Bosch and the Chiplet Revolution: Enabling Software-Defined Mobility

Jama Software is always looking for news that would benefit and inform our industry partners. As such, we’ve curated a series of customer and industry spotlight articles that we found insightful. In this blog post, we share an article from Bosch, titled “Bosch and the chiplet revolution: Enabling software-defined mobility”, written by Michael Budde, President of Bosch Mobility Electronics.

Bosch and the chiplet revolution: Enabling software-defined mobility

The shift to software-defined mobility demands an unprecedented level of computational power, flexibility, and scalability as OEMs seek to develop software-based approaches to vehicle functionality and user experience.

While powerful, traditional System-on-Chips (SoCs) are reaching their technical limits in this evolving landscape. The sheer complexity of integrating multiple functions onto a single chip is becoming increasingly challenging – making development cycles longer, increasing costs, and reducing flexibility for future upgrades.

At Bosch, we see chiplet technology not only as technical innovation, but also as a potential breakthrough for software-defined mobility. – Michael Budde, President of Bosch Mobility Electronics

Chiplets: A modular solution for software-defined vehicles

With modular components that can be perfectly tailored for specific automotive applications, chiplets are emerging as a game-changer that can replace large, inflexible semiconductors. However, without common standards, the true benefits of chiplets cannot be fully realized as they risk remaining locked behind proprietary silos.

At Bosch, we’ve recognized that pursuing an open ecosystem for chiplet technology is critical for the advancement of software-defined mobility. This is reflected in our active involvement in several collaborative initiatives with major actors from industry and research.

Building an open ecosystem for automotive chiplets

Most recently, Bosch has taken a leading role in the CHASSIS initiative – which stands for Chiplet-based Architectures for Software-Defined Vehicles. With funding from the European CHIPS Joint Undertaking (CHIPS JU), the three-year project brings together multiple heavyweights from the European automotive, semiconductor, and software industries, as well as major research institutions. With strong partners like BMW, Renault, Stellantis, and many others, CHASSIS marks a clear milestone toward building the universal standards that will make chiplet technology viable for automotive applications. By establishing joint standards and fostering multi-vendor interoperability, CHASSIS lays the foundation for a scalable and sovereign chiplet ecosystem in Europe.

The transformative benefits of chiplets

While automotive chiplet technology is still in the early stages of development, there is no question that chiplets offer several major advantages for software-defined vehicles (SdVs) – first and foremost modularity and flexibility. SdVs require a range of computing resources, from high-performance processors for autonomous driving to energy-efficient microcontrollers for body control. With chiplets, we can design and integrate these specialized components independently, creating customized solutions for different vehicle domains or even specific customer needs. This modularity also makes upgrades and replacements of individual chiplets easier. In turn, this extends the lifespan of the underlying hardware and supports over-the-air (OTA) updates for new functionalities – a cornerstone of software-defined vehicles.

Second, chiplets address the ever-growing demand for performance and power efficiency. As autonomous driving algorithms become more sophisticated and user interfaces more immersive, computational requirements are increasing. Chiplets make it possible to combine different types of mini-chips, each made with the best technology for its specific job, into one powerful package. In turn, this enables superior performance where needed while maintaining energy efficiency in less demanding areas, which is especially important for electric vehicles and their range.

Third, cost-effectiveness and faster time-to-market are significant drivers. Developing a complete, monolithic SoC for every new vehicle platform is a resource-intensive endeavor. By allowing the reuse of proven intellectual property (IP) and the independent development of specialized blocks, chiplets significantly reduce design complexity and speed up development cycles. This agility is vital for OEMs: in a fast-paced market, staying ahead of the curve in software-driven features is a competitive necessity.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, chiplets can play a central role in managing complexity and mitigating risk. The interactions between hardware and software in SDVs make a robust and adaptable architecture decisive. By breaking down complex SoCs into smaller, manageable chiplets, we can isolate potential issues, simplify debugging, and accelerate validation processes. This streamlined approach minimizes the risk of costly redesigns and delays, thus ensuring the reliable and safe operation of advanced automotive systems.

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Collaborating to shape the new era of mobility

At Bosch, we see chiplet technology not only as technical innovation, but also as a potential breakthrough for software-defined mobility. It unlocks the architectural freedom, performance scalability, and economic viability required to build the intelligent and adaptable vehicles of the future. However, the technology’s full potential can only be reached through open standards and strong collaboration across the automotive and semiconductor industries. By working closely with our partners, we at Bosch believe that we can shape a modular, sovereign, and future-proof compute landscape for mobility.

Automotive chiplets: Your questions answered

This FAQ provides insights into automotive chiplets, their importance for software-defined mobility, and Bosch’s role in their development and standardization.

What are chiplets?

Chiplets are small, specialized silicon pieces, or “mini-chips,” that act as modular building blocks for semiconductor design. Instead of integrating all functions onto a single, large “monolithic” chip (System-on-Chip or SoC), chiplets allow for the distribution of computing tasks across several smaller, optimized components. These individual chiplets are then connected with a high-speed interface to function as a single, powerful system.

