The monthly magazine for automotive electronics engineers

Issue 05 May 2014 Can we achieve zero IN THIS deaths on the road? ISSUE Fisita congress to explore hot topic in Netherlands in June Page 2: Help to beat recalls How BMW and Euro biomechanics to sensors, Cliff De Locht from NCap are working to - electronics and software, Melexis in Belgium. Page 3: Commercial gether to achieve the vi - the advanced safety tech - The aim of the event is vehicle collaboration sion of zero deaths from nology sessions will re - to bring the international traffic accidents looks set veal the latest updates automotive engineering Page 5: Autonet and to be the hot topic at that are relevant for engi - community together to Visteon partnership June’s Fisita World Auto - neers around the world.” address the theme: “Intel - motive Congress in the The session will take ligent transport to solve Page 6: Autotronics Netherlands. place on Thursday 5 June our future mobility, safety report An executive track 2014 and the whole event and environmental chal - focussing on advanced will run from 2 to 6 June lenges and to address the Page 14: Assessing safety technologies will at the MECC Maastricht. most important issues and automotive radio be led by global safety The last day of the con - challenges being faced by timers experts Michiel van gress will include a the automotive industry.” Ratingen, secretary gen - keynote provided by The programme is Page 20: Guarding eral at Euro NCap, and Adrian Lund, president of made up of 59 presenta - connected cars Klaus Kompass, head of the Insurance Institute for tions covering: systems against hackers vehicle safety at BMW. Highway Safety and the for crash avoidance or “Following decades of Highway Loss Data Insti - mitigation; requirements, Page 24: Infra-red innovation in automotive tute in the USA. The title standards, regulations and sensors for air safety including vehicle will be: “Advanced safety consumer tests; pre-crash, conditioning structures, advanced ma - technologies and other in-crash and post-crash terials, crumple zones, guideposts on the road to accidentology in the light Page 28: Circuit occupant restraints and vision zero.” of safety; crashworthiness protection recent developments in Other speakers will in - and occupant protection; techniques crash avoidance technolo - clude Monica Pla from functional safety, engi - gies, the horizon is Idiada Automotive in neering methodology and Page 33: Product widening for engineers Spain, Jitendra Shah from software architecture; and news with an eye to the future,” Ford Forschungszentrum protection of vulnerable said van Ratingen. “From Aachen in Germany and road users. Page 38: Contact vehicle-electronics.biz details NEWS NEWS Workshop to help UQM and Kinetics integrate electric beat expensive recalls motor and transmission for CVs

A half-day workshop to lenge for developers,” techniques such as live UQM Technologies and fewer engineering vari - the HD 220 with 700Nm transmission is a three- explain and demonstrate said Barry Lock, UK trace, code coverage and Kinetics Drive are collab - ables. Systems will use of peak torque and speed dual-clutch trans - how the more advanced manager of Lauterbach. code analysis. orating to offer a robust UQM Powerphase HD 220kW of peak power, mission that works with debug tools are enabling “Developing reliable “We ran a similar work - integrated electric motor electric motors and con - the HD 950T with the electric motor to re - developers to produce code is now a big issue, shop last year, and it and multi-speed transmis - trollers combined with 950Nm of torque and duce torque interruption higher performance code as the cost of failure in proved very popular,” sion system for commer - Kinetics Nexdrive trans - 140kW of peak power during gear shifting. It while speeding up reli - the field is so expensive. said conference organiser cial vehicle applications missions. and the HD 250, which is also enables the electric able code development Whether it is the damage Richard Blackburn. Franz Maidl that will benefit from a The Powerphase HD a high-voltage variant motor to operate at peak will be one of the high - to the brand of the prod - The events will include full system approach. electric motors and con - with 250kW of peak or near peak efficiency lights of this year’s series uct, or simply the cost of both software and hard - Altium joins This system is engi - trollers were developed power and 900Nm of for better battery per - of Device Developers’ the recall, investment in ware streams. Some key neered to provide com - for commercial vehicle torque. formance and vehicle Conferences. debug tools has become a topics for this year’s Autosar mercial vehicle manufact- applications, and include The Nexdrive EV3-850 range. The one-day events will critical business decision. event include Android de - urers with an efficient be in Bristol, Cambridge, This workshop will give velopment, device-to- Altium has joined the Au - electric drive powertrain Harwin sponsors Munich Ecoteam Manchester and Scotland, engineers the chance to cloud technology, open tosar development part - while reducing develop - UK, on 20th and 22nd explore what they can ex - source software for criti - nership. The company‘s ment time for integration. May and 3rd and 5th pect from the higher end cal systems, and gui and offering for the automo - “As we work with mul - June, respectively. of debug technology.” HMI development.” tive industry comprises tiple partners in China German debug tool The workshop will in - Attendance at the con - the Tasking suite of em - and other regions of the company Lauterbach will volve delegates being ference, including the se - bedded tools and Altium world, it has become host the workshop. hands-on, using hardware ries of 40-minute Designer IDE. clear that for some the “As software has be - assisted debug tools at - technical presentations, is The Tasking develop - ability to offer a complete come far more complex tached to Arm Cortex-M free to engineers and ment tools are used by system will be a competi - and is running at ever hardware, running a real- project managers. The suppliers within the auto - tive advantage,” said Eric faster speeds, detecting time application. Dele - half-day workshops are motive industry to pro - Ridenour, president of bugs is now a major chal - gates will explore subject to a charge. gramme microcontroller UQM Technologies. based powertrain, driver “By collaborating with assistance and safety ap - Kinetics we are able to Hella and Vahle in wireless initiative Connector-maker Harwin is sponsoring the TUFast Ecoteam from plications. offer those customers a Technical University Munich (TU Munich) for the Shell Eco- Hella is working with America, said if inductive challenges still must be “Altium is working proven powertrain sys - Marathon this month in Rotterdam. The team uses several highly reli - German firm Paul Vahle charging coils were em - overcome. Energy trans - with the world’s leading tem. The combined able and rugged Datamate and Hotshoe connectors in its to develop wireless bedded in streets, electric fer over high-frequency automotive manufactur - strengths of our systems, energy-efficient race car. charging systems to spark vehicles could be fields on inductive sys - ers and truly appreciates our combined marketing The event challenges students to design, build and drive the most en - renewed consumer inter - recharged when stopped tems, for example, causes the importance of interna - power and our recent ergy-efficient car. At three events around the world, hundreds of teams est in electric and hybrid- at traffic lights or even heat to build up in metal tional software stan - ISO/TS 16949 registra - compete to travel the furthest on the equivalent of one litre of fuel. All electric vehicles. while being driven. objects which could lead dards,” said Franz Maidl, tion will expand our reach types of drive concepts and energy sources are allowed, including bat - Inductive or wireless "Wireless, inductive to safety issues. managing director of the in these important mar - tery, petrol and diesel, as well as bio fuel, hydrogen and solar. charging for cars will charging is a far more The impact wireless global Tasking business kets.” At the Rotterdam 2014 event, the cars must travel a fixed route of make it easier for drivers convenient way to charging has on other ve - at Altium. “Our align - Key advantages will be about 16.3km in a maximum allowed time of 39 minutes with an aver - to charge car batteries and recharge a vehicle's bat - hicle electronics such as ment with Autosar will a fully integrated and cal - age speed of at least 25km/h. The consumed energy is exactly meas - extend a vehicle's driving tery system," Rosenmayr navigation, infotainment, enable us to continually ibrated system that allows ured and converted to get the equivalent of kilometrage per one litre of range. said. driver-assistance and key - evolve our product offer - quicker time to market regular petrol. Marc Rosenmayr, CEO But he said technologi - less entry systems also ing in line with open in - and reduced development for Hella Electronics in cal and infrastructure needs to be studied. dustry standards.” time and cost, as well as

