Qualcomm to power next-gen infotainment for Chinese carmaker Geely

Qualcomm Technologies, a subsidiary of Qualcomm, and China’s Geely Auto Group have announced at Mobile World Congress Shanghai that Qualcomm’s ‘Snapdragon’ automotive platform has been selected for inclusion in the next generation of infotainment systems in Geely Auto Group vehicles.

These systems will include the world’s first-announced infotainment offering that integrates 4G LTE modem using the Snapdragon 820Am automotive platform. Geely vehicles featuring Snapdragon automotive platforms are expected to be available from 2020 onward, in addition to Geely’s connected cars featuring telematics applications already available using Snapdragon LTE modems.

Geely, one of the fastest-growing automakers worldwide, has benefitted from remarkable growth in China. The company has acquired global brands such as Volvo and the iconic London Taxi Company, and recently also launched its premium global brand, Lynk & CO.

Feng Qing Feng, CTO, Geely Auto Group, said, “Qualcomm Technologies helps us to provide consumers with the cutting-edge infotainment and connected car experiences they demand, thanks to the high-performance processing and superior connectivity delivered by Snapdragon automotive platforms.”

The automaker expects to use Snapdragon automotive platforms on upcoming generations of its iNTEC technology package. This includes G-Netlink, a system that allows drivers to interface with their vehicles through a myriad of ways, including remote control via app to lock, unlock or the vehicle, turn on heating and cooling, and also provide in-car Wi-Fi; and G-Pilot, and intelligent drive technology designed to support a high degree of driving comfort, assistance and autonomy over the next decade.

Future generations of Geely’s iNTEC are planned to take advantage of the high-performing multimedia and graphics capabilities of the Snapdragon 820A platform, Qualcomm Technologies’ most advanced automotive grade solution designed to support immersive in-car experiences, including music and video streaming, 3D navigation, support for multiple high-resolution displays, and superior GPU performance for rich 2D/3D graphics. 

Optimised computing architecture

At the heart of the platform is Qualcomm Technologies’ custom-built system-on-chip (SoC) using a highly-optimised heterogeneous computing architecture based on a 14nm FinFET advanced process node. The SoC features Qualcomm Technologies’ custom 64-bit Qualcomm Kryo CPU, Qualcomm Adreno 530 GPU and Qualcomm Hexagon 680 DSP Vector eXtension. The platform’s hypervisor support offers integration of multiple in-car visual experiences, including instrument cluster and infotainment displays.

The Snapdragon 820A platform is also designed to allow infotainment systems to be upgradable through software updates, allowing vehicles to be upgraded with the latest features and differentiation.

Select Geely models are expected to use the Snapdragon 820Am variant of the platform with an integrated X12 LTE modem, supporting up to 600 Mbps downlink and 150 Mbps uplink speeds, designed to provide exceptional in-car cloud connectivity to support key features such as over-the-air updates, navigation with real-time updates, news and local information, emergency assistance and diagnostics. 

“China is emerging as a source of automotive innovation, not only benefiting Chinese customers but also the rest of the world, by quickly adopting and commercialising leading-edge car technology,” said Patrick Little, senior VP and GM for automotive, Qualcomm Technologies.