imec and Japan’s Advanced SoC Research for Automotive (ASRA) have released the Automotive Chiplet Interoperability Requirement (ACIR), a joint document that defines a common set of architectural requirements for interoperable automotive chiplets. The work is meant to complement existing standards and make multi-vendor chiplet systems easier to integrate at system level.
The document was unveiled at the Autonomous Edge Chiplet Forum in Japan and is intended to support an open automotive chiplet ecosystem. Its stated goal is to help accelerate adoption while reducing integration risk for chiplet-based vehicle electronics.
The background is the rapid growth of automotive high-performance computing needs, driven by advanced driver-assistance systems, semi-autonomous driving functions, intelligent cockpit platforms, and increasingly demanding AIartificial intelligenceAI stands for artificial intelligence workloads. Traditionally, those requirements have been addressed with monolithic systems-on-chip, but rising complexity is increasing development time and cost.
ACIR takes a different approach by setting architectural requirements for independently developed dies that can be combined into a larger system. The document covers error and system management, boot sequencing, power management, functional safety, and automotive-specific interoperability.
One focus is die-to-die connectivity: ACIR aligns key requirements so chiplets from different vendors can communicate and interoperate after integration. Another focus is functional safety, where the framework defines a common error-reporting infrastructure intended to support safe and predictable decisions when faults occur.
The document is positioned as an open reference for OEMoriginal equipment manufacturers, Tier-1 suppliers, semiconductor vendors, IP1. image placement2. Internet protocolInterface or communications concept for transmitting data between devices and systems.3. Intellectual PropertyIP denotes licensable semiconductor design blocks or technology elements. and software providers, system integrators, tool vendors, and research organizations. It does not prescribe how vendors must implement the requirements, but it provides a shared baseline for communication between companies across the automotive and semiconductor supply chain.
ACIR follows the earlier strategic alignment between imec and ASRA on automotive chiplet architectures. The first version of the document is publicly available for download and feedback.