Connected Car News: Block Harbor, Argus, Leapmotor, Elektrobit, NXP, Hyundai, Tenstorrent, bp ventures, Dynamon & BMW

In connected car news are Block Harbor, Argus, Leapmotor, Elektrobit, NXP, Hyundai, Tenstorrent, bp ventures, Dynamon and BMW.

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Block Harbor joins American Center Mobility as their Executive-in-Residence for mobility cybersecurity. In March 2023, ACM released a new strategic plan to broaden their focus to advancing safe, sustainable, and secure mobility technologies. Through this partnership, ACM and Block Harbor will collaborate to develop cybersecurity offerings and promote the cybersecurity ecosystem at ACM’s global development center to help the industry meet regulations and alignment with standards for the cybersecurity of vehicles.

With the release of UNECE Cybersecurity (UN R155 and R156), a regulation that aims to enhance the cybersecurity of connected and automated vehicles and provide a common cybersecurity framework for the automotive industry worldwide, there is a growing need for tools, labs, and expertise to ensure compliance to standards.

“Cybersecurity has always been in our line of sight with the work we do in connectivity and automation,” says Reuben Sarkar ACM CEO “Block Harbor will help us bring together the right capabilities and assets to expand our offerings and build our ecosystem in this rapidly growing area.”

Block Harbor is a Detroit-based vehicle cybersecurity software company focused on launching the Vehicle Security Engineering Cloud (VSEC) to vehicle cybersecurity auditors, automakers, and suppliers. With nearly a decade of experience securing vehicles, Block Harbor is at the forefront of the industry, developing solutions that address the pain points in vehicle cybersecurity engineering.

“The future of mobility – highly connected, automated, electric – all depends on passenger trust and faith in the vehicle”, says Block Harbor CEO, Brandon Barry, “ACM understands the importance of cybersecurity in that future. Block Harbor is honored to support the ACM’s cybersecurity in their advanced mobility proving ground.”

Argus Cyber Security, a world leader in cyber security products and services for mobility platforms, announced that it has been certified by Amazon as an Authorized Security Lab for Alexa-built in automotive integrations. This approval authorizes Argus to provide automotive-specific security testing services to vehicle manufacturers (OEMs) looking to integrate Alexa within their vehicle systems.

Cars have become an extension of our home and office. Many of us spend hours commuting every day, managing our private and work lives from inside the car. Addressing this trend, OEMs are integrating Alexa and other voice-activated personal assistants within their In-Vehicle Infotainment (IVI) systems, allowing drivers to engage with vehicle functions while keeping their eyes on the road.

OEMs wishing to integrate Alexa in their vehicle are required to conduct and pass a security assessment via one of Amazon’s authorized third-party labs. The evaluation is based on a comprehensive set of security requirements that OEMs must meet before integrating Alexa into their devices. These requirements include access control, software update mechanisms, and vulnerability management, among others.

Argus was certified as an Authorized Security Lab following a due diligence process, during which Argus demonstrated its ability to assess and test a production-ready IVI integrated with Alexa against Amazon’s security requirements. Argus’ award-winning products and services provide comprehensive, proven solutions for all phases of the product development lifecycle, to protect connected cars and commercial vehicles against cyber-attacks.

Leveraging insights gained from over 1,000 person-years of automotive cyber research, Argus’ testing services strengthen vehicle manufacturers’ cyber security posture while enabling compliance with industry regulations and standards. In addition to penetration testing, Argus provides OEMs with a wide range of compliance management, and back-end managed cyber security services.

Leapmotor (HKG: 9863) unveiled its latest innovative achievement – ‘Four-Leaf Clover’ Central Integrated Electronic and Electrical Architecture (hereinafter referred to as ‘Four-Leaf Clover’ architecture). The ‘Four-Leaf Clover’ architecture is a fully self-developed technology that combines a single System-on-Chip (SOC) and a single Microcontroller Unit (MCU) to create a central supercomputing unit. It integrates the cockpit system, intelligent driving system, power domain and body domain, utilizing high computing power, fast communication, and low latency to enable efficient collaboration among the key components of EVs.

