Chip Will Turn Cars Into Supercomputers

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Qualcomm announced new faster Snapdragon SoC chips that allow AI to function in the car dashboard instead of remotely.

A new chipset from Qualcomm is so powerful, it will turn cars into “supercomputers,” said MotorTrend recently.

Due next year, the chipset can bring AI processing onboard in the dashboard instead of on a server farm located outside of the car.  With this onboard processing, voice assistants will become far more powerful.  And the chip could propel cars into Level 4 autonomy (fully self-driving cars except under certain conditions such as heavy weather), said MotorTrend.

The Qualcomm system on a chip (SoC) probably won’t make its way into vehicles until a few years from release, but when it does, it will not only process AI and voice assistant commands but information from the sensors in and around the car.

This means, if you see something off in the distance while driving and wonder what it is, the car can tell you.  In fact, MotorTrend describes a scenario where the car is listening to your conversations and if you are merely talking about an object in the distance, the car may offer to identify it.

Qualcomm has two new chip systems.  The Snapdragon Cockpit Elite handles graphics processing–enough to drive up to 16 displays at the same time, each with 4K resolution and running 3D software.   The other system, the Snapdragon Ride Elite SoC, can support more than 80 sensors simultaneously, including high-resolution radar, imaging, and lidar.

Qualcomm currently supplies car makers including BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Rivian. Qualcomm said Mercedes-Benz and Li Auto (of China) will feature the technology in future vehicles.

See more at MotorTrend.

Source: MotorTrend, Qualcomm and Android Central

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