Ambarella Expands Autonomous Driving AI Domain Controller Family With Two New Members; Provides Broadest Software-Compatible AI Performance Range
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The announcement by Ambarella, Inc. regarding the expansion of its CV3-AD SoC family represents a significant stride in the automotive industry's pursuit of higher levels of vehicle automation. The introduction of the CV3-AD635 and CV3-AD655 SoCs is a notable development for automotive OEMs and tier-1 suppliers, as these chips are designed to support advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving (AD) capabilities. The CV3-AD family's scalability, from the CV72AQ to the flagship CV3-AD685, provides a broad spectrum of AI performance that can cater to both mainstream and premium vehicle segments.
The integration of Ambarella's CVflow® 3.0 AI accelerator within these SoCs is particularly noteworthy. This technology facilitates the processing of complex neural networks and traditional computer vision tasks with high efficiency, addressing the industry's need for low-power, high-performance computing solutions. The potential reduction in thermal-management costs and the positive impact on electric vehicle (EV) battery size and range are tangible benefits that can enhance the competitive positioning of OEMs adopting these SoCs.
Furthermore, the SoCs' adherence to the GSR2 and NCAP standards, as well as their targeting of ASIL-B with an ASIL-D safety island, underscores the commitment to safety and reliability in ADAS and AD applications. The hardware security module integrated into the SoCs also highlights the increasing importance of cybersecurity in automotive systems, ensuring secure operations in an era where vehicles are becoming increasingly connected and software-defined.
The strategic partnership between Continental and Ambarella is a compelling development that is likely to influence the automotive market. By combining Continental's automotive system solutions with Ambarella's AI and computer vision expertise, the partnership is poised to offer comprehensive full-stack vehicle system solutions. This collaboration is expected to yield scalable and energy-efficient products that could appeal to a wide range of customers in the automotive sector, potentially leading to an increased market share for both companies.
The announcement of the first order for a complete Level 4 fallback system and the planned series production for 2027 indicates a clear roadmap for the deployment of these technologies. This long-term planning is essential for investors and stakeholders to assess the future revenue streams and growth potential of both Ambarella and Continental. The ability to scale solutions across different vehicle levels and the emphasis on energy efficiency could resonate well with the current market trends, where there is a strong focus on sustainability and the transition to electric vehicles.
As the automotive industry continues to evolve towards higher levels of automation, the demand for advanced SoCs like those in the CV3-AD family is expected to grow. Ambarella's positioning in this market segment, along with its partnership with Continental, could play a pivotal role in shaping the future of autonomous mobility and smart transportation solutions.
The financial implications of Ambarella's new product releases and its partnership with Continental are multifaceted. On one hand, the development of the CV3-AD SoC family addresses a growing demand for advanced autonomous driving and ADAS capabilities, which is a market with significant growth potential. The ability of Ambarella to provide a range of SoCs to cater to various levels of automation—from L2+ to L4 systems—enables the company to target a wide customer base, potentially leading to increased revenue streams.
On the other hand, the upfront research and development costs, as well as the investments required for scaling production to meet the anticipated demand, could impact Ambarella's short-term financial results. However, securing early orders for a complete Level 4 system and setting a series production date for 2027 provides a clear signal to the market of the company's future revenue potential and may positively influence investor sentiment.
The focus on energy efficiency and the reduction of thermal-management costs could also lead to cost savings for automotive manufacturers, which might incentivize them to adopt Ambarella's SoCs over competitors'. This competitive advantage could translate into higher market penetration and better financial performance for Ambarella in the long term. It is important to monitor how the market responds to these developments and how they affect Ambarella's financial health and stock performance in the coming years.
With Addition of CV3-AD635 and CV3-AD655, SoC Family Addresses Full Range of Autonomous and ADAS Vehicle Systems
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Jan. 09, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ambarella, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMBA), an edge AI semiconductor company, today announced during CES the latest additions to its CV3-AD family of automotive AI domain controllers—the CV3-AD635 and CV3-AD655 systems-on-chip (SoCs). The new CV3-AD635 supports a sensing suite that includes multiple cameras and radars to enable mainstream L2+ feature sets, such as highway autopilot and automated parking, in addition to meeting the GSR2 and NCAP standards. Additionally, the CV3-AD655 enables advanced L2+ (also called L2++) with urban autopilot, as well as support for additional cameras, radars and other sensors. With the previously announced flagship CV3-AD685 SoC, which targets L3/L4 systems—along with the China-focused CV72AQ SoC—the CV3-AD family now covers the full range of AD and ADAS solutions, from mainstream to premium passenger vehicles. Additionally, this is the automotive industry’s broadest performance range for any software-compatible AI domain control family, spanning an 18x AI performance increase from the CV72AQ to the CV3-AD685.
All SoCs in the CV3-AD family feature Ambarella’s CVflow® 3.0 AI accelerator. This highly efficient, proprietary AI engine combines neural network acceleration—including support for the latest NN architectures such as transformers and bird’s-eye-view (BEV) networks—along with general vector processing capabilities for traditional computer vision and efficient radar processing. The CVflow’s high AI processing performance and industry-leading power efficiency enable CV3-AD customers to design vehicles with rich feature sets based on safe and reliable AD and ADAS capabilities, while reducing thermal-management cost and complexity. That significantly lower power consumption also allows customers to deploy electric vehicles with smaller batteries, reducing cost and weight; or to alternatively increase the EV range using the same battery. As with the rest of this family, the CV3-AD635 and CV3-AD655 are fabricated in Samsung’s advanced 5nm automotive process technology.
