Automotive-grade MCUs, also known as car MCUs, are essential core components for car production. In recent years, there has been a continuous global shortage of ICs, with a significant part of it resulting from the scarcity of automotive chips.

Automotive application place higher demands on various aspects of chip production:

1.Production Line

General consumer-grade MCUs can be produced using ordinary chip production lines, while automotive grade ones require specialized production lines. Usually, chip manufacturers first develop the technology for producing consumer-grade chips before developing the corresponding technology for automotive-grade chips.

2.Reliability Standards

Automotive MCUs are the core components of automobiles, and their reliability directly determines the stability and safety of driving. Therefore, the reliability standards for automotive MCUs are higher than those for general consumer electronics.

DPPM is used to describe the requirements of automotive components, and while consumer MCUs are required to have a failure rate of less than 500, the standard for automotive-grade MCUs requires a failure rate between 0 and 10.

3.Chip Lifespan

Generally, the lifespan of consumer electronics products is between 3 to 5 years, while a car is required to have a lifespan of more than 10 years. Therefore, the lifespan requirements for automotive MCUs and consumer MCUs are different. The lifespan standard for automotive-grade MCUs is set at 15 years, which requires the MCUs to operate stably for at least 15 years. This requirement is much more stringent.

To ensure the reliability and safety of automotive electronics, automotive-grade MCUs are subject to more stringent testing and quality control standards than consumer-grade MCUs. These MCUs must meet specific automotive industry standards, such as the AEC-Q100, which specifies the qualification requirements for automotive-grade integrated circuits.