Toyota said on Tuesday it will cut its global production plan by about 100,000 vehicles to about 850,000 vehicles in June due to a shortage of semiconductors.

The impact of the semiconductor shortage on Toyota reflects the unabated market demand for automotive semiconductors. In this context, automotive semiconductor giants have also launched new products one after another.

STMicroelectronics Announces Automotive IMU With Embedded Machine Learning

STMicroelectronics has launched the ASM330LHHX inertial measurement unit (IMU) with a machine learning (ML) core, which is mainly used to improve the automation of intelligent driving. ML cores enable fast real-time response and complex functions with low system power requirements.

The amount of data will only continue to grow as the number and scope of autonomous, software-defined and connected vehicle capabilities increase. Data science and machine learning (ML) is designed to quickly collect large amounts of data, perform identification verification, and make data calls quickly.

The ML core of this IMU is a hard-wired processing engine that runs AI algorithms directly on the sensors, ensuring extremely low latency between perceived events and vehicle responses. This enables sophisticated real-time performance that requires significantly less system energy and computing power than solutions embedded in application processors or cloud-based AI. Demo boards and free software sample libraries are available to simplify application development. Available functions include vehicle standstill detection, attitude and heading reference, altitude estimation, trailer detection, and collision detection.

The ASM330LHHX measures 2.5mm x 3mm x 0.83mm and contains a 3-axis accelerometer and 3-axis gyroscope. The 6-axis module provides motion and attitude sensing for functions such as vehicle positioning and digital stabilization. Low measured Allan variance (AVAR) for gyroscopes and accelerometers. The module maintains consistent high accuracy over an extended operating temperature range of -40°C to 105°C.

The ASM330LHHX has two operating modes, including a low-power mode for running always-on applications such as telematics, anti-theft systems, motion activation functions, and vibration monitoring and compensation. When operating in low-power mode, the accelerometer and gyroscope are running simultaneously with less than 800µA of current. There is also a high-performance mode for applications requiring the highest accuracy and lowest latency, including precise positioning, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications, and collision detection and collision reconstruction.

STMicroelectronics said the ASM330LHHX has passed the AEC-Q100 standard and is now in production.

NXP is about to launch a new generation of automotive processors, using 5nm process

NXP is nearing completion of the development of a new generation of automotive processors built using TSMC's 5nm process technology, said Kurt Sievers, president and CEO of NXP Semiconductors.

Sievers said NXP has partnered with TSMC to mass-produce radar and in-vehicle network processors, which are fabricated using TSMC's 16-nanometer FinFET process technology. NXP's S32G2 vehicle network processor can be used as a high-performance ASIL D safety processor in advanced driver assistance and autonomous driving systems.

NXP is working with TSMC to develop its next-generation high-performance automotive processor platform, which will use TSMC's 5nm process. This NXP product will address a variety of functions and workloads, such as connected cockpits, high-performance domain controllers, autonomous driving , Advanced Networking, Hybrid Propulsion Control and Integrated Chassis Management. NXP will soon begin mass production of these 5nm automotive SoCs.

In addition, NXP is working with Hon Hai Technology Group. NXP's S32G series of automotive processors will power the Model C series of electric RVs from Foxtron Vehicle Technologies, a joint venture between Foxconn and Yulon Motors.