Automotive semiconductor technologies

The automotive industry shaped the economic and urban landscape of the 20th century. Today, it needs to reinvent itself to rise to 21st-century challenges, such as decarbonizing, reducing accidents, and enabling mobility changes such as autonomous driving.

The industry looks towards semiconductors to achieve this. The computer chips in our mobile devices, such as laptops and smartphones, enabled the free movement of people and goods through cyberspace. Now, they’re poised to revolutionize movements through physical space. Clearing the way towards safer, richer and greener mobility.

Increased technological features and complexity

The new driving experience will be characterized by:

• a fully electric drivetrain, without range anxiety
• advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) that, in a first phase, prevent or minimize human driving errors and pave the way to fully autonomous vehicles
• a host of in-vehicle entertainment options that are intuitively accessible, for instance, through gesture-based interaction
• in-cabin attention and health monitoring, an essential feature for vehicles with level 3 autonomy, where the driver must still be able to take over control at all times

All these features will bring new layers of complexity to the vehicle's connectivity, sensing and computing units. The processor hardware will need to support millions of lines of software code. And all these applications will require continuous, secure updates.

Cars defined by semiconductors

The cars of the future will be high-performance computers on wheels. This requires car manufacturers to change how they’ve worked for more than one hundred years.

If not horsepower but teraflops become the unit that expresses a car’s unique strength, the industry must put semiconductors at the heart of its development strategy. Co-developing hardware and software, working closely with all layers of the chip industry’s ecosystem, and helping to define the semiconductor research roadmaps.

Read this in-depth article about the need for enhanced collaboration between car manufacturers and the semiconductor industry

As the world’s leading semiconductor research hub, imec is committed to helping the automotive industry establish this paradigm shift. To be a trusted technology advisor and accelerator with a clear view of all levels of a car’s technological architecture, from sensing and compute to connectivity and energy.

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Overview of semiconductor technologies for automotive

Imec has unique expertise in many technological domains that are covered by the car of the future. Let’s look at some examples.

Computing hardware

By 2030, an average car will produce 10 to 12 TB of data daily, which must be processed locally and rapidly in order to make safe driving decisions in real time. That can only be achieved by the next generations of chips with significantly improved processing power and – to avoid draining the battery – energy efficiency.

Enabling these advanced ICs is the goal of imec’s core CMOS programs, which tackle subjects such as:

• 3D heterogeneous integration
• logic and memory scaling
• system-technology co-optimization (STCO)
• AI accelerators
• optical interconnects
   

Such supercomputing abilities can no longer be achieved using monolithic IC design. Like data centers and consumer devices, cars must move toward chiplet architectures. This also presents an opportunity to create a more diverse and resilient supply chain.

Why are chiplets attracting the attention of the automotive industry?

The power of of chiplets should be amplified by standardization across the industry, as this will open up a chiplet marketplace from which automotive compute systems can be brought to market more quickly and at a lower cost. Such a vibrant eco-system will also accelerate innovation in, e.g., AI accelerators. This is why imec has initiated the Automotive Chiplet Alliance to bring together all of the ecosystem’s major players. And imec’s automotive chiplet research program investigates how chiplets can meet the automotive industry's stringent quality and reliability requirements.

Discover imec's automotive chiplet program

Sensing

Can semiconductors help to realize the widely shared ambition of reducing the number of casualties on our roads to (almost) zero? The key lies in advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) that allow a car to become aware of its environment and take the necessary actions to avoid collisions and other harmful situations.

ADAS and, ultimately, autonomous vehicles will require the gigantic processing capabilities mentioned earlier. But everything starts with the sensing technologies that gather the data needed to construct a faithful representation of the environment – in various weather and lighting conditions.

We will need more advanced sensing modalities (such as lidar, imaging radar, multispectral cameras beyond visible light) and more physical sensors in our cars. This means they will have to shrink in size and cost – exactly what semiconductor technology can achieve like no other.

High resolution, low cost: 140 GHz radar is bringing smarter, safer cars within everyone’s reach

Imec’s portfolio of sensing technologies includes:

• CMOS-based camera sensors that collect high-resolution images beyond the visible spectrum, such as near-infrared (NIR) and short-wave infrared (SWIR), to complement today’s camera systems, for instance by looking through fog, smoke and vapor. Find out more.
• Imaging radars using digital modulation schemes (79 GHz and 140 GHz), and higher-power and higher-frequency front-ends to further extend range, increase resolution and reduce size.
• Single-chip photonic lidar for long-range, high-resolution 3D sensing up to 300 meters. Find out more.
• Smart sensor fusion through AI-based cooperative algorithms and dedicated neuromorphic hardware.

You have the opportunity to validate imec's next-gen automotive sensors in the SENSAI research program. It expands digital twin technology through physics-based sensor modeling and by leveraging the power of AI.

More about imec's SENSAI program

Digital experience

With ADAS technologies gradually releasing drivers from some of their duties, car manufacturers increasingly focus on the driver’s and passenger’s experience to differentiate themselves from their competitors.

Here are some technologies that can contribute to a safe and comfortable ride:

• Micro-location technologies such as Bluetooth Low Energy and ultra-wideband enable applications such as smart locks, in-car infant detection and automatic adjustment of personalized seat positions. Find out more.
• Using hyperspectral sensors and radar, a driver’s vital signs, such as blood pressure and heartbeat, can be tracked.
• Mid-air haptics and holographic projection – such as the technology from imec's spin-off Swave that will dramatically improve heads-up displays – can make the in-cabin experience more fluid and intuitive.

Power and energy

The role of fossil fuels and internal combustion engines in our transportation systems is ending. The shift towards more sustainable energy sources and fully electric drivetrains poses challenges that nanotechnologies help to address:

• By constructing switches and converters with wide-bandgap materials such as GaN, they can operate at higher switching frequencies and higher temperatures, leading to higher efficiency. Find out more.
• Imec spin-off SOLiTHOR develops safe, clean and environmentally friendly rechargeable all-solid-state lithium battery technology for the electromobility sector. Find out more.
• The direct conversion of CO₂/H₂O to syngas could boost the availability of e-fuels, especially for heavy transport. Find out more.
• Vehicle-integrated photovoltaics (VIPV) can support heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and, in time, contribute significantly to the driving range of electric cars. Find out more.

Semiconductors are essential for making the switch towards a more sustainable transport system. But what about their own environmental impact? To assess and ultimately reduce the footprint of the chip industry, imec has set up the sustainable semiconductor technologies and systems program (SSTS).

Work with imec on next-gen automotive semiconductor technologies

Imec enables its partners to create breakthrough technology through various collaboration models:

• Join one of our collaborative research programs to contribute to the roadmaps and get early access to results.
• Set up a bilateral research collaboration to accelerate your project and create exclusive IP.
• Develop your automotive chips on imec’s platforms, up to prototyping and low-volume manufacturing.
• Get technological and business support for your start-up through imec’s venturing services.
   

Are you ready to discuss your plans with us? Click the button below to get in touch.