During the Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. introduced new high-end automotive platforms, designed to meet the needs of the ever-evolving automotive industry. Elite platforms, powered by the Qualcomm Oryon CPU, offer high-level performance in terms of power and intelligence, key elements for next-generation vehicles. These solutions represent an expansion of the Snapdragon Digital Chassis portfolio, designed to improve both on-board digital experiences with Snapdragon Cockpit Elite and automated driving capabilities with Snapdragon Ride Elite.
The Qualcomm Oryon CPU, now optimized for the automotive sector, represents one of the main innovations. The Elite platforms allow an unprecedented combination of advanced features for the digital cockpit and automated driving, all running on the same SoC. This solution allows manufacturers to easily integrate sophisticated functions into their vehicles, improving both the driver experience and vehicle performance. Snapdragon Cockpit Elite and Snapdragon Ride Elite address the growing need for computing power, graphics and artificial intelligence. According to Nakul Duggal, head of automotive at Qualcomm Technologies, these platforms provide automakers with the tools necessary to redefine the on-board experience, while ensuring energy efficiency and reduced response times.
Snapdragon Elite platforms are designed to maximize artificial intelligence performance thanks to a dedicated NPU (Neural Processing Unit), which allows processing data in real time from both the external environment and the vehicle’s interior. This allows for quicker responses and more efficient decisions, improving safety and personalizing the driving experience. The NPU supports end-to-end transformers, ensuring low latency and high performance, a 12x increase over previous cockpit platforms. The flexible architecture of the Elite platforms also supports multi-OS virtualization, allowing multiple applications to run simultaneously on independent virtual machines. This approach allows automakers to develop vehicles that can be configured based on market needs, accelerating implementation times and reducing architectural complexity.
Snapdragon Elite platforms deliver high performance with low power consumption, helping vehicles run more efficiently. Intelligent power management hardware and software balance the workload to optimize application run time and resource usage. Safety is another crucial element, with support for ASIL-D standards and a robust isolation architecture to ensure the correct functioning of ADAS features and improve passenger comfort and safety. Snapdragon Elite platforms are equipped with an advanced camera system, capable of managing up to 20 high-resolution cameras for 360-degree coverage of the vehicle. Multimodal sensors, supported by artificial intelligence algorithms, ensure optimal image quality and accurate perception of obstacles and the surrounding environment, improving safety and comfort functions.
Finally, the integrated software stack for automated driving enables the execution of advanced functions such as vision perception, route planning and vehicle control, all in real time and without interference. This approach to software virtualization represents a major step forward towards the development of fully autonomous vehicles. Snapdragon Cockpit Elite and Ride Elite will be available in 2025, with collaborations already underway with automakers such as Li Auto and Mercedes-Benz AG. The platforms will allow manufacturers to accelerate the development of software-defined vehicles, offering new on-board experiences and redefining the concept of mobility for consumers of the future.