Disassembly of NIO, Toyota, and Great Wall Vehicle Control Systems

Zosi Automotive Research released “2023 Intelligent Cockpit Domain Controller and Vehicle Control Disassembly Report (Part 1)”.

The “Disassembly Report” analyzes the disassembly of the Toyota MT2712 vehicle control unit, the American Fisker Intel A2960 vehicle control unit, the Great Wall Qualcomm 8155 vehicle control unit, and the NIO ET7 cockpit domain controller, along with a cost estimation analysis of the Great Wall vehicle control unit and the NIO domain controller.

This article takes the NIO ET7 cockpit domain controller disassembled by Zosi Automotive Research as an example.

“In terms of hardware, the NIO ET7 is equipped with the second-generation digital cockpit, featuring a 12.8-inch AMOLED central control screen, a 10.2-inch HDR digital instrument panel, a 6.6-inch HDR multifunction control screen for the rear seats, and an augmented reality heads-up display (AR-HUD) system. It operates on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chip running the Banyan·Rong vehicle control system, with a storage combination of 16GB + 256GB, supporting various unlocking methods including UWB digital keys, and includes some remote functions and an integrated dashcam.”

NIO ET7 Second-Generation Digital Cockpit

Image source: NIO official website

Appearance and Interfaces

The NIO ET7 is equipped with the second-generation cockpit domain controller, which has upgraded its SoC chip from Nvidia Parker to Qualcomm SA8155P compared to the first generation. The second-generation cockpit domain controller will be applied to the entire NIO model lineup.

NIO ET7 Cockpit Domain Controller Appearance

Image source: Zosi Automotive Research “2023 Intelligent Cockpit Domain Controller and Vehicle Control Disassembly Report (Part 1)”

The bottom view of the interface in the above image, from left to right, includes: connectors for the central control display and rear display, an instrument panel and HUD connector, one USB 3.0 connector, two USB connectors, two Ethernet connectors, and the white plastic sleeve contains the WiFi and Bluetooth antennas.

The NIO ET7 cockpit domain controller features a unique appearance; the heat sink on the back panel is recessed in the middle to closely fit the heat-generating SA8155P module.

The internal structure of the NIO ET7 cockpit domain controller is relatively complex, with shock-absorbing sponge-like material embedded in the inner layer of the shell. The hollow space on the right corresponds to two large capacitors on the PCB. These two large capacitors are quite tall and have a large capacity of 25 Farads. They serve a similar purpose as batteries, presumably considering that sometimes the vehicle may be parked for too long, depleting the battery, while certain wireless remote control functions still need to be operational; hence, these two capacitors were added.

NIO ET7 Cockpit Domain Controller Internal Structure

Image source: Zosi Automotive Research “2023 Intelligent Cockpit Domain Controller and Vehicle Control Disassembly Report (Part 1)”

Unlike most vehicle control PCB boards, the NIO cockpit domain controller’s PCB board has connectors on both sides, while most only have one side.

CPU and Storage Chips

NIO ET7 Cockpit Domain Controller SoC Module

Image source: Zosi Automotive Research “2023 Intelligent Cockpit Domain Controller and Vehicle Control Disassembly Report (Part 1)”

Located at the center of the domain controller’s PCB board is the SoC module, which contains one SA8155P chip, two PMM8155AU power management chips, and two Micron storage chips.

Next to the capacitors on the SoC module side is a Samsung UFS 2.1 storage chip with a capacity of 256GB. This UFS 2.1 operates at a voltage of 1.8/3.3V, with an interface of G3 2Lane, and a temperature range of -40℃ to 105℃, estimated to cost between 15-20 USD.

Samsung UFS 2.1 Storage Chip Parameters

Image source: Samsung official website

Ethernet Switch

Adjacent to the MCU and capacitors is a relatively large chip, the Ethernet switch, model 88EA6321, provided by Marvell.