“With the accelerating adoption of AI-based ADAS and AD solutions, automotive OEMs and tier-1s require more AI performance, lower power consumption, and support for advanced algorithms, in all segments of the market,” said Fermi Wang, President and CEO of Ambarella. “The new CV3-AD635 and CV3-AD655 enable proven CV3-AD powerful performance in mass market L2+ and L2++ systems, while helping OEMs to reduce complexity and save costs on thermal management solutions and electric vehicle batteries.”
“The strategic partnership between Continental and Ambarella is bringing full-stack vehicle system solutions to the road—beginning with 2027 SOPs—that combine maximum performance and industry-leading energy efficiency,” said Ismail Dagli, Head of the Autonomous Mobility Business Area at Continental. “Based on Ambarella’s CV3-AD family, our joint solutions enable safer mobility thanks to holistic environmental perception; making them particularly well suited for the growing amount of sensor data in software-defined vehicles. Together, we are shaping the path toward Vision Zero and autonomous mobility.”
Ambarella’s CV3-AD SoC portfolio meets the processing requirements for automotive OEMs’ entire catalogs, from mainstream to premium models, by scaling the performance of each members’ compute engines. For example, the CV3-AD655 offers double, and CV3-AD685 six times, the NN processing performance of the CV3-AD635. Likewise, the CV3-AD635 integrates four Arm Cortex A78AE CPU cores, and the CV3-AD655 eight cores. A dual-core, lockstep pair of Cortex-R52 CPUs is also included in both the CV3-AD635 and CV3-AD655. Additionally, these SoCs target ASIL-B at the chip level, via an ASIL-D safety island. Also integrated on-chip is a GPU to render 3D surround views.
Easy portability across the entire CV3-AD family is achieved by sharing the same architectural approach, SDK and tools. Additionally, Ambarella’s full software stack for autonomous and semi-autonomous driving is optimized for all CV3-AD family members, as the stack and SoCs were designed in conjunction. This allows automotive OEMs and tier-1s to leverage engineering investments across their full vehicle line-ups, while achieving high AI performance that supports the latest NNs architectures along with best-in-class power efficiency.
The CV3-AD family’s on-chip image signal processor provides outstanding imaging in low-light conditions, including high-dynamic-range processing to extract maximum image detail in high-contrast scenes. These features enhance the SoCs’ AI and computer vision capabilities, while delivering clear video for human viewing. All CV3-AD family members also provide high-resolution video recording and streaming at very low bit rates with efficient H.264 video encoding.
The integrated hardware security module provides isolation of different domains and secure software provisioning, as well as a suite of advanced cybersecurity features, including: asymmetric/symmetric crypto acceleration, secure storage and key provisioning, encrypted CVflow AI acceleration tasks, true random number generator, one-time programmable memory, DRAM scrambling and DRAM virtualization.
CV3-AD635 and CV3-AD655 engineering samples are expected to be available in Q1 2024. Additionally, at Ambarella’s invitation-only exhibition during CES in Las Vegas this week, the company will provide fully autonomous test drives in its R&D vehicles to demonstrate the CV3-AD family’s capabilities. For more information or to schedule a ride, please contact your Ambarella representative or visit www.ambarella.com.
Continental-Ambarella Partnership
This strategic partnership combines Continental’s software and hardware expertise, as well as its broad portfolio of automotive system solutions, with Ambarella's computer vision and AI know-how, software modules and powerful SoCs—including the full CV3-AD family that was expanded today. Continental and Ambarella are focused on optimized full-stack software, which can be scaled across the CV3-AD SoC family, within the companies’ joint hardware systems based on AI for Level 2+ to Level 4 automated vehicles. These full-stack solutions take a multi-sensor approach, including Continental’s high-resolution cameras, radars and lidars, as well as the associated control units and the required software. Continental and Ambarella have received their first order as a complete Level 4 fallback system, covering the full chain of effects. First joint series production is planned for calendar-year 2027. Thus, as a result of this strategic partnership, vehicle manufacturers will be able to flexibly integrate the powerful and energy-efficient, yet scalable, mobility system solutions from Continental and Ambarella into their latest vehicle generations.
About Ambarella
Ambarella’s products are used in a wide variety of human vision and edge AI applications, including video security, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), electronic mirror, drive recorder, driver/cabin monitoring, autonomous driving and robotics applications. Ambarella’s low-power systems-on-chip (SoCs) offer high-resolution video compression, advanced image and radar processing, and powerful deep neural network processing to enable intelligent perception, fusion and planning. For more information, please visit www.ambarella.com.
Ambarella Contacts
- Media contact: Eric Lawson, elawson@ambarella.com, +1 480-276-9572
- Investor contact: Louis Gerhardy, lgerhardy@ambarella.com, +1 408-636-2310
- Sales contact: https://www.ambarella.com/contact-us/
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A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ee4fafc0-a07b-4447-86b1-36a565b67bf5
