of Nexar’s popular dash cams were driven around the city, capturing 220 million miles of driving each month and spotting empty parking spaces in real-time. Locations and photos are shared instantly to Nexar’s app, so that a circling driver can quickly grab the empty space.
Using the power of AI and the distributed edge architecture, Nexar solves the issue of latency, and compute and connectivity costs by consolidating and verifying multiple vehicles at the network edge. Nexar’s goal is to solve the geolocation class of problems: HDMap fresh change collection, intelligent driving hazards, provide blockages and convenience alerts, and create traffic scheduling cruise assist, using edge compute environment and resources. This way, Nexar can spot and map empty parking spaces “seen” by these dash cams as they drive through the city, sharing them through push notifications to other drivers to the free parking spot.
Tokyo’s AECC pilot is a breakthrough in proving the viability of such applications for the future of 5G networks, using in-car camera SDKs to compute the Uber H3 spatial index, which is used to distribute data across multiple edge clouds including Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). The pilot also uses AECC aggregation and consolidation on the network edge. This PoC proves the feasibility of cost-effective scale and elasticity of automotive edge services that will drive different use cases leveraging the powerful 5G and edge compute industry trends. In addition, Toyota, DENSO, NTT, Ericsson and Intel are charter AECC members.
The parking-finder app used the AECC’s distributed edge architecture, deployed on KDDI and OCI, and using the standards that Nexar, Cisco and UPC have been developing in the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Running on OCI, the app relies on fast, flexible, and affordable compute capacity through OCI Compute and Oracle Container Engine for Kubernetes to run live data points for the AI algorithm.
Keysight Tech Intros SerDes Rx Testing
Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: KEYS), a leading technology company that delivers advanced design and validation solutions to help accelerate innovation to connect and secure the world, announced a new automotive serializer/deserializer (SerDes) receiver (Rx) compliance test solution to verify mobile industry processor interface (MIPI) A-PHY devices based on the Compliance Test Specification (CTS) requirements. This solution was developed in collaboration with BitifEye Digital Test Solutions GMBH and Wilder Technologies, with the support of Valens Semiconductor Ltd. (NYSE:VLN).
Silicon vendors are planning to implement MIPI A-PHY®, a long-reach physical layer interface for automotive and other surround-sensor applications, including cameras and in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) displays. Manufacturers are continually enhancing vehicles with autonomous functions and there is significant awareness that those functions should improve safety conditions. As a result, the data gathered from sensors and cameras must be transmitted accurately, with precision and speed, from any silicon vendor.
Keysight’s Rx compliance test solution recreates a compliant transmitter that generates a controlled distorted signal (worst case) and analyzes the impact of the distortions on the receiver’s capability to correctly sample transmitted data. It enables auto makers and their suppliers, as well as automotive engineers and system integrators, to stress the receiver and validate its performance in the noisy and inherently harsh environment of a car.
“At Keysight, we recognize that it is critical to address the growing market demands for high-speed digital interfaces for next-generation in-vehicle networks,” said Thomas Goetzl, vice president and general manager of Keysight’s Automotive and Energy Solutions business unit. “This new solution from Keysight represents yet another way we are supporting the evolution and standardization of technologies for our automotive customers.”
Keysight’s Rx compliance test solution ensures the quality of the digital transmission by measuring the receiver’s ability to recover data from an impaired input signal, with the following key features:
- A comprehensive test framework to identify the margin at which a device under test (DUT) is working.
- A custom fixture that couples the noise to an active link to stress the receiver.
- Accurate and repeatable results with Keysight arbitrary waveform generator (AWG) to generate a variety of random and complex noise profiles.
- Access to predefined noise profiles.
- All relevant hardware, software and accessories in a single model number, saving time and money.
- Automatic report generation in a comprehensive HTML or PDF format including margin analysis.
BitifEye Digital Test Solutions GMBH offers test software which complement Keysight´s product portfolio to highly integrated and automated application-specific test systems. Keysight partnered with BitifEye to deliver the first solution that can test the receivers of automotive SerDes MIPI A-PHY data links.
“We are excited to engage with Keysight to deliver a new way for the industry to validate receiver devices utilizing MIPI A-PHY,” said Julien Henaut, Chief Operating Officer, BitifEye Digital Test Solutions GMBH. “Our customers will benefit from testing solutions that enable device makers of new automotive in-vehicle networks, either standardized or accepted, to become global standards for automotive high-speed data transmission.”
LimnTech Export AI Camera Pavement Marking
LimnTech Scientific recently completed an upgrade to the LifeMark ®-100 Automated Record and Layout system which allows customers to export AI camera-collected pavement marking location data into CAD programs. The new feature allows engineers and designers to compare “as built” data with design plans enabling them to store accurate information and make changes for future layout by the LifeMar ®k-100 system. Traffic control customers can layout new changed pavement marking locations by truck instead of by hand. Common use case is for traffic switches, generally completed by hand crews in live traffic. These marks are used nationwide to place temporary traffic control devices like cones, barrels, and markings every night.
This third generation LifeMark ®-100 Automated Record and Layout System has revolutionized the pavement marking industry. The ability to record pavement marking location via camera using AI software at traffic speeds is now combined with LimnTech Scientific software’s ease of operation. Multiple customers are ordering additional units to increase the efficiency obtained by their first unit delivered.
The new Data Export and Import capability will allow further growth of the system to allow for recording of data of other infrastructure assets. Examples include utility hole or storm drain identification and location, curbs or sidewalk, bike lanes. Contact us to see what we can do for your infrastructure management.
LimnTech Scientific automation products for road striping equipment are currently in operation across North America, with thousands of roads recorded and laid out quickly from the safety of a state-of-the-art truck. Dozens of automatic layout trucks are being used to keep workers out of harm’s way in over 12 states, all while simultaneously recording road marking locations to a high degree of accuracy.
LimnTech Scientific designs and manufactures automation systems for the roadway marking industry. GPS-based and machine vision systems make jobs safer by removing workers from dangerous environments and are available for most equipment worldwide.