In China, after several years of rapid development, consumers have gradually shifted from the initial demand for basic mobility functions of automobiles to higher-level demands such as safety. More and more car manufacturers are turning to electronic and high-tech solutions to solve safety problems. High demand also makes car safety systems more and more like intelligent development. Global automakers are also eager to provide automotive consumers with more and more advanced ADAS applications to meet the needs of various types of vehicles, not just high-end luxury car systems that ADAS has become quite popular. In the future, ADAS applications will cover entry-level, mid-range and high-end car price ranges. To this end, this magazine specifically interviewed several semiconductor manufacturers that provide ADAS application solutions to let everyone know more about the current mainstream ADAS application solutions.
Xilinx's Zynq platform solution
Xilinx is a traditional manufacturer of FPGA products and solutions. It has launched the industry's first automotive-grade Zynq-7000 All Programmable that integrates ARM dual-core Cortex-A9 MPCore processing system on a single chip and closely integrates FPGA System on chip (SoC) platform. The platform can help system manufacturers accelerate the development time of advanced driver assistance applications such as surround vision, 3D surround vision, rearview camera, dynamic calibration, pedestrian detection, rearview lane departure warning and blind spot detection.
"Although consumers are very fond of ADAS applications, the demand for it is strong and continues to grow, but the promotion speed of ADAS has not reached the level it should be. This is because the development and manufacturing costs are huge. But the main reason is that the current large Most ADAS solutions use multiple chips and are almost completely designed from scratch, and this design result is one-time, cannot be reused, and can only support a single ADAS application. And Zynq-7000 All Programmable SoC can be The ADAS application brings high-intensity real-time processing functions and parallel processing functions for multiple advanced algorithms, and provides diverse interfaces with sensors and vehicle communication backbones. "Huang Wenjie, Emerging Business Development Manager, Xilinx Asia Pacific, in an interview When indicated.
Huang Wenjie explained that in order to provide the flexibility of ADAS and facilitate product replacement, the industry must achieve the appropriate size of the underlying components by improving integration, optimizing performance, and creating a general ADAS optimization platform to ensure that it supports different applications and can be customized. . Because a highly integrated, fully programmable single-chip platform can not only reduce unit costs, increase economies of scale, and shorten development cycles, but also change the pattern of ADAS development and ultimately ensure the popularity of ADAS.
The Zynq platform meets all these requirements. From a technical perspective, Zynq can complete the development of ADAS solutions with a single chip. The Zynq-7000 All Programmable SoC greatly improves performance, facilitates a variety of bundled applications, and enables scalability between different product families. Second, the Zynq-7000 All Programmable SoC implements an ADAS optimized platform that allows automakers and automotive electronics suppliers to add their own IP and ready-made IP provided by the Xilinx automotive ecosystem on the platform, thereby creating Unique differentiation system.
From a market perspective, what the current and future ADAS applications have in common is the combination of multiple cameras and ultrasonic sensors with a dedicated real-time processing system. Zynq-7000 has great flexibility in video / image capture; video / image processing; custom algorithms / Accelerators; connection function; encoding / decoding.
"Although Xilinx does not directly provide products to automotive OEMs, its partners are already working on ADAS product development using the Zynq platform." Huang Wenjie said, "Green Hills Software, eSOL, Lauterbach GmbH, etc., members of the Xilinx alliance program Xilinx Zynq-7000 All Programmable SoC has been adopted for product development. "
In China, the demand for ADAS applications is also continuing to develop, and will gradually be upgraded from alternative functions to necessary equipment. Huang Wenjie believes that Xilinx's flexible programmable SoC Zynq-7000 will become an ideal platform to promote this application. After grasping this platform technology, Chinese companies can develop a low-cost, high-performance, and highly-integrated ADAS solution suitable for the Chinese environment faster, and promote the comprehensive promotion and popularization of this application.
ADI Vision ADAS solution
Unlike Xilinx's use of FPGA as the core development device, the main core device of ADI's ADAS is DSP. ADI's vision-based ADAS system provides functions such as lane departure warning, traffic signal recognition, intelligent headlight control, object detection / classification, and pedestrian detection. The radar-based system has similar functions, and can also provide front / rear parking assistance, safe distance warning, lane change assistance, blind spot detection, collision buffer brake system, full-speed range adaptive cruise control and other functions.
