With the acceleration of the intelligent transformation of automobiles, automobiles are evolving from traditional means of transportation to highly integrated "intelligent mobile terminals". As the main window for human-computer interaction in smart cars, the smart cockpit is entering a new era of intelligence.
In the past few years, car cockpits have been in a "stacked" cycle of adding more large screens and more functions, and all functional configurations are driver-centered, which has also led to the emergence of problems such as "fragmentation" of user experience.
But now, the smart cockpit has entered the 3.0 era, paying more attention to the upgrade of the interactive experience of all passengers in the car. This has led to a series of new needs such as passenger entertainment screens, rear entertainment screens, game entry, and multi-screen interactive integration. .
At the same time, human-computer interaction in car cockpits has begun to evolve from a single interaction method to multi-modal interactions such as voice, touch, gestures, and vision, and from basic user interaction to active interaction.
Behind these changes, the general trend of automotive electronic and electrical architecture toward central computing has become unstoppable. According to the "High-tech Intelligent Automotive Research Institute", with the evolution of automotive electronic and electrical architecture to central computing architecture, the era of software-defined cockpits has begun. From chips to displays, hardware to software, and perception to interaction, a new round of competition for smart cockpits has begun.
At the 2023 (15th) Advanced Intelligent Automotive Developers Conference (Automotive Software, Cockpit Auto Connectivity) held on August 31, representatives from FAW, Unisoc, Xinda Ji'an, Neusoft Group, Harman, and Novo Guests including Bo Auto, Wutong AutoLink, ZTE, MeG Intelligent, Qualcomm, and Xpeng Motors respectively elaborated on the new trends in smart cockpits from aspects such as domain controllers, Internet of Vehicles, cockpit safety, and human-computer interaction.
The war for smart cockpit upgrades "ignited"
"High-tech Intelligent Automobile Research Institute" believes that smart cockpits have entered a superposition cycle of "replacement and upgrade" and "cost reduction and efficiency improvement" of key computing platforms.
On the one hand, the smart cockpit track is ushering in a new wave of chip replacement. Since last year, major OEMs have begun to enter the cycle of developing new models and revamping old models, and the window period for switching suppliers has opened.
On the other hand, with the accelerated penetration of smart cockpits from high-end models to mid- to low-price range models, cost reduction and efficiency improvement have become the first consideration for OEMs.
Yan Zhu, general manager of Unisoc's automotive electronics product line, published "Platform Innovation of Smart Cockpit SoC" and stated that creating a high-performance smart cockpit SoC requires a complete set of processes including IP, chip design, hardware, operating system, and reference design.
Yan Zhu, General Manager of Unisoc’s Automotive Electronics Product Line
Yan Zhu introduced that Unisoc’s self-developed 5G car-grade smart cockpit chip A7870 series adopts a platform design, with NPU computing power reaching 8Tops. It has the advantages of small size, low power consumption, high integration, etc., and can realize 5G, smart Functions such as cockpit and parking are also implemented as technology platforms, integrating the software stack and operating system.
Li Tianran, director of automotive electronic software technology of Neusoft Group, delivered a wonderful speech on the theme of "Exploration and Breakthrough of Intelligent Cockpits under Smart Collaboration".
Li Tianran, Director of Automotive Electronics Software Technology of Neusoft Group
He said that software is gradually becoming the core of cars and dominates most functions such as driving and entertainment. It will also determine the differences in car configurations and car experience. Based on the new E/E architecture, Neusoft has built a software platform and a software-hardware integrated platform with software capabilities as the core, and built four major business segments: software products, smart cockpit, smart communications, and software services.
Currently, Neusoft has created a next-generation smart cockpit platform based on the fourth-generation Qualcomm Snapdragon automotive digital cockpit platform, which can achieve the integration of multiple ECUs and domains with just one chip.
In addition, Neusoft has also launched the Neusoft C⁵ vehicle human-computer interaction platform, which realizes intelligent collaboration of multi-domain functions such as Ethernet gateway, body domain controller, cockpit domain control, ADAS and other functions through pluggable and scalable hardware architecture design. This can help car manufacturers achieve efficient product updates and create highly sticky communities.
Sun Yanfei, senior director of Harman Intelligent Cockpit System Design, published "Modularization and Scalability of Intelligent Cockpits" and said that currently, the intelligent car industry is still faced with the fact that the automobile research and development cycle is too long, the research and development costs are too high, and the in-vehicle system cannot last throughout the entire use cycle. Introduce new features and other pain points.
Sun Yanfei, Senior Director of Harman Intelligent Cockpit System Design
Sun Yanfei said that the way to overcome these pain points is to provide pre-certified smart cockpit domain controllers and software stacks through the concept of product design. Based on this, Harman has launched the Ready Upgrade solution, which is a set of fully upgradeable cockpit domain controller products that can help automakers achieve differentiated in-vehicle experiences within 6-12 months of project launch.
