Samsung Electronics: Revolutionizing the Road Ahead

Aligning automotive innovations from all of its semiconductor business units for the first time, Samsung Electronics underscores the symbiotic potential among its diverse offerings across memory, system LSI, foundry and LED technologies. This unification solidifies Samsung’s leading position as an all-encompassing mobility solutions provider.

“IAA MOBILITY 2023 serves as an unparalleled platform for us to demonstrate the collective strength and commitment of our individual businesses, built to revolutionize the automotive industry through our expansive suite of semiconductor technologies,” said Dermot Ryan, President of Device Solutions Europe, Samsung Electronics. “Our shared vision is to collaboratively craft safer, more sustainable and profoundly interconnected automotive experiences for customers and communities worldwide.”

Pioneering Memory Advancements for Future Mobility

With future vehicles demanding advanced computing and storage capabilities, Samsung’s proven memory technologies emerge as a mainstay in accelerating data-driven mobility. At IAA MOBILITY 2023, Samsung will highlight its full lineup of memory solutions finely tuned for forthcoming automotive applications. These include LPDDR5X,² GDDR7,³ AutoSSD and UFS 3.1⁴ products that offer high-performance and high-capacity in areas such as infotainment and advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) — all with certified auto-grade reliability. Building upon its robust automotive portfolio and extensive ecosystem partnerships, Samsung aims to become the largest automotive memory provider by 2025, empowering global customers to achieve fully connected mobility experiences.

Elevating the In-Car Experience With System LSI Innovations

As the automotive landscape shifts toward electrification and digitalization, in-car entertainment and safety ascend as defining attributes of next-generation vehicles. During IAA MOBILITY 2023, Samsung will present a tailored processor and sensor portfolio designed to address these evolving demands. Samsung’s Exynos Auto V920 processor, optimized for premium in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) systems, enables smooth playback of graphics-rich videos and games on multiple displays. Meanwhile, Samsung’s ISOCELL Auto sensors provide an exhaustive 360-degree car vision from front- (ISOCELL Auto 1H1) to rear- and surround-views (ISOCELL Auto 4AC), ensuring safety for both drivers and passengers. Extending safety features to the car interior, Samsung will demonstrate in-cabin sensor technologies primed for driver and occupant monitoring systems, capable of detecting and alerting potentially unsafe driver conditions like drowsiness, fatigue and distraction.

Advancing Automotive Semiconductor Frontiers With Foundry Solutions

In tune with the burgeoning automotive semiconductor market, Samsung’s Foundry Business has strategically honed its focus on automotive innovation and manufacturing excellence. At IAA MOBILITY 2023, the company will present its latest automotive design solutions, spanning system-on-chips (SoCs) for IVI and ADAS, power management ICs⁵ (PMICs) and battery management ICs (BMICs) as well as automotive microcontrollers (MCUs), all featuring the latest of Samsung Foundry’s technologies. Samsung will also highlight its automotive process technology roadmap, targeting mass production readiness of its four-nanometer (nm) process (SF4A⁶) by 2025 and its 2nm process (SF2A⁷) by 2026. Augmenting this initiative, Samsung Foundry is fortifying its intellectual property (IP) portfolio across analog, memory interface, high-speed interface, security and die to die (D2D) as well as bolstering its design infrastructure.

Next-Gen LED Technologies for the Vehicles of Tomorrow

Samsung will also display its advanced and highly customizable LED lighting solutions ideal for future electric and autonomous vehicles. The company’s PixCell LED⁸ represents an intelligent adaptive driving beam (ADB) innovation that empowers car manufacturers to create smaller lamps with precise and selective lighting control. Achieving Full HD resolution on a compact 0.25-inch display, Samsung’s next-gen Micro LED technology is ideally suited for ultra-high-resolution head-up displays (HUDs) while enabling driver information viewing through augmented reality (AR) glasses. Its Mini LED technology, an evolutionary vehicle-to-everything (V2X) solution, will unlock intricate animated signal effects, enhancing communication with other vehicles and pedestrians.

Samsung Display: OLEDs To Enhance the Automobile Experience

Samsung Display is exhibiting at IAA Mobility 2023, making its debut at an auto show for the first time ever, highlighting its display leadership with a unique exhibition that allows visitors to experience the many advantages of OLED technology. This ties in with the company’s intention to become a leading provider of OLED displays on next-generation automobile applications as the industry transitions away from LCDs.

