table of contents
01 The innovation of intelligent cockpit technology continues to accelerate
02 Multi-domain integration accelerates the integrated development of intelligent cockpits
03 Opportunities and challenges for the development of intelligent cockpits
After the rise of new energy vehicles, the concept of "software-defined vehicles" has entered the public's field of vision, and intelligent cockpit and intelligent driving have become widely recognized future development trends. Due to the low difficulty of implementation, the intelligent cockpit is easier to be perceived by consumers, and is becoming a comprehensive application carrier of various new technologies. This paper will analyze the current status of intelligent cockpit technology from the patent level and study its future innovation direction.
01 Technological innovation in intelligent cockpit continues to accelerate
User needs define a new generation of intelligent cockpits. With the popularization of smart cars, users' understanding of the value of cars has gradually changed from travel tools to "third living space", and the multi-dimensional human-computer interaction, the richness of in-vehicle entertainment information systems, and the intelligence of mobile cockpits have become the key decisive factors for users to buy cars. OEMs and suppliers are constantly developing new technologies to meet the safety, comfort, fun and individual needs of drivers and passengers.
The boundaries of intelligent cockpit technology continue to expand. Compared with the traditional cockpit, the intelligent cockpit emphasizes the construction of "platform + ecology", the cockpit is no longer an isolated travel space, but an intelligent mobile space that connects all things, with the deepening of human-computer interaction, networked services, and scenario expansion, intelligent networked vehicles will be fully integrated into the smart transportation and smart city ecology through the intelligent cockpit.
Patents related to intelligent cockpits have entered a stage of rapid growth. As of the end of November 2023, a total of 51,376 patents related to intelligent cockpits have been applied for in mainland China, and the number of patent applications has entered an explosive growth stage since 2020.
Figure 1 Patent application status of intelligent cockpit in mainland China
Communication technology companies and vehicle companies rely on technological advantages to accelerate product layout. Among the top 10 intelligent cockpit patent applicants in mainland China, communication technology companies such as Huawei, Tencent, and Vivo have made breakthroughs in system software and cloud services, focusing on the overall cockpit ecology and becoming leaders in the field of intelligent cockpits; The technical advantages in the field of vehicle-machine interconnection, focusing on the layout of cockpit platform integration solutions, ranked sixth in the ranking. It is worth mentioning that PATEO has also cross-licensed patents related to automobiles and other fields with Huawei, which ranks first, on a global scale, further consolidating the dominant position of both parties in this field of intellectual property.
Figure 2 Top 10 patent applicants for intelligent cockpit in mainland China
The continuous enrichment of interactive functions has become the focus of the patent layout of domestic enterprises. The intelligent cockpit is composed of three parts: cockpit hardware (system and components), cockpit software (software and architecture) and human-computer interaction (interactive interface and interaction mode), of which human-computer interaction-related patents account for 45%, which has become an important force for corporate brand differentiation.
Figure 3 Composition of Continental's patented intelligent cockpit technology
Among the top 10 human-computer interaction patent applicants, communication technology companies are still in a technological monopoly position; PATEO ranks fourth, the only Internet of Vehicles company in the top 10, demonstrating the strong strength of its own products; Xpeng, Hyundai and other vehicle companies have begun to pay attention to the patent layout in this field, and combine it with driving scenarios to promote the rapid upgrade of vehicle intelligence.
Figure 4 Top 10 patent applicants in the field of human-computer interaction in the field of intelligent cockpit in mainland China
02Multi-field integration accelerates the integrated development of intelligent cockpits
The intelligent cockpit has evolved from a push-button operation to meet the basic needs to an electronic or even posture operation, and is gradually supported by hardware to meet the personalized needs of users through multiple expressions of software. The cross-integration of multiple fields such as the electronic hardware in the cockpit, the integration of the cabin control system, and the multi-mode of the overall interaction of the cockpit has become an explosive area of technological innovation.
Figure 5 Intelligent cockpit convergence architecture
The integration of the mature ecology of intelligent connected platform technology and the functionalization of intelligent cockpit can provide a more intelligent driving experience. Based on the dual considerations of technological development and user needs, the intelligent cockpit has crossed the stage of single-point intelligence and entered the stage of collaborative intelligence. Therefore, it has become an inevitable trend to take the cockpit domain as the starting point, combine the networked platform technology, carry out the cross-domain integration of intelligent driving functions and intelligent cockpit experience, and finally realize the high-level autonomous driving of "cabin and driving integration". From the perspective of the patent layout of the top 10 patent applicants in the field of platform technology, the cloud platform empowers the intelligent cockpit to realize the active perception and active execution of all scenarios inside and outside the cabin. Among them, Toyota, BYD, Changan and other vehicle companies use perception hardware as a breakthrough to achieve the integrated interactive experience of some ADAS functions, while PATEO, Huawei and other companies have integrated the vehicle-road-cloud control platform to not only lay out the full perception cockpit, actively interact and actively implement higher-level autonomous driving, but also pay attention to the cultivation of related high-value patents. For example, in the recently concluded "2023 China Haidian High-Value Patent Cultivation Competition", PATEO was shortlisted for the TOP5 finals with its high-value patent layout for cloud platform-related products.
