Source: Content compiled by Semiconductor Industry Observer (ID: icbank) from Continental

Continental and Ethernovia, Inc. have jointly announced a development partnership to build high-bandwidth, low-latency switches using automotive-grade 7nm processes to efficiently and securely move data within software-defined vehcles (SDVs).

Initially, Continental and Ethernovia will work together to make this advanced switch suitable for series use in high-performance computers (HPC) developed by Continental. Second, the two parties will cooperate in the development of highly integrated automotive network chips.

"With Ethernovia, we have the perfect partner to develop particularly innovative and much-needed technology solutions for future mobility," said Jean-Francois Tarabbia, head of the Architecture and Networks business area at Continental. "New functionalities in vehicles are driving an increase in computing power, and with it an increase in the amount of data that needs to be absorbed and acted upon. Traditional computing topologies are reaching the limits of their performance. With new approaches to switching, tailored to the needs of automotive customers, combined with innovative designs for high-performance computers, we can offer our customers solutions that are effective, energy-efficient and cost-effective."

"This partnership enables us to help shape the mobility of the future," said Ramin Shirani, CEO and co-founder of Ethernovia. "Continental's expertise in building high-performance computers for the automotive industry and designing complex electrical/electronic architectures in vehicles perfectly complements our expertise in developing communication components for transmitting and processing data in accordance with the unique requirements of the automotive market, including functional safety."

Continental and Ethernovia expect the new switching technology to provide solutions that effectively accelerate data exchange within vehicles, as connectivity solutions, new driver assistance systems, highly automated and future autonomous driving functions all require the exchange and processing of increasing amounts of data in near real time.

Continental invests in future of chips for autonomous vehicles

In 2021, Continental invested in Recogni, a German-American artificial intelligence chip startup. According to reports, the company is developing a new chip architecture for real-time object recognition based on artificial intelligence (AI). Future processors are designed for Continental's high-performance on-board computers and other applications, where they will quickly process sensor data for autonomous and autonomous driving.

As a strategic investor, Continental will contribute its financial commitment and expertise in the fields of artificial intelligence, vehicle sensors and advanced driver assistance systems to further promote the development of chip design. Continental experts predict that mass production with new chip applications will begin as early as 2026. Highly specialized processors act as ultra-economic data boosters: with minimal energy consumption, they enable vehicle computers to quickly perceive the environment around the vehicle, laying the foundation for automation and autonomous driving. Both companies agreed not to disclose the amount of their holdings.

"Without faster chips, there would be no networking, automation and autonomous driving," emphasized Frank Petznick, head of Continental's Advanced Driver Assistance Systems business unit. "Through our own research in new chip designs, strategic partnerships with large chip manufacturers such as NVIDIA, and our investment in Recogni, we are taking the first steps toward meeting future needs for highly specialized processors for sensor modules and control units for our powerful, high-performance in-vehicle computers."

"Continental's support is a strong endorsement of Recogni's approach to solving the most difficult challenges in autonomous driving," said RK Anand, CEO of Recogni. "Recogni's focus enables us to solve the challenges of perception processing by developing cutting-edge ASICs for the most advanced inference algorithms to build the world's highest-performance AI inference systems at the lowest energy consumption."

Continental Transforms Automotive Chip Supply Chain

In the view of Peter Popp, head of automotive purchasing at Continental, the mechanics of the automotive market have been completely turned upside down in the past few years.

In the past, vehicle sales determined production and chip orders. Now, vehicle production depends on the availability of components. The growing electronic content of vehicles has accelerated this transformation. Digitalization and connectivity, electric vehicles, autonomous driving and telematics require more chips. "We are facing a situation where production capacity lags behind the growing demand," said Popp.

"We are looking for solutions to proactively avoid future bottlenecks," Popp concluded. While automotive chip demand accounted for less than 10% of global chip production just a few years ago, the automotive industry may well become the second largest chip buyer by 2026 (only three years later)! "At this level, you can't act in the short term. You need some serious long-term planning," Popp emphasized.

Continental is therefore analyzing which chip technologies and in which chip quantities will be needed in three to five years, because this is the delivery time for new chip factories. "We are making decisions now and we are feeding the structure and level of future demand into the supply chain."

To expand this scope, Continental Purchasing has set up a new team to analyze the global chip market based on background knowledge from all Continental automotive business areas. "In this way, we will understand the manufacturing capabilities of individual chip technologies and we can ensure that our requirements are better reflected in future contracts with the chip industry. In the coming years, the focus will continue to be on structure widths above 100 nm and mixed-signal chips."

Continental is responding to the new normal by comprehensively and consistently managing the entire delivery and value chain. In addition, the company is strengthening its business continuity plans to increase resilience against the consequences of natural disasters and political conflicts. Chip operations in multiple countries will help diversify Continental's chip production chain.

Continental is therefore actively ensuring that the chip industry can better match production capacity with future demand, even though the supply industry does have a "tiger by the tail". "With our expertise, we are an excellent partner for chip manufacturers to help them understand future requirements at Tier 1."

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