Overview of automotive-grade control chips and top 10 suppliers

With the development of automobile electrification and intelligence, the application of MCU in automobiles has become increasingly widespread. Automotive-grade MCUs are specially designed for automotive environments and can withstand extreme conditions such as high temperature, low temperature, vibration, electromagnetic interference, and ensure long-term reliability and stability. Automotive-grade MCUs (Microcontroller Units) are key components in the field of automotive electronics and are widely used in many fields such as automotive powertrain, chassis control, body electronics, safety systems, infotainment systems, and battery management of new energy vehicles. The evolution of automotive-grade MCUs has not only improved the performance and safety of automobiles, but also laid a solid foundation for the development of cutting-edge technologies such as autonomous driving and vehicle networking.

1. What is an automotive-grade control chip?

Control chips mainly refer to MCU (Microcontroller Unit), which is a microcontroller, also known as a single-chip microcomputer. It is one of the automotive-grade chips. It appropriately reduces the CPU's main frequency and specifications, and integrates multiple functional modules and interfaces such as memory, timer, A/D conversion, clock, I/O port and serial communication on a single chip to realize terminal control functions. It has the advantages of high performance, low power consumption, programmability and high flexibility.

Source: Public information, provided by the compilation unit

2. Classification and application of automotive-grade control chips

As the core device for vehicle control, automotive MCU is mainly used for body control, driving control, infotainment and driving assistance systems, and can be mainly divided into 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit.

8-bit MCU: Provides low-end control functions: fan control, air conditioning control, wipers, sunroof, window lifts, low-end instrument panels, junction boxes, seat control, and door control modules.

16-bit MCU: Provides mid-range control functions: used in power systems, such as engine control, gear and clutch control, and electronic turbine systems; used in chassis, such as suspension systems, electronic power steering, torque distribution control, electronic pumps, electronic brakes, etc.

32-bit MCU: Provides high-end control functions: plays an important role in realizing L1 and L2 autonomous driving functions, such as instrument panel control, body control, multimedia information system, engine control, as well as emerging intelligent and real-time safety systems and power systems.

3. Suppliers

At present, there are a number of excellent companies in the domestic automotive-grade MCU market, including GigaDevice, National Technology, BYD Semiconductor, IndyCore, NationalCore Technology, Xinhai Technology, Unigroup Guoxin, Fudan Microelectronics, etc. These companies have launched a variety of new products, covering multiple key components of automotive electronic systems, such as fans, air conditioners, wipers, sunroofs, windows, dashboards, seats, door control modules, engine matching, gears and clutches, electronic turbine systems, suspension systems, power steering, torque distribution, electronic brakes, dashboards, body control, multimedia information systems, engine control units, safety systems, power systems and other fields, providing comprehensive solutions for automotive electronics.

Below, the editor will take you to take stock of the well-known domestic automotive-grade control chip suppliers. Let's take a look! (The ranking is in no particular order. If there are omissions, please feel free to add them)

Summarize:

From the supplier's perspective:

There are many excellent suppliers in the domestic automotive-grade MCU market, including GigaDevice, National Technology, BYD Semiconductor, IndyCore, Guoxin Technology, Xinhai Technology, Fudan Microelectronics, and CoreDrive Technology. These companies have their strengths in different fields and provide diversified products and solutions, covering multiple key components of automotive electronic systems, such as engine control, chassis control, body electronics, and infotainment systems.

From the perspective of product technology:

The technology of automotive-grade MCUs continues to evolve, from 8-bit, 16-bit to 32-bit MCUs, covering control functions from low-end to high-end. 8-bit MCUs are mainly used for low-end applications such as fans and air-conditioning control; 16-bit MCUs are suitable for mid-end applications such as power systems and chassis control; 32-bit MCUs play an important role in high-end applications such as autonomous driving and infotainment. These MCUs not only integrate a wealth of peripheral interfaces, but also have the characteristics of low power consumption, high performance, and programmability, which can meet the needs of different application scenarios.

