indie Launches Ground-breaking Automotive Controller for Exterior Lighting Applications

December 19, 2022
  • Fully integrated solution offers pixel-level control for adaptive driving beam (ADB) and dynamic turn signal applications
  • Significantly reduces external component requirements and system costs
  • Expands indie’s product portfolio of best-in-class automotive lighting solutions and extends enhanced safety feature capabilities
  • Sampling customers now with high volume production ramps slated for Q2’23

indie Semiconductor (Nasdaq: INDI), an Autotech solutions innovator, has announced its first system-on-chip (SoC) for external automotive lighting. The new iND83080 is a highly integrated LED matrix controller that simplifies the design and reduces the cost of advanced, high-definition exterior lighting applications where individual LEDs are turned on and off to deliver pixel-level control.

LEDs are becoming the predominant lighting technology in automotive applications due to their inherent power efficiency, high light intensity, increased lifetime and ruggedness, design flexibility and lower overall costs. Vehicle OEMs are increasingly deploying front lighting and turn signal implementations based on matrix-based LED designs that allow individual LEDs to be controlled independently. For front headlights, this enables highly controllable and precise illumination, and in combination with beam-forming creates an adaptive driving beam (ADB) that can accurately illuminate the path ahead, while minimizing the light that causes dangerous glare for oncoming drivers. Adaptive headlights are available on select vehicles in Europe and Japan, and earlier this year, the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced a ruling that permits automakers to add ADB for U.S. vehicles.

Delivering pixel-level LED management requires LED matrix control semiconductors. The iND83080 matrix controller SoC is specifically designed to provide pixel-level control for ADB, dynamic turn signal and dynamic positioning lighting applications. indie’s differentiated SoC features modes that reduce data bus traffic to the lighting control unit by automatically generating on-chip pulse width modulation control (“Smart Mode”), as well as allowing the device to support two pre-programmable modes (“Standalone Mode”) without need for external control. On-chip integration of a high-accuracy, high-speed clock further simplifies system design, enables multi-chip synchronization and removes the need for external clock generation, thereby reducing component count.

“Pixel-level control of matrix LEDs can enhance road safety and the overall driver experience,” said Michael Wittmann, senior vice president of product marketing at indie Semiconductor. “Features such as ADB have been available to car buyers in Europe and Asia for a number of years and will soon become commonplace in the U.S. given the latest changes in federal regulations. By offering industry-leading performance and integration for automotive LED matrix deployments, indie’s first SoC for external automotive lighting provides leading vehicle OEMs and tier one’s significant flexibility, while speeding design and achieving substantial overall system-level cost savings.”

The iND83080 is sampling now, qualified for AEC-Q100 Grade 1, with evaluation kits available that combine the device with all necessary components to speed the rapid development and testing of advanced lighting prototypes.

About indie

indie is empowering the Autotech revolution with next-generation automotive semiconductors and software platforms. We focus on edge sensors spanning multiple modalities, including LiDAR, radar, ultrasound and vision for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), user experience and electrification applications. These technologies represent the core underpinnings of both electric and autonomous vehicles while our advanced user interfaces enabled by our mixed-signal SoCs transform the in-cabin experience to mirror and seamlessly connect to the mobile platforms we rely on every day. We are an approved vendor to Tier 1 partners and our solutions can be found in marquee automotive OEMs around the world. Headquartered in Aliso Viejo, CA, indie has design centers and sales offices in Austin, TX; Boston, MA; Detroit, MI; San Francisco and San Jose, CA; Budapest, Hungary; Dresden and Munich, Germany; Cambridge, England; Edinburgh, Scotland; Haifa, Israel; Quebec City, Canada; Tokyo, Japan and several locations throughout China.

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Source: indie Semiconductor