In connected car news are GM, Elektrobit, Indi Semi and HARMAN.
Global Foundaries to Supply GM with Chips
General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) and GlobalFoundries announced a strategic, long-term agreement establishing a dedicated capacity corridor exclusively for GM’s chip supply. Through this first-of-its-kind agreement, GF will manufacture for GM’s key chip suppliers at GF’s advanced semiconductor facility in upstate New York bringing a critical process to the U.S.
This agreement supports GM’s strategy to reduce the number of unique chips needed to power increasingly complex and tech-laden vehicles. With this strategy, chips can be produced in higher volumes and are expected to offer better quality and predictability, maximizing high value content creation for the end customer.
Semiconductors are the foundation of the technologies that are powering the electrification, autonomous driving and connectivity of the auto industry, and they have been center stage in the global chip shortage that has impacted automakers the last couple of years.
Elektobit EB tresos 9 Available Now
Elektrobit announced the immediate availability of EB tresos 9, the new iteration of its industry-leading basic software enabling carmakers and suppliers to develop next-generation electronic control units (ECUs) based on the latest AUTOSAR standard. The update fully supports AUTOSAR R20-11 and integrates the industry-leading onboard intrusion-detection capabilities in Argus CAN IDPS, developed by CES 2023 Innovation Award-winner Argus Cyber Security.
Industry experts expect the share of production vehicles incorporating ECUs based on AUTOSAR basic software to reach 80% by 2027. EB tresos 9 will allow OEMs and Tier 1s standardizing on AUTOSAR to reduce development costs and overall development time.
EB tresos 9 specifically streamlines the development of software features that comply with the latest standards for security and safety including ISO/SAE 21434 for cyber security risk management and SAE J1979-2 for on-board emissions diagnostics, which will be mandatory for vehicles in the US as of 2027. It monitors traffic, detects threats and anomalies, and offers prevention mechanisms for common attack methods such as denial of service and brute force. EB tresos 9 also fulfills the firmware-over-the-air requirements defined by AUTOSAR for updating ECUs during normal vehicle operation.
“With EB tresos 9 we’ve added the latest AUTOSAR compliance requirements, coupled with best-in-class security, making it easier for our customers to build the complex automotive operating systems (OSes) that will control and define all systems in their next-generation vehicles,” said Michael Robertson, vice president, global product management and strategy, Elektrobit. “EB tresos 9’s off-the-shelf functionality and reusability allows development of more software features, for more vehicles, in less time.”
EB tresos 9 is a significant part of Elektrobit’s overall software and engineering services offerings, which uniquely provide a one-stop-shop for carmakers seeking to build their own automotive OS – the harmonized software platforms that will control all systems in next-generation vehicles. Elektrobit has been developing automotive basic software for over 30 years, resulting in the industry’s most mature and reliable software line.
Elektrobit intends to make continued updates to the EB tresos line as further updates are made to the AUTOSAR standard. In addition, EB tresos 9 roadmap includes measures for higher degree of automation for reducing costs and enhancing development efficiencies of teams, and a new, state-of-the-art graphical user interface to make it easier and more intuitive to use.
Elektrobit to Supply Sony Honda AFEELA
Eektrobit today revealed it is a provider of software and services for the Sony Honda Mobility (SHM) AFEELA prototype, which was unveiled at CES 2023. It’s the latest result of Elektrobit’s multi-year collaboration with Sony and now SHM to reimagine the software-defined vehicle. The partnership began in 2019 around the development of the first two Sony VISION-S prototype vehicles; the new AFEELA brand vehicles are slated to enter commercial production in 2025.
Elektrobit created the innovative software architecture for the AFEELA prototype, enabling SHM to leverage the entire Sony ecosystem to create a new level of user experience. Elektrobit developed the cockpit system including software for the Qualcomm high-performance computing (HPC) processors and the software stack up to the UX design powering all cockpit displays. In addition, Elektrobit provided integration services for the cockpit system encompassing all software and hardware components and applications from Sony and its partners.////
Indie Semi Buys Autotech
Indie Semiconductor (Nasdaq: INDI), an Autotech solutions innovator, today announced it has entered a definitive agreement to purchase GEO Semiconductor, Inc., a market leader in video processors for automotive cameras. Acquisition of GEO, a private fabless semiconductor supplier, adds immediate scale to indie’s Image Processing program and enables true sensor fusion of Radar, LiDAR, Ultrasound and Computer Vision solutions in advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) applications. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023, subject to customary closing conditions.
Underpinned by 100 global patents, GEO’s industry leading, camera-based sensing and viewing capabilities are shipping today to some of the world’s largest automotive OEMs including Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan and Toyota. With design wins across more than 20 Tier 1s and 400 car models, GEO has programs with every major image sensor supplier in the world and is engaged in multiple EV and autonomous vehicle programs.
