Enforcing Tier 1 Status
with a Horizontally Integrated Approach

Toshinori Moriyasu
Corporate Senior Vice President, Automotive Systems Division, Toshiba

The three major Japanese electrical machinery manufacturing companies, Toshiba Corporation, Hitachi Ltd, and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, which deal with heavy electrical machinery, develop a wide range of technology for automobiles. The three companies, as individual enterprises, differ slightly from other major electrical machinery manufacturers. Toshiba, too, has adopted a serious approach towards the car electronics business similar to its competitors, Tier 1 suppliers Hitachi and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, by setting up a full-time working operation division for the car industry. Mr. Toshinori Moriyasu, who manages this division, was asked about the company's strategy for the future.

Toshinori Moriyasu joined Toshiba in 1974 after acquiring his Masters in Electrical Engineering from Keio University. He assumed office as a microprocessor/ASIC chief engineer at Toshiba's headquarters in 1997. He graduated to the position of Microprocessor Managing Director of the LSI system division, which was established in 1999. He also shouldered responsibilities such as the LSI system managing director in the beginning of 2001; he was the third to hold this office. He became the vice-president of the semiconductor company in 2003. He has also held the position of Director of LSI System Division along with the additional designation of an executive managing director. In 2005, he assumed the responsibility of the business management division of this company. He has been holding his current position as the Corporate Senior President of the Automotive Systems Division of Toshiba since 2006.

In 1978, when the 8-bit microprosessor was at its peak, Toshiba had developed a 12-bit microprosessor for the fuel injection device of a gasoline engine for the Ford Motor Co., in the U.S., which marked the company's foray into car electronics. Subsequently the company started manufacturing a wide range of semiconductor products for the Japanese and overseas automobile manufacturers. Although Toshiba had supplied products such as alternator diodes, etc.; previously, it began focusing on delivering products conforming to the requirements of the car industry at this period of time. Toshiba's business development at this point in time was centered on the semiconductor business, and there were no plans of expansion by adopting mechatronics.
The measures taken by Toshiba for developing the business of car systems were continuously being initiated and withdrawn. For example, the car navigation system, which was developed and launched by the company into the market in the 1990s, was finally withdrawn.

Development of technology that transverses the company
It is a fact that myriad activities related to car manufacturing are carried out in-house. The traffic control systems at fare collection booths, or traffic control at expressways, etc., that have been handled since 1960s, have become a major business, and even today the company focuses on expanding products such as ETC systems etc., for the social system. Several semiconductor products manufactured by Toshiba are ranked top in the world and their sales have been rising at a steady pace. In addition, the hybrid vehicle developed 10 years ago had incorporated sophisticated technology and had been successful in acquiring accolades as a passenger car. Even though these resources were manufactured in-house, business development from the point of view of the car was not clear. To remedy this situation, the car system business management department was started 2003 and the business management sections of companies were integrated with the department. But the technological wing remained untouched. Mr. Nishida, the president of Toshiba, observes that if current trends continue, development of products related to car technology, which is on a rapid pace, will eventually become difficult. Based on this opinion, a proposal to acquire rights to use the technology resources of each company over various cross sections, with a fixed budget, was put forth in 2006.

The first two crucial years
The in-house transverse type development project began in 2007. Once the budget for the project has been fixed, it becomes necessary that in addition to execution of the project, a strong commercialization scheme, through which customers are attracted toward the product rather than the other way round and where strategic measures such as strengthening ties with other companies are adopted, is conceptualized. Each company has its own development plan, and the development task of the transverse project might not be included in it. As a result, positive development will not be possible if a budget is not prepared and if there is no customer. For instance, in the case of a liquid crystal panel, developing a display that maintains the response speed at even - 40℃ has a low priority because it is not demanded by other applications. However, as far as automobiles are concerned, there are development tasks that cannot be dispensed with. Toshiba is managing with a 3-year mid-term plan. Even with the technology that has currently been developed, it would take at least five years to achieve mass production for cars by applying current technology. In other words, in the first two years before the mid-term plan is incorporated, sales generated by the current car system business has reached 200 billion yen and the automobile system business management department played an important role in achieving these sales. The core focus would then be the business of spare parts, such as semiconductors and liquid crystal panels, which will be delivered to the Tier 1 supplier. Although the spare parts business will also be extended, the main aim of the transverse project is to systemize Toshiba's state-of-art technology and to strengthen the business of the Tier 1 supplier who directly serves the automobile manufacturers.

Hybrid, safety and infrastructure
Hybrid systems -preventive safety technologies that apply various sensors and infrastructure coordination- are the pillars of the car technology that is currently under development. The hybrid system is a potential technology for which market expansion in the future is definite. The development of hybrid systems for commercial vehicles has yielded favorable results. Hino Motors
Ltd. developed the hybrid system for passenger cars and shipped the hybrid system to a United States automobile company through a Tier 1 supplier. Hino Motors Ltd. has furnished details regarding the control system in addition to the details of the motor and inverter. The development of a highcapacity battery that possesses a rapid charge and discharge capability is in progress. In the future, it will become possible to offer the hybrid system as a one-stop solution. Although present generation preventive safety technology includes an ECU that enables identification of a
pedestrian at night time, a high-level image-recognition technology will become necessary for the future generations. Technology should be so enhanced that accuracy in identifying a person at a distance of 5m is at par with the accuracy of identifying him at a distance of 10cm. The development of hardware, such as the CMOS camera and the image-recognition processor, and the development of the corresponding software will progress simultaneously.
The major challenge in the field of infrastructure coordination is the method of application of communication technology between the car and the road and also between several cars moving on the road, since multiple communication formats such as WiMAX or DSRC will coexist. A highspeed
wireless communication module that can differentiate multiple communication formats should be developed. For this, the mechanism that coordinates with the traffic control system that is handled by the social system company is necessary.

Technology of CELL in the car
The future of information communication will be infinite because it is not restricted to individuals, homes, cars, etc. The technology of a CELL processor, that is most appropriate for carrying out information processing, can also be used in the car. Actually, the development is directed such that the balance is maintained with respect to the number of cores, driving frequency, and the power consumption efficiency required by a media-streaming processor [Spurs-Engine]. The application of CELL should not be restricted to game machines. It should also be used for the development of car electronics technology in future.

(Interviewer: Sang-Soo Pac)