CES 2022: Intel's MobilEye Unveils EyeQ Ultra & EyeQ 6 Series Of ADAS Processors

MobilEye Intel's autonomous driving division has announced a series of new processors geared towards autonomous driving and ADAS systems. It announced its most powerful chip ever - the EyeQ Ultra which leverages the RISC-V architecture and is built on a 5nm process. It has up to 176 TOPS of compute which could propel vehicles that have level 4 ADAS capability. MobilEye aims for a launch of 2023 for the chip with automotive-grade production happening by 2025. 

"By developing the entire self-driving solution - from hardware and software to mapping and service models - Mobileye has a unique perspective into the exact requirements for the self-driving system that enables us to reach the performance-and-cost optimization that will make consumer AVs a reality," said Professor Amnon Shashua, the president and CEO of MobilEye.

These new chips are so fast that they pack the performance of 10 EyeQ5s chips which MobilEye has just started shipping in autonomous vehicles. 

MobilEye and Zeekr will be making a level 4 autonomous car together by 2024

MobilEye has already announced a collaboration with Geely-owned Zeekr for an autonomous vehicle that will have level 4 autonomy - but that will leverage six EyeQ5 chips and its Road Experience Management (REM), cloud-based real-time mapping solution for autonomous cars. This car is expected to be launched in China by 2024 but also shows how MobilEye is also pushing its own processor technology faster and further with the EyeQ Ultra.

Considering MobilEye has been in the ADAS business for a decade and a half - its bread and butter is ADAS not level 4 autonomy something which is being pursued by the likes of Waymo and Tesla. There are now over 100 million vehicles that use its technology on the roads as of 2021. So for more mainstream vehicles, there is the new EyeQ6L chip which is only around half the size of the EyeQ4 but delivers a premium level 2 ADAS package or entry-level and premium vehicles. This will go into shipping by the end of 2023. 

The 6H will start emerging in vehicles by 2025

The EyeQ6H will be a beefier version of the same packing the same processing grunt as twin EyeQ5 system on chips (SoC) proving more on-demand computing for level 2+ ADAS systems, supporting things like multi-camera processing, and third party app for parking visualization and driver monitoring. This system is expected to come by the end of 2024. Both these EyeQ6 chips will be built on a 7nm manufacturing process. 

Apart from this one of the major highlights of the Intel keynote at CES 2022 was the fact that MobilEye now counts Volkswagen, Ford, and Zeekr as a customer for its REM maps. In fact, on Volkswagen and Ford vehicles - the ADAS systems will leverage REM and the crowdsourced nature of MobilEye's maps. 

MobilEye revealed partnerships with Volkswagen and Ford

Volkswagen will become the first customer to apply the MobilEye solution on a global scale leveraging swarm data for ADAS. It builds on top of REM with MobileEye Roadblock that leverages real-time data from cars using MobilEye. It will be integrated into Travel Assist 2.5 that comes on the German giants' vehicles. 

Ford joined MobilEye to expand its strategic partnership to integrate REM in Ford's BlueCruise system. "Ford has been delivering new vehicle technologies that make driving safer and easier for more than a century. We are excited to work with Mobileye on a platform that supports our development of next-generation autonomy technologies. Our investment in these capabilities will allow us to transform our customers' transportation experiences,"  Ford president and CEO Jim Farley said.