Yamar DC Power-Line Bus Gains Momentum
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THE HANSEN REPORT ON AUTOMOTIVE ELECTRONICS. A Business and Technology Newsletter VOL. 18, NO. 7◆◆ PORTSMOUTH, NH USA SEPTEMBER 2005 Yamar DC Power-Line Bus MY 2006 Vehicle Gains Momentum Features Roundup Yair Maryanka, founder and CEO of work: “First, there is noise and second, the the Israeli firm Yamar Electronics Ltd., power line is not a controllable medium was working in Japan in 1992, when he for communications. At any moment the The Influence of U.S. Mandates hit upon the idea to create a multiplexing air conditioning or the lights might be While most car advertising in the U.S. scheme that would use the vehicle’s power switched on, which creates impulse noise. today is all about power and performance, cables for communications between elec- And the line impedance is unpredictable. a May 2005 survey by the FreedomCAR tronics components. Because it is random, there is no way to and Vehicle Technologies Program of the He recalled, “Japanese consumers were filter the noise. U.S. Department of Energy found the purchasing navigation systems in the af- “We came up with the idea that rather most important attribute for U.S. consum- termarket, but it took eight hours to get than try to fight the noise, we should live ers in their choice of a new car is depend- the systems installed. I said, ‘That’s crazy. with it. We use forward error correction ability. Thirty-three percent of survey It only takes eight hours to assemble an coding, so when we transmit the signal we respondents ranked dependability number entire car.’ Then I thought, ‘What’s com- add information that allows the receiving one; 28% said safety was most important. mon to all electrical and electronics in- side to correct those errors.” Sophisticated electronics hardware and stalled in the car?’ The power line. I had Yamar presently offers a range of seven software in engine, powertrain and chassis some experience with batteries, so I knew transceivers for multiplex power-line com- control systems make today’s vehicles why it is difficult to use the power line. I munications using either UART/LIN, SPI highly reliable overall while improving also knew that digital communications or CAN protocols. The integrated circuits performance, reducing emissions and technology could overcome those prob- range in bit rate from 10 Kbps to as high making driving safer. lems.” as 1.7 Mbps. There are transceivers that Only 11% of the DOE survey respon- Yamar Electronics, founded in 1994, can transmit data at 250 Kbps or 500 Kbps dents said fuel economy was the most im- took a few years to convince its target using the CAN protocol, and at 60 Kbps portant factor, although in May the market, the automotive industry, that it using the LIN protocol. average price for a gallon of gasoline in had developed a communication method- Mr. Maryanka says the company has the U.S. was only $2.11. In comparison, ology good enough to overcome the diffi- already shipped thousands of its transceiv- in 1980, when gas was $2.80 per gallon culties of the DC power line. “Until the ers to a second-tier customer that uses (in constant 2004 dollars), 42% of respon- last three or four years, no one believed it them to implement an aftermarket “gad- dents in a similar survey rated fuel would work,” said Mr. Maryanka. “When get.” Part of the device is installed in a economy as the most important attribute we demonstrated it to OEMs, they looked different location from the controller, in choosing a new car. to see if we were doing any tricks.” with communications between the two As U.S. fuel prices rise (past $3.00 per He explained the major challenges to linked via the power line. gallon in most of the country at press making DC power-line communications Yamar has eight other projects in the time), consumers will demand better fuel works, four with carmakers and four with economy and continue to migrate toward Benefits of Yamar DC-BUS tier-one suppliers, which cover a variety of smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles. The Power-Line Communications different applications. Yamar is working current administration and Congress are on two of those projects in cooperation disinclined to mandate significantly ◆ Saves the cost of signal wiring with SPARC (Secure Propulsion using greater fuel efficiency through changes in ◆ Saves the cost of a separate network Advanced Redundant Control), a Euro- CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) interface pean Commission-funded program, whose standards or increased fuel taxes. New ◆ Simplified installation; only the DC goal is to improve traffic safety and effi- CAFE regulations recently proposed for power line is required ciency for heavy vehicles through the ap- light trucks and SUVs call for modest in- ◆ Extensible, additional nodes can be plication of intelligent x-by-wire creases from model year 2008 through added to the network after installation technologies. 