STMicroelectronics joins Car Connectivity Consortium

"Smartphones have become productivity and convenience extensions of busy professionals and consumers-whether as voice-activated personal assistants, personal wallets, or as navigators-and they are a natural and safe appliance to ID and unlock doors for the owner, adjust the seat, tune the radio, and personalise the car for their comfort and preference," said Joel Huloux, Director Standardisation Microcontrollers and Digital ICs Group, STMicroelectronics.

"As a leading long-time, trusted supplier to the top players in both the smartphone and automotive industries, ST shares an interest in the mission of the CCC, which aims to make it possible and hassle-free to simply connect and ride and we've joined the group to lend our expertise and gain from the rest of the players."

ST's technology portfolio features many segments well suited to automotive connectivity and the aims of the CCC, including ST25 NFC readers, ST33 Secure Elements, STA12 Accordo infotainment processors, STA13 Telemaco vehicle processors, and Stellar vehicle gateway/domain microcontrollers.

Already ST is a top player in the expanding market for NFC technology as a digital key and in its use as a conduit for Bluetooth and WiFi pairing. In addition, ST offers a range of technologies to address wireless charging, including authentication and foreign object detection. Then, with ST's early-mover advantage in eSIMs, the technology lends itself to securing automotive applications.

Infotainment is another segment ST is addressing with a broad offer where pairing with smartphones or mirroring of their display on the head-unit contributes to enhancing ownership by offering voice-enabled services including internet music and connected navigation safely.

Additional features could also include automotive data collection though various sensors (ToF for lidar, accelerometers and gyro, precise positioning, image, and radar sensors) and then pre-processing to reduce network bandwidth from 2GB/km to about 10KB/km.

Finally, of course, ST has a broad portfolio of successful automotive microcontrollers and other automotive products well suited to control, sense, and power the full range of automotive applications.