The Brain of Smart Cars: An Overview of Automotive ECU Development
In terms of chips, Huawei has always insisted on independent research and development, especially for core high-end chips, such as the Kirin series, Balong series, Kunpeng series, and Lingxiao series.
However, after the rules regarding chips were modified, Huawei’s self-developed Kirin 9000 and other chips could not be produced temporarily, because TSMC and others could not freely ship products, and Huawei’s chips are almost all produced by TSMC.In this situation, Huawei decided to fully enter the semiconductor chip field and also get involved in chip manufacturing, investing in the domestic chip industry chain through Hubble to accelerate the development of manufacturing and other technologies.Additionally, Huawei is investing in new materials and terminal manufacturing and collaborating with universities.In terms of investment, Huawei has adjusted HiSilicon to a primary department, fully supporting HiSilicon’s breakthroughs without layoffs, and even allocating 20% of annual revenue for R&D funding.It can be said that Huawei’s situation in the chip sector is significant. In the words of Ren Zhengfei, it is “breaking through the sky above and rooting down below.”As a result, many people are concerned about the status of Huawei’s HiSilicon chips, when Huawei will be able to manufacture chips, when the Kirin chips will return to Huawei phones, and so on.Here, borrowing a quote from Jiang Wen, let’s let the bullets fly for a while. Because results for Huawei’s chips are imminent, it is reported that Huawei will release three chips in the second half of the year.According to reports, these three chips are the Kirin NPU, Pangu M900, and Huawei’s self-developed display driver chip.Among them, the Kirin NPU chip will be used in the Huawei Mate50 series smartphones, which will be launched on September 6, allowing everyone to see its true form.The Pangu M900 chip is a brand new series, mainly used in Huawei’s Qinyun desktop, which is expected to be released in the second half of this year.As for Huawei’s self-developed display driver chip, it is reported that it will be mass-produced and commercialized in China later this year, which will not only be used in Huawei devices but also shipped to other domestic manufacturers.The reason is that 90% of the display driver chips used by domestic manufacturers are imported. After the rules regarding chips were modified, Huawei’s first self-developed new chip project is the display driver chip.Of course, Huawei is not only developing the above chips but is also frequently active in the core chip technology field.First is the chip architecture.Chip architecture is the core technology of chips. The chips developed and designed by Huawei are basically based on the ARM architecture, which is the case for 90% of mobile chips from Apple, Qualcomm, and Samsung.However, things are different now. Huawei has begun to develop its own chip architecture, and HiSilicon has repeatedly recruited chip architects globally to ensure that Huawei HiSilicon chips have their own core architecture.Of course, Huawei already has its own Da Vinci architecture, but this architecture is mainly used in NPU, not CPU.Another point is that Huawei has also started developing chips based on the open-source architecture RISC-V and has launched its first television CPU.Next is the stacked technology chips.Stacked technology chips can allow Huawei to quickly possess high-performance chips. Even chips with less advanced processes can have powerful performance through stacking technology.For example, Apple’s M1 Ultra achieves double multi-core performance by stacking two chips.In the field of stacked technology chips, Huawei has announced multiple technology patents, mainly including stacking methods, reducing power consumption, etc.Huawei has also clearly stated that in the future, it will adopt stacked technology chips, exchanging area for performance, allowing Huawei to have high-performance chips available.Finally, Huawei has the optical chip as a big move, as optical chips can safely bypass U.S. technology, and importantly, Huawei is also leading in this field.Today, optical chips have become a trend, with the Netherlands planning to invest 1.1 billion euros in the broadcast chip field, and Germany also beginning relevant research topics.Welcome to all angel round and A round enterprises in the entire automotive industry chain (including the electrification industry chain) to join the group (Friendly connections with 500 automotive investment institutions including top-tier institutions; Some high-quality projects will be selected for themed roadshows to existing institutions); There are communication groups for leaders of sci-tech innovation companies, automotive industry complete vehicles, automotive semiconductors, key components, new energy vehicles, smart connected vehicles, aftermarket, automotive investment, autonomous driving, vehicle networking, etc. There are dozens of groups. Please scan the administrator’s WeChat to join the group (please indicate your company name)
