Revolutionizing Automotive Design: How FD-SOI and AI are Shaping the Future of Cars

The Future of Automotive Design: How AI and FD-SOI are Shaping Tomorrow’s Cars

We’re on the cusp of a revolution in automotive design, one that’s as much about software as it is about hardware. Imagine a car that not only drives itself but does so efficiently, safely, and with an intelligence that learns and adapts to the road. The software-defined vehicle is at the heart of this change, and the technologies driving it are nothing short of groundbreaking.

From autonomous driving to radar systems and sensor technologies, the automotive industry is rapidly transforming. AI is powering this change, especially through Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), which are becoming more sophisticated with every passing day. But all this new technology also brings with it new challenges: how do we build systems that are more powerful, more reliable, and more energy-efficient?

Enter FD-SOI – an engineered substrate technology that’s perfectly positioned to meet these demands and fuel the automotive industry’s AI-driven future. In this blog, we’ll explore how FD-SOI is helping automotive tech evolve and what this means for the cars of tomorrow.

The Growing Power of AI in Automotive

The automotive radar market is experiencing explosive growth. In 2020, approximately 80 million radar systems were used in vehicles, mainly in Level 1-2 ADAS systems. By 2025, that number will balloon to 130 million units as vehicles adopt more advanced systems (Level 2++), with some featuring up to seven radar units per car. By 2030, the market is projected to reach a staggering 530 million units, thanks to the rise of Level 3-4 autonomous systems. These systems, which can have up to 10 radar units per vehicle, are rapidly becoming the standard in the most cutting-edge vehicles on the road.

This growth is fueled by a variety of radar types, including in-cabin radar, 3D radar, and standard radar, each playing a critical role in different levels of ADAS. Whether it’s adaptive cruise control, emergency braking, lane-keeping assistance, or blind-spot monitoring, radar technology is a cornerstone of the intelligent cars of the future.

As vehicles get smarter, the way their electronics are organized must change, too. Traditional electronic control units (ECUs) have been distributed across vehicles, with each ECU managing a specific function. However, as the complexity of ADAS and autonomous driving systems grows, there’s a shift toward more centralized and zonal architectures.

A New Era of Vehicle Architecture

In the past, the decentralized approach of the ECU system worked well, but as data volumes and system complexity exploded, automakers began looking for new ways to manage it all. Centralized domain architectures are helping simplify this process by consolidating computing power into fewer, more powerful ECUs, each responsible for specific domains like powertrain or infotainment. This reduces wiring complexity and enhances communication efficiency.

But the next step is zonal architectures, which group ECUs based on their physical location within the vehicle. This approach dramatically cuts down on wiring length and vehicle weight, paving the way for a more efficient distribution of power and data. With zonal architectures, automakers can reduce copper wiring by up to 50% and reduce the weight of wiring harnesses, all while supporting vast amounts of data generated by the car’s systems.

By 2030, many vehicles will embrace zonal architectures, and with it, the need for even more advanced technology to handle the complex data.

The Role of FD-SOI: Powering the Future of AI in Automobiles

This is where Soitec’s FD-SOI technology comes into play. As vehicles grow smarter, the need for energy-efficient, high-performance computing solutions becomes ever more crucial. FD-SOI is poised to power the next generation of AI in cars, offering several key advantages that are essential for modern automotive design.

ADAS systems, which rely on AI to process large amounts of real-time sensor data, demand immense computational power. Think of the trillions of operations per second (TOPS) needed for tasks like object detection, tracking, and decision-making. But there’s a catch: all this power must be delivered while keeping energy consumption in check. The magic lies in the balance between power and performance – a delicate dance that FD-SOI technology handles beautifully.

FD-SOI technology is not just about performance; it’s about performance that’s efficient. It offers superior TOPs/W (operations per watt), making it the perfect fit for the energy-conscious needs of modern vehicles. Soitec’s substrates are already making a significant impact in real-world applications, powering systems like Mobileye EyeQ4, NXP’s i.MX 8, STMicroelectronics’ Stellar MCUs, Lattice’s Nexus FPGA platform, and Bosch Radar systems.

The numbers are staggering when you think about the data these vehicles will generate. By 2030, a single car could generate between 10 to 12 terabytes of data daily, with data transfer rates reaching 40-50 GB per day. These figures feel more like what we’d expect from a data center than a vehicle! And yet, thanks to FD-SOI, this massive data flow can be managed with ease, while simultaneously keeping power consumption low and performance high.

Beyond Power and Performance: Reliability is Key

In addition to energy efficiency and high performance, FD-SOI also offers remarkable reliability. In the harsh automotive environment, systems need to be robust and resistant to failures. One example of this is FD-SOI’s resistance to neutron-induced SRAM failures – a common issue in many electronics. FD-SOI also performs exceptionally well in aging tests, ensuring that it can maintain its performance throughout a vehicle’s lifetime.

As cars become more reliant on software and sensors, ensuring the reliability of these systems becomes a top priority. FD-SOI technology provides the foundation for not only cutting-edge performance but also long-term reliability, making it a critical part of the automotive revolution.

Conclusion: A Smarter, Safer, and More Efficient Future

The shift to software-defined vehicles powered by AI is a game-changer for the automotive industry. From radar systems to zonal architectures, the technologies being developed today will define the cars of tomorrow. And at the heart of these innovations is FD-SOI, a technology that brings together the perfect balance of performance, energy efficiency, and reliability.

Soitec’s engineered substrates are powering the future of AI in automobiles, enabling the intelligent, connected, and autonomous vehicles that will drive us into the next era of transportation. If you’re involved in the development of next-gen automotive systems or just curious about how AI is transforming the way we drive, Soitec’s white paper is an essential read.

The future of automotive design is here, and it’s smarter, faster, and more efficient than ever before.

Source- semiwiki.com