Qualcomm Snapdragon Digital Chassis portfolio extends to e-bike and scooter support for first time
Snapdragon chipsets have grown and evolved beyond their mobile roots to power cars now. Qualcomm, not satisfied even with their latest implementations such as the latest Cadillac IQ SUV, not to mention next-gen luxury cars from BMW and Mercedes, has set its sights on practically every other kind of road-worthy vehicle at IAA Mobility 2023.
The OEM came to the show with the latest QWM2290 and QWS2290 Snapdragon Digital Chassis platforms: SoCs intended for use in a wider range of vehicles, including the less conventional such as 3-wheelers, kick scooters and all-terrain vehicles as well as e-bikes, e-scooters and, of course motorcycles (be they electric or otherwise, apparently).
The new platforms are rated to port the in-car Snapdragon Cockpit experience to these alternative vehicles, with as full a complement of Automotive Connectivity and Cloud-Connected Digital Services as seemingly possible, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS and 4G/5G included (although satellite support was conspicuously absent in their presentation) to deliver "smart car" features such as connected safety and traffic management features.
The SoCs also support general UI perks such as theft prevention, navigation and battery status read-outs on presumably dashboard-like displays. The QWM2290 and QWS2290 are also even rated for advanced rider assistance systems (ARAS), which would obviously be the equivalent of ADAS in cars.
Qualcomm pitches its new platforms at "leading Tier-1 suppliers" for e-mobility components that include Valeo, Thundercomm, SIMCom, Quectel, Luna Systems and Bosch, and clearly intends to appeal to e-scooter and/or e-bike rental companies who might be able to leverage the new connectivity options to help keep track of and maintain their fleets.
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