Page 2, May 2014 Vehicle Electronics Vehicle Electronics May 2014, Page 3 NEWS NEWS University lands £2.85m to develop Autonet and Visteon partner low carbon vehicle technologies to hit connected car market The University of Not - be involved in helping to tingham in the UK has further improve the effi - Visteon is to integrate Au - lation rate of 50% by while being compatible been awarded £2.85m to ciency of the Ecoboost tonet Mobile’s telematics 2018,” said Marty Thall, with essential vehicle run two major engine re - engine.” technology into its next- Visteon’s president. “Vis - functions and external de - lated research projects for The second project is generation products for teon and Autonet Mobile vices. the development of new with Cummins, a de - global vehicle manufac - are leveraging their com - “Autonet Mobile is technologies in low car - signer and manufacturer turers. plementary capabilities to proud to partner with a bon vehicles. The projects of diesel and gas engines The two companies will become a driving force in world-class, tier-one au - involve partnering with and related technologies provide car makers with a the development of next- tomotive-grade technol - Ford and Cummins. including electrical power complete end-to-end soft - generation in-vehicle ogy provider,” said Bob The projects are part of generation. Known as ware and app platform, apps and services for the Sick, Autonet’s chief ex - the recently announced First, the project centres designed to integrate with connected car.” ecutive officer. “This Advanced Propulsion on the development of a vehicle electrical archi - Autonet’s IP-based partnership extends Au - Marty Thall: Centre (APC), a UK gov - novel, compact diesel tectures and networks to TCU is designed to con - tonet’s reach further into “Automotive ernment-industry initia - electric propulsion sys - enable new vehicle fea - nect cars in motion with the global automotive telematics market is tive established by the tem with energy recovery tures. This will incorpo - reliable content delivery manufacturing market forecast to grow.” Automotive Council. Its capability, improving fuel rate a telematics control and app services. The and expands Visteon’s aim is to help the UK ac - efficiency and reducing unit (TCU), operating combined telematics rich connected vehicle Ford Ecoboost engine celerate its leadership in CO 2 emissions. For oper - system, apps and techni - products will let vehicle platform offerings for ve - Maserati, Subaru and advanced propulsion de - ations with frequent stop- cal support. manufacturers connect hicle manufacturers.” General Motors. Visteon velopment and produc - nologies for the vehicles that will play a role in start cycles, such as buses Autonet’s product lets cars to high-speed mobile Autonet’s customers in - expects to begin manu - tion. of the future. Four proj - supporting two of the lat - and delivery trucks, there the vehicle connect to networks and deliver clude Fiat-Chrysler, facturing for various ve - The APC will see gov - ects are receiving govern - est APC projects. is an opportunity for fuel mobile devices, M2M, cloud computing, mobile Dodge, Jeep, Ram hicle manufacturers in the ernment and industry ment funding, with £18m The Ford project, savings of up to 20%. vehicle-to-anything and apps and fleet telematics, Trucks, Mercedes Benz, second half of 2014. each invest £500m in the being invested to support known as Active, is a col - The university’s work the internet of things. sector over the next ten the research led by Ford laborative R&D project will focus on its power Apps such as parental years to research, develop and Cummins. Notting - that accelerates the intro - conversion research to controls, fleet manage - Ioxus opens second plant and commercialise tech - ham is the only university duction of advanced low ensure the project deliv - ment and remote vehicle carbon technologies into ers an advanced automo - commands support cate - Ioxus, a manufacturer of pany,” said Mark we are seeing Ioxus ultra - Patria picks Saab mainstream vehicle appli - tive power drivetrain. gories such as usage base ultracapacitor technology McGough, CEO at Ioxus. caps designed into a cations targeting large “We are very pleased to insurance, parking and for transportation, indus - “So far in 2014 we an - broad array of products Saab has received an vehicles. The deliveries CO 2 savings. be part of the exciting toll. trial and energy applica - nounced Flexgen Power including buses, trains, order from Finnish mili - will take place until 2016. “We have been working APC initiative,” said Under the agreement, tions, has opened its and the Long Island Rail cars, heavy machinery, tary vehicle maker Patria The sub systems will be in collaboration with Ford Christopher Gerada, pro - Visteon will lead design second manufacturing fa - Road as new customers, solar panels and other in - Land Systems for vehicle locally supported in for more than 30 years to fessor of electrical ma - and integration efforts cility in Oneonta, New launched the IMod X se - dustrial equipment,” said electronics for the infor - South Africa. help improve the per - chines at the university. with global vehicle manu - York. The 2000m 2 plant, ries and received $21m in McGough. “The expan - mation systems of Patria “Saab is supplying Pa - formance of their en - “The Cummins Innova - facturers and Autonet will about a kilometre from series C funding.” sion of our manufacturing AMV 8x8 vehicles being tria AMV vehicles with gines,” said Paul Shayler, tion Centre at the Univer - provide software, IP and the firm’s headquarters, Ultracapacitors charge facilities lets us meet the delivered to South Africa. the latest technology, professor of mechanical sity of Nottingham is a network operation serv - will increase capacity for and discharge quickly, supply requirements of The deliveries include a helping to improve local engineering at the univer - UK centre of excellence ices. electrode manufacturing making them suitable for major new customers in data network and operator situational awareness for sity. “This project is an - in electrical machines and “The embedded auto - and module assembly. voltage support needs and these applications.” displays plus a digital soldiers in the field,” said other important milestone related technologies motive telematics market “Opening our second recovering energy that The site will add more video system with cam - Niclas Lövgren, director in our relationship with which focuses on both is forecast to grow at a plant in Oneonta is the would otherwise be lost. than 30 jobs, increasing eras. These will be inte - and head of vehicle sys - the company and our en - fundamental and applied cumulative rate of 42%, culmination of a busy “Customers love our the number of US em - grated in the Patria tems at Saab. gines research group will research.” reaching a vehicle instal - four months for the com - products, and that is why ployees to 150. Page 4, May 2014 Vehicle Electronics Vehicle Electronics May 2014, Page 5 SiC diode and current TALKING control take top awards