From the perspective of future development trends:

With the development of automobile electrification and intelligence, the demand for automotive-grade MCUs will continue to grow, promoting their application in cutting-edge technologies such as autonomous driving and Internet of Vehicles. In the future, automotive-grade MCUs will develop in the direction of higher performance, lower power consumption, and higher safety, while also further improving in terms of functional integration and reliability. Domestic suppliers will continue to increase R&D investment, launch more high-quality products that meet international standards, and enhance their competitiveness in the global market. In addition, with the rapid popularization of new energy vehicles and intelligent driving technologies, the application prospects of automotive-grade MCUs in battery management, power control, smart cockpits and other fields will be broader.

1. GigaDevice (Stock Code: 603986)

GigaDevice Technology Group Co., Ltd. (stock code 603986) is a leading global fabless chip supplier. Founded in April 2005, the company is headquartered in Beijing, China, with branches and offices in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hefei, Xi'an, Chengdu, Suzhou and Hong Kong, the United States, South Korea, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, Singapore and other countries and regions. The company has a global marketing network, providing customers with high-quality and convenient localized support services.

GD32A503 automotive-grade MCU

Fengsuan WP LED matrix headlight solution is based on the GD32A503 automotive-grade MCU, equipped with LED drivers and pixel controllers to realize matrix headlights. Compared with ordinary LED headlights, the LED lamp beads in the matrix headlight group can be independently controlled, so it can adapt to a variety of scenarios, making the headlights more intelligent. This not only improves the functionality and scalability of the headlights, but also more effectively improves nighttime driving safety and driving experience.

GigaDevice provides GD32A503 as the main control MCU. This series of products provides mainstream solutions for a variety of electrified vehicle scenarios with balanced processing performance and rich peripheral interfaces. It follows automotive-grade design concepts and production standards and meets the high reliability and stability requirements of automotive use.

Solution Advantages

• CAN/LIN bus communication control

• Wide voltage 9~18V input

• Single chip buck-boost solution

• Can drive two LED strings, up to 60V

• The brightness of each LED pixel can be adjusted

• On-chip step-down switch-mode current regulator

• Integrated PWM dimming

• With overvoltage detection, overtemperature protection, short circuit detection, open circuit detection

2. National Technology (Stock Code: 300077)

National Technology Co., Ltd. was founded in 2000 as part of the national "909" integrated circuit special project and was listed on the Growth Enterprise Market in 2010. It is a leading enterprise in general-purpose MCU and security chips and a national high-tech enterprise. Headquartered in Shenzhen, it has branches in Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Xi'an, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Singapore, Austin, USA, Tokyo, Japan, etc.

The main products include: general-purpose MCU, security chips, trusted computing chips, smart card chips, Bluetooth chips, RCC innovative products, etc., which are widely used in network security authentication, e-banking, electronic certificates, mobile payment and mobile security, Internet of Things, industrial networking and industrial control, smart home appliances and smart home Internet of Things terminals, consumer electronics, motor drives, batteries and energy management, smart meters, medical electronics, automotive electronics, security, biometrics, communications, sensors, machine automation and other application directions.

N32A455 Series

It uses a 32-bit ARM Cortex-M4F core with a maximum operating frequency of 144MHz, supports floating-point operations and DSP instructions, integrates up to 512KB embedded Flash, 144KB SRAM, integrates a rich set of high-performance analog devices, built-in 4 12-bit 4.7Msps ADCs, 4 independent rail-to-rail operational amplifiers, 7 high-speed comparators, 2 1Msps 12-bit DACs, integrates multiple U(S)ART, I2C, SPI, QSPI, CAN, SDIO communication interfaces, and built-in cryptographic algorithm hardware acceleration engine. The product has passed the AEC-Q100 automotive certification.

3. BYD Semiconductor

BYD Semiconductor Co., Ltd. is a leading domestic high-efficiency, intelligent, integrated new semiconductor company, mainly engaged in power semiconductors, intelligent control ICs, intelligent sensors, optoelectronic semiconductors, manufacturing and services, covering the sensing, processing and control of optical, electrical, magnetic and other signals, and its products have broad market application prospects. The company focuses on automotive-grade semiconductors, and its products have basically covered the core application areas of new energy vehicles, and are also widely used in industry, home appliances, new energy, consumer electronics and other application fields.