A Brief Analysis of ADAS Domain Controller Technology

Domain controller

With the development of vehicle informatization, there are more and more ECUs in vehicles, including engine control, power steering, instrumentation, audio and video, etc. The traditional automotive electronic and electrical architecture is distributed (Figure 1-2), and the communication between ECUs is connected via CAN or LIN lines.

Figure 1-2

With the development of modern automobiles, the number of ECUs is also increasing rapidly. There may be hundreds of ECUs in a car. The complexity of the entire system is also increasing, almost reaching the upper limit. Therefore, this ECU-based EEA architecture exposes many problems and challenges. In order to solve the problems brought by this EEA architecture, ECU functions with similar and separate functions are gradually integrated into a processor hardware platform with more powerful performance than ECU. We call this platform a domain controller1

The emergence of domain controllers represents the evolution of automotive EE architecture from distributed EE to domain-centralized EE architecture, as shown in Figure 1-3.

Figure 1-3

Domain controller components

The domain controller is the core of every vehicle. It is mainly composed of three parts: domain processor, operating system, application software and algorithm. Relying on its powerful functions, it integrates the core functions that originally required multiple ECUs to implement, greatly improving the system integration, and the standard interactive interface reduces development costs.

Different car manufacturers may have different ideas on how to divide domains. For example, BOSCH divides them into: power domain, chassis domain, body domain, cockpit domain, and autonomous driving domain. This is also a classic five-domain centralized EEA.

ADAS Domain Controller

The ADAS domain controller needs to connect to multiple cameras, millimeter-wave radars, lidars and other sensor devices. It must have functions such as multi-sensor fusion, positioning, route planning, etc., and perform large amounts of calculations on the data collected by the sensors. Currently, domestic companies that can provide such powerful computing power include Huawei, Renesas, Horizon Robotics, etc.

Smart cockpit domain

The smart cockpit domain mainly includes HUD, instrument panel (Cockpit), and in-vehicle-infotainment system (IVI)

HUD

HUD mainly projects ADAS and some navigation functions onto the windshield, such as ACC, pedestrian recognition, route prompts, etc. With the development of AR, it may also develop into AR HUD in the future.

From the previous vehicle-based transportation to the current human-computer interaction, more and more emphasis is placed on experience. In the future, vehicles may be able to help us do more things, such as controlling the opening of smart devices at home before getting off the car and driver status detection (DSM2). Based on this multi-scenario multi-mode interaction in the car cockpit, the development of human-computer interaction may be redefined in the future. Vehicle to do everything

Dashboard

Dashboard

IVI

Audio and video entertainment includes our radio stations, radio, music and other third-party applications

The evolution of domain controllers

The SmartCore domain controller launched by Visteon integrates functions such as entertainment, instrumentation, and ADAS, creating a precedent for commercial domain controllers. Major Tier 1 suppliers have also followed suit, and the entire domain control market has gradually become popular. The entire industry is also optimistic about the DCU market. Huawei has also launched its own DCU solution, but it has also posed a challenge to traditional automotive MCUs, because in the era of distributed ECUs, the core of computing and control is the MCU chip, and the basic core of transmission is based on the traditional CAN and LIN buses. However, in the era of domain control, high-performance, highly integrated heterogeneous chips are used as the core chips of domain controllers. The transmission of automobiles has also changed from CAN or LIN to Ethernet transmission. Because of its high-bandwidth, real-time and reliable data communication capabilities, it will become the core and mainstream of vehicle communications in the future.

Challenges of Domain Controllers to Traditional ECUs

Originally, multiple ECU3s were needed to realize multiple functions, but they were all integrated into the domain controller. This shows that the core competitiveness of the original OEM has changed from mechanical manufacturing to software, hardware and algorithms. In the future, the relationship between OEMs and Tier1 may change to Tier1 and chip manufacturers working together to make a complete solution and sell it to car manufacturers, or Tier1 is only responsible for hardware design and production, and the OEM is responsible for the software research and development.