Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On April 15, during the electronica China 2025 in Shanghai, Banma (a smart car solution provider backed by Alibaba Group and SAIC Motor), Texas Instruments ("TI"), and HikAuto jointly launched a new single-chip-powered integrated cockpit-driving solution, signaling a key step forward in the evolution of vehicle electronic architectures, according to a post on Banma's WeChat account.
"The era of judging systems by raw computing power is fading—efficiency is now the key competitive edge," said Hao Fei, Co-CEO of Banma, at the launch event. Leveraging over a decade of expertise in compute efficiency, Banma has achieved a sixfold increase in virtual GPU performance through its proprietary virtualization engine, TI's TDA4VH chip with high memory bandwidth, and ongoing optimization efforts.
The co-developed cockpit-driving integration solution is built on TI's intelligent driving SoC and incorporates HikAuto's hardware innovation alongside Banma's software expertise. This combination enables dynamic compute allocation through the operating system and delivers a cost-effective solution by tightly integrating software and hardware.
This single-chip approach represents a crucial pathway in the shift from distributed automotive architectures to centralized computing. Its core value lies in "democratizing intelligence" making advanced features more accessible through hardware consolidation and software restructuring. As the solution transitions from technical validation to large-scale production, the collaboration between the three companies is emerging as a key driver of industry transformation.
At the heart of this partnership is a new integrated cockpit-driving controller developed for HikAuto, which uses only a single TI TDA4 chip to deliver L2+ advanced driver assistance functions for passenger vehicles, while simultaneously supporting in-cabin features such as digital instrument clusters and infotainment systems—realizing full integration of driving, cabin, and parking functions.
Banma has also embedded a triple-layer safety framework at the software level. First, its Banma Hypervisor is China's virtualization platform certified to ISO 26262 ASIL-D for functional safety and supports cockpit-driving convergence. Second, it offers robust isolation measures—covering operating systems, memory, and peripherals. Third, Banma has introduced an innovative dual-host safety architecture, ensuring that smart cockpit functions do not interfere with driving tasks, and that infotainment systems operate independently from the instrument cluster for maximum safety and reliability.