Visitors to the Samsung Display booth will be able to experience the Safe Driving Center, where they can compare the difference between OLEDs and LCDs. Participants will discover that because OLEDs can portray True Black (Certified by VESA), they can significantly enhance driver visibility — and therefore safety — in dark environments.

The booth will also showcase OLEDs’ low power consumption, owing to OLED displays only lighting up pixels where the actual color appears, unlike LCDs. Of course, this characteristic is becoming ever more important in a world where electric vehicles (EVs) continue to grow in popularity. Additionally, visitors can explore how OLED technology enhances the interior of the vehicle. Since OLEDs can be bent and curved to match the car’s interior, and are lighter and thinner than LCDs, they allow for much greater design flexibility.

In the Next Mobility Projects space, visitors can get a glimpse of future OLED displays in a variety of form factors, such as the Flex S, a multi-foldable display that folds into an S shape with one side of the device inward and the other outward. It can be carried like a smartphone, but then expanded to 12.4 inches and used as the car dashboard. Other innovative products on display include a rollable display that expands more than five times on the vertical axis for rear seat entertainment (RSE) systems in the backseat, as well as a slidable display that expands the screen on both sides.

Samsung SDI: Cutting-Edge Battery Solutions for Next-Gen Electric Vehicles

Samsung SDI is making its sixth IAA appearance at IAA MOBILITY 2023, and the battery maker is poised to unveil “super gap”⁹ battery solutions for future EVs. The company is also making engagement with top R&D talent from Europe a priority.

Visitors to Samsung SDI’s booth will have a chance to see the company’s technological highlights in the PRiMX¹⁰ Zone, with the theme of “PRiMX, Experience the Best.” The zone will showcase a next-generation lineup of products including the all-solid-state battery, 46-phi cylindrical battery, nickel manganese (NMX) battery and lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP) battery, along with premium-segment solutions. In the ESG¹¹ Zone, Samsung SDI will present the company’s ongoing initiatives for a sustainable future under the long-term vision of “To make the world sustainable through our innovative technology.”

To cater to varying needs for mass-market electric cars, Samsung SDI is also unveiling cobalt-free battery solutions like NMX and LMFP as a strategic edge ensuring both safety and cost-effectiveness. Also on display is a new form factor, where cathode and anode terminals are re-positioned to the side, enabling maximum space efficiency and enhanced performance and safety.

In attendance at IAA MOBILITY 2023 will be Samsung SDI President and CEO Yoon-ho Choi, who will meet with major European customers. Choi will also make an appearance at the Tech & Career (T&C) Forum, SDI’s career fair that introduces its technological prowess to the industry and allows the company to engage with prospective employees. The Forum is being held in Munich for the first time, after being held in Seoul last month. It took place twice in Seoul and New York last year.

“Home to global automotive industry players, including both carmakers and parts makers, Europe is a crucial market that will lead the future EV industry,” said Choi. “Using our unrivaled technologies, we will continually strive to provide our key European customers with products that feature the highest levels of safety and quality.”

¹ The International Motor Show Germany, or Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung (IAA) in German, is one of the world’s largest mobility trade fairs. It consists of two separate fairs: IAA MOBILITY and IAA TRANSPORTATION. IAA MOBILITY focuses on the latest developments in passenger vehicles, motorcycles and bikes.
² LPDDR5X: Low Power Double Data Rate 5X.
³ GDDR7: Graphics Double Data Rate 7.
⁴ UFS 3.1: Universal Flash Storage 3.1.
⁵ IC: Integrated Circuit.
⁶ SF4A: Samsung Foundry 4nm Automotive.
⁷ SF2A: Samsung Foundry 2nm Automotive.
⁸ The PixCell LED is a super-compact solution that uses sharp precision to deliver enhanced visibility for safer driving at night and in poor weather conditions.
⁹ Super gap: a wide lead that a market leader has over its competitors.
¹⁰ In 2021, Samsung SDI launched the battery brand PRiMX: Prime Battery for Maximum Experience.
¹¹ ESG: Environmental, Social and Governance.

Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, today introduced ISOCELL Auto 4AC, an automotive image sensor that offers advanced 120-decibel (dB) high dynamic range (HDR) and LED flicker mitigation (LFM) especially for surround-view monitors (SVM) or rear-view cameras (RVC) in high-definition resolution (1280 x 960). The new sensor is Samsung’s first imaging solution optimized for automotive applications.