A high-power 650V, 120A silicon carbide TAIWAN (SiC) Schottky diode and an LED current control IC were among the win - ners in the Autotronics In - novations Awards. The diode took one of the gold awards and is claimed to be the first SiC product to be developed and produced in Taiwan. Aimed at electric vehi - Tiffany Lin Amanda Yang Charlie Fu cles, it was made by start- up company Hestia Power in collaboration rent control but found it already attracted interest Tiffany Lin said: “They with Tong Hsing Elec - interfered with the car from car makers in Japan are judged on their contri - tronic and is about two to radio. and the USA. bution to industry, aes - three years away from “So I designed a linear The awards are jointly thetics, efficiency and production. IC that uses no coil, organised by Taitra, Tai - innovation.” “We went for SiC be - diode, resistor or capaci - wan’s external trade de - A silver award also cause it has higher ther - tor,” said Fu. “It is all velopment council, and went to ATBS Technol - mal conductivity than done digitally.” Itri, the industrial technol - ogy for an external sensor silicon,” said Hestia sales The product was intro - ogy research institute. for a through-flow tyre manager Amanda Yang. duced in October and has Taitra representative pressure monitor. “The performance is bet - Mirror Magic ter than traditional silicon and helps to make the Charlie Yu (left), sales director at motors smaller.” Photic Electronics, proudly shows The LED current con - the rear-view mirror camera sys - trol IC is claimed to elim - tem that the company designed inate EMC and EMI for Nakomichi. This was intro - problems by manufac - duced in September and is already turer Alpha Light, and being used by Toyota in vehicles earned silver in the sold in Japan and Taiwan. Steve Rogerson reports from awards. “This is tinted to make it safer last month’s Autotronics Alpha Light president for night driving,” said Yu. Charlie Fu said the idea For the future, the company is show in Taipei, Taiwan for the product came to looking at DVRs that can address him five years ago when features such as blind spot view - a Japanese customer used ing, collision warning and GPS. PWM techniques for cur -

Page 6, May 2014 Vehicle Electronics Vehicle Electronics May 2014, Page 7 Aftermarket allows Taiwan needs to export to grow The production value of expand the scale, the only Taiwan’s automobile and way is to export to the more LED innovation motorcycle industry has world. In recent years, quadrupled in the 30 Taiwan’s automobile and The aftermarket for LED sells into North America years the Taipei Ampa auto parts exports reached lighting products pro - and Europe, 70% of its show has been running a high record.” vides engineers with products go into Japan. from NT$1251m in 1984 In 2013, auto parts ex - more opportunities to use Often, it will take an to NT$5084m last year, ports from Taiwan hit their innovative skills, ac - OEM design and improve according to Jan-Pei NT$1979m, up 1.6% on cording to Alisa Wu, sales on it, hoping that car buy - Juang, chairman of the the previous year. manager at Coplus. ers will switch when they automotive manufactur - He said Taiwan had a The company sells its see the new look. ing committee of “competitive advantage” LED lighting products “We make a whole new TTVMA, Taiwan’s trans - in the ICT industry, which roughly equally between design that is different portation vehicle manu - would help it grow in au - the aftermarket and from the OEM’s to give it facturers’ association. tomotive electronics. OEMs, but Wu said the another look,” said Wu. Over the same period, Jan-Pei Juang: “To expand, the only way is to • The Taipei Ampa show, main focus was going to One of the company’s the number of cars made export to the world.” of which Autotronics is a be the aftermarket. latest innovations is to in - in Taiwan has grown part, had 1346 exhibitors “We can put more ideas stall daytime running of motorcycles from “The Taiwan market is Alisa Wu: “We can put more ideas into from 165,000 a year to this year, up slightly on into aftermarket products lights into fog lights so 339,000 and the number 677,000 to 1.1m. small,” said Juang. “To the previous year on the look and appear - separate lights do not aftermarket products.” ance,” she said. “OEMs have to be added to the are more focussed on front bumper or grilles. cation as the existing lights with a projector Wireless charging plan for October safety whereas the after - Called BiLight, the OEM fog light, making halogen bulb but the sec - market can have more de - combined fog light and installation easier. ond generation replaces sign innovation.” daytime running lights is The first generation the halogen bulb with an Jet Optoelectronics is are still working with our to three years away, but Though the company made to the same specifi - combines LED running LED fog light. hoping for a commercial customer and expect a could be five years.” launch in October of a commercial version to be At the show, the com - mobile phone wireless launched in October.” pany launched a 25cm Fair Sun targets Brazil, charging system that The company is also Android-based back-seat Germany and Middle East works with the com - working on a head-up dis - flip-down monitor. Users pany’s rear-set entertain - play product that will be can view and share files Fair Sun Industrial is work - makes buses. The make big ment products. A concept on the market in two to using installed Wifi and ing to expand the geo - buses and minibuses. They version was on display three years time. This will Bluetooth. It is aimed at graphic reach of its switches have a plan for next year to and showed that the use three-colour lasers the aftermarket in the for automotive applications. use our combination phone could be put into a controlled by a mems USA. The company, which started switches.” slot on the screen and chip to produce content “It is very easy to in - off making light bulbs, al - She said the company was charge while the enter - on the windscreen. stall,” said Tsai. “We will ready sells its automotive also talking with distributors tainment system made “This gives full colour not be selling this to switches to companies in to open up markets in Ger - use of the phone’s apps. on the display,” said Tsai. OEMs because it looks Daniel Tsai: “It is very North America and Iran. many and the Middle East. “You can have the con - “It will put key informa - too much like an add-on. easy to install.” The next target is Brazil. “We also hope we can sell tent of the phone on the tion on the screen for the OEMs prefer the inte - “We are talking with a to Japan,” she said. “Some monitor while the phone driver such as speed, fuel grated versions and we A lower cost version for company in Brazil,” said of our aftermarket products is being charged,” said levels, temperature and so are working on develop - the aftermarket that does Lourdes Chiu: “We are talking with vice president Lourdes go there but nothing yet to Daniel Tsai, Jet’s execu - on as well as warning in - ing an Android version not use Android was a company in Brazil.” Chiu. “This is an OEM that OEMs.” tive vice president. “We formation. It may be two for use by OEMs.” launched last September.

