#Japan #Tokyo #TIER IV #Autoware #Imec

Tier IV Joins imec's Automotive Chiplet Program

Introduction
Tier IV, a deep-tech company based in Shinagawa, Tokyo, with a vision of democratizing autonomous driving, has announced its membership in imec's Automotive Chiplet Program (ACP). imec is a global leader in nanotechnology and digital research based in Leuven, Belgium. This partnership aims to bolster Tier IV's diverse technology strategies, enabling it to provide scalable autonomous driving solutions within the global mobility ecosystem.

Background and Objectives

As the automotive industry shifts towards Software Defined Vehicles (SDVs), the decoupling of hardware and software is essential for maintaining competitive advantages. To address this, Tier IV focuses on two main areas:

1. Diverse Environments:
Achieving high compatibility with hardware architectures that include vehicles from manufacturers, open source software like Autoware, and System-on-Chip (SoC) technologies with various sensors.

2. Diverse Applications:
Adapting to a myriad of use cases through system development and integration, vehicle embedding, reference designs, and customer-oriented services.

Chiplet technology, which involves combining small chips with specific functions, forms the foundation for building semiconductors. By joining the ACP, Tier IV aims to promote chiplet architecture that efficiently operates diverse software across various semiconductors. This modular approach allows automotive manufacturers to choose the most suitable processors for their applications without being reliant on specific companies.

Efforts and Initiatives

In its participation in the ACP, Tier IV will collaborate with other member companies to design hardware accelerators that specialize in specific functions. Building on its successful development of LiDAR accelerators, which enable rapid 3D point processing, Tier IV will accelerate research on AI accelerators optimized for AI-based autonomous driving.

As Autoware evolves into a neural network capable of integrated processing from perception to planning, the hardware demands significant processing capabilities to execute the vast amount of AI tasks seamlessly. Leveraging chiplet technology, Tier IV can directly integrate its expertise in recognition technology with other computational units into SoCs, resulting in low latency and high efficiency, which are critical for next-generation autonomous driving systems.

Statements from Executives

Shinpei Kato, CEO of Tier IV, stated, “We strive to realize technologies that autonomously adapt to a wide range of environments and applications. By joining the ACP, we can link open-source software with semiconductors based on open standards. We aim to create an optimized environment where Autoware and our AI-based models can deliver their full potential across different architectures.”

Bart Placke, VP of imec Automotive, expressed his enthusiasm for welcoming Tier IV into the ACP, acknowledging that the automotive industry's shift towards chiplet architecture cannot be achieved alone. The ACP collaborates to formulate common standards and validate methods that meet in-vehicle requirements. With Tier IV's membership, the integration of the ACP's semiconductor and system integration expertise with Tier IV's autonomous driving software and reference platform capabilities will be enhanced, accelerating the establishment of chiplet architectures that support safe, reliable, scalable, and energy-efficient autonomous mobility.

Future Outlook

Tier IV plans to work alongside key industry players within the ACP to develop common standards for in-vehicle chiplets. This initiative will enable cutting-edge semiconductor technologies to be applied in The Autoware Foundation's Open AD Kit and the Co-MLOps platform of Tier IV. By promoting an ecosystem that facilitates shared chiplet technology beyond individual companies, Tier IV aims to construct a transparent supply chain, accelerating the global implementation of safe and scalable autonomous driving.

About Tier IV

Founded in December 2015, Tier IV leads the development of the open-source software Autoware, promoting the democratization of autonomous driving. The company offers a software platform based on Autoware and various services tailored to market needs for autonomous technology. Tier IV collaborates with partners worldwide through the ecosystem created by Autoware to expand the potential of autonomous driving, striving for a safer and sustainable society.

For more information, please visit Tier IV.

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