Qualcomm Incorporated has announced that its subsidiary, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., has introduced its latest Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ automotive processors, the Snapdragon 820 Automotive family, offering a scalable next-generation infotainment, graphics and multimedia platform with machine intelligence and a version with integrated LTE-Advanced connectivity. The Snapdragon 820A is Qualcomm Technologies’ newest automotive grade system-on-chip (SoC). Qualcomm Technologies has taken a modular approach to designing the Snapdragon 820A, enabling a vehicle’s infotainment system to be upgradable through both hardware and software updates, thereby enabling vehicles to be easily upgraded with the latest technology. A demonstration of the upgradeable module can be seen at the Qualcomm Automotive booth, North Hall #915 at CES 2016.
The Snapdragon 820A family is based on 14nm FinFET advanced process node running Qualcomm Technologies’ custom 64-bit Qualcomm® Kryo™ CPU, Qualcomm® Adreno™ 530 GPU, Qualcomm® Hexagon™ 680 DSP with Hexagon Vector eXtension (HVX), Qualcomm® Zeroth™ machine intelligence platform, and the Snapdragon 820Am version with integrated X12 LTE modem capable of 600 Mbps downlink / 150 Mbps uplink. The 820A is engineered with custom-built, highly optimized cores designed for heterogeneous computing—the ability to combine its diverse processing engines within the system-on-chip (SoC), such as the CPU, GPU and DSP cores, to achieve previously unattainable performance and power savings.
The Zeroth™ initiative, a machine intelligence platform on Snapdragon 820A, is designed to enable automakers to develop state-of-the-art deep learning-based solutions using neural networks for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and in-vehicle infotainment scenarios, and run them efficiently on embedded platforms in the vehicle. Zeroth accelerates execution of deep neural networks using the heterogeneous compute engines that are part of the Snapdragon 820A. A Zeroth-powered development kit for automotive solutions will be available for the Snapdragon 820A.
“With the Snapdragon 820 Automotive processing platform, we are delivering an unprecedented level of performance and technology integration designed to significantly enhance the consumer’s safety and in-vehicle experience. Never before has the unparalleled combination of integrated LTE cloud connectivity, powerful heterogeneous computing, leading-edge multimedia performance and breakthrough machine learning capabilities been delivered in a single chip, fully integrated, automotive grade solution,” said Patrick Little, senior vice president and general manager, automotive, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “The automotive industry has long been asking for a single scalable solution capable of delivering the rich user experience and level of performance, connectivity and upgradability that consumers are accustomed to on their personal mobile devices – including real-time cloud connectivity and navigation, immersive 4K graphics and video displays, the flexibility of hardware and software upgradability, and the deep learning and remote diagnostic capabilities needed to deliver the next level of safety performance in the vehicle. The Snapdragon 820 Automotive platform has been designed to deliver all of these capabilities and much more.”
The version with integrated X12 LTE modem is designed to support continuous in-car and cellular connectivity, featuring the leading 4G LTE Advanced Pro that can support up to 600 Mbps download/150Mbps upload speeds, stream HD movies into the car, serve as a Wi-Fi hotspot supporting 802.11ac 2×2 MIMO, connect multiple mobile devices inside the car, and support 802.11p DSRC for V2X (Vehicle to Vehicle/Infrastructure/Pedestrian) communications. Local connectivity inside the car via Bluetooth® supports content sharing between mobile devices brought into the car and the car’s infotainment system. Qualcomm Technologies is also helping to lead the 3GPP in developing specifications for automotive V2X, for both LTE release 14 (LTE V2X) and 5G standards.
“Like Qualcomm Technologies, AT&T is committed to the connected car and takes a similar approach to technology development with the AT&T Drive platform, offering a global, modular solution to automakers to enable best-in-class user experiences for their drivers,” said Chris Penrose, senior vice president, Internet of Things, AT&T Mobility. We design our solutions to provide better connectivity, flexibility and upgradability on our network, and Qualcomm Technologies’ development of the Snapdragon 820A Smart LTE Module is a prime example of this same approach to technology.”
Original source: Qualcomm