The core of the vision-based advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) is to detect the environmental information around the vehicle through vision or radar technology, process it by the DSP, and then take corresponding warning or intervention measures. Some just warn the driver, while others take some interventions such as braking. By installing rear-view, front-view, side-view cameras and visual processing ECUs, a variety of functions can be implemented to help drivers prevent risks in advance.
The continuous popularization of the application of ADAS technology is not only due to competition among auto manufacturers, but also government regulations are an important factor. The National High Speed ​​Transportation Security Administration is formulating a policy for mandatory installation of rear-view cameras. At the same time, the new regulations on rear-view cameras such as the Euro NCAP Auto Emergency Brake System Program (Euro NCAP) in 2014 also put more pressure on the automotive industry to seek to increase unit vehicle materials without increasing Bill of materials (BOM) cost to implement a system with high computing and network strength. For OEM auto manufacturers of ADAS systems and system architecture designers of automotive electronics suppliers, this requires reducing costs while also trying to meet the system requirements, supporting intelligent networks and real-time image-vision functions.
The first dedicated ADAS vision processor provided by ADI has a relatively high performance-to-power ratio and cost-performance ratio, and meets NCAP's new pedestrian protection requirements. Once the market segment of ADAS vision applications is deployed on a large scale, it requires more than processing power. To this end, ADI has targeted two dedicated ADAS vision processors (BF608 / 9) that support up to 5 functions in parallel processing, image processing capabilities up to megapixels, and a frame rate of 30 FPS (frames per second). Less than 1.3W@105°C. As the target is set for market deployment in 2014 and beyond, ADI has integrated ISO26262 compatible hardware support capabilities. In functional systems, BF60x can usually reduce system costs by up to 30%.
Xu Zhibin, marketing manager of ADI's automotive electronics industry in China, believes that the challenges facing ADAS technology at this stage mainly come from video acquisition and processing. As the camera resolution tends to be higher and higher, the number is increasing, and the number of functions of each system is increasing. All these trends have high requirements for semiconductor manufacturers in analog technology, high-frequency technology, and digital processing. At the same time, the requirements for signal processing power consumption cost ratio are more stringent. He said, "ADI has long-term close cooperation with many auto manufacturers and auto parts suppliers in the field of ADAS. Our vision-based and radar-based ADAS solutions have been mass-produced on many mid- to high-end models. At the same time, we attach great importance to new technologies The development of new markets is driving the popularization of ADAS technology. Especially in China, the automotive market is booming, and many consumers are paying more and more attention to the importance of driving safety. They also look forward to new technologies that can improve vehicle safety and comfort. We believe that ADI ’s high-performance, cost-effective, and low-power ADAS technology and products can meet the market needs of China and the world. â€
Freescale ADAS solution
Freescale mainly focuses on the ADAS applications of forward vision (lane deviation and tracking, blind spot detection), rear vision (smart parking and ranging), and surround vision (parking). Freescale has designed many microcontroller products for future ADAS systems.
For example, the SCP2200 series using CogniVue's APEX IP technology, the SCP2200 solution minimizes the cost of materials by integrating high-density memory and miniaturizes the camera. The parallel image processing architecture of this series of products can process image data at the same time, which means that it can achieve high-performance image data processing at a lower clock frequency than the products currently provided by competitors. In addition to this high performance, it also has Freescale's market-leading power consumption and cost-effective advantages. Coupled with the attached resource library, as well as hardware and software development kits, it provides car manufacturers with a comprehensive set of tools that enable them to design smart camera applications and help them bring solutions to market more quickly.
For future ADAS and infotainment systems, because of the requirements of information volume and high resolution, a higher bandwidth bus is required to solve the problem, and Ethernet is the best solution. MPC5604E MCU and i.MX6 series multimedia processors provide a good Ethernet-based surround view solution. MPC5604E can transfer the camera data to the central processor i.MX6 via Ethernet. The i.MX6 series includes single-core, dual-core, and quad-core families based on the ARM Cortex-A9 architecture, and combines a strong ecosystem. It is an ideal platform for developing terminal device combinations based on a single hardware design. It has a very powerful ability to process images and can quickly control current information. Freescale and OminiVision, Broadcom launched the world's first Ethernet-based surround-view parking system.
