SerDes reference design for ARM-based smart cockpit
Rohm and Nanjing SemiDrive Technology, China’s largest SoC manufacturer for smart cockpits, have jointly developed a smart cockpit reference design.
The smart cockpit design is primarily based on SemiDrive’s ARM-based X9M and X9E automotive SoCs, and includes power management PMICs, SerDes ICs, LED driver IC, and other components from Rohm.
The performance of PMICs and SerDes ICs, which are at the heart of electronic systems in vehicles, has a direct impact on the stability and efficiency of the entire smart cockpit design.
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The Rohm PMICs and SerDes ICs achieve a high level of integration in power supply blocks while supporting increased stability during high-speed data transmission.
A reference board based on this design is also available, consisting of three boards: the CoreBoard, the SerDes Board, and the Display Board.
In 2022, the two companies entered into a strategic partnership for the development of advanced technologies in the automotive sector. This resulted in Rohm components such as PMICs and SerDes ICs being integrated into the reference board for SemiDrive’s X9H In-Vehicle SoC which is based on an ARM Cortex-A55 multi-cluster architecture with an ARM Cortex-R5 in the functional safety island and GPU from Imagination Technologies.
The reference board has since been adopted by a number of car makers to provide advanced functionality for cockpits and other vehicle applications.
The vehicle-mounted X9M and X9E SoCs can run multiple operating systems (OS) on a single SoC taking advantage of SemiDrive’s unique hardware virtualization capabilities. At the same time, a hardware security management module enables the transmission of commands from the operating system to the SoC and GPU. By swapping different SemiDrive SoCs with compatible pinouts, application specifications can be changed quickly and without circuit changes.
In addition to the SerDes IC used in the REF66004 reference design and X9M board, Rohm also provides the BD96801Q12-C SoC PMIC and BD9SA01F80-C buck converter IC for driving the SoC, as well as the BD39031MUF-C general-purpose PMIC for ADAS that supplies power to the SerDes IC.
This supports operation of up to three display projections and four ADAS Surround-view cameras. The PMICs for SoC enable arbitrary output voltage setting and sequence control via internal memory (One Time Programmable Memory), allowing flexible, high efficiency power supplies to be achieved that are tailored to circuit requirements.
“Partnering with Rohm, which offers a rich portfolio of semiconductors for ADAS and cockpits, will greatly contribute to achieving next-generation cockpit solutions,” said Zhang Qiang, Chairman, Nanjing SemiDrive Technology. “In particular, Rohm SerDes ICs and PMICs which leverage original analog technology are key components in our reference design. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with ROHM to provide innovative solutions in a wide range of automotive fields.”
“As ADAS evolves and cockpits become more multifunctional, the role of automotive analog semiconductors such as SerDes ICs and PMICs is becoming increasingly important. At the same time, the PMIC provided by ROHM for SoCs represents a novel concept in power ICs that can flexibly adapt to next-generation automotive power system configurations. Going forward, we will continue to deepen our partnership with SemiDrive to increase our understanding of next-generation smart cockpit designs and accelerate the development of a wide range of products, contributing to further evolution in the automotive sector,” said Tetsuo Tateishi, Member of the Board and Senior Corporate Officer, in charge of Research & Development at Rohm.
www.rohm.com/reference-designs/ref66004
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