Electronic design for reliable autonomous driving

Current design processes are not keeping up with the ambitious demands of the automotive industry:Today's most advanced, ultra-scaled semiconductor technologies are ideal for solving the volume problem. Their miniaturized designs perfectly support the integration of diverse components in minimal space. In terms of reliability in the vehicle, however, they fall short. The reason is that they have not been developed for the harsh environmental conditions and loads encountered by cars. For the safe and reliable operation of electronic systems for many years in a vehicle, it is therefore important to identify potential failure mechanisms at the physical level already during the design process, and to understand their impact on individual circuits and the overall system.