Why are chiplets important for software-defined mobility (SDM)?

The shift to software-defined mobility demands unprecedented computational power, flexibility, and scalability. Traditional monolithic SoCs are reaching their technical limits in meeting these demands for the following reasons:

Complexity: Integrating multiple functions onto a single chip is becoming increasingly challenging, and this is leading to longer development cycles and higher costs
Flexibility: Monolithic SoCs offer less flexibility for future upgrades or tailoring to specific automotive applications
Costs: Monolithic SoCs incur significant design costs. This limits their viability, making new designs feasible only for large-volume markets like smartphones, but increasingly uneconomical for automotive applications.

Chiplets offer a solution by providing:

Modularity and differentiation: They allow for customized solutions for different vehicle domains (e.g., autonomous driving, body control, OEM-specific AI accelerators) or even specific customer needs, making upgrades, variants and replacements easier
Performance and power efficiency: Different chiplets can be optimized for specific tasks, combining high-performance processing where needed with energy efficiency in other areas. This is especially important for electric vehicles
Cost-effectiveness and faster time-to-market: By reusing proven intellectual property (IP) and developing specialized blocks independently, chiplets reduce design complexity and accelerate development cycles. This is decisive for competitive innovation
Complexity management and risk mitigation: Breaking down complex systems into smaller, manageable chiplets simplifies debugging and validation. It also isolates potential issues, thus reducing the risk of costly redesigns

What is the CHASSIS initiative?

CHASSIS (Chiplet-based Hardware Architectures for Software-Defined Vehicles) is a three-year CHIPS JU (Chips Joint Undertaking) European pre-competitive program coordinated by Bosch. It is the first Europe-based initiative aiming to accelerate the development, standardization, and industrialization of automotive chiplet technology for software-defined mobility.

Who is involved in the CHASSIS project?

CHASSIS unites 18 leading companies from Europe’s mobility, semiconductor, and software industries, alongside prominent research institutions. This includes:

Major European OEMs: BMW, Renault/Ampere, CRF Stellantis
Tier 1 suppliers: Bosch, Valeo
Semiconductor companies: Bosch, Arteris, Axelera AI, Infineon, Menta, NXP, Tenstorrent
EDA and software companies: Siemens, TTTech-Auto
Research and technology organizations: CEA, CHIPS-IT, FMD, imec

What are the main goals of the CHASSIS initiative?

Chassis aims to prove the viability of chiplets for automotive applications while also building the architectural foundation and meeting market demand.

The CHASSIS initiative will:

Create scalable, high-performance chiplet platforms specifically designed for automotive use
Define clear integration rules and specifications for seamless chiplet-to-chiplet connectivity from different vendors
Foster a modular, secure, and resilient open chiplet ecosystem in Europe
Develop and validate an ‘Automotive Base Die’ (the automotive backbone) chiplet as well as a test chip consisting of multiple chiplets to demonstrate multi-vendor integration
Enable an ecosystem for chiplets with a strong European backbone

Why is an open ecosystem and standardization important for automotive chiplets?

Without common standards, the true benefits of chiplets cannot be fully realized. An open ecosystem and common standards:

Prevent chiplets from being locked behind proprietary silos
Ensure that different components from various suppliers can work together seamlessly
Promote competitive innovation and open up the high-performance compute market to multiple vendors
Enable the automotive industry to benefit from a global, scalable chiplet ecosystem
Strengthen Europe’s technological sovereignty in semiconductor design

RELATED: Assess Your Semiconductor Product Requirements and Traceability Pain Points

What is Bosch’s position in the automotive chiplet revolution?

Bosch aims to become the go-to provider for automotive chiplet systems and shape the future of automotive computing itself through open standards. The company is doing this by:

Coordinating the CHASSIS initiative: taking a leading role in bringing together key industry players and research institutions
Driving standardization: Actively working with partners to create common standards for automotive chiplets
Shaping the future: Influencing key design choices and architectures to ensure chiplet technology meets the evolving needs of software-defined vehicles
Comprehensive expertise: Leveraging its deep understanding of both automotive systems and semiconductor design and integration

How will chiplet innovation ultimately benefit the automotive industry and consumers?

Chiplet innovation will benefit the industry by:

Enabling more advanced, flexible, and powerful software-defined vehicles
Reducing development cycles and costs for OEMs
Allowing for easier upgrades and extended hardware lifespans in vehicles
Fostering competition and innovation among semiconductor suppliers
Enabling flexibility in E/E architecture design for OEMs based on needs and not limited to available SoCs

What are the benefits of automotive chiplets for consumers?

Vehicles with more sophisticated and customizable features
Enhanced safety and user experiences through advanced functionalities like autonomous driving
Longer-lasting vehicles with the ability to receive over-the-air (OTA) updates for new features
More energy-efficient vehicles, which is especially important for electric models

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