[CES 2022] Renault switches to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon digital architecture

BMW, General Motors or even Hyundai They are already customers of Qualcomm, which is significantly accelerating its activity in the automotive sector. Renault, which is also one of its customers, announces on the occasion of CES 2022 in Las Vegas that it is strengthening its partnership with Qualcomm in order to equip its cars with the “Snapdragon Digital Chaisher” or the Snapdragon digital chassis. Evidence of this aggressive strategy in the automotive sector: Qualcomm targets orders of more than $13 billion for its automotive products in the next 10 years.

Last September, Renault unveiled the Mégane E-Tech equipped with Snapdragon Cockpit Platforms. This solution is a component of Qualcomm’s digital architecture. With the digital Snpadragon chassis, Renault intends to up the pace in terms of services to drivers, advanced driving assistance systems, remote updates for functions or even a digital cockpit and an “infotainment” display.

“Snapdragon digital architecture”
The Snapdragon digital architecture consists of a set of open, scalable, cloud-connected platforms that use a unified architecture to support the suite of digital experiences that are available on-board and can be modernized over time.Vehicle Life. Car manufacturers can adopt all or part of these platforms and customize the experiences they want.

This platform includes the Snapdragon Ride Platform, an open, programmable platform that meets the full range of SAE needs and Level 3 and Level 2+ autonomous driving functions. Above all, the offer is flexible and manufacturers can incorporate their own policies and code of conduct into the proposed Advanced Driving Assistance Systems (ADAS).

The Snapdragon Cockpit Platform is used for in-vehicle infotainment systems and enables manufacturers to offer a range of personalized services to drivers. The “Snapdragon Auto Connectivity Platform” enables it to meet the connectivity needs of LTE, 5G, C-V2X, Wi-Fin Bluetooth, etc. Finally, “Snapdragon Car-to-Cloud Services” allows manufacturers to gain the functionality of remotely updating vehicle functions.

New architecture for 2026
Car manufacturers are developing new architectures that require a coordinated approach between SoCs, software-defined systems, and onboard sensors. The goal is to combine everything and develop a common service platform. In detail, Renault intends to move from a distributed architecture with 5 controllers to an architecture with two controllers: one for the cockpit and an HPC (High Performance Computing Platform) to manage the rest (ADAS, Connected Services, etc.). “Ultimately, maybe the idea is to integrate everything into the HPC platform”Agut Thierry Kamal, Vice President of Alliance Global Software Factory, Renault Group.

Renault decided to change its architecture specifically with the aim of extracting as much data as possible from all parts of the car in order to increase its residual value and increase the number of services provided. “The income from services will increase significantly in the coming years, it is important to be as equipped as possible for this”Thierry Kamal slices. In particular, the manufacturer intends to develop BtoB services.

Renault hopes to implement this new architecture on new cars from 2026. Then, eventually, all Renault cars will migrate to this chassis and the manufacturer will also offer this solution to its partners.