New Delhi, Sept. 17 -- Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Thursday launched Custom System-on-Chip (SoC) Design Services for automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and semiconductor ecosystem companies, as automakers increasingly look to develop purpose-built computing architectures for software-defined and AI-enabled vehicles.
The end-to-end service covers SoC architecture, design, verification, implementation, software integration and system validation, TCS said. It is aimed at helping automotive companies gain greater control over silicon development and align chip capabilities with their vehicle platforms and software requirements.
The move comes as vehicle architectures shift towards centralised computing and zonal networks, alongside the growing use of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), electric powertrains and connected features. These changes are increasing demand for specialised computing capabilities that can deliver performance, power efficiency and safety for specific automotive workloads.
"Silicon is becoming a strategic enabler of innovation, influencing everything from vehicle performance and energy efficiency to software capabilities and user experience," said Sreenivasa Chakravarti, global head and vice president, Industrial Autonomy and Engineering, TCS.
TCS said its SoC offering combines semiconductor engineering, VLSI design, hardware-software co-design and system validation. The company will use its chip-to-system engineering approach to consider vehicle architecture, software platforms, workloads and compute requirements before defining the SoC architecture.
This approach is intended to connect chip development with the wider vehicle development lifecycle rather than treating silicon as a standalone engineering programme.
As software increasingly determines vehicle functionality, automakers are seeking greater control over the underlying compute architecture. Custom SoCs can allow manufacturers to tailor computing resources to specific workloads while improving performance-per-watt and supporting differentiated vehicle features.
Harish B, principal analyst and senior manager at ISG, said semiconductor capability is becoming a competitive differentiator as vehicles become increasingly software-defined and AI-driven. He said custom SoCs could become important for performance, safety and efficiency across next-generation vehicles.
TCS said the new services build on its existing semiconductor engineering and embedded-systems capabilities, including work across advanced silicon technologies, chip-to-system engineering and complex product development.
The company will target automotive applications requiring higher computing performance, power efficiency and safety, as well as companies across the wider semiconductor ecosystem.
The launch comes as automotive companies increasingly integrate AI, software and advanced computing into vehicle platforms, potentially shifting parts of silicon design from a specialist semiconductor function towards a strategic component of vehicle architecture.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from TechCircle.