Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing

Automotive/Mobility
China-based Great Wall Motor (GWM) will use Qualcomm Technologies’ Snapdragon Ride Platform to create a semi-autonomous driving system that will be in higher-end production vehicles in 2022, according to a press release. GWM is creating a L2+ and L3 driving systems with multiple high-res cameras and multi-source heterogenous sensors, using Snapdragon Ride Platform, which provides the hardware, AI technology, and autonomous driving stack. The driving system, called “Coffee Intelligence” by GWM, will be designed with “sufficient hardware capabilities and computational redundancy for L4/L5” autonomous driving.

Tel Aviv startup Aurora Labs was given a CES Innovation Honoree Award for its Auto Validate, a platform that helps automakers “validate what software changes have been made, how they affect other components in the dynamic and complex software system and to reduce software failures,” according to a press release from December 16. The claims the platform will help automakers deliver safe, secure over-the-air updates that can help keep regulated cars functions in compliance.

Security
The United States federal government is trying to get a handle on IoT device security. NIST released public review draft guidance on defining federal IoT cybersecurity requirements for IoT devices two weeks ago. NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology), which is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, released four documents. The overall guidance is SP 800-213 but three other documents outline tools and methods to achieve the requirements.

Mil/aerospace
Drones will be allowed to fly at night and over people in the U.S. next year, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) now says. The rules, which opens the door for delivery by drone, require drones have remote identification and anti-collision lights for night flying, Companies have already been acquiring approvals and certifications in anticipation, according to an article in Reuters.

Pervasive computing — IoT, edge, cloud, data center, and back
MediaTek subsidiary Airoha Technology will acquire all the shares of IC Plus, a company specializing in Bluetooth IC and other networking chips, according to DigiTimes.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) said its efforts to prioritize patents and trademarks related to COVID-19 by speeding up the process and waving some fees has resulted the granting in 33 patents and 129 trademarks. The USPTO granted 251 requests for prioritized patent application examinations, more than half of which were for medical treatments, vaccines, and diagnostic technology. The other half were for PPE, and medical goods and services. Over half the trademarks granted were for “items designed to detect and treat COVID-19.” The other half were for PPE, ventilators, and other technology.

As the year closes, Ericsson says it has 122 commercial 5G agreements or contracts with unique communications service providers, 68 publicly announced 5G contracts, and 77 live 5G networks across the globe in 40 countries.

China added 580,000 5G base stations this year, according to Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. China accelerated 5G development this year — by end of last year, 100,000 5G base stations were installed according to an article in RCR Wireless.

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