FPGA promotes technological evolution of automotive in-cabin experience

In today's automotive industry, the wave of technological innovation is sweeping at an unprecedented speed. We are witnessing the gradual transformation of modern vehicles from traditional mechanical structures to smart mobile devices equipped with advanced software technology. This transformation not only changes the appearance and performance of cars, but also profoundly reshapes our driving experience and expectations.

In fact, the market size of software-defined vehicles (SDV) is growing rapidly. According to statistics, the SDV market size has reached US$35.6 billion in 2022, and it is expected that this number will jump to an astonishing US$210.88 billion by 2032, with a compound annual growth rate of 19.47%. This data not only reveals the huge potential of the automotive industry, but also highlights consumers’ urgent demand for smarter and more connected driving experiences.

With the popularity of SDV, consumers' requirements for in-car experience are also constantly increasing. What they expect is not just the basic functions of the vehicle, but a more personalized, convenient and entertaining driving environment. Against this backdrop, automakers face a huge challenge: How to quickly and effectively deliver an in-car experience that meets consumer expectations?

Recently, the results of JD Power's Automotive Performance Execution and Layout Survey revealed a significant decline in consumer satisfaction with vehicles. This is the first time in 28 years and it is a clear indication of how far manufacturers have come in understanding and meeting what owners really want from their vehicles. Car owners want their vehicles to not only have advanced technology, but that technology must be usable, useful and of high quality.

To address this challenge, automakers are turning to field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). This flexible and powerful technology provides the automotive industry with a unique solution to meet changing environmental and consumer demands.

The application of FPGA in automotive infotainment systems is particularly prominent. Today, a best-in-class in-car experience means seamless integration of various smart technologies, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and streaming audio and video. In order to realize these functions, the interior of the car needs to be equipped with higher quality displays, including central entertainment center, instrument panel, head-up display and rear display. FPGAs are ideally suited to address these multi-monitor connectivity and processing requirements, providing flexible connectivity options and adaptive processing capabilities.

At the same time, consumer expectations for automotive displays are also increasing. They want to see high contrast and vivid colors that rival smartphones and TVs. To meet these expectations, most manufacturers choose liquid crystal displays (LCDs). Although organic LEDs (OLEDs) are considered the preferred choice for displays due to their excellent contrast ratio and pleasing image quality, they are not suitable for automotive environments as cars often face harsh lighting conditions and wide temperature ranges while also requiring Longer service life. In contrast, LCD screens not only come in a variety of sizes and resolutions, are reasonably priced, but also perform well in automotive temperature environments.

To further enhance the viewing experience, the LCD screen uses local dimming technology. This technique enhances the visibility of images by increasing contrast. It enables local control of brightness and contrast by dividing the backlight into multiple zones. For example, in areas where dark content needs to be displayed, the local dimming algorithm will reduce the backlight intensity in the area to darken the corresponding pixels; while in areas with bright content, the backlight intensity will be increased to improve visibility.

Local dimming technology can be implemented in two different ways: full array and edge lighting. Full array local dimming provides more precise control and better contrast and black levels. It uses an LCD panel with a series of LED lights behind it, divided into zones. Although increasing the number of regions improves performance, it also makes the design more complex and costly. Therefore, manufacturers usually need to choose an appropriate number of areas based on product positioning and cost considerations. Edge-lit local dimming places LEDs on the edge of the display panel and uses a light guide or diffuser to evenly distribute the light across the entire screen. This approach is less expensive, but does not achieve the same high-quality results as full-array local dimming.

While local dimming technology is critical to improving the quality of infotainment systems, it is also a computationally intensive feature that can be challenging to deploy. Local dimming algorithms must be able to monitor changing lighting conditions and display content in real time and adjust brightness, contrast and backlight accordingly. Additionally, reducing glare is a key factor, as glare from external light sources, such as sunlight or the headlights of oncoming vehicles, can affect display visibility. Local dimming technology optimizes image quality and improves visibility even in the most adverse lighting conditions.

As local dimming-based displays become an integral part of infotainment systems and in-car experiences, FPGAs serve as a unique and highly matched tool to address these newfound technology needs. FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) is a reprogrammable and customizable integrated circuit that is ideal for implementing local dimming functionality in infotainment systems. They have real-time high-speed processing capabilities that can analyze and process display content, adjust backlight areas, and control brightness. In addition, FPGAs are equipped with the necessary computing power and high-speed I/O interfaces to handle the complex algorithms and computational tasks required for local dimming. They can also allocate additional hardware resources for local dimming operation, providing reliable and resilient performance to withstand harsh environmental conditions such as temperature changes and vibration. In addition, FPGA also has a rich I/O interface combination to support various LED displays, including LVDS, eDP, 8.1 Gbps DisplayPort HBR3, and 4K display supporting various resolutions and regions.

Because FPGAs are inherently adaptable, they also enable supply chain flexibility at the system and component levels. This allows manufacturers to flexibly adjust to the needs of different models and configurations and scale up vehicle production. Additionally, as the in-car experience continues to evolve and become more complex, the programmability of FPGAs allows developers to easily implement new algorithms, control strategies and enhancements. This flexibility also allows developers to choose from a wider range of LCD and LED suppliers, further demonstrating how FPGAs can be scalable to meet a variety of customer needs, algorithm implementations and performance requirements.

FPGA solutions provided by companies such as Lattice Semiconductor are becoming an effective tool for implementing local dimming in automotive infotainment systems. These advanced FPGAs not only provide automobile manufacturers with technical support to meet consumer needs, but also lay a solid foundation for future automobile development.

As SDV vehicles become more popular and consumers' requirements for in-car experience continue to increase, FPGAs will continue to play a key role. They will become a core enabler of top-tier infotainment systems, especially those with local dimming technology, and will play a pivotal role in future car manufacturing. By leveraging the flexibility and programmability of FPGAs, automakers will be able to create modern smart vehicles that not only meet consumer expectations but also provide an unparalleled driving experience.