BMW, Qualcomm And Arriver To Collaborate On New Driver Assist And Automation

In November 2021, Qualcomm
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announced that its new Snapdragon Ride compute platform for advanced driver assist systems (ADS) and partially automated driving (ADS) had been selected for future BMW vehicles. We’ve now heard more details about this relationship which will go well beyond the traditional OEM/supplier relationship to include real joint development.

Qualcomm initially announced Snapdragon Ride during CES in 2020 and its first production program will be launching with General Motors
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in the coming months. The Cadillac Lyriq electric crossover will be the first vehicle with its Super Cruise hands-free highway driving system shifting to the Qualcomm platform. In 2023, GM’s next-generation Ultra Cruise will use a more powerful version of Snapdragon Ride.

However, unlike GM which has developed its systems in-house, BMW, Qualcomm and Arriver will be collaborating to develop the next generation of systems scaling from entry level ADAS to hands-free and eyes-off highway driving systems. The latter is typically referred to as level 3 automation where the system is capable of driving without constant supervision from the driver but the driver must be alert and present to take over when required.

Arriver began as a development partnership for ADAS and ADS software between Qualcomm and Veoneer. Qualcomm recently acquired that unit as part of the acquisition of Veoneer. The Arriver team has been developing perception software including machine vision as well as drive policy software. BMW will now be an active participant in development of the software stack with Qualcomm and Arriver and will have a stake in the intellectual property that is developed.

The new relationship is targeting initial commercial deployment on BMW’s next-generation “Neue Klasse” platform beginning in the second half of 2025. This platform will underpin most of the company’s future high volume models, particularly those with electric propulsion. After it debuts on BMW group vehicles, the three companies also want to offer the full stack to other automakers to utilize and revenues will be shared among all of them.

This new relationship is notable because it will see a shift by BMW away from long-time ADAS leader Mobileye. In mid-2016, BMW announced a similar partnership with Mobileye and Intel
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. BMW has been using Mobileye ADAS systems for more than a decade. A new hands-off, eyes-off system featuring cameras, radar and Innoviz lidar is expected to debut on the new 7 series later this year. Over the next three years, the Mobileye platform is expected to be applied to other models until the new Qualcomm/Arriver system is ready.

BMW plans to continue using all three sensor types even with the new system, although who will supply them is yet to be announced. BMW plans to make all of the hardware required for at least hands-free operation standard equipment on its highest volume models although it’s unclear at this point if that will include lidar. However, because the partners want to extend this so-called L2+ capability beyond highway driving, similar to what GM is doing with Ultra Cruise, a lidar sensor will likely be included.

In addition, high-definition maps will be needed to enable geo-fencing of where the various functions can be used as well as a long-range, beyond line of sight sensor. BMW has been collecting crowd sourced sensor data since it debuted the Mobileye EyeQ4 based ADAS in 2018 and has over 1 billion kilometers of data.

That data has been shared with Mobileye which it uses to build its Road Experience Management (REM) map platform. When Mobileye first announced REM in 2016, it planned to offer data layers to other map providers such as Here or TomTom. Mobileye subsequently opted to retain REM only for its own systems.

However, BMW retains access to the sensor data that has been collected and will be collected in the coming years and a new map platform will be developed as part of the new joint partnership.

While no commitment has been made beyond L3 eyes-off systems yet, all three partners remain open to extending the development to brain-off L4 systems at some point. If this happens, it is also likely to start with highway driving capabilities before extending to city streets. For L3 and L4 systems, BMW has reconfirmed that it will be liable for any incidents that happen with the vehicle when it is operating in an automated mode.

The market for compute platforms for ADAS and ADS is getting increasingly competitive. While Mobileye continues to get new design wins, an increasing number of automakers are now opting for competitors such as Qualcomm and Nvidia with both chip companies now having multiple production programs booked.