ASRA and imec release joint architectural requirements for interoperable automotive chiplets

Automotive Chiplet Interoperability Requirement (ACIR) document complements existing standards by establishing a common set of architectural requirements for an open, multi-vendor automotive chiplet ecosystem

TOKYO (Japan) & LEUVEN (Belgium) — NOVEMBER 12, 2026 — Imec, a global center for advanced semiconductor research and innovation, and Japan's Advanced SoC Research for Automotive (ASRA), today announced the release of the Automotive Chiplet Interoperability Requirement (ACIR), a joint document that complements existing standards by establishing a common set of architectural requirements for interoperable automotive chiplets. Unveiled at this week’s Autonomous Edge Chiplet Forum (AECF) in Japan, ACIR aims to support cross-vendor integration and interoperability in an open chiplet ecosystem, helping accelerate and de-risk automotive chiplet adoption. 

Cars’ high-performance computing (HPC) requirements are growing at a rapid pace, fueled by ever more sophisticated driver-assistance systems, (semi-)autonomous driving functionality, intelligent cockpit solutions, and the increasingly complex AI workloads that underpin such applications. 

Traditionally, this need for compute has been met by monolithic systems-on-chip (SoCs). But as system complexity continues to increase, development time and cost mount accordingly – making the monolithic SoC approach difficult to sustain. 

Chiplet-based architectures offer a promising alternative by combining independently developed dies, each optimized for specific functions and cost targets. However, unlocking their full potential requires more than simply connecting chiplets from different suppliers. They must also work together at system level. Achieving this necessitates a shared set of architectural requirements that complement existing automotive chiplet standards.

ACIR: architectural requirements for interoperable automotive chiplets

The Automotive Chiplet Interoperability Requirement (ACIR) document addresses this challenge. Jointly developed by Japan's Advanced SoC Research for Automotive (ASRA) and imec's Autonomous Edge Chiplet Program (AECP), it defines architectural requirements for interoperable automotive chiplets – covering areas including error and system management, boot sequencing, power management, functional safety, and automotive-specific interoperability.

For example, ACIR aligns key die-to-die connectivity requirements so that independently developed chiplets can communicate and interoperate once integrated into a larger system. And functional safety is addressed by defining a common error reporting infrastructure that allows making safe and predictable decisions when faults occur.

“ACIR is intended as an open reference for the broader automotive and semiconductor ecosystem, including OEMs, Tier-1 suppliers, semiconductor vendors, IP and software providers, system integrators, tool vendors and research organizations. Moreover, OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers can use the document to communicate common technical requirements,” says Bart Placklé, Senior Vice President automotive at imec. “It specifies what interoperable automotive chiplets need to support, without prescribing how individual vendors should implement those capabilities.” 

“Having such a common and open framework creates new opportunities for innovation across the value chain, allowing companies to focus on differentiated technologies while developing them within a shared interoperability framework,” he adds.

Bringing together two leading automotive and semiconductor ecosystems around a shared set of requirements

“The automotive industry depends on highly interconnected, global supply chains, which makes alignment across regions and organizations essential,” adds Nobuaki Kawahara, Executive Director, ASRA. “By bringing together Japan’s and Europe’s automotive and semiconductor ecosystems around a shared set of requirements, ACIR is helping build a global automotive chiplet ecosystem in which SoCs from different vendors can seamlessly interoperate. This gives companies greater confidence that the technologies they develop today can be integrated into future multi-vendor systems and adopted at scale.”

The ACIR document’s release comes less than a year after imec and ASRA announcing their strategic alignment on automotive chiplet architectures, with imec’s Automotive Chiplet Program (ACP) having since evolved into the broader Autonomous Edge Chiplet Program (AECP). 

The first version of the ACIR document is publicly available for download and industry feedback. It can be downloaded at: acir.imec-int.com.

About imec

Imec is a global R&D center for advanced semiconductor technologies. Through its R&D collaborations, venturing activities and design & manufacturing capabilities, imec builds the hardware for tomorrow’s AI-driven era. The unique combination of its state-of-the-art R&D infrastructure, the largest semiconductor ecosystem and top talent of 6,500 employees, powers breakthroughs across a wide range of industries, including computing, connectivity, health, automotive, industry, consumer electronics, aerospace and security. Imec brings global technology leaders, start-ups, academia, and research institutions together on common ground to tackle technology challenges that no single company can solve alone. 

Headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, imec has research facilities in Belgium, across Europe, the USA and the GCC region, and representation in Taiwan, Korea and India. In 2025, imec reported revenues of €1.2 billion. 

For more information, visit www.imec-int.com

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About ASRA

Advanced SoC Research for Automotive (ASRA) is a collaborative innovation partnership established in Japan in 2023 to advance research and development of automotive semiconductor technologies utilizing chiplet-based System-on-Chip (SoC) architectures. Bringing together leading automotive manufacturers, automotive suppliers, semiconductor companies and technology partners, ASRA promotes pre-competitive collaboration to address challenges in next-generation vehicle electronics that cannot be solved by a single organization alone. Through joint research activities, ASRA aims to accelerate the development of common architectures, technical requirements and industry specifications that will support a scalable and interoperable automotive semiconductor ecosystem.

Headquartered in Nagoya, Japan, ASRA consists of major Japanese automotive manufacturers, automotive suppliers and semiconductor-related companies. By leveraging the expertise of its members and fostering collaboration across the automotive and semiconductor value chains, ASRA is working to strengthen Japan’s automotive semiconductor capabilities and contribute to the realization of future software-defined and intelligent vehicles.

Members (in alphabetical order):

Automotive Manufacturers: Honda Motor Co., Ltd., Mazda Motor Corporation, NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD., SUBARU CORPORATION, SUZUKI MOTOR CORPORATION, TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION
Automotive Suppliers: Astemo, Ltd., DENSO CORPORATION, Panasonic Automotive Systems Co., Ltd.
Semiconductor-Related Companies: Cadence Design Systems, Japan, MIRISE Technologies Corporation, Nihon Synopsys G.K., Renesas Electronics Corporation, Socionext Inc.