Analog Devices equips vehicles with security-aware chips, reference designs and ecosystem support, enabling layered, certifiable protection that stays effective throughout the vehicle’s life.
Modern vehicles are no longer just machines on wheels—they are becoming intelligent, connected systems shaped by software. At the heart of this shift is Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI), a global semiconductor player that connects the physical and digital worlds at what it calls the Intelligent Edge. Across passenger cars, commercial vehicles, two-wheelers and heavy-duty applications, ADI supplies chips, software and system solutions built to survive tough automotive conditions and refined through years of real-world use.
This transformation is best seen in the rise of Software-Defined Vehicles (SDVs), said, Mr. Anoop Aggarwal, Head of Automotive Sales at ADI India. Speaking to this publication, he said, in an SDV, key vehicle functions are controlled by software running on central or zonal electronic control units, rather than being locked into individual hardware modules. The vehicle behaves like a computer on wheels, using high-speed Ethernet to link sensors, controllers and cloud services. This reduces system complexity, cuts costs and allows features to be updated or customised over the air, long after the vehicle leaves the factory.
“ADI helps enable this through Ethernet to the Edge Bus (E2B), which eliminates the requirement for per-node MCUs. Edge nodes—such as door modules, mirrors, locks, and lighting—are driven directly over Ethernet. The software remains OEM-specific and is developed collaboratively, ensuring control and customisation remain with the OEM. The shift from hardware to software brings Over-the-Air (OTA) updates, customisation, faster time to market and better adaptability. Ethernet effectively replaces legacy buses like Controller Area Network (CAN), Local Interconnect Network (LIN), Inter-Integrated Circuit (I²C) and Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI), so the system is cleaner and more responsive,” he explained.
The impact is visible instantly. Lighting systems can now shape beams, project symbols on the road or communicate with pedestrians. Inside the cabin, high-speed video links support multiple cameras, large displays and immersive infotainment. With software stitching these inputs together, vehicles can automatically adjust lighting, audio and comfort settings to individual users. In simple terms, ADI’s technology is helping turn cars into adaptable digital platforms—ones that evolve with software, not hardware.
Making the Car Respond Like It Understands You
At the core of connected vehicles is the need for instant, natural interaction—and this is where ADI plays a quiet but crucial role. The company enables real-time communication between devices and vehicle systems through zonal architectures that help the car quickly understand both user intent and its surroundings.
When a driver connects a device, the response feels almost instinctive. Lighting, seat position and audio settings adjust automatically, creating a personalised cabin experience without delay. Behind the scenes, its strong expertise in signal integrity and secure data links ensures these adjustments remain precise, reliable and safe, even under demanding automotive conditions.
As vehicles become powerful computing platforms, another challenge emerges—bringing together data from cameras, sensors, infotainment and control systems without lag or confusion. ADI addresses this by using deterministic connectivity and precision sensing, allowing signals from across the vehicle to be processed in sync. Simple physical actions, like a gesture or a change in surroundings, are instantly translated into intelligent system responses. The result is a vehicle that feels responsive and intuitive, without compromising safety or overwhelming its computing resources.
Helping Carmakers Move Faster, Not Just Smarter
For ADI, the role goes well beyond supplying chips. The company works closely with OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers through development platforms, evaluation kits, reference software and middleware, giving engineers a ready foundation to build on. This allows teams to focus on applications and features, while ADI handles the complex building blocks underneath—helping reduce integration effort and speed up time to market.
ADI also supports customers through customised demonstrations, helping them adopt new technologies more quickly and with greater confidence. Across electrification, in-vehicle connectivity and digital cockpits, the company brings together precision sensing, edge processing, wireless communication and embedded software.
Making Safety Decisions in the Blink of an Eye
For safety-critical features, speed is everything and ADI, using its E2B (Ethernet-to-the-Edge Bus) technology, sensors and actuators that are connected directly to zonal computers in microseconds, remove intermediate controllers that slow systems down. The result is “ultra-low latency, simpler architecture and precise timing” that are essential when vehicles must react instantly.
For camera- and display-heavy functions, ADI’s GMSL technology delivers high-bandwidth video with minimal delay, while safety-certified components ensure reliability. ADI supports OEMs with ASIL-compliant edge devices—such as ASIL-D for battery management and ASIL-B for lighting—and helps qualify complete safety functions for real-world production.
Scaling edge AI across different vehicle platforms brings its own challenges. Processing power, memory limits and heat management must all be balanced as features grow. With many intelligent edge nodes handling windows, sunroofs and lighting, software timing and coordination become critical. ADI addresses this through standardised connectivity and timing frameworks that deliver consistent performance across trims and models, he said.
“Cybersecurity adds another layer of complexity,” he said, adding that as OTA updates increase connectivity, risks also grow. ADI integrates built-in security features, configuration guidance and reference designs into its chipsets, helping carmakers protect data without increasing software cost or power use.
Securing the Connected Car, Opening the Road for Collaboration
As vehicles become more connected, protecting them from cyber threats becomes just as critical as keeping them mechanically safe. Carmakers today must meet strict global standards such as ISO 21434 for cybersecurity and ISO 26262 for functional safety. This means secure OTA updates, encrypted communication between chips, controlled access across ECUs, and strong authentication at gateways—all without slowing down real-time vehicle functions.
According to Mr. Aggarwal, ADI provides security-aware chipsets, reference configurations and ecosystem support to help build layered, certifiable defences that stay effective throughout a vehicle’s life. Its leadership in this space is reinforced by its wireless battery management system achieving ISO 21434 CAL 4 certification—the highest cybersecurity level for automotive electronics.
At the same time, ADI is also pushing openness where it matters. With in-vehicle video and data systems growing more complex and costly, ADI helped form the OpenGMSL Association to standardise high-speed video and data links. Having already shipped over a billion GMSL chips used by dozens of OEMs and Tier-1s, the move aims to improve interoperability, lower integration costs and speed up innovation. Over the next year to 18 months, the focus will be on multi-vendor testing, wider industry participation and scaling adoption across ADAS, in-cabin and autonomous systems—showing that secure systems and open collaboration can move forward together, he added.