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Recently, we disassembled the headlight driver board of the Wanjie M7, which featured a domestic chip that amazed everyone. Following this, curiosity arose about the chip localization rate in other components of the Wanjie vehicle. Therefore, in this video, we will disassemble a Wanjie M7 host.
DisassemblyCONTENT
The disassembly process can be viewed in the video; I won’t elaborate further in the article. Below is a family photo of the Wanjie M7 host after disassembly.
The host shell has an AVC cooling fan (DA05015B12SPT02). Inside the host, there are mainly three PCB boards: two large boards and one small board. The two large boards are connected via a B2B connector, while the small board connects to one of the large boards through a PCIe-like gold finger interface.
What stands out is that the small PCB board uses a semiconductor cooling plate for heat dissipation, which is the first time I have seen this used for chip cooling in a mass-produced product! The semiconductor cooling plate covers a chip that includes one Samsung 8GB LPDDR4 and one Samsung 128GB UFS3.0 storage.
Initially, I didn’t understand why the memory and storage would use a semiconductor cooling plate for heat dissipation, as the heat generated shouldn’t be that significant.
After searching around, I couldn’t find the core SoC on the board. Upon closer inspection, I found that the Samsung memory uses a stacked package, similar to the current high-end smartphone SoCs and memory stacking. Therefore, it is not difficult to infer that the core SoC is beneath this Samsung memory, which I learned is likely Huawei HiSilicon’s Kirin 990A, targeting the current mid-to-high-end new energy vehicle cockpit solutions. It is considered a chip with mid-tier performance, and from the semiconductor cooling plate’s heat dissipation circuit, it seems to generate a considerable amount of heat.
However, an important point is that it is an automotive-grade chip.
The back of the small PCB board is filled with Huawei HiSilicon power chips, including the power management chip Hi6421, and different models of power chips Hi6S21, Hi6S22, Hi6S21A.
Next, let’s look at the large PCB board connected to this small board, which has many more chips.
The chips involved in the audio and video data circuits include:
Texas Instruments’ bridge serializer (DS90UB941AS-Q1), ADI’s four-channel GMSL2/1 to CSI-2 deserializer (MAX96722); Texas Instruments’ multifunction deserializer (DS90UB936-Q1), which can receive serialized sensor data from the source via the FPD-Link III interface.
There is also a chip marked SPD107, but I couldn’t find out which manufacturer’s product it is. If anyone knows, please feel free to leave a comment.
The power circuit chips include:MPS’s buck converter MPQ4228, MPQ4470; MPS’s automotive-grade 36V, 100W buck-boost converter (MPQ4262); and a MOSFET from Meitai Semiconductor (DMTH4014LD).
The wireless module uses Qualcomm’s wireless SoC chip (QCA6574A), supporting dual-band WiFi and Bluetooth 5.0.
Now let’s look at the back of this board.
MPS’s current mode synchronous buck converter (MPQ2918);
Meitai Semiconductor’s MOSFET (DMTH4014LD);
Texas Instruments’ dual-channel operational amplifier (TL082Q);
Five automotive-grade 8-bit bidirectional voltage level translators from Texas Instruments (TXS0108EQPWRQ1);
ISSI’s NOR Flash (IS25LP040E);
ADI’s automotive-grade multi-channel camera power protection IC (MAX20086ATPA/VY);
STMicroelectronics’ voltage comparator (TS3702I);
Meitai Semiconductor’s high-side power switch (ZXMS81045SPQ), integrated MOSFET.
Next, let’s look at another large board connected to the previous one via a B2B connector.
The core controller is an NXP 32-bit microcontroller (FS32K148UAVLQ), based on the Arm Cortex-M4F processor.
STMicroelectronics’ EEPROM (M24C64), STMicroelectronics’ voltage comparator (TS3702I), and STMicroelectronics’ automotive-grade satellite navigation receiver chip (STA8089FGA), which integrates RF and built-in flash memory, supporting satellite navigation including GPS/Galileo/GLONASS/BeiDou/Quasi-Zenith.
Three multi-channel multiplexers from Nexperia, which has now been acquired by Wingtech Technology, but it seems that few people directly refer to it as a Wingtech product.
The audio circuit includes:AKM’s automotive audio DSP chip (AK7016VQ); Texas Instruments’ high-performance audio ADC (PCM6360-Q1); ISSI’s NOR FLASH (IS25LP01).
The power section includes:MPS’s low quiescent current adjustable output linear regulator (MPQ2019); MPS’s low dropout linear regulator (MPQ2024); and MPS’s low quiescent current synchronous buck converter (MPQ9840).
Two P-channel MOSFETs from Meitai (DMP6018LPSQ); STMicroelectronics’ TVS diode (SMBJ36CA), which is a transient voltage suppression diode; and aluminum electrolytic capacitors from Lelon Electronics.
The communication circuit of the M7 host includes:Microchip’s PCIe to Gigabit Ethernet controller (LAN7431), which integrates Ethernet MAC/PHY; Broadcom’s automotive 100Mbps Ethernet switch chip (BCM89551B1BFBG) and Broadcom’s Ethernet PHY chip (BCM89887A1AFBG).
Some chip details on the back of this large PCB board are as follows.
MPS’s dual-channel LDO (MPQ2022), which integrates a serial digital interface and ADC for digital diagnostics and protection.
STMicroelectronics’ automotive radio receiver chip (TDA7708L).
ADI’s automotive audio bus transceiver chip (AD2428W).
NXP’s high-speed CAN transceiver (TJA1044G3).
The above BOM table outlines the core hardware solution inside the Wanjie M7 host. From the chip selection perspective, the proportion of domestic chips is quite low, contrasting sharply with the chip selection of the previously disassembled Wanjie M7 headlights.
Aside from Huawei HiSilicon and a few domestic chips, the main chips come from foreign semiconductor manufacturers such as Samsung, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments, Broadcom, Qualcomm, NXP, Microchip, ADI, and MPS, most of which are automotive-grade chips.
Speaking of automotive-grade chips, many have noticed a term that has recently gained popularity alongside Xiaomi’s YU7, called “automotive-grade tissue box.” I won’t comment on this matter, but it has certainly made the concept of automotive-grade more widely recognized.
As we all know, during the era of fuel vehicles, there were no fancy functions; all circuits were basically important safety carriers. Therefore, as long as relevant chips were used, they were generally automotive-grade chips. However, with the rise of new energy vehicles, the concept of entertainment + intelligent driving + rapid iteration has allowed consumer-grade chips to enter the supply chain of automotive manufacturers.
These consumer-grade chips generally do not play a role in the main safety functions of vehicles, as we can see from the chip selection of the Wanjie M7 headlights. However, regarding safety, as seen in the hardware selection of the Wanjie M7 host, automotive-grade products are still predominantly used. So, do you understand now?
Click to playCONTENTSummaryCONTENT
The Wanjie M7, as a representative model of the intelligent cockpit empowered by Huawei, carries key tasks such as infotainment, assisted driving, and network communication within its core onboard host system. In the wave of automotive electrification and intelligence, what will be the future of the supply chain security and localization capability of automotive-grade chips? We shall wait and see!
Note: The cover image of this article is from freepik,author’s own production, media public information, all authorized.
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Contact me for inquiries about automotive-grade chips👆🏻
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In the Era of Software-Defined Vehicles, How Should Chip Architecture Be “Reshaped”?
Guidelines for Chip Selection in Intelligent Driving and Cockpit: The Art of Balancing Computing Power, Energy Efficiency, and Safety
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