DENSO, U.S. Startup Quadric Sign Development License Agreement for AI Semiconductor (NPU)

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DENSO CORPORATION and Quadric.inc have signed a development license agreement for a Neural Processing Unit (NPU)(1), which is a semiconductor specialized for the arithmetic processing of AI. Through the agreement, DENSO will acquire the IP core license for Quadric's Chimera GPNPU(2), and the two companies will co-develop intellectual property (NPU) for an in-vehicle semiconductor.

With the advancement of intelligent systems, such as automated driving and connected technologies, vehicles need to process in real time a vast amount of information obtained from on-board sensors, as well as inter-vehicle and cloud communications. For this reason, the performance of the in-vehicle SoC(3), which can process large amounts of information at high speed and with efficiency, has become increasingly important.

DENSO and Quadric have been studying semiconductor IP (NPU) development using Chimera GPNPU (General Purpose Neural Processing Unit) for in-vehicle SoCs and have now decided to jointly develop an in-vehicle semiconductor IP (NPU) combining DENSO 's RISC-V(4) based processor and Quadric's Chimera GPNPU.

DENSO 's RISC-V-based processor IP is compliant with ISO26262 ASIL(5) D and is ideal for automotive applications, where safety is critical.

As the intelligence of vehicles advances, AI will become a pivotal factor in determining the value of vehicles. Quadric's Chimera GPNPU has a unique architecture that can handle matrix and vector operations and scalar (control) code in one execution pipeline. This flexibility in handling diverse computational tasks makes it applicable to various AI functions. In addition, by using Chimera GPNPU, automotive system developers can add proprietary AI features to their products throughout the future.

By pursuing joint development of a new semiconductor IP (NPU), DENSO and Quadric aim to contribute to the realization of in-vehicle SoCs that can flexibly respond to changes in AI trends over a long period of time, from product development to post-release, and to promote the development of highly secure AD/ADAS(6) products. Furthermore, the two companies will continue to support the ever-evolving needs of mobility through the development of semiconductor technology.

Comments from both companies

Hiroshi Kondo, Head of Mobility Electronics Business Group, DENSO:

Through the use of system development capabilities and the combination of a broad range of technologies, DENSO will advance systems that connect vehicles with society at large. By doing so, we will tackle complex social issues moving forward, including achieving a carbon-neutral society, fostering a circular economy, and eliminating traffic accident fatalities.

One of the businesses we are strengthening is semiconductors, which is the foundation of the computing infrastructure for the advancement of vehicle intelligence. We have high expectations for the development of in-vehicle semiconductor IP that can flexibly respond to the AI trend with low power by utilizing quadric Chimera GPNPU.

Quadric.inc Veerbhan Kheterpal, CEO:

As a marquee Tier 1 automotive supplier throughout the world, DENSO subjected our technology to a comprehensive and intense benchmarking exercise.

Being selected by DENSO as their ADAS/AD processor IP partner is a great validation of the growing maturity and breadth of Quadric’s GPNPU processors.

(1) Neural Processing Unit (NPU): A processor specialized for AI computation
(2) Chimera GPNPU (Chimera General Purpose Neural Processing Unit): The name of Quadric's processor architecture
(3) SoC (System on a Chip): An integrated circuit that integrates multiple functions and functions as a system
(4) RISC-V: An open standard Instruction Set Architecture (ISA).
(5) ASIL (Automotive Safety Integrity Level)
(6) AD/ADAS (Autonomous Driving/Advanced Driver Assistance System)