“The new ISOCELL Auto 4AC combines Samsung’s innovative and market-proven image sensor technologies with a unique CornerPixel solution for advanced HDR and LFM capabilities, offering exceptional viewing experiences regardless of lighting conditions,” said Duckhyun Chang, executive vice president of sensor business at Samsung Electronics. “Starting with the ISOCELL Auto 4AC, we plan to expand our automotive sensor lineup to areas such as camera monitor systems (CMS), autonomous driving and in-cabin monitoring.”

Various lighting situations on the road may pose obstacles to the driver. Quick transitions from a low-lit environment to a brighter one, such as exiting a tunnel, may require a few seconds for the driver’s eyes to adjust. Also, flickering from LED headlamps or road signage, such as street lamps and traffic lights, could become increasingly noticeable on the automotive system’s camera screen.

The ISOCELL Auto 4AC offers a safer driving experience with an enhanced field of view for the driver with its CornerPixel technology. The technology features a specialized pixel structure that mitigates LED light over 90-hertz (Hz). Within a single pixel area, it embeds two photodiodes, one 3.0µm pixel for viewing low light images, and a 1.0µm pixel placed at the corner of the big pixel for brighter environments. With two photodiodes capturing images in different exposures simultaneously, the sensor offers up to 120dB HDR with minimal motion blur, allowing smoother transitions between dark and bright areas while preserving more details of the road ahead.

To minimize LED flickering, the smaller photodiode’s exposure time can be extended, preventing pulsing LED light from being displayed as flickering on the camera screen. This delivers a more pleasant viewing experience for the driver and more accurate image data on LED-embedded objects for the automotive system to recognize.

The Samsung ISOCELL Auto 4AC comes in a 1/3.7-inch optical format with 1.2 million 3.0-micrometer (µm) pixels, and for streamlined client system installations, an image signal processor (ISP) is embedded within the sensor.

The 4AC meets stringent AEC-Q100 Grade 2 qualifications, including a -40°C to 125°C operating temperature range, and is currently in mass production.

* Editor’s Note: Actual performance may vary depending on device and user environment.

* Samsung first announced its ISOCELL technology in 2013, which reduces color crosstalk between pixels by placing a physical barrier, allowing small-sized pixels to achieve higher color fidelity. Based on this technology, Samsung introduced the industry’s first 1.0um-pixel image sensor in 2015 and a 0.9-pixel sensor in 2017. Samsung continues to enhance its pixel isolation methods with ISOCELL Plus and the ISOCELL 2.0 technologies.

“Samsung’s new automotive brand solutions, Exynos Auto and ISOCELL Auto, bring Samsung’s market-proven technologies to automotive applications with enhanced features and durability required by the market,” said Kenny Han, vice president of Samsung’s Device Solutions Division. “With fast telecommunication, accurate sensing and powerful processing capabilities, Samsung’s Auto-branded solutions will enable new driving experiences to next-generation smart vehicles.”

Exynos Auto Logo (top) and ISOCELL Auto Logo

Samsung’s Exynos processors have been recognized for their performance and stability since its brand launched in 2011. On top of the powerful yet efficient qualities of Exynos’ mobile versions, Exynos Auto meets industry requirements for harsher environments, allowing automotive manufacturers to develop cutting-edge applications such as infotainment, advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS) and telematics.

Processors provided by Exynos Auto are sorted into three sub-categories: Exynos Auto V series for advanced in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) systems; Exynos Auto A series for ADAS; and Exynos Auto T series for telematics solutions.

Samsung’s ISOCELL image sensors have brought innovative imaging technologies to mobile products since 2017 and the new automotive lineup will help bring the power of sight to cars. Built on the company’s innovative pixel isolation technology, ISOCELL, the sensors provide greater visibility of the road and surroundings even in low-light environments, while enabling more precise identification of objects. This allows, for example, vehicles to perceive road conditions or potential hazards even when driving through tunnels or other high-contrast environments. 

Samsung’s Exynos Auto and ISOCELL Auto products will be demonstrated at the International Suppliers Fair (IZB) in Wolfburg, Germany, from October 16 to 18 at Hall 1.  

For more information please visit the below sites;

– Exynos Auto: https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/exynos/application/automotive/

– ISOCELL Auto: https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/image-sensor/automotive-image-sensor/