Cross-domain integration aims at "cabin-pilot integration"! 10 companies are planning this-EEWORLD

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The window period for cabin-driver integration has gradually opened.

“Cockpit integration is not a zero-based process, so I think the pace of change this time will be faster than before. In the past, it may have taken five years, but in the next three years or so, there will definitely be a wave of integration and reshuffle between Tier 1 cockpits and Tier 1 intelligent driving.”

On June 27, the 2024 Gaogong Intelligent Automobile Developer Conference, sponsored by CoreEngine Technology, was held, and the Gaogong Intelligent Automobile Research Institute released its predictions at the conference.

In fact, some supply chains are working with car companies to "prototype". A typical case is that Autolink, Qualcomm, and Nezha jointly launched the world's first Snapdragon Ride Flex (SA8775P) cabin-driver integrated platform, which will be officially mass-produced in the second quarter of 2025.

On the afternoon of the 27th, Autolink shared the progress of cabin-driver integration at an event. "The SA8775 platform domain control is in the B-sample stage (B-sample is expected to be completed by the end of August). Based on the current baseline, basic cockpit applications, AI end-side large models, DMS&OMS, and AVM function deployment have been completed."

Black Sesame Intelligent's C1200 series, as a local chip manufacturer, is another important cross-domain force. At the same time, regional control and operating system manufacturers are also exploring breakthroughs, such as Continental and Wind River.

"Cockpit players will definitely rush to integrate the cabin and the driver. At present, cockpit players only need about three years to achieve revenue growth from zero to 1 billion, 2 billion, or even 3 billion. But in the past five years, there are actually only a handful of companies that have achieved around 100 million to 300 million," judged Gaogong Intelligent Automobile Research Institute.

The front-runners, such as Bosch. "The next step is to integrate the cabin and the driver, which is a product that has been promoted in different occasions recently." According to the information shared by Bosch that afternoon, its intention is to "lead the direction of cross-domain integrated innovative products" with a complete cabin and driver product line, and it also gave a system architecture design proposal based on 8775 and recommended sensor combinations.

Overall, on the afternoon of the 27th, in the special sessions of "Domain Insights, from Local to Central" and "Cross-Domain Integration, Starting from Basic Software", senior executives from Bosch, Ecarx Technology, Changan Automobile, Black Sesame Intelligent, Cheling Technology, Estun, Continental, Autolink, Zhidi Technology, Wind River and other companies delivered wonderful speeches.

Specifically, Luo Yanlong, an expert from Bosch China's Intelligent Driving and Control Division, delivered a keynote speech entitled "Bosch Product Planning under the Trend of Cross-Domain Integration of Intelligent Driving and Cockpits."

Luo Yanlong, expert from Bosch China Intelligent Driving and Control Division

Luo Yanlong said that Bosch was the first to launch cross-domain integrated products based on its experience in cockpit and intelligent driving development. In particular, it adopted flexible cooperation models, which are divided into four types: first, pure hardware (design, development and production); second, hardware + basic software; third, hardware + basic software + ADAS application; fourth, turnkey project.

So, once we enter the cross-domain stage, do single-product line players in the intelligent driving (mostly start-ups) and cockpit tracks still have a chance?

"We have also been thinking about this issue, whether to do a full stack or to introduce a third party. I think there is an opportunity for third parties," Luo Yanlong believes that after previous explorations, especially when entering the cross-domain stage, OEMs will gradually realize that they need an integrator with more powerful capabilities, while the OEMs themselves will focus on controlling upper-level application needs and interaction needs.

Single product line Tier 1 may have been able to advance faster before, and the top comprehensive Tier 1 will have more opportunities in the future. At the same time, similar to the practical problems encountered by OEMs on the full stack, the top Tier 1 is also unable to focus on all segmented capabilities to some extent, which is also an opportunity for third parties.

Gong Siying, senior director of technology products at Ecarx, delivered a keynote speech entitled "The Intelligent Future of Human-Computer Interaction: The Integration of Smart Cabins, Smart Driving and Big Models".

