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Changing dynamics among OEMs, suppliers alter the automotive electronics landscape.

www.eetasia.com, Nov. 09, 2022 – 

Likening the modern automobile to a server on wheels is starting to sound cliché, but we're just hitting the tip of iceberg when it comes to the number of electronic components that are finding their way into modern automotive design, as well as the supporting infrastructure for autonomous driving in large urban centers.

In the meantime, the ground underneath is constantly shifting: Supply chain constraints, software defined architectures, functional safety requirements, and the changing dynamics among original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), tier 1 suppliers, and semiconductor companies are altering the landscape of automotive electronics. This dynamic environment was the subject of discussion in a recent panel hosted by ProteanTecs, and, judging from that talk, "changing" may be an understatement.

The winds of change

Panelist Peter Mertens, an automotive industry veteran and tech investor, said the automotive industry hasn't faced this much disruption in a century, thanks to a very strong push toward electrification, as well as a huge demand for compute power in the vehicles because of customers need for additional services and features. Electrical architectures in current vehicles are already quite complex with hundreds of electronic control units (ECUs).

"For each and every little functionality, there's a single ECU," he said. That's about to change drastically as OEMs move to a domain-based architecture with high-performance computers.

Mertens said OEMs are moving toward one or two large computers being responsible for all functionality inside the vehicle, which is a "drastic change" that will include software-defined architectures, that have a tremendous impact on the semiconductor supply chain.

Stephen Kosonocky, a senior fellow at Uhnder, said the broader computer industry provides some guidance as to where vehicle architectures are headed. "The computer industry is really moving more toward domain-specific architectures, where you want to maximize the performance and power efficiency for specific compute domains," he said, noting that the automobile is seen headed in the same direction. "It will employ very complex systems-on-chip (SoCs) or systems-in-packages, much like a modern cell phone, mobile phone, laptop, or server system."

These architecture changes combined with constraints in the supply chain will drive innovation, said Dean Bushey, VP and head of Hitachi's environmental business division in the Americas. Chips will be built from the ground up digitally. "That changes the nature of the way we think about manufacturing."

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