July 2026, Shanghai — At this year's electronica China, Novosense officially launched the automotive-grade Rain and Light Sensor (RLS) chip series NSUC183x. The debut of this product is not merely a simple expansion of the product line, but also marks a profound technological foresight by this domestic analog chip giant in the field of intelligent body perception: the hardware architecture of RLS is irreversibly transitioning from a three-chip discrete solution to a highly integrated single-chip SoC (System on Chip) era.
Industry Pain Points
As smart cockpit and ADAS features evolve, the Rain and Light Sensor, originally equipped only in mid-to-high-end models during the ICE vehicle era, has now become standard in the vast majority of NEV (New Energy Vehicle) models. This shift has led to a surge in sensor functions: expanding from simple automatic headlight and wiper control to automatic adjustment of HUD screen brightness, and even linking with the vehicle's ECU to automatically close windows when parked.
However, the accumulation of functions and physical space limitations create a sharp contradiction. Wang Liangfan, Technical Marketing Manager of Signal Chain at Novosense, pointed out at the launch event that the RLS is fixed in the center of the front windshield, with available space only slightly larger than a bottle cap. This situation of "accomplishing grand tasks in a tiny space" poses ultimate requirements for chip integration. Furthermore, given the evolution of power architectures and the widespread adoption of vehicle OTA functions, design standards for sensors in bus communication protection, information security, and fault self-diagnostics are also being upgraded simultaneously.
Tiered Product Strategy
Facing the long iteration cycle of the industry transitioning from discrete to integrated solutions, Novosense did not adopt a "one-size-fits-all" approach. Instead, it launched the NSUC183x product family, accurately covering customers' project requirements at different stages through differentiated integration levels.
Currently, mainstream industry solutions rely on three independent chips: an AFE (Analog Front-End) for optical signal conditioning, an SBC (System Basis Chip) with integrated LDO power supply, and a general-purpose MCU (Microcontroller Unit). In response to this status quo, Novosense has built a clear evolution path:
- NSUC1834 (Pure AFE Chip): Targeted at rapid domestic substitution for existing models and VAVE cost reduction projects. This chip enables pin-to-pin compatible replacement without major modifications to the original hardware design, helping customers implement it at the fastest speed.
- NSUC1832 (AFE + SBC 2-in-1 Chip): Aimed at mid-term models during the industry transition period. Customers can flexibly pair it with an external MCU featuring 128KB or 256KB Flash capacity depending on whether the project requires OTA upgrades, balancing integration and flexibility.
- NSUC1830 (AFE + SBC + MCU 3-in-1 SoC Chip): Regarded by Wang Liangfan as the "ultimate integration solution in the industry." This chip internally integrates a high-performance analog front-end, an SBC PMIC (Power Management IC) unit, and a 32-bit ARM Cortex-M3 main control MCU. Building a complete system with this chip only requires a few optoelectronic devices, resistors, capacitors, and current-expanding MOSFETs, minimizing the PCB (Printed Circuit Board) footprint and significantly reducing BOM costs and hardware failure points.
Robust Performance
For Rain and Light Sensors, there is a huge gap between the ideal laboratory environment and the complex working conditions of real roads. Vehicles entering tunnels after intense sun exposure, the alternating light and shade on tree-lined avenues, and the flickering of streetlights all pose extreme challenges to the sensor's ability to suppress false triggers.
Wang Liangfan emphasized that the core advantage of the NSUC183x series lies in its deep anti-interference design combining hardware and software. The chip integrates a signal chain with a total dynamic range exceeding 18 bits, coupled with high-performance amplifiers and Sigma-Delta ADCs, enabling high-sensitivity acquisition of weak light and complete acquisition of strong light signals simultaneously to avoid signal overflow. Meanwhile, the chip is equipped with a dedicated real-time ambient light compensation circuit. When ambient light changes drastically, the hardware circuit can offset signal errors in real time; combined with Novosense's open-source dedicated filtering and scene recognition algorithms, it can effectively prevent the poor experience of "wipers failing to operate in light rain or working frantically in heavy rain" or false triggering of headlights.
At the functional safety level, the series also demonstrates the advantages of the integrated solution. Specifically, the optical path detection channel for automatic headlights meets the ASIL B level, and the rain detection channel for automatic wipers meets the ASIL A level. Since the power supply, signal chain, and MCU are highly integrated within a single chip, closed-loop self-testing and fault diagnostics across the entire chain become more direct, greatly reducing the difficulty for customers to pass vehicle functional safety certification.
Forward-Looking Layout
During the media Q&A session, regarding whether more functions such as temperature and humidity detection would be integrated into a single chip in the future, Wang Liangfan provided a clear boundary definition. He stated that although the industry has concepts of "5-in-1" integrated sensors, the manufacturing processes and testing standards for temperature and humidity sensors differ vastly from those of optical path chips, and their installation points do not completely match the RLS. Therefore, Novosense chose to reserve LDO power supply pins on the NSUC183x and kept interfaces compatible with temperature and humidity sensors on the 3-in-1 chip, supporting customers in connecting independent temperature and humidity sensor components rather than pursuing unreasonable single-chip integration. This restrained technical route reflects Novosense's pragmatic understanding of chip engineering and automotive-grade reliability.
From the one-stop solution showcase at the Beijing Auto Show to the launch of the NSUC183x series at this year's electronica China, Novosense is transforming its profound accumulation in mixed-signal (analog and digital) fields into a driving force for the transformation of the perception layer in smart vehicles. From discrete to integrated, from single perception to system synergy, the NSUC183x series is not just a chip, but a clear technological roadmap drawn by Novosense for the industry to transition from the present to the future.