Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world’s largest contract manufacturer of semiconductors, announced that it will introduce new software this year to enable customers designing advanced computer chips for cars to make use of its latest technologies more quickly.
Automotive chip manufacturers must meet higher standards for durability and longevity than those in consumer electronics, so TSMC has tailored special manufacturing processes for the automotive industry that typically lag behind those for consumer chips by several years.
To address this issue, TSMC unveiled software at a Silicon Valley conference that allows automotive chip designers to start their work about two years earlier, enabling them to use TSMC’s N3 chipmaking technology for cars as soon as the automotive-grade variant becomes available in 2025.
TSMC Vice President Kevin Zhang stated that automakers are now engaging more directly with TSMC on chip technology decisions and that the software will help TSMC’s auto customers to start their designs much earlier, thus narrowing the gap between automotive and consumer chips.