2011, according to six size classifications. ◆ Multiple independent CAN/LIN networks In a SPARC project with Mercedes, For example, by MY 2011, small SUVs can share the same power line by Yamar is developing a 500 Kbps power- would need to average 27.1 miles per gal- using different carrier frequencies Turn to Features, page 2 Turn to DC Bus, page 8 New Features... Continued from page 1 lon, but full-sized pickup trucks only need headlight glare, lighting and signaling All-wheel drive (AWD) is becoming to reach 21.3 mpg, compared with the standards, new braking technologies, more widely available as well. The U.S. current standard for all MY 2007 light roadway departure warning systems, rear- Department of Energy noted that in MY trucks of 22.2 mpg. end collision warning and drowsy driver 2005, AWD was offered on 50 car models The U.S. government has been less warning systems. (not including light trucks) in the U.S., timid about regulating safety. The Na- Brake assist, which uses sensors to de- compared with just ten models in 1999. tional Highway Traffic Safety Administra- tect panic stops and quickly applies full Rear vision cameras to prevent acci- tion (NHTSA) is considering upgrading braking pressure, is migrating to more dents and assist in parking maneuvers are side impact protection (FMVSS 214) to non-luxury vehicles, for example the Kia becoming more widely available, usually “require automakers to provide head pro- Spectra in the U.S. As part of its pedes- bundled with a navigation system. tection in side crashes and to enhance trian protection initiative, the European thorax and pelvis protection for a wider Union proposed a regulation that would Feature Highlights range of vehicle occupants involved in require carmakers to install brake assist in What follows is a sampling of some of such crashes,” most practically accom- new vehicles beginning in 2008. NHTSA the electronics features carmakers are of- plished by installing side airbags. The will be testing and researching brake assist fering for the current model year. transportation bill signed by President from 2006–2008. Applying full brake pres- In the newly-redesigned 2006 BMW 3 Bush in August 2005 calls for passenger sure immediately in an emergency cuts series, stability control, side airbags and protection standards in side-impact stopping distances considerably. side curtain airbags are standard, as are crashes by 2008. Laser- or radar-based sensing systems two-stage LED brake lights. BMW’s Brake Protecting occupants in side crashes is that anticipate crashes and activate safety Force Display, already standard on the 7 one of NHTSA’s near-term regulatory pri- systems in the vehicle have been available and 5 series, expands the number of LEDs orities, as is preventing rollovers. Tire for a few years on high-end models from illuminated in sudden panic braking ac- pressure monitors, which help prevent Mercedes, from Honda and Toyota in Ja- cording to the rate of deceleration de- rollovers by alerting the driver when the pan, and others, but are still a long way tected by ABS sensors. Available options tire pressure on any wheel falls below 25% from mainstream. The new Audi Q7 SUV, include: auto-dimming mirrors, run-flat of the recommended pressure, are required due in 2006, will offer 24 GHz radar-based tires, active steering, adaptive cruise con- on 20% of carmakers’ production in MY blind spot detection that warns a driver trol, rear park distance control and adap- 2006, 70% of MY 2007 and 100% in MY changing lanes if a car is approaching rap- tive headlights. Not standard, iDrive 2008 and thereafter. idly from behind. comes bundled with the optional voice Electronic stability control (ESC) has Audio systems that play MP3 or navigation system. been proven in many studies to substan- WMA-formatted CDs are becoming com- tially reduce rollover incidents and, ac- mon, as are auxiliary input jacks for iPods continued on page 3 cording to the Insurance Institute for or other portable audio devices. GM offers Highway Safety, the safety feature could iPod connections on its HHR retro-style THE HANSEN REPORT ON potentially save up to 7,000 lives each SUV, the Impala and Monte Carlo, as AUTOMOTIVE ELECTRONICS year in the U.S. alone, if all cars were well as the Pontiac Solstice, Saturn Vue © 2005 Paul Hansen Associates, 150 ESC-equipped. NHTSA has planned a and Ion, the Buick Lucerne and the Pinehurst Rd., Portsmouth, NH 03801, preliminary cost/benefit estimate of ESC Cadillac DTS. In Japan, Nissan, Mazda USA. Telephone: 603-431-5859. Fax: 603- for 2005, leading to speculation that a fu- and Daihatsu offer proprietary iPod com- 431-5791. Email: [email protected].