It is understood that Ready Upgrade includes three series of mass-production cockpit domain controllers, advanced software solutions, a series of pre-integrated functions and a set of lightweight coding software development tools for customers, which can significantly reduce the push of new functions. The market time and development costs of automobile manufacturers can also be achieved while upgrading the entire vehicle life cycle.
Hong Jiujin, head of Nobo Auto's smart cockpit products, delivered a speech titled "The Road to Scale-up of High Computing Power Cockpit Domain Control". He said that the platform and modular development of smart cockpits are extremely important. By increasing the common use of parts and reducing waste, The number of components, increased scale, and repeated use of mature systems can effectively reduce costs and increase efficiency.
Hong Jiujin, product manager of Nobo Auto’s smart cockpit products
Regarding the platform technology path, Hong Jiujin said that the platformization of the smart cockpit domain requires top-down planning in advance, gradually restricting the number of components from top-level planning, and building a super platform, followed by simultaneous iterations in a bottom-up approach. Upgrade to find the optimal solution.
Nobo Technology's IN9.0 product is one of the first domestic cockpit domain controllers to be mass-produced using Qualcomm's SA8155P solution. It integrates the central control screen, instrument screen, HUD screen, passenger screen and lower control screen, and has already won the Great Wall Fixed-point and large-scale delivery of multiple automotive projects. Next, Nobo Technology will also accelerate the mass production of smart cockpit domain controllers based on Qualcomm 8295 platform.
Zhong Stone, R&D Director of Xpeng Motors, delivered a keynote speech on "Practice and Development of Domain Control Design" and said that current automotive product needs have been redefined by intelligence, and the automotive electronic and electrical architecture has moved from traditional distributed to centralized. The former is characterized by : The network topology is complex, the communication bandwidth is small, the node interactions are complex, and the ECU capability is weak. The latter is characterized by: clear and simple network topology (simplification), large communication bandwidth (multiplexing), short node interaction (service-oriented), domain Strong control ability (centralization).
Zhong Stone, R&D Director of Xpeng Motors
Zhong Stone further stated that in the face of the evolution of electronic and electrical architecture towards cabin-driving integration, the industry is facing the challenges of increasingly high cross-department collaboration costs, increasingly difficult balance between technological leadership and target costs, and shortened development cycles . As a leader in automobile intelligence, Xpeng Motors’ response includes four aspects: basic technology improvement, cost optimization, intelligence improvement, and organizational optimization.
Cockpit-car connectivity enters a new era
Turning a car into a super-intelligent terminal in the "pan-IoT world" is the core goal of product research and development in the context of software-defined cars. Based on this, 5G, ICT, artificial intelligence, 3D and other technologies are increasingly used in the field of smart cockpits, driving the exploration and progress of smart cockpits from anthropomorphic to natural and emotional.
Wutong AutoLink CTO Wang Yongliang published "Cognitive Intelligence Envisioning the Interactive Future" and stated that cars are evolving from traditional means of transportation to "intelligent car robots". In order to create an intelligent interactive experience that “understands me better, is more interesting, and is more natural”, Wutong AutoLink has created a sustainably evolving “Interactive Strategy Brain” around the four core dimensions of smart identification, smart sharing, smart strategy, and smart execution. It includes four stages: Interactive Strategy Brain 1.0, Mutual Strategy Brain 2.0, Mutual Strategy Brain 3.0, and Mutual Strategy Brain 4.0.
Wutong AutoLink CTO Wang Yongliang
Wang Yongliang introduced that the 1.0 stage is mainly an execution brain, and the business characteristics are mainly single decisions; while the 2.0 stage is mainly a rule-based strategy; the 3.0 stage has evolved into a learning brain, which can cause and effect reasoning and psychological analysis, and will evolve into wisdom in the 4.0 stage Brain, can predict and fully anthropomorphize.
Huang Yingheng, Director of ZTE Intelligent Connected Products, published "Based on ICT Technology and Empowering the High-Quality Development of the Digital Automobile Industry", saying that although cars and mobile phones are not at the same level of technical difficulty and application environment complexity, there are many development paths. similar to. In the future, ICT technology will become an indispensable core technology for the future development of the automotive industry.
Huang Yingheng, Director of Intelligent Network Products of ZTE Corporation
ZTE will leverage its 38 years of ICT hard power to build China's digital smart car technology base based on domestically produced vehicle operating systems and domestically produced automotive chips. At present, ZTE has self-developed a full-stack car-grade 4G Cat4 domestic module based on the V3 chip platform. At the same time, ZTE has also self-developed a full-stack self-developed 5G R16 car-scale module - the ZTE ZM9300 module. It has now cooperated with GAC Wait for the car companies to reach a cooperation.
Niu Fangwei, senior product director of Meige Intelligent, delivered a keynote speech on "Smart Modules, New Forces in Digital Cockpits".
Niu Fangwei, senior product director of Meige Intelligence
According to Niu Fangwei, as the world's leading provider of wireless communication modules and solutions, Meige Intelligent is one of the first domestic players to achieve large-scale mass production of smart modules in the field of smart cockpits. The company has established a wholly-owned subsidiary The company focuses on the automotive module business and has deployed R&D/sales/technical support in the global automotive market. According to the plan, the company is expected to achieve tens of billions of revenue by 2028, of which the automotive business accounts for more than 50%.