Xi Yunxia, ​​senior product manager of Freescale, said, "Freescale's current mature customers include BOSCH, CONTI, TRW, Valeo, Denso, Delphi, etc." At the same time, she also pointed out that "the challenges faced by the ADAS technology include improving the chip's own processing. Graphics, fast and high-capacity computing power for complex applications; lower power consumption to avoid heat dissipation problems; small size, tightly integrated with other system components for easy installation. The overall demand is fast processing, high capacity, and low power consumption ,Small size. "
Fujitsu 360-degree panoramic system solution
Fujitsu ’s ADAS technology mainly involves the combination of cameras and sensors to achieve image recognition assistance and proximity target detection. The application areas include 360-degree three-dimensional panoramic assistance, visual parking assistance, driving blind area monitoring, safe driving doors and vehicle driving. Recognition of obstacles and pedestrians around the direction. At present, Fujitsu ’s partners use the Emerald core chip MB86R11 to provide turnkey mass production solutions.
Fujitsu's 360-degree panoramic system solution uses 3D modeling and unique graphics synthesis algorithms to build multiple virtual three-dimensional perspectives around the body. Combined with the CAN bus of the body, it can automatically zoom and switch animations. As the driver's visual assistance, the car is equipped with a synthesis system of four camera images, but the previous technology can only do two-dimensional image synthesis, so it can only display at a specific angle of view. The 360-degree panoramic system solution can synthesize the images from the four cameras into a three-dimensional model, which can display a full range of scenes from any angle of view. The conventional system projects the camera image onto a two-dimensional plane, and can only express a top view viewed from above, and sometimes it is difficult to distinguish the surrounding vehicles and pedestrians. The 360-degree panoramic system projects the image on a three-dimensional curved surface, which can arbitrarily change the viewing angle, and can fully represent the scene you want to see, thereby improving the visibility.
In terms of near-target image detection technology, Fujitsu uses a flexible time frame to collect two different graphics, capable of detecting a target of about 60 meters, and traditional pattern recognition can only achieve 20 meters. Fujitsu's ADAS applications include visual aids and recognition aids. Visual assistance provides the driver with a more three-dimensional wide range of viewing angles, reducing the range of blind spots; recognition assistance detects targets that are close to the rear or the side, reminds the driver of the potential danger of changing lanes, and can also indicate whether it is suitable after parking. Safe driving door.
Ding Jie, Fujitsu ’s automotive electronics product manager, said in an interview, “Fujitsu ’s current customers are still in the process of design introduction. In 2014, everyone in the market will be pleasantly surprised to see large car manufacturers launch a variety of models based on the Fujitsu MB86R11 system. New models are launched. "
Speaking of the current technical challenges facing ADAS technology, Ding Jiezao said, "The main technical challenges currently facing ADAS are how to achieve better integration of multiple latest technologies and innovation of image synthesis algorithms, based on the latest camera video technology, Graphics processor technology, the latest sensor technology and radar-based technology to provide a safer, more comfortable, and cost-effective driver assistance system. "In addition, he is also very optimistic about the prospects of the Chinese ADAS market," ADAS technology is in In the Chinese automobile market, we expect to be first welcomed by the final consumer in the three applications of visual parking assist, 360-degree three-dimensional panoramic assist and driving blind zone monitoring. The market's outbreak may be around 2015, before the pre-installation market first There will also be great opportunities in the aftermarket. "
to sum up
Of the four ADAS application solution providers interviewed, although the core devices are different and the design solutions also have their own emphasis, they all agree on the evolution of ADAS technology from passive to active security. Reducing costs has proposed its own solution.
With the rapid development of the mid-to-high-end automotive market and the substantial increase in the safety awareness of the government and automotive consumers, the ADAS applications that once served the niche high-end market have gained momentum for rapid development, especially with the cost of platforms and solutions Decline, the deployment of ADAS applications and sensor platforms has quickly penetrated from high-end cars to mid-range, and even entry-level car models. For automotive OEMs, after passive safety systems and infotainment equipment, ABS, ESP, etc. have become the current standard equipment for automotive electronics, advanced active safety systems such as ADAS can also serve as value-added highlights of product differentiation.
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