Page 8, May 2014 Vehicle Electronics Vehicle Electronics May 2014, Page 9 LED lighting firm targets OEMs Tung Thih plans technology

Automotive lighting are working on a laser company TYC Brother is headlamp; at present, all route to sales growth targeting the OEM mar - its lighting products are ket for future growth in LED based. Night vision, stop-and-go The company has three a bid to increase prof - He said the company systems and 3D around factories – one in Taiwan itability. was working with a Euro - vision monitors will pro - and two in China – and At present, only 30% of pean company to bring vide the main technolo - last year opened a Euro - its LED lighting products out a laser product. gies in the next two years pean sales office in go to OEMs with the rest “I want a laser head - to help Tung Thih Elec - Frankfurt. In Taiwan, 70 sold to the aftermarket, lamp,” he said. “We are tronic hit its sales target in of its 300 employees are but senior vice-president pressurising our engi - 2017 of US$333m com - involved in R&D and in Carlos Ting wants the neers to have these prod - pared with an estimated China there are nearly balance to be 50% to ucts ready as soon as $180m for this year and 300 R&D personnel out each. possible, but we can’t say $115m in 2013. Over the of the 1700 employees. “We want to hit this tar - yet when it will be ready.” past five years the com - “Next year, we will be get as quick as possible,” • The company received a pany has grown sales at launching night vision he said. “The OEM mar - silver award at the Au - between 10 and 15%. and stop-and-go sys - ket is more profitable. totronics Innovation The company sells di - tems,” said Chen. “By The reputation of being in Awards for a headlamp rect to car manufacturers 2016, we will have 3D Carlos Ting: “I want a laser headlamp.” that market is also very with a DRL LED light and 64% of its sales are in around video monitors. important so our strategy guide that integrated bi- parking assist systems, Our current 2D AVM uses is to attack it.” very successful”. had success in Japan, and functional beam tech - with other cameras ac - four cameras to produce a One region where this is “Our target is the pre - they supply all over the niques and patented counting for 15% and top view. With 3D, you likely to happen is Eu - mium OEM brands in world.” optics. It was designed to anti-theft devices 8%. can see it as if you were rope, where Ting admit - North America and Eu - Meanwhile, the com - improve heat transfer ef - “We have an ultrasonic in the middle and looking ted the company was “not rope,” he said. “We have pany’s R&D engineers ficiency. sensor system that can round. But it will need work with no ECU inter - more cameras.” vention,” said Sarah She said that ideally State-owned aerospace company Chen, manager for over - such a system would need seas sales. “These are for 12 cameras but the com - wants automotive spin-off parking aids, blind spot pany knew that would detection and front colli - make it too expensive for Sarah Chen: “We don’t sell to the aftermarket A government-owned trial Development. products using Can and ever, the automotive side sion warning.” the end customer and thus because we can’t guarantee the quality of the Taiwanese aerospace The company, which Lin in the car,” said Kuo- still only accounts for two Ford is the company’s its engineers were work - installation.” company’s sideline auto - supplies products into the Jiun Lin, senior manager to three per cent of its biggest customer ac - ing on reducing the num - motive business has be - commercial and military for the automobile busi - business. counting for 62% of its ber of cameras. the installation.” them cheaper. come so successful it may aerospace industry, in - ness. “Our main business is sales in Taiwan and 18% She acknowledged that The decision to move “Once more people be span out into a sepa - cluding the Taiwan Air “And about five years still in the aircraft indus - of its exports. General no customer had ex - into night vision, she said, want to buy this, we will rate company before the Force, first moved in the ago we extended into try,” said Lin. Motors is second on the pressed an interest yet. came from requests from have the bargaining year is out. automotive sector ten other products using Can “We are a government export list at 17% fol - “Our products are sold car makers. She said power to reduce price,” The firm was display - years ago when it part - bus control. We also de - owned company but will lowed by Volkswagen to OEMs,” she said, the company could pro - she said. “We will though ing its automotive prod - nered a car manufacturer veloped systems for buses be a private company by and Nissan, both on 15%. “though some can be duce night vision systems launch at a high price.” ucts at Autotronics, to make a car phone and trucks.” the end of the year. The In Taiwan, Renault comes done on dealer options. now but the cost would be The system uses infra- but said this may be linked via the Can bus. Today, among its main automotive business will second on 13% followed We don’t sell to the after - too high and thus the de - red to detect body heat to the last time under the “We went on to link ranges are body control be spun off at the same by Mitsubishi on 7% and market because we can’t velopment team was help drivers avoid hitting name Aerospace Indus - about ten companies’ modules for buses. How - time.” Nissan on 6%. guarantee the quality of working on how to make people at night.