Marvell 88E6321 Internal Framework Diagram

Image source: Marvell

The above image shows the internal framework diagram of the Marvell 88E6321, which is a 7-port Ethernet switch chip designed for automotive EAVB, featuring 2 IEEE 10/100/1000BASE-T/TX/T interfaces (corresponding to traditional RJ45 connectors), 2 RGMII/xMII interfaces or one GMII interface, 2 SGMII/SerDes interfaces, and one RGMII/xMII interface. MII stands for Media Independent Interface, which is the standard interface connecting MAC and PHY. It is defined as the Ethernet industry standard by IEEE-802.3. 10/100/1000BASE-T/TX/T refers to transmission line cables. Ports 2, 5, and 6 can be configured as MAC mode or PHY mode, both supporting RGMII/RMII/MII, while Ports 2 and 6 also support GMII. Ports 3 and 4 support 10M, 100M, and 1000M adaptive Ethernet interfaces. Ports 0 and 1 support 100M and 1000M optical ports (SFP). The 88E6321 was launched around 2014 and is considered an older product that does not support the latest TSN, thus not strictly classified as a vehicle Ethernet switch chip. It is currently being sold at a reduced price of approximately 10-15 USD.(MII stands for Medium Independent Interface; RMII stands for Reduced MII; SMII stands for Serial MII; GMII stands for Giga MII)

Video Input and Output

NIO ET7 Cockpit Domain Controller Video Input Section

Image source: Zosi Automotive Research “2023 Intelligent Cockpit Domain Controller and Vehicle Control Disassembly Report (Part 1)”

The above image shows the video input section of the ET7 cockpit domain controller, which utilizes four serializer and deserializer chips, all provided by MAXIM, acquired by ADI, including two deserializer chips MAX96712. One of the MAX96712 chips corresponds to the four 3-megapixel surround view cameras input of the NIO ET7.

MAX96712 Internal Block Diagram

Image source: ADI

The above image shows the internal framework diagram of the MAX96712, which supports 4-channel MIPI CSI-2 4Lane reception, with a maximum bandwidth of 6Gbps, meaning it can connect up to four 4-megapixel cameras, outputting two channels. This is currently the highest bandwidth deserializer chip, estimated to cost around 15-20 USD.

NIO ET7 Cockpit Domain Controller Video Output Section

Image source: Zosi Automotive Research “2023 Intelligent Cockpit Domain Controller and Vehicle Control Disassembly Report (Part 1)”

The above image shows the video output section of the NIO vehicle control unit, which uses three Texas Instruments serializer chips and video format converters. All three serializer chips require signing an NDA to access the information. The SA8155 can support up to 24 million pixels across various display configurations through three native displays (for example, up to three 4K60 displays). It supports two 4-channel DSI D-PHY 2.5 Gbps/channel or two 3-trio C-PHY 5.7 Gbps/three-rate operations, an integrated display port, and USB 3.1 Gen 2 shared 8.1 Gbps/channel, allowing concurrent 4K60 display port and USB 3.0 operations, and enabling other display single interface (DDSI) through the use of DisplayPort multi-stream transport (MST) and dual display.

PCB Board Backside

NIO ET7 Domain Control Main Board Backside

Image source: Zosi Automotive Research “2023 Intelligent Cockpit Domain Controller and Vehicle Control Disassembly Report (Part 1)”

Both the front and back of the PCB board have a trace, with the back trace being particularly prominent, approximately 4.5cm long, indicating that this PCB board requires manual soldering, which will affect efficiency and quality stability, and will also increase the overall cost of the cockpit domain controller.

