My dears,
Did any of you know what role Qualcomm plays in autonomous driving?
I will at least remain invested in this growth stock with a nice dividend yield.
With the iX3, BMW presents the automated driving system developed together with Qualcomm for the first time.
September 6, 2025 at 10:30 am / Peter Steinlechner
At the same time as the presentation of the BMW iX3 (hands-on by Golem), Qualcomm and BMW unveiled the Snapdragon Ride Pilot. This is a system for automated driving that has been developed in close cooperation between the two companies and is making its debut in the New Class iX3.
The software stack was developed jointly by the two companies over a period of three years; more than 1,400 specialists in Germany, the USA, Sweden and Romania as well as the BMW test center in the Czech Republic were involved, according to a joint press release(opens in new window).
Technically, the solution is based on a uniform architecture: a combination of high-resolution 8 and 3-megapixel cameras and radar sensors provides a 360-degree all-round view.
Together with high-resolution map material and precise GNSS positioning, this results in a robust system for safe and reliable automated driving, according to the companies.
In the iX3, the central computing platform works on Snapdragon Ride SoCs, which BMW describes as a "superbrain" for automated driving with significantly increased computing power. The car is also equipped with Qualcomm's V2X-200 chip for vehicle-to-everything communication.
In terms of functionality, Snapdragon Ride Pilot is aimed at Level 2 plus scenarios: hands-free driving on approved highway sections, active lane changing, context-based overtaking, parking assistance and camera-based interior monitoring.
The environment analysis is based on a camera-centered vision pipeline including Bird's Eye View processing and methods for better use of fisheye cameras.
Snapdragon Ride Pilot already validated in 60 countries.
Low latencies between camera and radar processing are intended to improve active safety, supplemented by Fusa/Asil requirements, Sotif (Safety of the Intended Functionality) and cybersecurity mechanisms. Software updates are carried out via over-the-air updates and customizations are possible via the Snapdragon Ride SDK.
The platform has already been validated for use on the road in 60 countries; over 100 markets are targeted by 2026. Important point beyond BMW: Qualcomm offers Snapdragon Ride Pilot as a scalable solution to all car manufacturers and Tier 1 suppliers
Applications range from cost-efficient single-camera active safety setups to multi-camera/multi-radar configurations for highway and city navigation via autopilot. A cloud-based data flywheel feeds the further development of the models via fleet feedback.
The iX3 serves as the first production vehicle and technology carrier for BMW's new, more software-centric electronics architecture. At the same time, the premiere shows that the stack developed jointly with BMW is also suitable as a building block for other manufacturers.