Page 10 , May 2014 Vehicle Electronics Vehicle Electronics May 2014, Page 11 Innovation focus Tesor in OEM talks Innovation is the key to All the firm’s products success in the rapidly are sold direct to car man - evolving automotive elec - ufacturers and fall into tronics market, believes three categories – media for smartphone app Bill Wu, vice-president at centres, rear-seat enter - E-Lead Electronic. tainment and accessories, Tesor Plus is close to a said Rau. “You can even “We think innovative such as driver recorders, deal with an OEM to see where the car is. They design, and that is our pri - reverse cameras, parking have a device that gives will work everywhere ex - ority,” he said. “It is the sensors and TPMSs. control of a car via a cept Japan but the next key to opening market The company is also smartphone factory-fitted model will work in Japan doors for us. That is why developing a car naviga - into new cars. At present, as well.” we are a key patent win - tion module for Volkswa - the product, which works The product will work ner in Taiwan.” gen, a version of which with Android and Apple on its own but also with At the show, the com - was on display. smartphones, can only be some aftermarket alarm pany launched a head unit “Our next step is to look bought as an aftermarket systems. It can provide that connects with a at cloud application,” said product. any data available smartphone and can work Wu. “The cloud can link “We are discussing with through the car computer. with systems such as the phone to the head some OEMs, but we can’t These include tempera - driving recorder, head-up unit. Everything is in the say with who yet,” said ture and tyre pressure. display, rear-view camera smartphone. We can use Bruce Rau, deputy gen - One phone can monitor and tyre pressure moni - that resource to supply Bill Wu: “We are a key patent winner in Taiwan.” eral manager. up to three cars and one toring systems (TPMSs). many functions.” The product lets users car can be monitored by check the status of the car up to three phones. through their mobile. For The company also Dealer option for Android example, they can see if makes a wireless immo - they have remembered to biliser that can replace the Dashboard systems that droid phones are the latest explained senior sales tion for those who buy a lock it and if not use the OEM’s starter relay and can be fitted as a dealer offerings from Royal Tek. specialist Jansen Chang. car and want to upgrade. phone to lock it. the next version of the option and let users link “We are not concentrat - “These are factory fitted They are custom made “You can check your smartphone app will to the car with their An - ing on the aftermarket,” and sold as a dealer op - for different cars.” car wherever you are if allow this to be remotely Bruce Rau shows the smartphone app Typical of this is the you have internet access,” activated. company’s Android Head Unit, a car DVD system Taiwan seeks more free trade agreements that runs on Android 2.3. Users can surf the internet Tariff barriers will con - ceremony she said that sider global economic in terms of technology via Wifi as well as access tinue to hold back South Korea had 43 free factors and tackle the tar - and product quality,” said thousands of apps. In - Taiwan’s automotive trade agreements in place iff barrier problems. We Fu-Hsiong Cheng, vice structions can be given by electronics exports unless and they accounted for are seeing some progress chairman of Teema, Tai - voice and the display can more free trade agree - 36% of the country’s ex - but we are falling in wan’s electrical and elec - show what’s on the user’s ments can be set up, Wen- ports. In contrast, Taiwan global rankings because tronics manufacturers’ smartphone screen, Jo Kiang, deputy director had just five agreements of the high tariffs we association. This uses an Arm Cor - general for foreign trade accounting for 9% of ex - face.” He said that in 2013 the tex A9 CPU core running at the Ministry of Eco - ports. “With years of hard country’s automotive at 800MHz and has a nomic Affairs, told dele - “We need to accelerate work, Taiwan’s automo - electronics output was 20cm touchscreen colour gates. our efforts in this,” she tive electronics have about NT$133.9bn, up Jansen Chang with some of the company’s replacement dashboard modules TFT LCD. At the event’s opening said. “We need to con - gained global admiration 12% on 2012.

Page 12 , May 2014 Vehicle Electronics Vehicle Electronics May 2014, Page 13 INFOTAINMENT INFOTAINMENT

n-vehicle infotainment is a hot topic in the automotive world. IN TUNE At the heart of today’s sophis - ticated automotive infotainment Iplatforms is a high-performance automotive radio tuner, an essen - tial component that provides a state-of-art radio listening experi - ence to drivers and passengers. Automotive radio is a large mar - ket that continues to grow along with the increasing volume of au - tomobiles being produced. In 2012, 84.1 million cars and com - mercial vehicles were manufac - tured worldwide. In the first six months of 2013, 44 million vehi - cles have already been produced. The size of the automotive after - market is many times larger as it is estimated that there are more than one billion vehicles on the road around the world. Assuming each car has at least one radio and given the large mar - ket size, why are there only a few automotive radio tuner suppliers competing in this large and grow - ing market? Difficult market The automotive tuner segment is a difficult semiconductor market to enter due to various reasons. Today’s complex, ever-changing driving environment requires high-performance radio tuner technology. Arthur Chan explains how to assess Automobiles are constantly on the move. This extreme mobility high-performance automotive radio requires the automotive tuner to tuners for infotainment systems receive radio signals in a wide variety of reception conditions. Tuners must handle various types of signal impairments such as multipath generated by the broad - cast signal reflected off mountains and buildings. The amplitude and

Page 14 , May 2014 Vehicle Electronics Vehicle Electronics May 2014, Page 15 INFOTAINMENT INFOTAINMENT

tuners with higher integration and of a tuner will be of great impor - with no compromise in perform - tance. A good tuner with ance. -3.5dBµV sensitivity can pull in a Traditional tuners were manu - signal at 0.5µV extending its abil - factured in bi-cmos technologies a ity to tune in to a station up to generation ago. With today’s 160km away. mounting pressure to reduce cost, Selectivity refers to a tuner’s RF tuner design has migrated to ability to receive a weak station in cost-effective cmos technologies the presence of stronger stations at at foundries such as TSMC to small frequency offsets, as shown achieve lower cost mixed-signal in Fig. 1. This is especially impor - integration at deep sub-micron tant for receivers in crowded FM nodes. Only a few tuner suppliers spectrums in urban environments. in the world can perform ad - Adjacent channel selectivity, vanced low-cost RF cmos design which refers to suppression of sig - of digital low-IF architecture for nals ±100kHz away from the Fig. 1: Superior selectivity and dynamic bandwidth control radio tuners. tuned frequency, is important in are important in receiving weak signals among strong stations To serve the automotive OEM European markets as the adjacent market, a tuner IC supplier typi - channel blockers can be as close cally must be an ISO/TS16949- as ±100kHz for FM broadcast in certified company, providing border regions. be increased. Tuners with low IP3 which two tuners are too expen - AEC-Q100-qualified tuner ICs. A high-performance automotive will require very expensive high sive) the primary audio tuner is Automotive tuner suppliers must tuner should have at least 65dB Q tracking filters to avoid IMD3 tuned to the AF station to qualify have a global presence to provide selectivity with ±100kHz block - break-in, an extremely unpleasant the AF station and re-tuned to the on-site support worldwide for de - ers. Some tuners can achieve this experience to the listener. A lead - primary station without causing a sign and test drives. RF PCB lay - selectivity with a powerful state- ing automotive tuner will have an perceptible break in the audio. out and automotive test drives of-the-art radio DSP algorithm IP3 of 117dBµV coupled with The maximum time accepted in require local support to shorten that dynamically optimises the de - sensitivity at -3.5dBµV at full RF executing the AF check operation design cycles and facilitate radio sired channel bandwidth by gaug - gain. It should also provide a very is under 10ms. Most tuners in the tuning during test drives. ing several signal metrics wide IMD dynamic range to offer market are able only to qualify the The combination of these suc - including adjacent and alternate protection against IMD3 break-in AF station’s received signal cess factors results in a high bar - channel conditions, narrowing the with no external filtering blocks. strength indication (RSSI). Top- rier to entry that permits only a channel bandwidth in the presence In Europe, AF is a choice that performing automotive tuners are Arthur Chan few semiconductor companies to of strong blockers. allows the car radio tuner to tune able to perform an AF check oper - supply tuners to the global auto - IP3 is a figure-of-merit measure to a different frequency that pro - ation at 6ms or less and qualify motive infotainment market. of a tuner’s linearity. Higher IP3 vides the same station, when the not one but four station metrics, phase of the resultant signal re - shield wipers, windows, the sun - means better linearity and less dis - first signal becomes too weak including RSSI, SNR, frequency Tuner requirements ceived also may change, leading roof and other body and cabin tortion. The most severe distortion when moving out of range. This is offset and multipath interference. to distortion and or loss of audio. components, and even the engine A strong suite of key performance is third-order inter-modulation often used in European car radio Multipath interference is the Weak signals occur in remote and horn, can cause interference. parameters and features is re - (IMD3) distortion resulting from systems, enabled by RDS where bane of FM radio reception in mo - areas affecting signal quality. Improper antenna connections can quired to overcome the challeng - two close-in blockers that show the AF list is transmitted via RDS bile environments especially at Power lines and broadcast towers also produce interference. Addi - ing environment in which up on-channel on the desired sta - data. In higher end cars, a dedi - high speeds. Multipath distortion can transmit strong signals that tional interference can come from automotive radio tuners operate. tion (see Fig. 2). In crowded FM cated background companion is caused when two or more radio interfere with the broadcast radio the car radio PCB where DC-DC These parameters include excel - spectrums, very common in urban tuner is used to scan the AF list signals broadcast from the same signal. converters, large LCD panels and lent sensitivity to pull in a weak markets, the blockers are too close providing AF station metrics to source arrive at a receiver at dif - other high-speed digital circuitry to the desired spectrum to be eas - the host to decide when to jump to ferent times and with different In-car interference. signal. are housed. If you live in a rural area far ily filtered out. the AF station when the primary phases and attenuation levels due Inside the car, poor EMI shielding Competitive pressures require away from the transmitters of To reduce third-order distortion station becomes compromised. to reflections of the signal from on electric motors running wind - tuner IC companies to supply most radio stations, the sensitivity products, IP3 performance must In cost-sensitive radios (in various objects.