Table of Contents for “2023 Intelligent Cockpit Domain Controller and Vehicle Control Disassembly Report (Part 1)”

Report Pages: 61 pages

01

Toyota Mid-Range Vehicle Control Disassembly

1.1 Vehicle Control Appearance Front

1.2 Screen Module Back

1.3 Screen Module Main Board

1.4 Internal Structure

1.5 Vehicle Control Upper PCB

1.5.1 Bluetooth and WiFi Module

1.5.2 LVDS Receiver and Storage Chip

1.5.3 Video Input and Output

1.6 Vehicle Control Lower PCB

1.6.1 Audio DSP

1.6.2 MCU

1.7 Key Device Parameters: Chip

02

American Fisker Vehicle Control Disassembly

2.1 Fisker Introduction

2.2 Vehicle Control Explosion Diagram

2.3 Appearance Interfaces

2.4 Vehicle Control Upper PCB Board

2.4.1 Main Control Chip and Storage Chip

2.4.2 FPGA Chip and FPD-LINK Chip

2.5 Vehicle Control Lower PCB Board and MCU

2.5.1 Digital Audio Broadcasting Chip and AM/FM Tuning Chip

2.6 Key Device Parameters: FPGA

2.7 Key Device Parameters: Digital Audio Broadcasting DAB Chip

03

Great Wall Coffee Intelligent Vehicle Control

3.1 Appearance Size

3.1.1 Vehicle Control Top View

3.1.2 Vehicle Control Side View

3.2 Vehicle Control Interfaces

3.3 Vehicle Control Upper PCB Board Front

3.4 Vehicle Control Upper PCB Board Back

3.5 Vehicle Control Lower PCB Board Front

3.6 Vehicle Control Lower PCB Board Back

3.7 Key Device Supplier and Cost Estimation – Total Table

3.7.1 Key Device Parameters: Ethernet Switch

3.7.2 Key Device Parameters: Audio Processing Chip

3.7.3 Key Device Parameters: Serializer and Video Conversion

3.7.4 Key Device Parameters: MCU

04

NIO ET7 Cockpit Domain Controller Disassembly

4.1 Domain Controller Appearance Structure

4.2 Domain Controller Internal Structure

4.3 Domain Controller Interfaces

4.4 Domain Controller PCB Board Front

4.4.1 Chip Module

4.4.2 Storage Chip

4.4.3 MCU

4.4.4 Ethernet Switch

4.4.5 Ethernet Physical Layer Chip

4.4.6 Serializer and Deserializer Chips

4.4.7 Video Output

4.4.8 WiFi and Bluetooth Module

4.4.9 Radio Chip

4.4.10 Capacitors

4.5 Domain Controller PCB Board Back

4.6 Key Device Parameters and Cost Estimation

4.6.1 Key Device Parameters: MCU

4.6.2 Key Device Parameters: Ethernet Switch

4.6.3 Key Device Parameters: Deserializer Chip

4.6.4 Key Device Parameters: CMOS Real-Time Clock (RTC) and Calendar

More Zosi Reports

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Zosi 2023 Research Report Writing Plan

Intelligent Connected Vehicle Industry Chain Overview (January 2023 Edition)

