Gasgoo Munich- The shift toward multi-screen smart cockpits and the surge in autonomous driving sensors are placing unprecedented demands on in-vehicle high-speed transmission bandwidth.
In-car displays have expanded from one or two to five or six, with resolutions jumping from 2K to 4K or even 8K. Meanwhile, autonomous driving cameras have multiplied from a handful to over a dozen, with pixel counts soaring from 2 million to 8 million. The challenge of transmitting this massive data deluge at high speeds and with stability has become a critical hurdle for intelligent vehicles. The component shouldering this burden is the automotive high-speed SerDes chip.
For years, this in-vehicle "data highway" was dominated by international giants. Only recently have domestic chipmakers entered the fray, gradually reshaping the industry landscape.
Rsemi stands out as a prime example of this shift.
Image source: Rsemi
Surging SerDes Demand: Rsemi Builds a Core Edge With a Technological Leap
Currently, data transmission demands in intelligent vehicles are growing exponentially.
In the smart cockpit, devices like instrument clusters, central control screens, passenger and rear-seat entertainment displays, and HUDs are proliferating, accompanied by rising demands for high resolution and refresh rates. On the autonomous driving front, the continuous upgrade in camera count and pixel density is driving a rapid climb in overall vehicle data volume.
The SerDes chip serves as the critical bridge connecting these sensors, computing platforms, and display terminals. Responsible for transmitting massive amounts of data over long distances with low latency and high stability, it is a foundational component in automotive high-speed interconnect architectures.
Most mainstream mass-produced automotive SerDes solutions currently cap out at 6–12 Gbps, relying primarily on 55nm processes with relatively limited bandwidth and integration. Faced with cockpit demands for multi-screen 4K/8K resolution and high refresh rates, alongside the insatiable bandwidth needs of advanced autonomous driving, these solutions are hitting their performance limits.
This gap presents a significant opportunity for domestic high-speed SerDes chipmakers.
Yet, high-speed SerDes is a difficult sector to crack. It involves complex capabilities in high-speed analog, electromagnetic compatibility, link stability, and system architecture—barriers that few companies have managed to clear to enter the core competitive arena.
Rsemi has chosen a differentiated technological path.
On the camera side, Renxin Technology pioneered a 16 Gbps product series in 2024. By utilizing highly integrated interface solutions, the company effectively simplified network topology, reducing the number of chips, wiring harnesses, and connectors. Specifically, its serializer chip, R-LinC, achieves efficient high-bandwidth 2-in-1 integration. On the deserializer side, the company delivers 6-in-1 aggregation with Bypass functionality—lowering system complexity while optimizing overall vehicle costs.
During the 2026 Beijing Auto Show, Rsemi unveiled a 32 Gbps series of chips for displays. While typical industry solutions can support 24 Gbps or even 27 Gbps via dual channels, reaching 32 Gbps usually requires signal compression. Rsemi's 32 Gbps solution supports a full-rate lossless DP interface, enabling transmission without compromising image quality.
Simultaneously, a single serializer chip can drive four high-resolution, high-refresh-rate displays, with daisy-chaining capabilities allowing for further screen expansion. The deserializer integrates OSD and Bridge modules, reducing system complexity and BOM costs while meeting high-resolution, high-refresh, and functional safety requirements.
Beyond these hard metrics, Rsemi has focused on "soft power," innovatively designing several standout features directly into the chip.
High-precision breakpoint detection is a prime example.
Pinpointing system faults during vehicle development has long been an industry headache. Determining whether an issue stems from the chip, wiring harness, or connector is often difficult—especially when multiple suppliers are involved, driving troubleshooting costs sky-high.
Rsemi’s breakpoint detection technology achieves positioning accuracy within ±0.2 meters. It supports real-time online monitoring and anomaly logging, effectively capturing even intermittent connection faults.
This means system issues can be located faster and more accurately, whether during vehicle development or after-sales diagnostics. It provides a rapid, reliable technical tool for fault identification in both the development and maintenance phases.
Another critical technology is real-time adaptive equalization.
This technology automatically adjusts parameters during signal transmission, ensuring long-distance links remain stable and reliable even in complex environments involving high temperatures, vibration, and electromagnetic interference.
For automakers, these capabilities are just as crucial as raw bandwidth increases.
Rsemi’s experience demonstrates that the key to differentiated competition lies in solving real customer pain points. Simply offering a like-for-like replacement traps companies in price wars, undermining long-term growth. True value comes from using technological and product leadership to solve actual problems, rather than engaging in homogeneous competition along traditional paths.
