ZF I/O interface chip with SiliconAuto XMotiv™ M3 wins Embedded Award 2026

World’s first live demonstration of real-time sensor data acquisition and pre-processing on silicon, enabling up to L4 autonomous driving

Nuremberg, Germany — At Embedded World 2026, ZF Friedrichshafen AG and SiliconAuto have won the Embedded Award SoC / IP / IC Design category for the co-developed ZF I/O interface chip, tightly integrated with SiliconAuto’s new XMotiv™ M3 microcontroller.

Building on a non-commercial collaboration supported by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education, the joint solution marks a breakthrough in automotive compute architecture by enabling the industry’s first live, real-time demonstration of sensor data acquisition and pre‑processing directly on silicon. The award‑winning design showcases a new I/O interface chip from ZF that integrates all essential ADAS sensor‑interface IP, along with on‑chip processing for camera and radar data, together with SiliconAuto’s XMotiv™ M3 serving as the companion controller.

This achievement provides a powerful, scalable alternative to traditional monolithic SoCs. By offloading sensor data handling and pre‑processing to the I/O chip, the system frees up central-compute resources for perception and driving tasks while maintaining full OEM flexibility through standardized high‑speed interfaces such as PCIe and Ethernet. The demonstration positions the combined ZF–SiliconAuto architecture as a next‑generation foundation for ADAS and automated driving systems, from entry-level configurations up to SAE Level 4 capabilities.

Be among the first to see this award‑winning technology in action. Join us at the SiliconAuto booth in Hall 4, IC&IP Design Area, Stand 4‑665, for a live demonstration of the silicon powering tomorrow’s automated driving systems.