Design more intuitive, personalized experiences with i.MX 8
Get ready for a radical shake up of multimedia and display applications
across all kinds of industries.
If you’re familiar with i.MX, from the very first i.MX processors to
the i.MX 6 and 7 series, then you’re aware of its reputation for
performance, power optimization and integration capabilities. The new i.MX 8
family incorporates those same key attributes but extends them into realms the
industry has never experienced — it’s poised to revolutionize
interactivity.
i.MX 8 incorporates innovations in the processor — complex
graphics, vision, virtualization and safety to help revolutionize
interactivity for a wide range of uses in many, many markets. The capabilities
of this family is broad, so let’s focus that innovation down to
something familiar to all of us: your car. Here’s what the next
generation cars, powered by i.MX 8, can bring to you.
Connect to your car data in the multimedia “e-cockpit”
powered by i.MX 8
As the driver, you connect with your car in multiple ways. You process
information given by the infotainment, dashboard, telematics systems and
camera systems, all while keeping your eyes on the road.
This multimedia centric e-cockpit will revolve around the i.MX 8, a single
chip that drives all displays from infotainment to heads-up-displays (HUD) to
instrument clusters. It’s optimized for the intelligent transfer of
data and information management from multiple subsystems within the IC
– as opposed to only delivering raw performance through one or two
processing blocks.
So what can you expect in this new world of the e-cockpit?
Deliver safety features that automotive OEMs require
Passenger safety is a critical feature of the e-cockpit. You’ll keep
your eyes forward on the road through advanced heads-up displays, intuitive
gesture control and natural speech recognition.
You can significantly increase performance and deliver safety features that
automotive OEMs require for next-generation systems using our approach to
vision processing, graphics rendering and audio acceleration.
A hand wave command can change the radio station using i.MX 8 powered cameras
inside the car. Passengers in the back seat will turn on the air conditioning
via voice commands using built-in microphones.
These same cameras will soon be sophisticated enough to detect and recognize
objects and people in the vehicle. This has tremendous safety implications. It
could alert a sleepy driver to stay awake and it could even help stop a thief
from starting your vehicle – all via facial recognition.
Get fail-safe reliable display of critical information – even if the
OS crashes
Let’s face it, we’ve all come to live with a lower level of
reliability from our mobile devices because of their utility in our everyday
lives. Automotive OEMs are pursuing similar software technologies in their
infotainment systems to deliver similar levels of utility and convenience.
However, in the event of a software crash, you still need to display critical
information to the driver – speed, gear selection, fuel level, cameras,
etc. The i.MX 8 series allows this information to display to the driver even
in the event of an operating system crash.
Reliable security is built into the i.MX 8 at every stage of design. We offer
automotive grade, fail-safe reliability for solutions that are designed from
the ground up specifically for optimal function in harsh operating conditions.
Your idea of science fiction becomes a reality
Capabilities that you’ve only seen in the movies will be brought to
life with i.MX 8.
Augmented reality (AR): The car’s infotainment system
integrates with AR and works with the windshield and gesture control. Imagine
you’re on a long road trip and a point of interest pops up as an icon
on the windshield in front of you as you’re driving, with your eyes
still on the road. You could ‘grab’ that icon through gesture
control, as you might on a desktop computer, and ‘throw’ it into
a file on the other side of the windshield to save for later reference or for
your passenger to investigate.
Enhanced convenience: Enhanced driver accessibility and
communication that goes beyond a Wi-Fi hotspot inside the car or surround view
parking cameras is possible with i.MX 8 processors. Imagine your seat and
steering preferences automatically adjust through the vehicle’s facial
recognition system, while it simultaneously syncs your phone and tunes the
radio to your favorite station. When your mom calls, her photo pops up on the
display.
Device connectivity: Your devices that you bring into
the car can connect to enhance your driving experience using i.MX 8. Your
favorite applications from your mobile device will be available to you via
your infotainment, cluster and heads up displays. You’ll control them
through gestures or natural language so that you can focus on driving yet
safely interact with your devices.
Benefit from security enhancements that meet next-gen OEM requirements
And, of course security is key. Automotive hacks make headlines on a
daily basis, and OEMs take security of their systems extremely seriously due
to the negative publicity these hacks generate. The i.MX 8 will
integrate significant enhancements to security blocks that will meet next
generation OEM requirements and provide more flexibility in the security
architecture of the vehicle network
Design a single hardware platform and scale it across multiple market
segments
i.MX applications processors are truly the industry’s most
scalable platform. You can design a single hardware platform and scale it
across multiple market segments with the unique approach to pin and software
compatibility within the i.MX families.
The future looks very bright for i.MX in automotive. Prepare yourselves
for the next level of user experience in the vehicle—it’s going
to be a great ride.
Ron Martino is Vice President of Applications Processors and Advanced
Technology Adoption – Microcontrollers, Freescale Semiconductor
