Qualcomm may be the biggest player in the mobility space, with almost all Android phones powered by its chipsets and even the iPhone relying on its modems. But slowly and surely, it is making a huge presence in the automotive space as well. Its India boss says its solutions are equally widespread in the automotive space in India. In an exclusive interview with carandbike, Rajen Wagadia reveals how Qualcomm was doubling down on the automotive space in India. The company’s Snapdragon cockpit and digital chassis have become the fundamental software and silicon-based basis for the vehicle’s digital and electrical bits.
“What we’ve done is, as a part of a technological roadmap, we’re expanding all the goodies, and what was brought about as a revolution in smartphones is now coming to cars. Some things have changed. If you look it’s not like connectivity is new to cars, telematics was available a few years back, it still is, it’s getting more sophisticated. Telematics is also adopting new dimensions like C-V2X As you go, if telematics was some of the primary stuff and connectivity in your car with Bluetooth a while back, it’s much more complicated today,” explains Vagadia, who is Qualcomm’s VP and President in India and SAARC.
Vagadia is the Vice President of Calcom and the President of India and SAARC
photo credit: Qualcomm
Vagadia elaborated that connectivity potential has entered the car and with technologies like 5G, enhanced computational capabilities and modern security technologies have helped take the car to another dimension.
“Our behavior is also changing socially in such a way that we are always connected. If you look at how often we touch our phones in the car, that in itself indicates how distracted we are at times A phone has replaced your iPod or music streaming device or your radio. It has generally started to replace a lot of products from our lives like cameras. In the car, the GPS as we see in the phone So now you have the phone, and you can travel using a map. 4G did that and 5G would bring even more nuance. So, there was a very logical change that the car made into the smartphone world. I started taking advantage of a lot of goodness in the progress of development in India,” said Vagadia.
Vagadia’s deputy, Uday Dodla, senior director of automotive in India, chimes in on how Qualcomm is leveraging the automotive market to offer a bouquet of technologies that automakers can collectively take or choose from. Huh.
“So, it’s like a menu, right? OEMs have the option of getting a full combo meal, where they get everything, they get connectivity, they get the cockpit, they get the infotainment, they get , you know, ADAS and of course, there are many flavors of it. You can go up to L2, L2+ or L4. And you have connectivity, or an OEM can say, ‘You know, I’m going to ADAS right now. Not ready, but let me start with a cockpit and connectivity.’ So, you can mix and match, you can take all four, you can take three, you can take two more, but now most cars definitely have a thing in the form of a table stake, which is two Things are there – infotainment, if not a full cockpit, at least in infotainment and connectivity,” says Dodla.
It is a suite of software, services and chipset that enables in-car autonomy, infotainment, services and connectivity
Vagadia claims that the technology provided by Qualcomm has now generalized to the idea of software updates. He cited the example of the new Mahindra XUV700 which leverages the Snapdragon cockpit solution provided by Qualcomm.
“The mindset has become something that is more sophisticated in terms of conveying the experience of engagement with the car that a software was. It is so beautiful, that the amount of potential the automotive industry has grown over the next 10 years, perhaps We may be living the best times in auto history, I think. Because nothing like this has happened in probably 30-40 years in the entire history of engine development in the car. It was refined. Now we’re driven by Qualcomm’s efficiencies talking about, and we’re famous for that. OK? We come into the world of EVs based on low power, high efficiency things. Everything we do is help them achieve more Doing mileage from the car. It’s fantastic,” he explained.
Dodla points out that Qualcomm’s single platform also allows OEMs to do basic AI, not just ADAS or the advanced level of computing required for self-driving. He added that Qualcomm is working on a single platform that will be a one-stop-shop for all, especially in the context of vehicles in emerging markets where there will be no need to go to different suppliers like Mobilei, Vistian or Qualcomm. ,
“A single platform connects, essentially computes, infotainment, it ties up your connectivity, so be it 4G Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, it also enables basic on-device AI. I’m not saying ADAS But basic AI, so things like ride analytics, ride metrics fly straight. So, we’re also looking at an all-in-one solution, especially for emerging markets. Again, emerging markets are where the budget are tight on electronics, and we probably realized a couple of years ago that what works for Mahindra won’t work for Maruti. Or what works for a four wheeler doesn’t work for a two wheeler, The budget doesn’t allow it. So, we are working on another solution, what kind of enables these technologies to come on a single platform,” he said.
Qualcomm’s silicon gives GM, Renault, Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki the power to make in-car experiences something
Vagadia compared the impending launch of 5G in India with 4G and smartphone connectivity in 2016. In the case of 5G, this will be a turning point for the automotive industry. They believe that the pace of 5G adoption will be faster than 4G as the auctions took place first for 4G and then trials were conducted by the carriers. Trial with 5G has already been done.
“I would say that since it’s becoming affordable and that’s one of our key objectives as a company, and we’ve done that, it’s a KPI that I’ve judged or benchmarked. That’s how you can get 5G in India. , first in the device ecosystem, this time the network is coming a little later. So, auto companies in India will have access to that 5G technology with 5G, and much more that you can use in an automobile. industry. So, we can talk and talk about how 5G is more relevant for the auto industry,” Vagadia said.
He believes that 5G will enable customized experiences that will be defined as cars become more and more autonomous. It will be a transition similar to the way we humans had with phones, from being a base-to-end communication platform to being a jack of all trades.
“Similarly, the car is going to do a lot of work for the driver and the driver is going to use this time more effectively for a lot of other things and so he expects the consumer to behave. What does he expect from a smartphone today? What exactly is he going to expect from the car tomorrow, Vagadia explained, and will say, “I want this.
Qualcomm’s infotainment stack is being used by many OEMs
Vagadia was also praising Indian OEMs who were the first to adopt smart technology in India as compared to foreign automakers. He believes that India will not be left behind in the 5G wave due to the late adoption of the standard.
“And India is still not out. I don’t think so. The way you see all these features coming and they are coming fast, just like 4G, and like 5G, India is going to need these features. Will adopt much faster than any other economy in the world. I think this is the right place, we have very good Indian companies who are ready to make a bet. The beauty of this country is that India has these cars. Many of the companies have Indian brands so strong. And they’re so visionary that a lot of these innovations are coming from them, as you can see,” he said.
“Being an Indian, it is a good thing and a matter of pride that many of these Indian companies, be it Tata, Maruti or Mahindra, you have seen some of them so advanced in their thought processes,” he said.
Qualcomm’s expertise has also enabled a new generation of EV startups like Ola and Ather. Ola’s S1 Pro scooter uses Qualcomm’s solutions. Its experiences are also bringing variation to the in-car experience with basics like the infotainment system.
“The other bit that builds on top of it is that every car comes with an infotainment system, and they have a UI but (things) like feedback; how easy it is to use, how intuitive that experience is.” Very relevant are the final buying decision and most people don’t get that even in the standard reviews that come up and so where it becomes important to know that the underlying technology is Qualcomm powered which is the supplier behind, “They said.
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