Of Semiconductors and All

In the semiconductor market, mass applications are driving growth. We are now entering the secure edge processing segment. There is re-verticalisation, from global to local and focus on sustainability. There is pressure on the very globalised semiconductor market. There is data collection, processing and decisions taken at the edge. Edge devices are also securely connected to the cloud. Where does it take us all?

- Pradeep Chakraborty

Lars Reger, EVP and CTO, NXP Semiconductors, recently said that we need to have electronics that anticipates and automates. Every bold step forward faces barriers. We are looking at the India activity that has grown exponentially.

This vision is very sound. Devices may misbehave at some times. We need secure connections for a smarter world, with foundational technologies. We need devices that sense, think, connect and act. Today, things are secure and safe.

An example of an ultimate edge devices is the electric and autonomous vehicles. Radar and safe processing provide autonomy. Powertrain management and battery management provide electrification. NXP has a smart vehicles domain-based architecture. You have clusters for powertrain and vehicle dynamics, connectivity, infotainment and in-vehicle experience, ADAS and highly automated driving, etc.

Industry 4.0 can provide connectivity, autonomy, energy management, information management, human-machine interaction, etc. An example is the cleaning robot with domain-based architecture. Functional safety and cryptology levels are also increasing. You can differentiate by creating value system solutions and functional clusters. There are five steps of solutions. These include hardware, enablement, reference design, feature-complete, and product ready. Customization increases as you move from the hardware to the product ready solution.

We have today available to us full end-to-end secure smart access system. Secure and precise localization is provided by UWB. There is driving standardization, such as IEEE, NFC-Forum, CCC, etc. NXP also provides the Alexa Voice Service box. It is the world’s first MCU-based AVS development kit. Turnkey design shortens the time-to-market.