iST (Integrated Service Technology, Inc.), the leading electronic products testing and certification service provider, together with China’s dominating car manufacturer, Changan Automobile (Changan) and Unicore Communication (Unicore), a navigation chip supplier, announce today (August 10th) the BDS (BeiDou Navigation Satellite System) based car navigation chip UC220, is now certified compliant with the reliability quality specification of Automotive Electronics Council (AEC). The strict and comprehensive AEC-Q100 specification takes a whole year in two phases to be certified successfully.
AEC car component quality certification is the very first entrance ticket for car chips’ getting in the automotive markets. The UC220 navigation chip has been driven by Changan, the leading car manufacturer in China.
Unicore is the first BDS/GPS car navigation chip supplier in China to get AEC-Q100 certification by a third party lab.
“Pushed by pouring innovative applications Internet of vehicles and smart cars, not only the auto is transforming into an electromechanical industry from its conventional mechanical one, but also reshaping the cost structure of a car greatly,” said Kevin Tsui, General Manager, China Region, iST. “In foreseeable future, more and more electronic components/modules will be applied in car manufacturing. This makes the auto industry facing the challenges of integrating the reliability certification of automotive electronics and processing the quality control in supply chain effectively,” he added.
This UC220 project is initiated by Changan and accomplished by iST and Unicore together. On the one hand, players in the auto industry are paying more attention to quality of car components and alignment with the global standards. On the other hand, maybe more importantly, it marks the turning point where chip suppliers in China are leaving the consumer electronics’ design for function into the new era of car chips’ design for reliability and safety.
The AEC-Q100 certification for UC220 by Unicore also proved the latter’s quality level in vehicle navigation chips. It is indeed the very first step into the automotive electronics markets. More importantly, it is the key to supplying its chips to more car manufacturers, Mr. Tsui further noted.
“In past one year, chip UC220 has gone through up to 22 strict test projects required by AEC-Q100 Grade 3 reliability specification successfully. The UC220 BDS navigation chip is now certified to work in ambient temperature range of -40℃~85℃ for long period of time but also more than 10-year life cycle and relatively high operation reliability. After integrating BDS chip in car parts for automobile brands, Unicore is now set to become the first choice of built-in navigation chip supplier with reliable products, services and solutions,” commented WU Yongqiang, Operation VP, Unicore.
“Getting AEC-Q100 certification together with iST is our best choice. The cross-strait car electronics team of iST, a third party lab, has demonstrated its professionalism along with solutions in each stage of the certification process, which is critical to this perfect outcome. We hope to have more cooperation in our new products in future,” further noted by Mr. Wu.
LIU Bo, VP, Changan said, “Car electronics supplier is the key in the supply chain to ensure global quality level of a car. Being a player in domestic auto industry aiming at the international market, Changan cannot rely on strict car components screening without supports of comprehensive certification and inspection on PCB and assembling process.”
Car electronics supply chain demands wide range of specialty knowledge. We choose iST as our third party certification lab not only for its comprehensive AEC certification required testing capacity but also for its professional technical supports in reliability and failure analysis. iST will be highly welcomed in partnering with us in the field of quality certification, summarized by Mr. He Ju Gang, Deputy President, Research Institute, Changan Automobile.
About Integrated Service Technology (iST)
Founded in 1994, iST began its business from IC circuit debugging and modification and gradually expanded its scope of operations, including failure analysis, reliability verification, material analysis and so on. iST has offered full-scope verification and analysis services to the IC engineering industry, its customers cover the whole spectrum of the electronics industry from IC design to end products.
In response to rising Cloud Intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT) and Internet of Vehicles (IoV), iST not only focuses on its core services but is also expanding its service offerings based on international trends, such as LED and Automotive electronic verification platforms and high-speed signal transmission integrity services.
iST’s pursuit of precision, perfection and efficiency, which has been accredited by multiple international well-known and credible organizations including IEC/IECQ, TAF, TUV NORD and CNAS. With increased outsourcing by major international brands, iST also plays the role of independent quality testing laboratory for OBM outsourcing products and association and is certified by TI, Lenovo, Dell, Cisco, Delphi, Continental Automotive, ISTA, HDMI, etc.
On July 2015, iST and DEKRA built a joint venture, Dekra IST to provide services including LED, PCB, PCBA, and system reliability verification, which could help to strengthen both parties’ capabilities of providing first-class testing and certification services in fields of automotive, LED and medical electronics. For more information, please visit the iST website at: www.istgroup.com
About Unicore Communications, Inc. (Unicore)
Unicore communications, Inc., one of BDStar Navigation Co., Ltd. (Public, SHE:002151) member Companies, it’s a high-tech company dedicated in highly integrated IC design and GNSS algorithm development. Unicore is focusing on the industrialization of Beidou and advanced GNSS professional applications by innovating on technology breakthroughs.
Unicore has successfully developed the Nebulas multi- system, multi-frequency, high-performance SoC, Humbird Low power GNSS SoC, a variety of navigation/timing modules, with profound accumulation in the development and implementation of automotive pre-assembling, modern agricultural machinery control, drones, satellite monitoring platform, as well as other applications that required quality and reliability strictly.
The multi-mode navigation baseband chips and high-precision OEM boards developed by Unicore both won the championship of BDS major items three years in a row, and the provincial most improved award of satellite navigation and positioning technology. In addition, Unicore is also the first satellite navigation chip company who won the national science and technology awards. By the end of the first half of 2015, the sales of chips have exceeded 2 million, which shows a great achievement of industrialization. For more information, please visit the Unicore website at: www.unicorecomm.com/english/
About Changan Automobile
Changan Automobile, the pioneer of China’s modern industry. It is affiliated to China South Industries Group Corporation, among the first camp of Chinese automotive industry. It is the leading automotive brand in China as it’s the only one whose production and marketing accumulated more than 10 million. With 153-year history, and 32-year experiences in the vehicle manufacturing, Changan Automobile has 11 operation bases, 31 vehicle and engine factories, 2.9 million vehicles output per year, existing assets RMB 128.1 billion, and 80,000 employees globally.
Changan Automobile has always adhered to the core value of technological innovation, dedicated to build the most powerful and keep its leading position in China. It owns more than 6,000 R&D employees, including 400+ senior experts, 300+ foreign talents, and 12 staffs have been chosen to enter the China’s “Thousand Talents program” successively. Changan has seven large bases in Chongqing, Shanghai, Beijing, Turin, Italy, Yokohama, Japan, Nottingham, UK and Detroit, US to build a worldwide R&D pattern, as well as the vehicle R&D process & testing system to ensure every vehicle can be used for 10 years or 260,000 kilometers.
After years of development, Changan’s R&D capacity has ranked the first among China’s automotive industry. For more information, please visit the Changan website at: www.globalchangan.com