AOS SiC Licensed
Alpha and Omega Semiconductor Limited (AOS) (Nasdaq: AOSL), a designer, developer, and global supplier of a broad range of power semiconductors announced that it has entered into a license agreement with a leading power semiconductor automotive supplier related to AOS’s Silicon Carbide (SiC) MOSFET and diode technology. In the agreement AOS will license and provide engineering support for its proprietary aSiC technology as well as an accompanying supply agreement.
Silicon Carbide is a next-generation power semiconductor technology can enable automotive manufactures to produce electric vehicle (EV) powertrain and charging systems with smaller size and higher efficiency resulting in faster charging and extended operating range. The SiC market is one of the fastest growing segments in the power semiconductor market with an estimated $6 billion total addressable market size by 2027. AOS’s class leading automotive aSiC MOSFETs are available from 750V to 1200V, covering the majority of 400V and rapidly expanding 800V EV battery systems./
HARMAN partners with proteanTecs
proteanTecs, a global leader of deep data analytics for advanced electronics, and HARMAN, an automotive technology company and subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. focused on designing consumer experiences at automotive grade, have collaborated to advance a new approach to predictive and preventive maintenance of vehicle electronics. The HARMAN and proteanTecs solution combines over-the-air (OTA) technology, deep data analytics and advanced device health monitoring to notify, predict and prevent malfunctions in the entire fleet. The details and use cases of this integrated solution are available in a new white paper, detailing the companies’ joint cloud and onboard applications.
Vehicles of the future will always be connected and differentiated by software. But as hardware and software advancements provide the foundation for these next-generation cars, the ever-increasing complexity presents new challenges. Modern cars contain more than 100 million lines of software code and have become an always-connected “computer on wheels”. These software-defined vehicles rely on OTA technology for important updates, which can directly contribute to the electronics’ stress. In terms of hardware, electronic control units contain advanced system-on-chips (SoCs), which are populated with billions of transistors—a statistic that has doubled annually over the past three decades. This complexity makes it increasingly difficult to pinpoint and prevent failures.
“The world is changing, and the vehicle is evolving to include more and more software,” said Michal Geva, VP and GM of OTA and Cybersecurity at HARMAN. “The Software Defined Vehicle is now a reality, and as such, the software within the vehicle must be maintained and updated with the highest performance and availability. proteanTecs’ technology essentially transforms chips into smart system sensors for the entire electronic control unit, and together we can offer automakers a platform to detect and remedy issues through a variety of OTA techniques. This collaboration keeps consumer experiences at the forefront, while delivering automotive grade results.”
“Predicting and preventing failures of any kind—hardware or software—is imperative to fostering confidence in the next wave of automotive innovation,” said Gal Carmel, executive VP and GM of automotive at proteanTecs. “HARMAN is a well-recognized leader in the connected vehicle industry, and we welcome this opportunity to collaborate and combine our unique technologies to benefit OEMs and consumers alike.”
HARMAN and proteanTecs have published a new white paper titled, “Maintaining Vehicles of the Future – Unleashing Deep Data to Fuel Predictive and Preventive Maintenance,”
Pioneer Partners with Toyota for Logistics
Pioneer Corporation has partnered with Toyota Tsusho Corporation to develop and offer logistics DX solutions to support last-mile deliveries.
The first jointly developed logistics DX solution in this partnership is the Optimized Delivery Planning Service, which is designed to streamline delivery processes in logistics operations. Pioneer’s Piomatix LBS (location-based service) API Suite, which is based on the company’s proprietary mobility AI platform Piomatix, optimizes travelling routes of commercial vehicles. In this Optimized Delivery Planning Service, two APIs in the suite—the Route-Searching API and the Route Matrix API—work in tandem to search for and recommend optimal delivery routes and predict delivery distances and time. These two APIs use a scalable routing engine, real-time wide-area traffic congestion information, and highly accurate prediction of travelling time to generate reliable routing information. With this service, delivery service providers can achieve greater on-time delivery performance and operational efficiency.
Toyota Tsusho has been providing this service to WILLPORT Co., Ltd., a Tokyo-based logistics service provider, since November 2022. WILLPORT has incorporated this service into its open logistics platform (“OLP”) for last-mile deliveries (“Polaris Navi”) to coordinate with consignors and delivery service providers of varying sizes in joint small-area deliveries to provide better services to customers and achieve greater operational efficiency. Toyota Tsusho found that WILLPORT’s OLP helped delivery service providers achieve a more than 94% on-time delivery rate while reducing their total delivery time by 12% and total delivery distances by 20% for the month of November 2022.
Pioneer intends to work closely with Toyota Tsusho to expand the Optimized Delivery Planning Service in Japan. This is part of our efforts to address social issues, such as overtime restrictions to be imposed on truck drivers in 2024 and reducing logistics CO2 emissions, and support sustainable last-mile delivery services. As a second step, the two companies will explore the opportunity to extend the service into markets outside Japan.