Page 16 , May 2014 Vehicle Electronics Vehicle Electronics May 2014, Page 17 INFOTAINMENT INFOTAINMENT

The radio signal prior to arriving nel leading to audio distortion. continuously seeks to restore mised. With dual antenna and at the receiver can experience The traditional approach is to spectral components attenuated phase diversity tuner systems, changes in amplitude and phase mitigate the effects of multipath due to frequency-selective fading OEMs circumvent the issue by due to two types of multipath fad - with techniques such as blending effects, thus restoring the signal combining two antennas to pro - ing: flat and frequency-selective. back to mono audio from full even as the vehicle travels through vide more signal strength and sig - In urban environments, reflections stereo audio, deploying low pass multiple fading situations. The re - nificantly improved resistance to from close-in objects such as audio filters (high-cut and high- sult is reduced audio distortion multipath fading. buildings result in short delay blend), attenuating the audio level and a lower level of sound-com - Dual-tuner phase diversity sys - multipath fading, causing wide - when there are harsh pops due to promising mitigation applied to tems with channel equalisation band deep fades. In this scenario severe multipath and soft muting the audio, such as stereo-mono can be implemented with leading all spectral components of the sig - as the last resort. Automotive blend and high-cut and high- automotive tuners to address both nal experience amplitude attenua - tuners should have the above blend. flat and frequency-selective fad - tion simultaneously (flat fading), basic mitigation engines run au - ing, whereby the dual tuner out - FM phase diversity leading to harsh audio pops and tonomously, activated and moni - puts are combined to alleviate Fig. 2: Good IP3 offers strong protection against inter-modulation drop outs. In turn, long multipath tored by signal quality metrics In recent years, European automo - fading to improve audio quality distortion delay (frequency-selective fading) continuously. tive OEMs such as BMW, Audi, greatly. arises due to reflections from ob - A good automotive tuner should VW and Daimler have adopted In an antenna phase diversity jects several kilometres away such have an FM channel equaliser to glass and patch active antenna system, the RF signal is received signal conditioned in the primary consumers also expect a CD-qual - as distant hills and tall buildings. cancel frequency selective multi - systems, moving away from pas - by two uncorrelated antennas receiver. The output is stereo ity audio experience from their car In this scenario certain spectral path fading, thus yielding audio sive whip rod antennas. However, spaced at an optimum distance audio to an audio signal process - radios. components will be attenuated with low distortion. The with small glass antennas, FM from each other, and they are con - ing unit in the system. Automotive OEMs and tier-one causing deep notches in the chan - equaliser’s adaptation algorithm radio reception becomes compro - nected to two tuners tuned to the suppliers understand this trend HD radio same frequency. The signal propa - and are responding by designing gation path at one antenna loca - HD radio digital radio broadcast is sophisticated infotainment sys - tion may experience a deep fade gaining traction in automotive ra - tems that incorporate the latest au - while the other signal propagation dios in the USA. Previously rele - tomotive tuners that deliver path at the other antenna location gated to high-end cars, HD radio superior sensitivity and selectiv - does not. is now moving into mid-range ity, excellent IP3 performance and Dual-tuner antenna phase diver - platforms for the American mar - FM phase diversity reception sity systems provide the capability ket. Automotive OEMs that have while supporting digital radio to combine the multiple antenna adopted HD radio include Ford, standards such as HD radio tech - outputs to reduce poor signal re - Volvo and BMW. Several more nology. ception due to flat fading. The two OEMs are moving to wider adop - Automotive tuners with excel - receivers use a common reference tion in the immediate future. It is lent performance and cost benefit clock to ensure they are tuned to estimated that by 2015 well over are being adopted by automotive the same channel frequency to half of all cars shipping in the OEMs and tier-one infotainment stream the IF signal and associ - USA will have HD radio recep - system suppliers in mass produc - ated signal quality metrics from tion. The HD tuner must be certi - tion projects now. These advanced one receiver denoted the second - fied by IBiquity, the developer automotive tuners have set a new ary receiver to the other denoted and licenser of HD radio technol - benchmark in price and perform - as the primary receiver. The two ogy for automotive OEM grade ance value for automotive cus - IF signals are phase aligned and AM and FM tuner performance. tomers while enabling a superior combined in the primary receiver in-vehicle audio experience for Looking to the future using proprietary phase diversity consumers. algorithms. Infotainment system developers Arthur Chan is senior product The combined IF signal is sub - are demanding ever-higher quality marketing manager for sequently channel equalised, FM of automotive radio performance Infotainment developers are demanding increasing quality from automotive radios Silicon Labs demodulated, MPX decoded and at a lower system cost. Today’s

