Driven by the wave of electrification and intelligence, the architecture of automotive electronics and appliances is becoming more and more complex, which puts forward higher requirements for chip design and data processing capabilities.
In this context, FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), known as the “universal chip”, has ushered in a huge incremental space in the automobile market because of its low latency, high flexibility and scalability.
According to Gartner’s forecast, the global FPGA market increased from US $5.
585 billion to US $9.
69 billion from 2020 to 2026, with an average annual compound growth rate of 9.6%. So, how on earth does FPGA enable the development of automobile intelligence? What is the current development of application and technology? Recently, Galaxy exchanged views with Xie Zhengfan, Senior Director of Application Engineering in the Asia-Pacific region of Lattice, a well-known supplier in FPGA field.
Automobile intelligence gives FPGA more opportunities to display its talents.
FPGA is a reconfigurable computer chip, and field programmability is its most important feature.
After CPU, GPU and other chips are manufactured, their functions have been fixed, while FPGA can configure specific circuits through EDA software according to the needs of users, thus giving them specific functions.
As a matter of fact, FPGA is not a new thing, and the reason why it has only been glowing in the automobile industry so far is closely related to the rapid development of intelligence.
For this, Xie Zhengfan introduced the application scenarios from two aspects: intelligent cockpit and intelligent driving.
In the field of intelligent cockpit, the configuration of multi-screen, large screen and HUD has become a popular trend, and there are more and more interaction between vehicle sensor and screen (such as the application of electronic rearview mirror).
In this context, the screen not only quickly presents rich content, but also ensures the display quality of high color gamut and higher contrast.
In addition to on-board display, vehicle vision system and artificial intelligence technology are also widely used in driver condition monitoring system (DMS), gesture recognition, voice control and cabin monitoring system (IMS) applications.
Image source: Mercedes-Benz, the above numerous and complex application requirements require chip support with high flexibility and low latency in data processing, which brings more opportunities for programmable FPGA to show its talents.
In the aspect of intelligent driving, in the application of advanced driving assistance system, the number of vehicle sensors is gradually increasing, because the main processor needs to connect different sensor interfaces for data processing, and the vehicle interface has not been really standardized, so using the programmable characteristics of FPGA to aggregate / bridge different sensors, or to achieve Imax O interface extension, is also one of the new trends.
To sum up, with the characteristics of programmability, low power consumption, low delay, strong parallel processing ability and less heat dissipation, FPGA is more and more used in intelligent vehicles.
” Xie Zhengfan said.
At the same time, he pointed out that in addition to intelligence, areas such as information security, system security and motor control are also useful opportunities for FPGA to help improve the safety of cars.
And no matter how the technology develops, FPGA can always play a corresponding role with the technology upgrade.
Some application scenarios of FPGA in the automotive industry (photo source: Ledith), domestic and foreign suppliers accelerate the layout, product prices and operation difficulties are reduced, in the face of new market opportunities, in recent years, domestic and foreign FPGA suppliers began to accelerate the layout.
As a technology leader in this field, Ledith also has new thinking and planning for FPGA’s product innovation.
For example, during the recent Shanghai International embedded Conference in 2024, the company brought the latest FPGA technology solution: Local Dimming: applied to the vehicle display screen, it can make the black place darker and brighter where the image is displayed, make the display screen show a clearer, brighter picture, and reduce the power consumption of the entire display system.
Image source: Ledith, CMS (Camera Monitor System) Automotive Electronic rearview Mirror solution: anti-glare at night, ability to run in dark light or strong light and so on are the urgent problems to be solved in CMS.
Ledith’s CMS system uses self-developed image signal processing (ISP) technology, which can adjust the brightness, contrast and color of the image in real time to ensure the best visual experience for drivers.
, photo source: Ledith, bridging function: Ledith FPGA has successfully bridged a variety of image sensors and processing systems with its flexible configuration and high bandwidth capability.
For example, in the partnership with Nvidia, Ledith FPGA is used to transmit high-speed image data from the image sensor to Nvidia’s AGX system.
Through the bridging function of FPGA, image sensors with different interface standards can be seamlessly connected to a unified processing platform, realizing high-speed and low-delay data transmission and processing, and promoting the development of autopilot.
In addition to the above, Ledys has also launched LED control in in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) systems, Certus-NX FPGA in in-vehicle network (IVN) and ADAS applications, and Lattice Drive ™in driver, cockpit and vehicle monitoring.
In addition to product innovation, Xie Zhengfan pointed out that in the case of competition, the price of products and the difficulty of technical operation have been gradually reduced.
In terms of price, Xie Zhengfan said, “FPGA, like other chip series, except for the price increase caused by shortage in the previous two years, in the long run, if the functional performance remains the same, the price is a downward trend.
” In addition, he said bluntly that in the past two years, many domestic enterprises have been involved in FPGA, and there is indeed a certain degree of competition in price.
However, when customers decide to use FPGA for early design, price is not necessarily the first consideration, but whether the supplier provides a solution with sufficient maturity and whether the product quality is recognized by the market.
Therefore, Ledith will consider price and cost control when competing, but more attention will be paid to how to improve product quality and reduce the time for customer products to enter the market.
In operation, Xie Zhengfan said that the early FPGA threshold is indeed relatively high, but now it will lower and lower the development threshold.
In terms of design, writing FPGA no longer requires a special language, but can be written directly in C language.
In addition, there are more and more IP Vendor that can provide complete and validated IP, which is like building blocks for developers and can be implemented after putting together the modules needed by their systems.
At the same time, the performance of FPGA is getting higher and higher, leaving enough redundant space for customers, even if the design is not so perfect, FPGA can help make up for it.
Once FPGA develops to a certain scale, it will certainly go toOn-chip systems are not only a natural demand when they become larger, but also a requirement of customers, hoping to integrate more and more things from your platform.
Ledis has an on-chip system in the planning route diagram.
” Xie Zhengfan said, Regarding future development, Xie pointed out that there will be a relatively long process in the automotive field from the beginning of design, to mass production of products and then to mass shipment.
Therefore, we did not expect explosive growth in revenue in this field at the beginning, but we are optimistic about this field and are willing to continue to invest.
The company currently accounts for 53% of revenue in the industrial and automotive sectors, and we look forward to gaining more in the automotive field in the future.
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