Volkswagen's Level 4 Self-Driving Vehicles Will Use Qualcomm Chips
Volkswagen has selected Qualcomm to provide the chips required for its Level 4 autonomous driving software.
The German car maker created its own software company called Cariad to develop a complete technology stack for autonomous driving up to Level 4. Qualcomm's Snapdragon Ride Platform will be used to run Cariad's software in all of Volkswagen's passenger car brands, which includes Audi, Cupra, Bentley, Lamborghini, Porsche, Skoda, and Seat. Volkswagen already selected Microsoft Azure as a cloud partner for its self-driving software.
Level 4 automation, also known as High Automation, allows a vehicle to drive itself as long as a human driver is present. However, unlike Level 3 (Conditional Automation), a Level 4 vehicle should be able to pull over safely even if the human driver does not respond appropriately to a request to intervene.
Qualcomm will provide Cariad with tailored Snapdragon Ride system-on-chips to match the needs of the software platform. "With our automated driving solutions, we are striving to let customers take their hands off the steering wheel in the future. Our software and Qualcomm Technologies' high-performance SoCs are the perfect match to bring this new automotive experience to customers around the world," said Cariad CEO Dirk Hilgenberg.
No financial terms were divulged and there's no timeline stated for when we can expect the first Volkswagen vehicle to offer Snapdragon-powered Level 4 self-driving. However, when it's ready, the system can be quickly rolled out to several of the most well-known car brands in the world.
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