Analyst(s): Olivier Blanchard
Publication Date: October 24, 2024
An overview of Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon Cockpit Elite and Snapdragon Ride Elite flagship tier automotive SOCs, including gen-over-gen performance improvements, the role that Qualcomm’s new custom Oryon CPU plays into this and future Snapdragon Digital Chassis releases, and the growing importance of delivering powerful, flexible, and future-proofed automotive platforms that will leverage multi-modal AI and agentic AI capabilities across Qualcomm’s entire automotive solutions stack.
What is Covered in this Article:
- New Snapdragon Cockpit Elite and Snapdragon Ride Elite platforms debut with Qualcomm Oryon CPU, now tailored for automotive.
- Note that here again, Qualcomm’s new “Elite” naming reference replaces previous generations of more convoluted Snapdragon nomenclatures, aligning all flagship-tier SOCs in the Snapdragon ecosystem to a simple Best-Better-Good framework.
- Automakers will have the option to utilize Snapdragon Cockpit Elite to power advanced digital experiences and Snapdragon Ride Elite to power automated driving capabilities.
- Through a unique flexible architecture, automakers will also have an option to seamlessly combine both digital cockpit and automated driving functionalities on the same SoC – an innovative capability available on Snapdragon Digital Chassis solutions.
- Li Auto and Mercedes-Benz AG select Snapdragon Elite tier automotive platforms for their future commercialized vehicles.
The News: At its annual Snapdragon Summit, Qualcomm unveiled significant performance and capabilities improvements to its automotive platforms. These platforms target 3x faster CPU and up to 12x stronger AI performance for in-vehicle experiences compared to previous flagship generation.
Qualcomm Launches New Elite Snapdragon Automotive Platforms Powered By Custom Oryon CPU
Analyst Take: Unified Architecture, Unmatched Performance
The biggest news here is that Qualcomm is leveraging its new custom Oryon SPU to bring significant performance improvements and capabilities upgrades to its automotive “Digital Chassis” – which is fast evolving into a complete automotive solutions stack. Oryon is designed to make full use of other Snapdragon systems and components, such as the Adreno GPU and Hexagon NPU, to deliver a broader set of automotive-specific AI-enabled features and experiences.
More broadly, Qualcomm’s expanding automotive stack is starting to look like precisely the kind of end-to-end solutions ecosystem that will give auto makers the freedom to integrate either the entire top-to-bottom stack or mix-and-match systems to create various degrees of customization and differentiation. That combination of full-menu or a-la-carte options is quickly making Qualcomm an ideal partner for automakers and their ecosystem of solutions partners, including ISVs.
We are also seeing a deepening of partnerships between Qualcomm and major automakers, among them Mercedez-Benz GA, Li Auto, BMW, and Rivian. Lastly, the pace and scale of Qualcomm’s play in the automotive segment will make it difficult for any late entrants in the space to pose a significant threat to its growth – at least in the flagship and premium tiers for the next 2-3 years.
Accelerated AI Performance
The dedicated Neural Processing Unit (NPU), designed for multimodal AI, targets a 12x performance boost over previous cockpit platforms. This improvement will enable much more effective real-time external environment and cabin data processing, facilitating live decision-making, adaptive responses, and proactive assistance and ensuring personalized in-cabin experiences. Equipped with transformer accelerators and vector engines (and benefiting from mixed precision support), the NPU in Snapdragon Ride Elite is designed to deliver low-latency, highly accurate, and efficient end-to-end transformers, maintaining optimal power and performance.
Flexible, Centralized Processing with Software Virtualization and Multi-OS Support
The heterogeneous platform can run multiple applications seamlessly without performance loss to offer exceptional concurrency and multitasking for numerous cameras, sensors, rich user experiences, and advanced AI-enabled audio with virtualization. For automakers, this will translate into the ability to create configurable software-defined vehicles (SDVs) for every tier, providing flexibility and scalability while simplifying vehicle architecture.
This architecture is designed to help automakers accelerate deployment schedules, so they can make full use of the latest innovations and features. This is far more advantageous than older, slower development cycles that saddled automotive OEMs with older technology solutions and feature sets. Qualcomm’s Elite-tier automotive platforms should help automakers not only cut down product development cycle timeframes and costs, but also help them be more competitive and differentiated in a market defined by next-gen performance and features.
The platforms also utilize Qualcomm’s comprehensive software stack, supporting hardware virtualization using a Type-1 safe hypervisor with the capability to support multiple guest virtual machines with unique operating systems that operate free from interference, concurrently and independently.
Industry-Leading Power Efficiency
As with all Snapdragon silicon, these platforms are engineered to deliver exceptional performance while minimizing energy consumption and helping ensure that vehicles operate smarter and longer. The solution is a combination of intelligent power management hardware and software that balances core utilization and application runtime.