This may be the effective path for domestic chipmakers to break through: moving beyond being "replaceable" to becoming "the preferred choice." When technology achieves a generational leap, domestic manufacturers gain the confidence to compete on differentiated terms with international giants—showing it is possible to move from catching up to running neck-and-neck, or even taking the lead.
Accelerating Mass Production Validation: Over 40 Models Provide the Foundation for Scale
No matter how impressive the technology, it counts for nothing if it doesn't make it into vehicles. The challenge for domestic chips extends beyond design to mass production validation and building supply chain trust. Some chipmakers stall at the sample stage; while prototypes perform well, issues frequently arise during mass production, preventing the crucial leap from lab to line.
Rsemi navigated this path in just four years.
Founded in February 2022, the company saw its first application model enter mass production in July 2025, with over 40 models launched by 2026. That pace is undeniably fast in the automotive-grade chip sector.
A key breakthrough came with the GAC Aion GT "Climbing Edition," a fully domestic project. In November 2025, this vehicle—hailed as China's first intelligent NEV designed entirely with domestic chips—officially rolled off the production line. Renxin Technology was not only a core supplier but also co-developed the G-T02, the world's first 16 Gbps SerDes chip, with GAC. The success of this project cast a decisive vote of confidence for the mass application of domestic chips.
According to Rsemi, it works with over 30 OEMs, including GAC, and an even larger number of parts suppliers. In 2026, the company expects shipments to approach 10 million units, demonstrating its capacity for large-scale mass production and stable delivery.
How did Rsemi achieve the breakthrough from zero to one, and the expansion from one to many?
First, deep collaboration with customers during the product definition phase. In the early stages of chip R&D, Rsemi communicated extensively with customers to document issues in existing product systems and optimize its own solutions accordingly. This customer-oriented R&D model shifts the logic from "making a chip and looking for a use case" to "defining the chip around the use case."
Second, addressing the OEMs' core hesitation to adopt domestic chips. Automakers' concerns typically center on reliability, consistency, and supply chain stability. Rsemi directly addresses reliability through technical differentiators—such as pinpoint fault detection via breakpoint analysis and ensuring link stability with real-time adaptive equalization. Simultaneously, its expanding production scale and projected annual shipments nearing 10 million units demonstrate its delivery capabilities.
Third, prioritizing ecosystem building. SerDes chips involve bridging across components, requiring coordination between OEM departments, parts suppliers, and processor chip ecosystems. Rsemi actively integrates into the ecosystems of processor chip makers to foster symbiotic relationships. For processor vendors, Rsemi serves as the data channel; for OEMs, it provides a complete transmission solution. This ecosystem mindset transforms Renxin Technology from an "isolated chip" into a vital link in the industry chain—a key factor in its rapid scaling.
From Automotive Interconnects to the Broader High-Speed Connection Market
At its core, SerDes is the underlying technology for high-speed data interconnects. Consequently, its applications are not limited to automobiles. From robotics to AI data centers, and from industrial inspection to medical endoscopy, any scenario requiring high-bandwidth, low-latency data transmission presents a need for high-speed SerDes.
Rsemi’s underlying capabilities are extending into these broader fields.
While achieving scaled commercial deployment in the automotive sector, Renxin Technology is also expanding into edge AI applications. Its products are already in use in robotics, medical devices, industrial cameras, and large drones. Furthermore, the company is actively developing AI server and data center interconnect products for even higher speeds.
As the business expands, going global may become another significant growth curve.
As Chinese new energy vehicles accelerate their globalization, the domestic automotive supply chain is moving overseas in tandem. From Southeast Asia to Europe, and from Latin America to the Middle East, the market influence of Chinese-brand NEVs is rising rapidly.
For upstream chipmakers, this implies not only larger shipment volumes but also new opportunities to integrate into the global supply chain system.
Rsemi’s strategy is to deeply align with the globalization of Chinese automakers while actively integrating into the international Tier 1 supply chain.
In its view, when products offer sufficient competitiveness, the global market will eventually reassess its supply chain structure.
Fundamentally, this represents a new window of opportunity driven by the enhanced competitiveness of China's entire automotive supply chain.
Conclusion
In just four years, Rsemi achieved a critical leap in domestic automotive high-speed SerDes chips.
Moving from "replaceable" to "preferred," from a single chip to system-level solutions, from sample validation to mass production, and from automotive interconnects to the broader high-speed data connection market.
Its true value may lie not just in creating a domestic high-speed SerDes chip, but in validating a development path where domestic high-speed interconnect chips can achieve scaled deployment, continuous iteration, and global expansion.
This signifies that the competition among domestic high-speed interconnect chips is no longer just about "substitution"—it has entered a new stage driven by technological and product value.