Independent Brand OEM Autonomous Driving	Automotive Vision (Domestic)	High-Precision Mapping
Joint Venture Brand OEM Autonomous Driving	Automotive Vision (Overseas)	High-Precision Positioning
ADAS and Autonomous Driving Tier1 – Domestic	Automotive Vision Algorithms	Automotive Gateway
ADAS and Autonomous Driving Tier1 – Overseas	Surround View Market Research (Local)	Data Closed-Loop Research
ADAS Domain Controller Key Components	Surround View Market Research (Joint Venture)	Automotive Information Security Hardware
Autonomous Driving and Cockpit Domain Controller	Infrared Night Vision	Automotive Information Security Software
Multi-Domain Computing and Regional Controllers	Autonomous Driving Simulation (Overseas)	Wireless Communication Modules
Passenger Vehicle Chassis Domain Control	Autonomous Driving Simulation (Domestic)	Charging and Swapping Infrastructure
Domain Controller Ranking Analysis	Laser Radar – Domestic	Automotive 5G Integration
E/E Architecture	Laser Radar – Overseas	800V High Voltage Platform
L4 Autonomous Driving	Millimeter Wave Radar	Fuel Cells
L2/L2+ Autonomous Driving	Automotive Ultrasonic Radar	Integrated Batteries
Passenger Vehicle Camera Quarterly Report	Radar Disassembly	Integrated Die Casting
ADAS Data Annual Report	Laser and Millimeter Wave Radar Ranking	Automotive Operating Systems
Joint Venture Brand Vehicle Networking	Dedicated Vehicle Autonomous Driving	Steer-by-Wire Chassis
Independent Brand Vehicle Networking	Mining Autonomous Driving	Skateboard Chassis
Autonomous Driving Heavy Trucks	Unmanned Shuttle	Electric Control Suspension
Commercial Vehicle ADAS	Unmanned Delivery Vehicle	Steering Systems
Commercial Vehicle Intelligent Cockpit	Unmanned Retail Vehicle Research	Brake-by-Wire Research
Commercial Vehicle Vehicle Networking	Agricultural Machinery Autonomous Driving	Charging and Swapping Infrastructure
Commercial Vehicle Intelligent Chassis	Port Autonomous Driving	Automotive Motor Controllers
Automotive Intelligent Cockpit	Modular Reports	Hybrid Power Reports
Intelligent Cockpit Tier1	V2X and Vehicle Road Coordination	Automotive PCB Research
Cockpit Multi-Screen and Linkage	Roadside Intelligent Perception	IGBT and SiC Research
Intelligent Cockpit Design	Roadside Edge Computing	EV Thermal Management System
Instrument and Central Control Display	Automotive eCall System	Automotive Power Electronics
Intelligent Rearview Mirror	Automotive EDR Research	Electric Drive and Power Domain
Dashcam	Intelligent Vehicle Personalization	Automotive Wiring Harness
Automotive Digital Key	Automotive Multimodal Interaction	Automotive Audio
Automotive UWB Research	In-Vehicle Voice	Automotive Seats
HUD Industry Research	TSP Manufacturers and Products	Automotive Lighting
Human-Machine Interaction	Autonomous Driving Regulations	Automotive Magnesium Alloy Die Casting
In-Vehicle DMS	Autonomous Driving Standards and Certification	Denso’s New Four Transformations
OTA Research	Intelligent Connected Testing Base	New Forces in Car Manufacturing – NIO
Automotive Cloud Service Research	PBV and Automotive Robotics	New Forces in Car Manufacturing – Xpeng
Automotive Functional Safety	Flying Cars	New Forces in Car Manufacturing – Li Auto
AUTOSAR Research	Integrated Parking Research	Autonomous Driving Chips
Software Defined Vehicles	Smart Parking Research	Cockpit SoC
Software Suppliers	Car Sharing and Autonomous Driving	Automotive VCU Research
Passenger Vehicle T-Box	Vehicle Digital Transformation	Sensor Chips
Commercial Vehicle T-Box	Smart Surfaces	In-Vehicle Storage Chips
T-Box Ranking Analysis	Xpeng G9 Function Disassembly	Vehicle CIS Research
Li Auto L8/L9 Function Disassembly	NIO ET5/ET7 Intelligent Function Disassembly	Autonomous Driving Fusion Algorithms
Dji Front Dual Vision and Tudatong Laser Radar Disassembly

“Zosi Research Monthly Report“

ADAS/Intelligent Vehicle Monthly Report | Automotive Cockpit Electronics Monthly Report | Automotive Vision and Automotive Radar Monthly Report | Battery, Motor, Electronic Control Monthly Report | In-Vehicle Information System Monthly Report | Passenger Vehicle ACC Data Monthly Report | Front View Data Monthly Report | HUD Monthly Report | AEB Monthly Report | APA Data Monthly Report | LKS Data Monthly Report | Front Radar Data Monthly Report