A new rumor report from Korea this morning states that Apple is developing an autonomous vehicle with a centralized operating system like Tesla. Like with smartphones, it is a single OS that controls every function in an autonomous vehicle. Apple will design an application processor (AP) for their autonomous vehicle, and a Korean part cooperative company will take charge of some of the post-processes.
Apple reportedly shared a part of their development strategy for the centralized OS for Apple Car to core Korean cooperative companies. They have decided to adopt Tesla-type autonomous vehicle architecture. It is a Domain Control Unit (DCU) method that manages several electronic control units (ECU) in an AP that serves as a brain. Currently, Tesla is the only onein global autonomous vehicle market to choose the DCU method.
If Apple adopts this method, they will be able to integrate different software by parts, and reduce number of electronic control units (ECU).It contrasts to the existing car, which had different operating software for each vehicle part. The centralized architecture has powerful computing power, and it makes them easier to implement complex autonomous driving functions. This is also excellent for complex computational processing, over-the-air software updates (OTA), and IT implementations such as cloud computing.
It has been confirmed that Apple requested a Korean part company to develop DCU in the autonomous-driving sensor field. DCU architecture of autonomous vehicles are usually designed into three areas: infotainment, motor control, and sensors. Sensor DCU integrates and manages cameras, radars, and LiDar. Korean cooperative company will be in charge of developing DCU in sensor fields.
A Korean parts company that received a development request from Apple recently placed an order for high-performance semiconductor post-processing equipment. It was the first time this company has purchased post-processing equipment for high-performance semiconductors. It is known that they have been working very closely with Apple Car’s working group. For more, read the full DigiTimes report.
