Why did the United States, which is troubled by chip shortages, agree to approve the sale of automotive chips to Huawei?

Different from the previous distributed electronic and electrical architecture, in the era of "software-defined cars", the vehicle hardware architecture will be upgraded to Ethernet + SOA architecture, and the demand for large computing power + rapid software iteration will promote the integration of distributed ECUs into domain controllers. To this end, the design concept of the CC architecture is software-defined functions, which includes a distributed Ethernet network and three domain controllers, driving, cockpit and vehicle control, and has launched three major platforms to achieve resource and function decoupling, shared resource pools, and software upgrades, hardware replaceable, and sensors scalable.

According to Huawei's calculations, a car priced around 300,000 yuan can save about 26% of the number of ECUs by adopting the CC architecture, and the wiring harness length can be reduced from 3.2 kilometers to 2.6 kilometers, a 17% saving. The wiring harness cost can be reduced from 3,000 yuan to 2,500 yuan, a 19% saving, and the weight can be reduced by about 7 kilograms.

It is reported that the Alpha S Huawei HI version of the Arcfox is the first mass-produced model equipped with Huawei HI smart car solution, that is, the mass-produced model that officially applies Huawei's CC architecture.

According to its official description, the three major platforms in the architecture include the MDC intelligent driving platform, the CDC intelligent cockpit platform and the VDC vehicle control platform, which correspond to the three major operating systems: AOS (intelligent driving operating system), HOS (intelligent cockpit operating system) and VOS (intelligent vehicle control operating system).

Final Thoughts

As early as the World Intelligent Connected Vehicle Conference in October 2019, Huawei's rotating chairman Xu Zhijun made the most detailed plan and layout since Huawei officially established the Intelligent Vehicle Solutions BU. He said that Huawei's intelligent connected vehicle solutions include five major aspects, namely the most traditional intelligent networking, intelligent driving, intelligent cockpit, intelligent electric and cloud services for car companies to develop innovation and support travel services.

Today, Huawei's automotive strategy has achieved breakthroughs in many areas, and its overall solution has been implemented in models such as the Alpha S and the SF5. As Xu Zhijun said, Huawei does not build cars, but wants to create 70% new value. Now it seems that this wish is gradually becoming a reality.

References:

1. "EXCLUSIVE US approves licenses for Huawei to buy auto chips - sources", REUTERS

2. "Huawei has made another big move to completely solve the automotive "chip problem"! An inventory of Huawei's automotive-related listed companies", Concept Enthusiasts

3. "What does it mean that the US approves the sale of auto parts chips to Huawei? Will the high-end be blocked while the mid- and low-end will be snatched up?", Science and Technology Life Express

4. "What did Huawei build when it came to making cars?" Yuanchuan Research Institute

5. "Interpretation of Huawei's automotive highlights: the changes and future of the electronic architecture of smart electric vehicles", Zhihu, Yiti Xiaomao