Intuitive Experiences
Engineered to support context-aware applications, the platforms are also designed to enable hands-free automated driving that anticipates needs, along with real-time driver monitoring and enhanced object detection for a smoother, more confident ride. Their improved Qualcomm® Adreno™ GPU is targeting to deliver a 3x performance boost* with advanced rendering capabilities, meeting demands for gaming, multimedia, and dynamic driver information.
Safety-Focused
The platforms are designed to meet automotive safety standards for ASIL-D systems with a dedicated safety island controller and robust hardware architecture for isolation and interference-free operation, helping to enable reliable quality-of-service for specific ADAS functions, as well as comfort and confidence from drivers and passengers. This should probably get more attention than some of the “sexier” performance upgrades, but Qualcomm’s decision to segregate many of a vehicle’s security and safety systems from more central functions will help make them far more secure from penetration and tampering from unauthorized parties.
Software-Defined
Purpose-built for the industry’s shift to SDVs, the Elite-tier platforms are designed to take an end-to-end approach for upgradeability through the unified software framework that emphasizes software reuse. This is designed to help automakers accelerate feature development via a cloud-based workbench and streamline software development for continuous improvement and reducing time to market for new features and services.
Cutting-Edge Camera Subsystem for Safety and Comfort
Qualcomm’s Elite-tier automotive platforms also feature a powerful, efficient camera system with an advanced Image Signal Processor (ISP) for clear, responsive visuals in extreme driving conditions. The system is designed to support over 40 multimodal sensors, including up to 20 high-resolution cameras for 360-degree coverage and in-cabin monitoring. Compatible with the latest and upcoming automotive sensors and formats, our platforms use AI-enhanced imaging tools to deliver optimized image quality for both enhanced in-cabin experiences and advanced features.
Automated Driving and AI Software Stack
The Snapdragon Ride Elite platform perfectly illustrates Qualcomm’s approach to software virtualization, offering an end-to-end automated driving system with advanced features such as vision perception, sensor fusion, path planning, localization, and complete vehicle control all running concurrently, independently, and free from interference.
Similarly, Snapdragon Cockpit Elite supports rich multimedia features, on-device AI with a fully integrated edge orchestrator, optimized gaming, and advanced 3D graphics for premium user experiences. Snapdragon Cockpit Elite is also designed with safety, security, and long-term support (API compatibility) features built into the design with the ability to run the instrument cluster, infotainment dash, and multiple passenger instances in independent virtual machines, with the ability to share content and data where needed.
Timing and Availability
The Snapdragon Cockpit Elite and Snapdragon Ride Elite will be available for sampling in 2025. Technology collaborations are underway with leading car manufacturers, including Li Auto and Mercedes-Benz AG, who will feature Snapdragon Elite tier automotive platforms in their future commercialized vehicles.
Quotes and Additional Context
Qualcomm: “Qualcomm Technologies remains at the forefront of innovation with platforms like Snapdragon Cockpit Elite and Snapdragon Ride Elite, as the automotive industry evolves toward centralized computing, software-defined vehicles and AI-driven architectures,” explained Nakul Duggal, Group General Manager, Automotive, Industrial and Cloud with Qualcomm. “With our strongest performing compute, graphics, and AI capabilities, coupled with industry-leading power efficiency and cutting-edge software enablement for digital cockpits and automated driving, these new elite Snapdragon automotive platforms address the industry’s needs for higher compute levels, empowering automakers to redefine automotive experiences for their customers.”
Li Auto: “We are incredibly excited for the new Snapdragon Cockpit Elite and Snapdragon Ride Elite solutions and the transformative potential they hold for next-generation vehicles,” said Mr. Donghui Ma, President of Li Auto. “The automotive industry is on the cusp of a revolution, leveraging the latest advancements in computing, artificial intelligence, and software to deliver unparalleled experiences for drivers and passengers alike. We look forward to working with Qualcomm Technologies to combine our innovative spirit with these new solutions to redefine in-vehicle experiences.”
Mercedes-Benz AG: “Qualcomm Technologies stands at the forefront of automotive innovation, and we are pleased to continue our trusted collaboration with them by integrating Snapdragon Cockpit Elite into our future vehicles,” said Magnus Östberg, Chief Software Officer, Mercedes-Benz AG. “This powerful and efficient central compute technology will enable us to provide our customers with an unmatched in-vehicle experience—one that is uniquely tailored, seamlessly connected, and remarkably intuitive.”
For more information on these releases, please visit Qualcomm’s automotive platforms’ product webpage.
Disclosure: The Futurum Group is a research and advisory firm that engages or has engaged in research, analysis, and advisory services with many technology companies, including those mentioned in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article.
Analysis and opinions expressed herein are specific to the analyst individually and data and other information that might have been provided for validation, not those of The Futurum Group as a whole.
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Author Information
Olivier Blanchard has extensive experience managing product innovation, technology adoption, digital integration, and change management for industry leaders in the B2B, B2C, B2G sectors, and the IT channel. His passion is helping decision-makers and their organizations understand the many risks and opportunities of technology-driven disruption, and leverage innovation to build stronger, better, more competitive companies.