New name announced for DENSO–Toyota joint venture

In July 2019, automotive components manufacturer DENSO Corporation and Toyota Motor Corporation agreed to establish a joint venture for research and advanced development of next-generation, in-vehicle semiconductors. And with the launch date set for April 2020, the new company now has a name: MIRISE Technologies.

Recently, electronic controls have been increasingly implemented into vehicles. Furthermore, the number of in-vehicle semiconductors has grown and the performance of these semiconductors has continuously improved. To create a future of mobility that is safe and sustainable, it is necessary to develop next-generation semiconductors that are integral to technology innovations, such as connected cars, automated driving, sharing mobility and electrification.

In June 2018, DENSO and Toyota agreed to consolidate the electronic components production and development functions to DENSO. Based on this agreement, they have been working to achieve a speedy and competitive production and development system. DENSO subsequently decided to establish a new company for research and advanced development of in-vehicle semiconductors, and will establish a stronger system for R&D of semiconductors.

DENSO agreed to accept equity participation from Toyota for the new company to accelerate the speed of development by taking full advantage of Toyota’s knowledge from a mobility viewpoint. Through equity participation in the company, Toyota will achieve further technology innovations by introducing cutting-edge semiconductor technologies from the planning phase when developing its mobility services and vehicles.

An acronym for ‘Mobility Innovative Research Institute for SEmiconductors’, MIRISE also conveys ‘mirai’ (a Japanese word for ‘future’) and ‘rise’. The new company will conduct advanced research on the basic structure and processing method of next-generation semiconductors and develop electronic components by implementing semiconductors, such as power modules for electric vehicles and periphery monitoring sensors for automated vehicles, thereby contributing to creating the future of mobility.

MIRISE will work on three technology development fields: power electronics, sensing and system-on-chip (SoC). In the power electronics field, the company will work on R&D mainly for in-house production (including contract manufacturing) by leveraging the semiconductor material technologies as well as manufacturing and design technologies accumulated by Toyota and DENSO in electrification technologies, mainly in hybrid vehicles. In the sensing field, the company will work on development for in-house production and cooperation with joint development partners. In the SoC field, the company will strengthen its ability to determine the specifications of optimal SoCs for mobility in the future.

To achieve the above goals based on a speedy and competitive system, MIRISE will begin negotiations on cooperation with universities, research institutes, start-ups and semiconductor-related companies, while looking to strengthen its recruitment of semiconductor engineers. Yoshifumi Kato, DENSO Research and Development Center Yoshifumi Kato Executive Director, has been appointed President and Representative Director of the new company.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Tanusha

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