Integrated travel and parking, a 60 billion new market for domain controller manufacturers

In terms of engineering, the Xingbo integrated domain controller also faces many challenges. It is necessary to ensure the high reliability and quality of the hardware as well as the high performance and high real-time of the software. For example, some domain controllers may freeze or reset abnormally due to high temperatures, long-term operation, etc.; bugs in the underlying software may cause stack overflow, multi-core jump data desynchronization, etc.

Heduo Technology once shared the story of its technicians doing high and low experiments on the ARK1.0 B sample. At that time, the domain controller would crash and freeze repeatedly every 72 hours. To solve this problem, Heduo Technology conducted software and hardware configurations one by one. The investigation was still fruitless. After a week, it was finally discovered that a security monitoring module developed at the bottom of the chip had a logical judgment error. Mao Tao, senior product director of Heduo Technology, also mentioned that the design of domain controller BOM tests engineering capabilities.

For example, during the testing process, he found that the supplier's resistors, circuits were not good, or the board thickness was not enough, etc. For this reason, it was necessary to reselect components and make corresponding adjustments to the BOM. "We usually make the first version of the BOM based on the experience of our team, and then improve the first version of the BOM based on the suggestions of multiple partners. Finally, the final version of the BOM is determined through internal review by multiple parties." Through repeated polishing of engineering capabilities, HoloArk successfully created the integrated domain controller HoloArk based on Horizon Journey series chips and Texas Instruments TDA4 series chips (HoloArk 1.0~3.0 is divided into 1.0~3.0 based on different computing power of 18TOPS, 288TOPS and 500+TOPS). ).

At present, HoloArk has been appointed by many leading OEM customers such as Chery, among which the HoloArk1.0 and HoloArk2.0 domain control solutions will be mass-produced and installed in 2023. 03 Impacting the RMB 60 billion market and building an ecosystem of chip companies and OEMs. In addition to the quality of the product itself, the mass production of the Xingbo integrated domain controller is also inseparable from the close collaboration of upstream and downstream ecological partners in the industry chain. In the upstream, domain controller manufacturers need to reach strong strategic cooperation with leading chip companies to speed up research and development and product launch.

The reason behind this is that in the era of intelligent automobiles, the importance of chips has greatly increased, and even plays a decisive role in the competitive landscape of Tier 1. Domestic domain controller giant Desay SV has quickly launched domain controller products on the market precisely because it has maintained excellent relationships with chip manufacturers such as Texas Instruments and NVIDIA.

It is understood that Desay SV and Texas Instruments have a history of cooperation for more than 10 years.

In 2021, the two parties signed a memorandum of cooperation to jointly build the IPU02 platform. Desay SV will develop the TDA4 chip of Texas Instruments simultaneously, becoming the first SOP in the world. In terms of cooperation with NVIDIA, Desay SV is the only Chinese company among the former's 6 Tier1 partners worldwide.

Desay SV's domain controllers IPU03 and IPU04 are based on NVIDIA Xavier and Orin chips respectively. In terms of development speed, the two-year development period of IPU04 is significantly shorter than that of IPU03. It can be seen that the two have formed a high degree of cooperation. Spend. In addition, in-depth cooperation with chip manufacturers will also help to obtain stable supply support.

The automotive chip supply chain crisis in the second half of 2021 reveals this. Downstream in the industry chain, domain controller manufacturers need to cooperate with OEMs to meet their functional requirements for new cars and ensure the pace of product launches. The most typical one is to provide different solutions for low and medium computing power domain controllers and high computing power domain controllers. Specifically, domain controllers with low and medium computing power are mainly installed on mid-to-low-end models priced between RMB 100,000 and RMB 200,000. Since OEMs define them as cost-effective and high-volume, they attach great importance to domain controller manufacturers’ cost performance. Management and control capabilities.

At the same time, OEMs are now competing for the mass production and delivery of all-in-one travel and parking solutions. The construction period given is very tight. Domain controller manufacturers need to improve R&D efficiency and provide full-stack solutions from software to hardware to system calibration and verification services. The ability to program turnkey projects reduces the development cycle and development costs of OEMs.

EasyHang Intelligent Basic Edition Travel and Parking Integrated Solution

Yihang Intelligence is one of the better companies.

In addition to working hard on domain controllers, Yihang Intelligence also provides solutions from two aspects: algorithm optimization and computing power optimization. Relying on leading algorithm models and research and development based on the lightweight computing platform TDA4 (16TOPS computing power), the functions can be realized The cost is reduced by more than 50% compared with models already on the market.

Since its development, Yihang Intelligent has become one of the few autonomous driving suppliers in the industry with full-stack self-research capabilities such as perception, decision-making and planning control, software and hardware development, and test calibration. It has also taken the lead in realizing NOA integrated driving and parking, and urban full-scenario FSD. The current customers include Li Auto, Jiangling Renault, SAIC Maxus, WM Motor, BAIC Group, FAW-Volkswagen, etc.

High-computing domain controllers are mainly installed in mid-to-high-end models and are not very cost-sensitive, and OEMs hope to participate in some self-research as a focus of brand promotion.

For example, when building the domain controller IPU03 on the Xpeng P7, Desay SV provided the underlying software and hardware, while Xpeng Motors was responsible for the self-research and development of the full-stack algorithm. Therefore, domain controllers need to have higher openness and flexibility in architectural design.

At the same time, domain controller manufacturers need to conduct in-depth cooperative development with car companies in the early stage of implementation to meet the needs of car companies. At present, the domestic battle to advance the integrated travel and parking system has begun. Car companies including FAW Hongqi, Changan, SAIC, GAC, Chery, Geely, Great Wall, BYD, NIO, Ideal, Xpeng, Jikrypton, etc. have planned to implement integrated travel and parking solutions. The application was expanded to many subsequent blockbuster mass-produced models.

This undoubtedly creates great market opportunities for domain controller manufacturers.

According to the "Integrated Travel and Parking Industry Research Report" released by Auto Center, from 2022 to 2023, integrated travel and parking will usher in large-scale mass production and installation, and by 2025, the market size will exceed 60 billion yuan.

"Now is a window period that cannot be missed." An industry insider lamented that under the intelligent transformation, the supply chain structure of the century-old automobile industry has rarely shown signs of loosening, which has provided "fresh blood" to manufacturers such as mobile integrated domain controllers. The influx of people has opened a door in a rare way.

However, this process is destined to be short-lived. After a round of reshuffle, the industry will quickly return to order. Who can get the ticket depends on the competition between domain controller manufacturers in terms of software and hardware strength, as well as the competition between the industrial ecosystems they have built.
The opportunity is fleeting, and it’s time for players to make an effort.

References:

1. Some observations on intelligent driving domain controllers: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/05kq-tKLkEuLxevQyyjDfQ

2. In-depth interpretation of the domain controller developed by Heduo Technology:——HoloArk https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/k44M03k__ae_7WRt9Dxqhg