As a complex mechatronics product, the safety, stability, and reliability of automobiles are crucial. As a core component of automobiles, the performance of automotive grade chips directly affects the overall performance of the vehicle. Therefore, strict testing of automotive grade chips is an important means to ensure the quality and safety of automobiles.
The inspection of automotive components is the most complex and expensive inspection. In the design of critical components and systems for automotive safety, every supplier in the supply chain has to complete more stages, which increases testing time and subsequently increases costs. Nowadays, people are trying to find ways to reduce costs, but the automotive industry is very cautious and organized. There are two completely different ideas to solve this problem. One approach is to use system level testing, which is relatively expensive but allows for testing in the actual system background. However, it is unclear whether system level testing can actually increase overall costs, as temperature typically requires three different insertion points, while system level testing may only require one insertion. Another approach is to first focus on costs and then identify which tests are necessary and which tests are unnecessary.
Moreover, not all errors are the same, and not all errors are predictable. ISO 26262 identifies system faults, which are faults that we can detect, predict, and repair, while random faults belong to "occurrences.".
To make automotive systems reliable and safe, the entire automotive supply chain must now integrate a safety culture, where reliability is fundamental, although not 100% reliable. Meanwhile, the automotive supply chain relationships are becoming increasingly complex. For example, on the one hand, traditional semiconductor suppliers need to start in-depth communication with OEM manufacturers, while in the past, these exchanges have remained at the Tier 1 level; On the other hand, traditional semiconductor suppliers may also need to compete with Tier1 or OEMs, who may produce their own chips or make clear requirements for semiconductor supplier partners.
This process has become too slow for car manufacturers and there is insufficient information communication. Many car manufacturers are starting to break this traditional value chain. They began to directly contact the original technology suppliers to ensure that the product lifecycle could last for more than 10 years.
Throughout the automotive industry, technology is constantly evolving, and safety and reliability standards are becoming increasingly stringent. The necessity of automotive grade chip testing lies in ensuring the quality and safety of automobiles, verifying the feasibility of new technologies and processes, evaluating the performance and reliability of chips under various conditions, identifying and solving problems, and complying with relevant standards and regulatory requirements. These tests are an indispensable and important part of the development and production process of automotive chips.

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