Page 18 , May 2014 Vehicle Electronics Vehicle Electronics May 2014, Page 19 INFOTAINMENT INFOTAINMENT Beating the hackers The increased use of connectivity can open modern cars to unwanted access, as Kelei Shen explains

onnectivity is increas - new car being built. ingly a critical element in Much like smartphones and the development of the other consumer devices, there is a latest infotainment systems and growing expectation that in-car Cresearch suggests this is going to entertainment systems should continue to rise. A recent study feature internet connectivity and by the IEEE claims by 2025 ei - enable integration with mobile ther Bluetooth or Wifi technolo - devices. Coupled with more con - gies will be in just about every sumer service providers such as Google growing their presence in the automotive space, it is a trend set to continue. The latest infotainment units now allow apps to be downloaded from the internet on to the head unit, examples include Chrysler UConnect and BMW Connected Drive platforms. Consumers are seeking seamless connectivity between mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets with the in-vehicle infotainment system. Manufacturers including Audi, which recently launched LTE con - nectivity in cars across its range, are satisfying consumer demand for in-car internet access, with connectivity to rival smartphones and tablets. Other infotainment systems have USB and phone connectivity, The Jeep Cherokee uses allowing users to transfer music the UConnect platform files and other data from their smartphones, MP3 players and

Page 20 , May 2014 Vehicle Electronics Vehicle Electronics May 2014, Page 21 INFOTAINMENT INFOTAINMENT

is potentially open to cyber-at - Yet, likely, the potential exists to tacks and malware if not suffi - hack a car and wrest control of its ciently secured. The risk critical systems via malware suggested is that comprehensive transferred over an internet or in-car connectivity could lead to wireless network connection. cyber-attacks that have the poten - Supplier answers tial to range from inconvenient through to impacting safety criti - OEMs offering the level of con - cal systems. nectivity that consumers want need to start thinking about fire - Consumer experience walls such as those found on PCs Consumers have become accus - and they need to develop systems tomed to using consumer devices with encryption. The process of that come ready with built-in dealing with unwanted attention is security software or the chance to not something new for the car choose aftermarket alternatives. makers to have to face. Thieves Entertainment platform at the Geneva Motor Show Very few consumers expect a need have targeted vehicles and with a for car security beyond alarms or switch to electronic rather than more serious issues. A virus could infotainment domain, preventing ularly those set to offer 4G con - immobiliser and awareness mechanical immobilisation they collect personal data that are on any impact on safety-relevant fea - nectivity in the car. remains low. Programme planners learnt new methods to disable im - devices connected to the network. tures in the car. As 4G and communications and engineers have yet to imple - mobilisers and start the car with - Perhaps most concerning is for With advanced security tech - technology improve and spread, ment measures to reduce infiltra - out any keys. any virus to migrate to another in- niques such as secure boot and the need to run an infotainment tion and intrusion and it feels like car network such as the Can bus, data encryption such a combina - system on local software can be Integrated networks the first wave on internet-enabled providing access to engine and tion creates a trusted infotainment bypassed. Processing power and computers that lacked any protec - The multitude of microprocessors braking controls. architecture that should deliver security duties can be carried out tion. and independent systems are typi - Taking inspiration from robust class leading security. Engineers by a robust and secure server, For tier-one suppliers trusted in cally linked via integrated net - PC and laptop security technol - are also looking at other measures which can then stream the re - the sector it’s a factor that they be - works and as the infotainment ogy, firewalls and other software such as developing a process that quired infotainment functions to a lieve OEMS need to consider. systems require access to speed security measures are being con - isolates crashed or compromised vehicle, significantly lowering the sidered to act as a barrier between Connected cars can provide Researchers at the Centre for data and safety critical systems it parts of an infotainment system risk of malicious software from malware and an infotainment sys - routes for hackers Automotive Embedded Systems tends to be the connectivity gate - from other connected components being downloaded onto an in-car Security claim to be able to seize way that is the most likely entry tem. As an example, an entertain - and networks. system. control of a vehicle’s engine or point for malware finding its way ment platform presented at the Some methods involve develop - It must be emphasised that no USB sticks on to the unit’s hard brakes by connecting a laptop to a into the car. Geneva Motor Show used sepa - ing software that partitions vari - real-world occurrences of such disc. This is a significant step to car’s on-board diagnostic port and Malicious code could lurk be - rate computing domains using a ous hardware parts using a cyber attacks have been recorded, allow third-party data onto a vehi - hacking the vital systems. Using hind an app downloaded or be type one hypervisor for securing micro-kernel to define strictly the and the benefits that cle infotainment system. an OBD port is some way from embedded in a music file trans - critical vehicle functions from er - amount of access individual pro - infotainment systems can bring Take rates suggest that this en - hacking using software to access ferred onto the system via a rant or malicious software for au - grammes have to vehicle informa - to both safety and driving hanced connectivity improves the the car’s electrical system and all smartphone or USB connection. tomotive grade robustness that is tion. Furthermore, such enhancement certainly outweigh enjoyment, experience and safety hacks to date have been under - Once in the infotainment system, the first of its kind in the industry. techniques are used to limit the the risks to security. Moreover, for the driver and passengers but taken under research conditions, a virus or malware could manifest It partitions the system into two amount of resources other soft - to prevent against the future the possibility to load unknown but the threat is sufficient for in - itself in a number of ways from virtual domains. One domain ware has access to; therefore if potential of remote car hacking, software and files into a vehicle as terested parties to sit up and take simply disrupting the operation of manages critical car functions that system becomes corrupted various manufacturers are well as to open the vehicle to data notice. the infotainment system, such as such as vehicle network commu - and fails it does not compromise considering and developing from outside is starting to raise However, to date, successful car music playback errors, incorrect nications, and the second domain the functionality of another. prevention measures. concerns among leading suppliers. hacks have required direct hard - navigation instructions or disrupt - handles infotainment applications Another way Kelei Shen is senior vice Research suggests an infotainment ware access to the car’s systems ing the display. These could be such as navigation and internet ac - president for global engineering system connected to the internet and few have been implemented considered annoying or frustrating cess. The vehicle domain is se - OEMs may have an alternative to at Harman Automotive directly or via a networked device outside of research conditions. to an end customer but there are curely firewalled from the embedding the technology partic -

Page 22 , May 2014 Vehicle Electronics Vehicle Electronics May 2014, Page 23 SENSORS SENSORS

ith oil reserves being pact on the overall fuel economy. system will affect a vehicle’s op - further and further de - Research undertaken in Europe eration, and car manufacturers are pleted, petrol prices last year by the Allgemeiner not obliged to disclose any figures continuing to rise and legislative Deutscher Automobil Club (Adac) on this function’s influence on Wpressure to lower carbon emis - examined the power needed to run overall fuel usage. All this is due KEEPING various different automotive air to change in the near future sions becoming increasingly acute, the task of keeping modern conditioning systems and found though as industry bodies in vehicles’ power budgets in check that, in some cases, when they are several of the largest western is of ever greater importance to activated these systems can con - economies begin to implement automotive design engineering stitute as much as 15% of the ve - test procedures which take the in - teams. Air conditioning and cli - hicle’s total fuel consumption. creased energy consumption that COOL mate control systems draw a con - At the moment, automotive in - the air conditioning system causes siderable amount of current from dustry type approval does not re - a vehicle’s battery and their use quire tests to show how the will therefore have a notable im - running of the air conditioning