During the press conference, Mr. Zhu Jiangming, the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Leapmotor, emphasized that it is through years of comprehensive self-development that Leapmotor has gained the capability to deeply explore core technologies. The launched ‘Four-Leaf Clover’ architecture efficiently harnesses the full potential of two chips, meeting the diverse requirements of future products and delivering exceptional value for customers. This groundbreaking achievement showcases Leapmotor’s commitment to providing cutting-edge, high-performance products at the pinnacle of cost-effectiveness for its esteemed users.

The ‘Four-Leaf Clover’ architecture achieves a generalization rate of over 90% and offers three configuration options: Standard, Mid-range, and High-end, catering to the 100,000 to 300,000 RMB price range vehicles. The Standard configuration combines a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 SOC and a NXP S32G MCU, the Mid-range configuration adopts a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8295 SOC and a NXP S32G MCU, while the High-end configuration features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8295 SOC and a NXP S32G MCU in addition to the advanced Orin-X chipset. Furthermore, the system supports L2++ level advanced intelligent driving assistance functions.

It was reported that the ‘Four-leaf Clover’ architecture takes the lead in realizing cabin fusion by applying one SOC+ one MCU, which maximizes the performance of the two chips. It systematically integrates the cockpit system, intelligent driving system, power domain, and body domain, concentrating computing power and enabling centralized information decision-making through the central controller. Analogous to the human brain’s left and right hemispheres, the SOC is responsible for data processing, while the MCU handles logical calculations, achieving the convergence of the four domains. Furthermore, the architecture applies regional control technology to restructure the allocation of vehicle sensors and actuators, establishing standard interface communication. As a result, the entire length of vehicle wiring harness is shortened to an impressive 1.5 km, reaching a top-tier level in the industry.

Elektrobit announced that its industry-leading software line for developing automotive electronic control units (ECUs) based on the latest AUTOSAR standards, as well as its Linux solution, now support the new S32G3 vehicle network processor from NXP® Semiconductors. S32G3 series processors more than double the processing, memory and networking capabilities, while maintaining package pinout and software compatibility with the highly successful S32G2 series of processors. As carmakers migrate to consolidated domain and zonal architectures for software-defined vehicles, the powerful combination of NXP S32G3 hardware and Elektrobit’s EB tresos and EB corbos software can significantly reduce the time and development costs for these complex architectures, accelerating time-to-market for production vehicles.

“We’re pleased to continue our long-standing collaboration with Elektrobit to support our S32G3 safe and secure high-performance vehicle network processors,” said Brian Carlson, Global Marketing Director for Vehicle Control and Networking Solutions at NXP. “The combination of NXP’s S32G3 processor with Elektrobit’s EB tresos and EB corbos software provide a powerful solution for carmakers seeking the most efficient way to develop advanced features and services for their central vehicle computers and safety processors in next-generation architectures.”

The NXP S32G3 vehicle network processors are designed for central vehicle compute applications in zonal-based, software-defined vehicles. They also provide high-performance ASIL D safety processing for AD/ADAS applications, with the same scalability and pinout as previous generation processors.

“The new NXP S32G3 is ideal for next-generation architectures, and we are happy to extend its capabilities with our broad line of AUTOSAR-compliant software, as well as our new EB corbos Linux – built on Ubuntu solution,” said Michael Robertson, vice president, head of products and strategy, Elektrobit. “Together, we’re making it easier for carmakers and suppliers to develop the complex systems required by software-defined vehicles.”

The following Elektrobit software modules support the new NXP S32G3:

Hyundai Motor Group (the Group) announced a strategic investment in Tenstorrent, an artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor company based in Toronto, Canada, which will allow the Group to integrate AI into future Hyundai, Kia and Genesis vehicles, and other future mobilities, including robotics and advanced air mobility (AAM).

Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Corporation will invest USD 50 million ($30M and $20M, respectively), making the Group the lead investor in Tenstorrent’s latest funding round, a total of USD 100 million. The investment will be used to accelerate Tenstorrent’s design and development of AI chiplets and its machine learning (ML) software roadmap.

The Group expects to leverage Tenstorrent’s high-performance technologies and experience to jointly develop optimized semiconductors while strengthening its own technological capabilities. The newly developed high-performance semiconductors will be applied to central processing units (CPU) and neural processing units (NPU) for future vehicles and mobility solutions.

bp ventures has made a £4 million investment in Dynamon, a UK-based software company that specializes in developing advanced data analytics and simulation tools for commercial transport and logistics companies. The funding forms part of Dynamon’s Series A round, being raised to fully commercialize and scale up its platform and expand its operations in Europe and into North America.

From idea to series feature in just a few months: BMW Group and the Swiss start-up AirConsole have rolled out a jointly developed solution for in-car gaming in record time. Since July, BMW drivers and passengers have been able to pass the time with computer games on the vehicle’s Curved Display during breaks, using their smartphones as controllers. The function is being made available for the first time with the launch of the new BMW 5 Series and will be offered successively for other models*. This innovative collaboration proves the success of the venture client model developed by the car manufacturer for the BMW Startup Garage.

The special feature of this form of collaboration is that founders retain their shares in their company, since BMW does not participate as an investor, but rather as a customer (‘venture client’). “The Startup Garage promotes the integration of state-of-the-art startup technologies throughout the entire organization”, says Toni Plöchl, Startup Manager R&D at BMW. BMW supports start-ups with the concentrated expertise of an international automotive group and, in return, gets quick access to new ideas.

“It was impressive how quickly we were able to work with the BMW research department as a result of the BMW Startup Garage. This was the only way to get the AirConsole solution for in-car gaming from a prototype to a BMW series feature as quickly as possible,” says Anthony Cliquot, CEO of N-Dream, the company behind AirConsole.

BMW also benefited from the start-up’s approach. Plöchl: “Thanks to the venture client model, the Proof of Concept was completed in record time. This proves the agility and effectiveness of our approach.”

Last year, the venture client unit completed a total of 32 pilot projects with leading start-ups. Since the Startup Garage was founded, 20 start-ups have managed to become regular suppliers after the pilot project.

In-car gaming with AirConsole is the first development project that has made the leap into production models and can be directly experienced by customers using their vehicles. In other areas, such as production, projects have also already been implemented, for example with regards to automated driving on the factory premises. To increase logistics efficiency, the vehicles move independently within the assembly area and then to the logistics parking areas – safely and without a driver. In this project, the BMW Group is working together with the start-ups Seoul Robotics (South Korea) and Embotech (Switzerland).

“In 2023, we want to further surpass the current record number of pilot projects with startups,” announces Plöchl. “Start-ups that have such great ideas as in-car gaming and focus on immersive in-vehicle experiences and other topics related to the digitalisation of mobility can apply to the venture client programme at any time.” In addition, international activities are to be expanded as part of the program. “The United States are currently of particular interest to us,” says Plöchl. BMW already has two Tech Offices there, in Mountain View and Greenville. However, cooperations with the BMW Startup Garage are also possible at the other Tech Office locations in Tel Aviv (Israel), Singapore, Shanghai (China), Seoul (South Korea) and Tokyo (Japan).

* Ex works: BMW 7 Series, BMW iX, BMW i4 from production 07/23; BMW X5, BMW X6, BMW X7, BMW XM, BMW X5 M, BMW X6 M from production date 08/23. Other BMW models from the mid-size class upwards will follow gradually. Further vehicles that can be updated to BMW Operating System 8.5 at a later date via Remote Software Upgrade include: BMW 7 Series from production date 07/22; BMW iX from production date 03/23; BMW X5, BMW X6, BMW X7, BMW XM, BMW X5 M, BMW X6 M from production date 04/23.