Today, technology is integrated into all aspects of our lives. This includes the automotive industry, which is in a period of transition. Continued innovation of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAs) is paving the way for the development of semi and fully autonomous vehicles.

By 2021, many autonomous vehicles will be operating on public roads if the necessary government safety regulations are set in place. A research conducted recently revealed that by 2035 there will be 54 million semi-driverless or driverless cars on the road.

Due to the demand for safety, convenience, and connectivity, the automotive industry has advanced. Today, many capabilities in self-driven cars are possible with the help of High-Density Interconnect (HDI) printed circuit boards.

Over the years, the automotive industry has relied on metal core PCBs for both mechanical and electrical connectivity. However, self-driving vehicles come with more requirements. They require installation of video cameras, radar receivers, and LiDAR sensors throughout the vehicle. This has led to an increase in the number of board layers in the Electronic Control it (ECU) from six to as many as twelve. These advancements mean that Metal core PCBs have to accommodate all these complex systems. Therefore, the PCB designers will have to refrain from multi-layer boards in favor of HDIs.

To meet these challenges, HDI brings a cutting edge design technique by enabling more functions per unit area than metal core PCBs. You can find HDI PCBs in smartphones, smart watches, and other small digital devices.

Today, HDI is a fast-growing technology integrated with PCBs. Unlike the conventional circuit board, HDI has a higher wiring density per unit area by leveraging laser-cut microvia technology, thinner materials, and finer lines. HDI is a popular design for more delicate and complex systems. It accommodates more components on either side of the PCB and reduces the weight of products. This increases its functionality and maximizes its ability in autonomous vehicles.

Systems in autonomous vehicles continue to become more complex as the displays are integrating more features. This calls for greater integration without the need to increase the size of the PCB. Regardless of how electronics are incorporated into the driverless vehicles, the size of PCBs used needs to shrink dramatically.