Keen Interest in Standards Compliance Arising from Autonomous Vehicle Safety
Domestic Fabless Companies Lack Information on Automotive Semiconductor AEC Q100 Certification

If there is a technology for which the phrase "dreams have become reality" fits best, it would be autonomous vehicles. You call the car and it comes running on its own, driving itself to your destination. Autonomous vehicles recognize obstacles during operation and avoid them, providing owners with various conveniences and information. While full autonomous vehicle commercialization will take some time, so-called "semi-autonomous vehicle" technology is becoming increasingly sophisticated. Now we can easily see advertisements for vehicles with autonomous driving capabilities, indicating that the technology has come deep into our daily lives. This publication will run an 11-part series on autonomous vehicles. Starting with autonomous vehicle industry trends, we will cover semiconductor components such as radar, lidar, and camera sensors, communications, precision mapping, software platforms, artificial intelligence, security, and K-City services. We appreciate your support. <Editor's Note>

"When autonomous vehicles become widespread, traffic accident rates can drop close to 0%."

This is the assertion of Chen Liu, former Policy and Strategy Planning Director at the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). According to U.S. traffic accident statistics, 94% of traffic accidents result from driver error. He viewed autonomous vehicles as a solution to accidents caused by human factors such as drunk driving, speeding, and drowsy driving.

While there are positive assessments that autonomous vehicles reduce traffic accident risk, there are also negative perspectives. According to a survey by Sungkyunkwan University's SSK Risk Communication Research Group, when anxiety about autonomous vehicles was rated on a scale of 100, it scored 48.5 points—the closer to 0, the "very anxious." The factors causing anxiety ranked highest for malfunction concerns, followed by response to emergencies, external hacking, pedestrian accidents, personal information leaks, and rear-end collisions, with most concerns related to safety and security.

As autonomous vehicle technology reaches certain levels and commercialization becomes feasible, the question arises: can autonomous vehicles truly be considered safe?

Professor Kim Byung-chul from the Future Automotive Engineering Department at Hanyang University stated, "When autonomous vehicles progress beyond levels 3 to 4, safety and security become critical issues. By 2020, the proportion of electrical and electronic components in vehicles will exceed 50%. Controllers are composed of semiconductors and software, and ISO 26262 emerged as a key question of how to ensure safety."
ISO 26262 is an international functional safety standard established by ISO to reduce accidents caused by malfunctions in electrical/electronic systems mounted in automobiles. It adapts the parent standard IEC 61508 to automotive electrical/electronic systems. It quantitatively calculates the risk of hazardous operational situations and provides safety measures to avoid or control failures, detect arbitrary hardware faults, or mitigate their effects. The first edition was released on November 11, 2011, and consists of a total of 10 parts with 43 requirements and recommendations. The 2nd Edition is scheduled for official distribution in January 2018.

The 2nd Edition will apply not only to passenger cars but also to trucks, buses, and motorcycles with fewer than four wheels. Additionally, the scope of application is expected to expand to the semiconductor field, requiring responses from the automotive industry. Since semiconductors have more complex design and production stages than general components, they are included in the standard as guidelines rather than mandatory requirements. Key points to note regarding semiconductors in the revised sections are: △how the designed semiconductor will fail and by how much must be predictable; △fault rates must be minimized; and △special design blocks must be incorporated to enable immediate detection in case of malfunction.

Professor Kim stated, "Currently we say cars are driven by software, but in 30 years there will be an era where software is embedded in semiconductors and they program themselves. Automotive semiconductors must also be designed to reflect safety standards. Since each company has different characteristics, interpretations can be subjective. The 2nd Edition comes out to clarify such issues, as the standards for meeting ISO 26262 differ."

Semiconductors currently fall under Part 8 Clause 13 Hardware Qualification Approval of ISO 26262, based on which certification is obtained for meeting integration and testing requirements of Part 4 and Part 5. Automotive semiconductor reliability test standards also require AEC Q100 certification. AEC Q100 is also scheduled to be revised considering ISO 26262.

Domestic Companies Lagging Behind on ISO 26262 Must Pay Attention

Japanese Renesas has released microcontrollers (MCUs) for engine control that demonstrate reliability through ASIL rating to meet ISO 26262 requirements, and Germany's Infineon is also releasing MCUs aligned with the 2nd Edition recommendations. In contrast, most domestic semiconductor companies lack information and show little interest.

Professor Kim stated, "Semiconductor companies are developing SEooC (Safety Element out of Context), considering safety without requirements. ASICs reflecting requirements account for less than 10%." He emphasized, "Ultimately, the decision rests with the complete vehicle manufacturer. Semiconductor companies must clarify requirements from complete vehicle manufacturers and Tier 1 suppliers and develop SEooC. The role of Tier 1, which bridges semiconductor companies and complete vehicle manufacturers, is crucial," stressing that semiconductor companies, Tier 1 suppliers, and complete vehicle manufacturers must cooperate.


There is a CPU core developed domestically in compliance with ISO 26262. It is Aldebaran, independently developed by the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI). ETRI introduced Aldebaran3 last year and newly presented Aldebaran5 targeting the autonomous vehicle market. Group Leader Kwon Young-soo stated, "From the perspective of designing automotive semiconductors, one must acknowledge that semiconductors fail. You must approach ISO 26262 with the mechanism of how failures occur."

One concern for domestic fabless companies is the high cost of obtaining AEC-Q100 certification. Professor Kim introduced domestic companies where certification can be obtained. QRT Semiconductor (www.qrtkr.com) is a specialized company testing semiconductor devices and power module reliability and has obtained certification as a nationally recognized testing organization for AEC-Q100. It can reduce time and costs compared to obtaining certification overseas. Automotive semiconductors must withstand harsh temperature conditions and severe external impacts, making conditions demanding. The company possesses special equipment capable of testing under such conditions and issues certification documents.