NVIDIA GPU now available inside your car

Jan 8, 2010 10:05 GMT  ·  By

If you’ve been keeping an eye on NVIDIA, the company that told you how "it's meant to be played," you have probably noticed that the Santa Clara, California-based chip maker is looking to expand its product portfolio with new solutions, targeting new markets. The launch of its next-generation Tegra processors clearly indicates this new shift in the company's strategy. On that note, it appears that NVIDIA has landed one of its most significant design wins, for the Tegra family, as car maker Audi just announced that it would be integrating the new chip into all of its 2010 vehicles worldwide.

"The primary focus of car computing is safety," said Jen-Hsun Huang, president and chief executive officer, NVIDIA. "With the power of Tegra's eight processors, the car's computing system can have cameras both inside and outside the vehicle monitoring the driver and the road, providing real-time feedback and guiding you to your next destination, all at the same time."

The second generation of Tegra, which was designed using the world's first dual-core ARM Cortex A9 processor with a core speed of 1GHz, will be running the navigation and entertainment system in the new Audi 2010 product line. The GPU is powerful enough to provide the hardware support necessary for the built-in navigation system, 3D photography and real-time traffic reporting and navigation information. Furthermore, the collaboration between NVIDIA and Audi spawned a new, complete multimedia engine, dubbed Vibrante, which is said to support "dual zone" entertainment, on a single GPU. Basically, this allows passengers in the back seat to enjoy two different movies on two different screens.

“Visual computing has become key differentiator among luxury cars, whether it’s delivering the necessary information to the driver or offering state-of-the-art entertainment options to the passengers,” said Johan de Nysschen, president, Audi of America. “We partnered with NVIDIA because it is clearly the leader in this field.”

NVIDIA's Tegra will drive the entertainment and navigation systems in other Volkswagen AG Brands, including Volkswagen, Bentley, Lamborghini, SEAT and SKODA, which could only benefit NVIDIA in its attempt to further extend its Tegra lineup.

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NVIDIA lands Tegra design win with Audi
NVIDIA lands Tegra design win with Audi
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