Specifically, on the product side, Meige Intelligence has launched smart cockpit module SLM925, 5G smart module SRM900/SRM930, 5G R16 car-scale module MA922/MA925 and other products. The next-generation smart module product based on Qualcomm's latest SoC chip. With the comprehensive improvement of CPU and GPU capabilities, the AI computing power has reached an astonishing 48 Tops, which is the highest AI computing power among the smart cockpit products that have been mass-produced. product.
On the market application side, Meige Intelligent's various vehicle-mounted smart modules have won customer projects from multiple mainstream car brands, and recently successfully won the cockpit domain controller project designation of a leading domestic Tier 1 new car-making force, creating the next A first-generation smart cockpit solution that creates a more immersive and intelligent cockpit experience. Relevant products have been fully installed on the new flagship models of many new power partners and are commercially available in large quantities.
At present, Meige Intelligent has accumulated rich mass production experience in the field of intelligent connected vehicles, helping car companies continue to iterate intelligent cockpit functions. Continue to explore the application potential of core product capabilities such as 5G, high-performance low-power computing, and AI applications in the automotive field. Relying on software solutions such as Android system customization, the research and development accumulation of intelligent hardware architecture, and the advanced manufacturing capabilities of 5G smart factories, we can efficiently empower It can enable intelligent and connected cars to be upgraded.
Li Dalong, Product Marketing Director of Qualcomm Technologies, delivered a keynote speech on "5G, Starting with R16".
Li Dalong, Director of Product Marketing, Qualcomm Technologies
Li Dalong said that compared with Release 15 (R15), Release 16 (R16) has a better network experience, better and optimized power consumption performance, and better security. The 3GPP Release 16 ecosystem is currently ready, among which, in 2022 Corresponds to Release 16 commercial network construction and terminal equipment release. In 2023, it corresponds to Release 16 large-scale network deployment and large-scale terminal equipment release.
In Li Dalong's view, starting from the end of 2024, newly released terminal equipment from major global operators will support Release 16 (including cars). Qualcomm has currently launched the second-generation Snapdragon automotive 5G modem and radio frequency platform, fully supporting 3GPP R16, provides a complete SoC to antenna solution for automobiles.
It is undeniable that with the rapid increase in the deployment rate of smart cockpits, the industry is paying more and more attention to the network security, information security, and data security of smart cockpits. Therefore, the construction and implementation of the safety protection system of smart cockpits has become the focus of major OEMs and suppliers.
Li Jun, head of basic software R&D at FAW (Beijing) Software Technology, published the "Intelligent Cockpit Information Security Protection System" and said that to build intelligent cockpit products with the ultimate user experience, it is necessary to realize the car as the core and connect everything around the user's cognition, including The four levels of smart ecology, cloud cluster, data link and all-things terminal form an Internet of Things product system.
Li Jun, head of basic software R&D at FAW (Beijing) Software Technology
However, as smart cockpits need to integrate more functional scenarios, increase communication inside and outside the vehicle, and with the generalization of technical solution architecture, smart cockpit information security risks will also increase, ranging from hardware, firmware, systems, OTA to application software. Risk of attack or sabotage.
Li Jun believes that the establishment of a smart cockpit information security protection system needs to be based on relevant laws and regulations and based on the TARA analysis results of the smart cockpit functional architecture, and a hierarchical establishment of an information security protection system. "Since smart cars will need software updates in the future, the construction of the information security system also needs to run through the entire life cycle of the vehicle. After the implementation of information security, subsequent upgrades will also need to be continued through software iterations."
As we all know, under the general trends of "one core, multiple screens" and domain integration, most smart cockpits currently use the Hypervisor virtualization solution to make various subsystems such as central control and instrumentation independent, enabling the same hardware platform to host heterogeneous operating systems. flexibility while achieving good high reliability and fault protection mechanisms.
"As smart cockpits gradually penetrate into mid- to low-end models, car companies are paying more attention to choosing smart cockpit screen display solutions with higher cost performance." Li Xin, senior vice president of Xinda Ji'an, published "Xinda Ji'an Smart Cockpit LXC Containerized Safety System Solution" " stated that the hypervisor hardware virtualization solution has high research and development costs and large performance losses, and is not suitable for mid- to low-end models.
Li Xin, Senior Vice President of Xinda Ji’an
Therefore, Li Xin believes that car companies can focus on replacing complex hypervisor technology with mature container technology (like Docker) in smart driving screen display solutions, which not only simplifies hardware support and transplantation costs, but also avoids hardware access. delay problem while ensuring the independent and safe operation of each system.
Xinda Ji'an's containerized security solution is a more lightweight "single hardware-multi-system-multi-screen" vehicle system solution that can meet the dashboard's requirements for high security, high stability, fast startup, etc. It can also support multiple screens such as IVI system screen, passenger screen, HUD screen, etc.