Figure 6 Top 10 patent applicants in the field of platform technology in mainland China
The diversification of interaction methods has promoted the comprehensive upgrade of the interaction scenarios between users and vehicles and machines. From the current patent layout of leading enterprises in the field of human-computer interaction, improving the accuracy and response speed of voice interaction is the focus of the patent layout of major enterprises, communication technology companies from the perspective of speech and semantics, and constantly optimize the voice generation model; Xpeng, FAW and other vehicle enterprises mainly from the perspective of voice equipment for related layout; among the parts suppliers, PATEO has the largest number of patent applications for the Internet of Vehicles, mainly in the field of voice technology applications. In terms of touch technology, BYD stands out and continues to innovate in multi-touch technology. In terms of gesture recognition, Huawei, Hyundai, and Changan focus on short-range three-dimensional dynamic and long-distance efficient recognition. In terms of smart wearables and visual tracking, the number of patent applications is relatively small, and only Huawei, PATEO and other companies are conducting relevant research and development. At this stage, voice, touch, gesture, vision and other interaction methods have their own advantages and disadvantages, and it is difficult to completely replace each other, and the future voice-centered multi-channel integrated interactive development will become an inevitable trend.
Table 1 Overview of human-computer interaction patent layout of typical enterprises
The development of cockpit domain control technology has promoted the improvement of product integration. The automotive electronic and electrical architecture is in the stage of distributed to domain centralized development, and the decoupling of software and hardware has become a trend, and the cockpit software is no longer developed based on a certain hardware, but gradually develops to support multiple operating systems through a domain controller to achieve centralized control. Among the top 10 patent application companies, 7 are vehicle companies, indicating that vehicle companies have begun to pay attention to self-research in this field, and will be based on the self-developed electronic and electrical architecture in the future, integrating cockpit domain control technology, improving the level of product integration, and meeting the needs of user experience. Apollo Zhilian and PATEO ranked 3rd and 5th, mainly based on the vehicle-machine system, integrating cockpit functional scenarios to achieve personalized customization needs.
Figure 7 Technical renderings of the top 10 enterprises in the field of cockpit domain control
03 Opportunities and challenges for the development of intelligent cockpits
1. Ensuring information security is the bottom line for the rapid development of intelligent cockpits.
With the trend of more frequent network communication inside and outside the vehicle, the infotainment system (IVI) in the cockpit domain has become the module most vulnerable to cyber attacks. USB ports, OTA updates, third-party applications, wireless communications, and diagnostic ports can all be vulnerabilities for IVI attacks. These vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to obtain information about the driver's conversation through the in-car microphone, access the car's address book, and even track the vehicle through navigation. In order to protect the privacy and network security of passengers, communication technology companies and vehicle companies have improved the complete system from the perspectives of identity verification, encrypted storage, and protection system construction. From the top 10 applicants in the IVI security field, it can be seen that vehicle companies occupy five of the top 10 seats, and the patent layout is mostly from the perspective of vehicle security system construction, optimizing software update methods and security early warning methods, etc., Huawei, Vivo, Tencent and other communication technology companies pay attention to vulnerability protection and security verification, and Bosch, PATEO and other enterprises are from the perspective of vehicle system terminal access rights and other related layouts.
Figure 8 Top 10 patent applicants in the field of in-vehicle infotainment system safety in mainland China
2. Under the trend of ecological diversification of intelligent cockpit applications, be vigilant against the risk of standard essential patents in the field of communications.
While the technology accumulation of Internet and communication enterprises in human-computer interaction and Internet of vehicles has brought new technologies to the intelligent cockpit industry, the differences in business Xi and intellectual property handling methods of all parties have also laid hidden dangers for cross-border intellectual property disputes. Whether to completely replicate the licensing model in the field of mobile phones in the automotive industry has become the focus of controversy between the two parties. How to solve the dilemma of standard essential patents in the current automotive industry, PATEO Internet of Vehicles, which has been mentioned many times in the article, can give us some hints on the development of intellectual property rights. First, relying on its own intellectual property advantages and the cross-licensing formed by Huawei, a leading enterprise in the industry, to achieve open sharing between industries, and secondly, it has carried out multi-dimensional business cooperation with enterprises such as Tencent and Zongmu Technology to integrate industrial resources and jointly build a new industry ecosystem. With the continuous expansion of the boundaries of intelligent cockpit products, domestic enterprises can work together to establish an ecosystem and innovate cooperation models to promote the long-term and stable development of the industry.
3. Overseas intellectual property layout lays a solid foundation for the global industrial chain to escort car companies to go overseas.
Mainland enterprises have applied for more than 2,200 patents related to intelligent cockpits overseas, and more than 40% of international patents have been applied for through PCT at this stage, which is still the main way for domestic enterprises to apply, followed by the United States and Europe.
Figure 9 Overseas layout of patents related to intelligent cockpits of mainland enterprises
It can be seen from the top 10 patent applicants that Huawei, Baidu, Tencent and other communication technology companies occupy five of the top 10 seats, and the awareness of overseas patent layout is stronger; the awareness of overseas patent layout of domestic vehicle enterprises represented by BYD and Geely needs to be strengthened; and the artificial intelligence or Internet of Vehicles enterprises such as BOE, PATEO and iFLYTEK are actively deployed in the fields of voice interaction, vehicle display, and multi-mode interaction.
Due to the high cost of overseas patent applications, most enterprises in mainland China have fewer overseas patent layouts. However, as more and more smart car products go abroad, in the face of the overseas automobile industry chain with mature patent layout, mainland enterprises should take effective measures (optimization of layout strategies, infringement early warning analysis, etc.) to deal with the possible risk of overseas infringement.
Figure 10 Top 10 overseas applicants for patents related to intelligent cockpit
Author: Wang Jing
Edited by Eleven