Feb 24, 2023

5nm for automotive; Tesla engineering HQ; lithium prices; security reports from Synopsys & Intel; lidar partnership; Arteris launches FlexNoC5; 5G NTN modem technology; Imec’s latest; automotive communication gateway SoCs. Automotive Ambarella will use Samsung’s  5nm process technology  for its new CV3-AD685 automotive AI central domain controller, bringing “new levels of AI acceleration, system integration and power efficiency to ADAS and L2+ through L4 autonomous vehicles.” Renesas introduced  four technologies for automotive communication gateway SoCs: (1) an architecture that dynamically changes the circuit operation timing to match the vehicle conditions with optimized performance and power consumption, (2) fast start-up technology by partitioning and powering essential programs only, (3) a network accelerator that achieves a power efficiency of 10 gigabits per second/watt (Gbps/W), and (4) security technology that prevents communication interference by recognizing and protecting vital in-vehicle communication related to vehicle control. Luminar announced a multibillion-dollar expansion of its partnership with Mercedes-Benz. The auto OEM will use Luminar’s lidar technology across a “broad range” of vehicles with a partially automated driver’s system beginning in the middle of the decade. Weaker demand for EVs in China caused a  plunge in lithium prices after a two-year rally. Analysts are monitoring the impact of reduced new energy vehicle subsidies and low household confidence stemming from China’s property crisis. Security, aging, and safety of automotive AI systems are all being addressed, but it may be quite some time before fully autonomous vehicles are considered safe enough and reliable enough to satisfy most consumers. Tesla is moving its global engineering headquarters to Palo Alto, California. Security Synopsys released the eighth edition of its Open Source Security and Risk Analysis (OSSRA) report, which examines more than 1,700 audits of commercial and proprietary codebases involved in merger and acquisition transactions and highlights trends in open source usage across 17 industries. The report found that 84% of codebases contain at least one known open source vulnerability, an increase of nearly 4% from the year before. To secure edge-ML hardware, a  hardware-softwar e co-design solution has been developed by researchers at North Carolina State University and Intel (preprint paper). Intel  published  its Product Security Report for 2022, with page 49 of the report showing the 2022 Hardware Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) data. Digital twins could help manufacturers detect cyberattacks, according to  research  from NIST and the University of Michigan. The team built a digital twin of a 3D printing process and launched waves of disturbances. Computer programs analyzed data from both the real and simulated printer and indicated whether the disturbance was likely something from the library of known issues or a cyberthreat. An industry group unveiled a process for evaluating the security of commercial drones based on a similar program from the U.S. military’s Defense Innovation Unit. The industry group’s program, called Green UAS, was developed by the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International. Products Arteris IP  introduced a fifth-generation network-on-chip interconnect silicon IP. According to the company, the FlexNoC5 “enables 5X faster physical convergence over manual refinements with fewer iterations from the layout team for automotive, communications, consumer electronics, enterprise computing, and industrial applications.” Samsung  introduced  standardized 5G non-terrestrial networks (NTN) modem technology for direct communication between smartphones and satellites, especially in remote areas. Siemens signed a multi-year agreement with Centrale Nantes University in France to fund research activities on smooth-particle hydrodynamics (SPH) and enhance the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation capabilities of Siemens’ Simcenter software. Infineon Technologies AG launched the SEMPER Nano NOR Flash memory for battery-powered, small-form-factor electronic devices. Research Imec  demonstrated  a novel low power phase-locked loop (PLL) for short-range automotive and industrial radar applications. The PLL generates chirp signals centered around 16GHz with a chirp bandwidth of 1.5GHz. Researchers at the Illinois Institute of Technology and Argonne National Laboratory developed a lithium-air battery that could store more energy than lithium-ion batteries. The new battery uses a solid electrolyte composed of “a ceramic polymer material made from relatively inexpensive elements in nanoparticle form.” Upcoming Events