Gong Siying, Senior Director of Technology Products at Ecarx

What is the core difficulty in putting a large model on a car?

Gong Siying believes that the core can be divided into three categories: First, it is difficult to collect data for the entire vehicle, and it is difficult for mainstream SoCs to meet the high memory operating conditions of large models; second, large models have high computing power requirements, and current vehicle-side SoC solutions are actually unable to support them. Some can only barely support some small models on the end side, and the latter are far from the performance of large models;

Third, the difficulty of data transmission. The installation of large models in vehicles requires very high computing data transmission efficiency. The current EE architecture data needs to be transmitted across multiple SoCs, which inherently has delays, and some large model calculations require real-time calculations, which poses huge challenges in terms of power consumption and heat dissipation.

Based on this, Gong Siying believes that "central computing is the final soil for the implementation of big models and the final outcome of automotive intelligence. Therefore, we have created a big model architecture that integrates the cabin and the driver. In addition to supporting the integration of the cabin and the driver, it also supports multi-language and global ecological services, and it is itself a big model architecture that collaborates with the end and the cloud."

Li Changqing, chief chip development engineer of Changan Automobile, delivered a keynote speech entitled "Super Digital Platform SDA Empowers Automobile Intelligence".

Li Changqing, Chief Engineer of Chip Development at Changan Automobile

According to Li Changqing, the SDA architecture is Changan's software-defined car architecture (in terms of launch time, the Changan Qiyuan E07 equipped with the SDA architecture will be launched around October this year). Specifically, it has the typical characteristics of "central computing, layered + domain-based, service-based, and end-cloud mutual control".

Li Changqing said that SDA intelligent driving continues to follow the development of intelligent driving algorithms, adopts an "elite" strategy, and evolves from a segmented expert route to an end-to-end large model to improve the effect of intelligent driving. "For some end-to-end paths, everyone is gradually installing them in vehicles or launching demos. We will also have an end-to-end effect demo by the end of the year, and mass production will be as early as next year."

What is particularly noteworthy is that there is a dispute over the route of cabin-driver integration: should it penetrate from top to bottom, or from bottom to top?

Li Changqing believes that the integrated cockpit and cockpit is more suitable for relatively affordable, entry-level models. Its intelligent driving functions and algorithms are not complicated and are relatively concrete and fixed (the algorithms for high-level intelligent driving are still undergoing iterations). There is no need for too many algorithm updates and iterations. The cockpit only needs to provide Qualcomm 8155-like functions.

Wang Zhizhong, senior product marketing director of Heizhima Intelligent, delivered a keynote speech entitled "Cross-domain integrated computing chips drive the accelerated transformation and upgrading of the smart car industry."

Wang Zhizhong, Senior Product Marketing Director of Black Sesame Intelligence

Regarding whether cross-domain penetration should be from top to bottom or from bottom to top, Wang Zhizhong analyzed it based on two market trends: First, high-end models are performance-oriented. Although cross-domain penetration can bring cost reduction, it is somewhat contrary to the positioning of high-end models. The performance experience is still iterating rapidly, so it is not suitable to integrate it in the short term.

Secondly, cost-effectiveness-oriented, a large number of high-quality intelligent applications are screened out every year, and then gradually penetrate into affordable models and are accepted by consumers. For example, forward-facing integrated machines and 8155 cockpits are becoming standardized configurations to some extent. Their cross-domain integration and overall cost reduction are also more in line with the cost-effectiveness positioning of affordable models.

At the product level, Heizhima Intelligence has launched the Heizhima Intelligence Wudang®️ series of cross-domain computing chips, including Wudang C1296 (the industry's first chip platform supporting multi-domain fusion) and Wudang C1236 (the first local single-chip chip platform supporting NOA).

Among them, in terms of C1296, its single chip can support CMS, infotainment, in-cabin perception, automatic parking, L2++ driving, vehicle data calculation, safety information, smart headlights, etc.

Yan Kai, Vice President of Cheling Technology, delivered a keynote speech entitled "Cross-domain cabin driving and ecological operations to build a smart travel ecosystem."