Application of functional safety standards in the field of automotive chips

With the transformation and development of automobile electrification and intelligence, the functional safety of automotive chips will face new challenges and opportunities. By deeply understanding and following the relevant standards of functional safety, the automotive chip industry will be able to effectively respond to these challenges, thereby ensuring driving safety and improving the intelligent driving experience. The functional safety of automotive chips is not only a technical requirement, but also represents a firm commitment to future traffic safety.

01. The importance of functional safety of automotive chips

Xia Xianzhao, deputy secretary-general of the China Automotive Chip Standard Testing and Certification Alliance, academic leader of the China Automotive Research Center, and deputy director of the Chip Research Department of the China Automotive Research and Technology Software Evaluation Center, believes that the safety of automotive chips has gone beyond the traditional mechanical and structural scope, and the functional safety of automotive chips has become a core element of the safety and reliability of core electronic systems. Automotive chips, such as microcontrollers (MCUs) and sensors, control a variety of key functions from braking to driver assistance systems. Once these chips fail, it may cause system failure, thereby increasing the risk of accidents. Therefore, the functional safety of automotive chips is crucial.

The importance of automotive chip functional safety is mainly reflected in the following aspects:

01. Protect personal safety

Failure of automotive systems may lead to serious safety accidents or even casualties. Functional safety can significantly reduce risks by ensuring that the car can maintain control or enter a safe state even in the event of system or component failure.

02. Compliance with regulations and standards

As automotive safety regulations continue to improve, automakers need to follow relevant standards including ISO 26262 (Road vehicles - Functional safety standard) to develop safe automotive electronic systems, and chip design must also meet relevant safety requirements.

03. Enhance consumer trust

As consumers pay more and more attention to automobile safety performance, functional safety has become an important indicator to measure the competitiveness of automobile brands. Automotive chips with high functional safety levels can enhance consumers' trust and satisfaction with the brand.

04. Support advanced features

As advanced features such as autonomous driving and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) increasingly rely on complex electronic systems and software, functional safety becomes a key cornerstone to ensure these systems operate stably under various driving conditions.

05. Promote technological innovation. The strict requirements of functional safety prompt chip manufacturers and automobile manufacturers to continue to innovate to meet higher safety standards, thereby promoting the advancement and development of industry technology.

02. Functional safety related standards

ISO 26262 provides comprehensive specifications for the functional safety of automotive electronic systems, detailing the requirements for safety management, design, implementation, testing and maintenance that need to be considered during the development process. For automotive chip manufacturers, compliance with this standard is key to demonstrating product reliability and safety.

The GB/T 34590 standard is based on the international standard ISO 26262 and has been modified and expanded to adapt to China's technical conditions, including adjustments to terminology, expansion of scope, and detailed description of specific requirements for management and audit processes to ensure consistency with China's existing vehicle types and technical standards.

03. Core technical requirements

The core requirements of GB/T 34590 standard focus on the following key areas to ensure the functional safety of automotive electrical and electronic (E/E) systems:

Risk Management: Identify potential hazards through hazard analysis and risk assessment (HARA) and assign the appropriate Automotive Safety Level (ASIL) based on these risk assessments.

Safety Lifecycle Management: specifies the processes that must be followed throughout the entire lifecycle of product development, from the concept phase, development of systems, hardware and software, to production, operation, service and retirement.

System safety requirements: Develop system-level safety requirements based on the safety goals determined by hazard analysis and ensure that these requirements are systematically implemented and managed.

Hardware and Software Development: Discipline the development of hardware and software components, including methods such as Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), Failure Mode, Effects and Diagnostic Analysis (FMEDA), and Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) to assess and mitigate risks.

Verification and Validation: Verification and confirmation of the implementation of safety requirements during and after development to ensure that all specified safety requirements are met.

Independent audit and assessment: Verify that each stage of the safety lifecycle complies with the requirements of GB/T 34590 through independent audit and assessment by a third party.

These core requirements ensure that functional safety risks are systematically managed and reduced throughout the design and development process of the vehicle. For more detailed information and specific implementation guidelines, please refer to the full text of GB/T 34590 standard or related professional interpretations.

Internationally leading semiconductor companies, such as Infineon, NXP and Qualcomm, are developing automotive-grade chips that meet functional safety standards. More than 90 domestic chip companies have obtained functional safety process certification, covering a variety of products such as intelligent driving computing chips, control chips, millimeter wave radar chips, sensor chips, image signal processing chips, communication chips, power management chips, etc. These chips are not only widely used in traditional automotive systems, but are also gradually used in autonomous driving and electric vehicle technologies.

In the future, with the widespread penetration of autonomous driving and intelligent assisted driving technologies, the functional safety requirements for automotive chips will become more stringent and important.