Texas Instruments Unveils New Autonomy Chips, While Chinese Automakers Face Problems

It took Tesla a long time and a few controversies, but the electric vehicle (EV) company finally launched its products in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia!

While this is a big step forward for the company, it doesn’t answer the burning question that’s been floating around for a number of years: When will Tesla release a fully self-driving car?

In all fairness, autonomous mobility has vexed the best of automakers in the world and has seen somewhat of a hit-and-miss success rate—some companies building robotaxis—such as Waymo—are ever-expanding, while others in the robotaxi space—General Motors’ Cruise—have had to shut shop.

Also, Aurora is gearing up to launch driverless trucks, while others—including are advancing the technology that powers such massive vehicles.

Yep, fully self-driving vehicles are proving to be one tough cookie to crack, with research and development in full swing.  

To that effect, microchip manufacturer Texas Instruments, AKA TI, revealed a new portfolio of chips that help advance vehicle autonomy and safety, spanning lidar, clock, and radar technology.

TI’s new LMH13000 is the industry's first integrated high-speed lidar laser driver. Lidar technology offers a detailed 3D map of the surroundings, enabling self-driving systems to accurately detect objects and react to obstacles, traffic, and other road conditions. This system delivers ultra-fast rise time that improves real-time decision-making and offers 30% longer distance measurements.

Next comes TI’s CDC6C-Q1 oscillator and LMK3H0102-Q1 and LMK3C0105-Q1 clock generators, which mark the industry's first automotive BAW-based (Bulk Acoustic Wave) clocks. Bulk Acoustic Wave technology clocks offer high-precision and ultra-low jitter timing, making them ideal for ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) systems.

Using BAW technology, TI’s new clocks improve reliability by 100 times when compared to traditional quartz-based clocks, countering temperature fluctuations, vibrations, and electromagnetic interference. “Enhanced clocking precision and resilience in harsh conditions enable safer operation, cleaner data communication, and higher-speed data processing across next-generation vehicle subsystems.”

TI also unveiled the AWR2944P, which is a new front and corner radar sensor. This comes with an improved signal-to-noise ratio, increased computational capabilities, a larger memory capacity, and more benefits. It helps vehicle safety by extending detection range, improving angular accuracy, and enabling more sophisticated processing algorithms.

“Our latest automotive analog and embedded processing products help automakers both meet current safety standards and accelerate toward a collision-free future,” said Andreas Schaefer, TI General Manager, ADAS and Infotainment. “Semiconductor innovation delivers the reliability, precision, integration, and affordability automakers need to increase vehicle autonomy across their entire fleet.”


When it comes to leading the race in the self-driving sector, China has been at the forefront of innovation, production, and deployment.

The country also boasts topping the EV list, as BYD took the throne from Tesla, becoming the top selling EV brand in the world. As per reports, BYD sold 4.27 million vehicles worldwide, more than double Tesla’s 1.79 million.

This might have something to do with BYD’s more cost-effective vehicles. When it came to revenue, BYD earned $107 billion compared to Tesla’s $97.7 billion. Still, the result bodes well for BYD.

However, what’s happening with other Chinese brands? Are they as successful? Will they survive in today’s cut-throat environment?

Professor Zhu Xican from the School of Automotive Engineering at Tongji University answered this question, at least as far as Nio, Xpeng, and Li Auto go.

Speaking in Tencent News’ panel Auto Market Hot Topics+, if these three automakers don’t go bankrupt, they’ll surely not survive independently. “They must merge, restructure, and cooperate as soon as possible,” said Zhu.

Zhu feels that any automaker selling under 2 million vehicles a year may not survive, especially considering high R&D costs.

However, despite BYD’s success and Professor Zhu’s warnings, self-driving vehicles are still a long way from market deployment, and the Chinese government is mindful of this.

After a meeting with nearly 60 representatives from automakers, the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a mandate that bans automobile companies from using the terms “smart driving” and “autonomous driving” in ads about vehicles with driving assistance features.

Furthermore, the ministry will tighten scrutiny of such technology upgrades.

The move came after a fatal accident that involved a Xiaomi SU7 sedan, which raised numerous concerns over vehicle safety.

How long do you think it will take automakers to develop vehicles with full-self driving capabilities that are safe to deploy on roads, and which company do you think will be the first to achieve this feat?

Let us know in the comments below!