Embedded AI Connects at Electronica 2018: Leading Chipmakers Showcase Cutting‑Edge Solutions

Last week, Munich welcomed approximately 80,000 visitors to Electronica, one of the world’s largest biennial electronics trade shows. EE Times and Aspencore participated in the event, hosting the Embedded Forum and engaging with exhibitors and senior executives to uncover the latest industry trends.

The event’s theme was “Connecting Everything – Smart, Safe & Secure.” Below are highlights from leading semiconductor manufacturers showcased at the forum.

STMicroelectronics continued its focus on industrial and automotive applications, introducing AI‑enhanced technologies for machine condition monitoring and predictive maintenance powered by STM32 microcontrollers. Demonstrations included an AI test bench for detecting railway defects, 48‑V automotive subsystems, 77‑GHz radar, tamper‑resistant telematics, and LED lighting modules. In ADAS and secure infotainment, the company showcased in‑cab imaging for driver monitoring, radar sensing, precise positioning, V2X communication, and OTA system updates. For electric and hybrid vehicles, silicon‑carbide solutions were highlighted for traction inverters, battery management systems, on‑board chargers, and acoustic vehicle alert systems.

Silicon carbide was a key focus for STMicroelectronics. (Image: Nitin Dahad)

NXP Semiconductors showcased edge‑based machine‑learning solutions for Industry 4.0, its EV battery management and power inverter platform, and new security MCUs. Applications included facial recognition for access control, object recognition for operator safety, local voice command processing, and AI‑derived anomaly detection to predict and prevent industrial failures. Live demos demonstrated edge computing with the i.MX 8QuadMax and i.MX 8QuadXPlus processors performing convolutional neural‑net inference on camera data.

NXP Semiconductors’ power inverter reference platform. (Image: NXP)

Infineon presented its electromobility portfolio, featuring an all‑electric concept microbus in partnership with Volkswagen and IONITY rapid‑charging stations capable of delivering several hundred kilometers of range. The company also unveiled its CoolGaN product line for telecom and server applications, promising significant energy and CO₂ savings. For autonomous carrier drones, Infineon displayed AURIX microcontrollers as flight controllers and CoolGaN solutions for engine control. Additionally, the LITIX Basic+ LED driver family was introduced to meet U.S. and German automotive demands for single‑LED short‑circuit detection.

Infineon’s electromobility solutions, including the all‑electric concept microbus in partnership with Volkswagen. (Image: Nitin Dahad)

Renesas focused on edge AI, delivering real‑time inference at the endpoint. Demonstrations compared cloud AI, edge AI, and embedded AI in terms of speed and performance. One demo showcased a single RX microcontroller executing sensorless vector motor control while performing predictive motor failure analysis. Another highlighted image recognition on the RZ/A2M microprocessor, which integrates Renesas’ dynamic reconfigurable processor (DRP) for simultaneous machine vision and AI processing.

Renesas embedded AI demos compared cloud, edge, and embedded AI for speed and performance. (Image: Nitin Dahad)