Peter Riendeau explores the implementation of infra-red sensing technology in advanced automotive air conditioning The proportion of a vehicle’s fuel consumption due to its systems air conditioning system will be at its highest when vehicles are in congested urban environments

Page 24 , May 2014 Vehicle Electronics Vehicle Electronics May 2014, Page 25 SENSORS SENSORS

FIR array provides a thermal profile of the vehicle cabin

setting of optimal conditions for relatively detailed map of heat quence of the driver and passen - Sensor options into consideration. matic air conditioning systems each of the vehicle’s occupants. values for a given target area in ger(s) being inconvenienced by The air conditioning and climate will consume much less energy The sensor functionality deployed Implementations of this kind, in real time, avoiding the need to more frequent recharge periods control mechanisms that are cur - than will be needed for the far less in many cars will just rely on a either high-end or mid-range car scan the area with a single point being required. rently found in vehicles can be advanced manual systems, and simple temperature dependent re - models, will require the specifica - sensor (which would take an un - Conclusion characterised as follows: thereby have less of a bearing on sistor to determine the cabin’s air tion of multi-element IR sensor acceptable amount of time) or em - the vehicle’s consumption of fuel. temperature and thus regulate the arrays for continuous production ployment of a micro-bolometer With ever growing pressure being 1. Manual – In this type of system That said, if these automatic sys - internal climate as is appropriate. of precise temperature profile data device, which would most likely exacted onto car makers to the vehicle’s occupants set both tems are not operated correctly, As heating via incident radiation throughout the vehicle cabin. prove to be too costly. heighten fuel efficiency bench - the temperature level and the in - but instead controlled to some ex - from the sun is not factored in Through these arrays it will be marks, their engineering teams Electric cars tensity of the air flow through the tent manually, then no improve - though, this method often gives possible to address any changes must do everything possible to blowers themselves. This requires ment in the fuel economy will be out rather inaccurate data when it that take place in the heat load Although the efficiency of air combat difficult technical chal - regular readjustment as conditions realised. comes to assessing the well-being more effectively – thus improving conditioning systems has to be lenges so that they can reduce in- change. It has been shown that the pro - of the vehicle’s occupants. cabin temperature stability and the considered for all new automobile cabin power consumption while 2. Semi-automatic – Here the tem - portion of a vehicle’s fuel con - If infra-red (IR) sensing mecha - vehicle occupants’ comfort, while models, more effective air condi - still being able to deliver the lev - perature of the cabin can be main - sumption due to its air nisms, rather than passive semi - simultaneously lowering power tioning is of particular importance els of comfort that customers have tained at a set level, defined by conditioning system will be at its conductor technology, are consumption, restricting the bill of when applied to the rapidly grow - come to expect. The effect that an the vehicle occupants, but the air highest when vehicles are situated employed in these systems, then materials costs associated with the ing hybrid electrical vehicle automotive air conditioning sys - flow intensity still has to be ad - in congested urban environments. efficiency levels can be signifi - system and facilitating the whole (HEV) and electrical vehicle (EV) tem can have on a vehicle’s fuel justed manually. If a vehicle is moving slowly, the cantly boosted. Such sensors can implementation process. sectors. EVs, for example, will efficiency is profound and manu - 3. Fully automatic – For this type air conditioning will represent a react far quicker than conven - It is now widely agreed within generally experience much greater facturers need to act now to lower of system different sensors are much larger drain on the battery tional sensor devices to any the automobile industry that the difficulty when it comes to pro - this as much as possible. Deploy - employed so that optimal cabin than any of the other power con - changes in the temperature level. use of multi-element far infra-red viding efficient cabin temperature ment of sophisticated, FIR sensor conditions for vehicle occupants’ suming accessories it possesses They can take the influence of (FIR) thermopile sensor arrays, control compared with vehicles array technology is now permit - comfort can be constantly main - (potentially reaching as much as sunlight on the temperature per - covering the -20 to +30˚C temper - that are based on internal combus - ting the development of next gen - tained. This is based on a pre-de - 70% of the total electricity being ceived by occupants into consider - ature range, will be best suited to tion engines. The main reason for eration multi-zone in-cabin fined temperature chosen by the drawn). As already stated, vehi - ation, as well as the ambient air this type of application. An array this is there is not any waste heat thermal imaging that promises to occupants, with the system mod - cles using some form of fully au - temperature, and respond accord - of this kind can measure the emit - being dissipated from the engine maintain driver and passenger erating the air flow and air vol - tomatic air conditioning system ingly. ted IR energy from the driver and cooling system, so as a result this comfort while significantly reduc - ume that passes through the will prove considerably more fuel In the next few years, multi- passenger(s) then compensate for heat is not available to an EV for ing power consumption and blowers, as well as the tempera - efficient than ones with conven - zone air conditioning mechanisms their perceived temperature level, carrying out cabin heating. Fur - thereby improving fuel economy. ture of the air flow. tional manual or semi-automatic will become more commonplace. without being effected by solar thermore, any drain on the battery Peter Riendeau is global systems – but to do so advanced, These will deal with the uneven heating conditions that could oth - of an EV will severely shorten the marketing and communications The Adac research found that, highly effective sensor technology distribution of sunlight throughout erwise lead to erroneous results. It distance that can be covered be - manager at Melexis when used correctly, fully auto - needs to be implemented. the cabin and make possible the allows the creation of an accurate, tween recharges, with the conse -

Page 26 , May 2014 Vehicle Electronics Vehicle Electronics May 2014, Page 27 CIRCUIT PROTECTION CIRCUIT PROTECTION Protection packets

Noel Giamello explains how to meet power, protection and interface challenges, including for HID lamps

he modern vehicle has de - and reliably. veloped into a collection of Each electronic subassembly electronic systems that (ESA) must be powered, pro - work together to perform engine tected, and connected to its re - Tcontrol, safety and diagnostics, in - spective interfaces within the fotainment, and many more func - overall automotive system. From tions. As the list of features and one main battery, DC-to-DC con - level of sophistication escalates, verters translate voltages for nu - so do the challenges associated merous application power levels. HID headlamp on a 2009 Lincoln MKS with integrating and operating Once powered and operating, the (Photo from Ford) these various systems efficiently electronics must be protected ade -

Page 28 , May 2014 Vehicle Electronics Vehicle Electronics May 2014, Page 29 CIRCUIT PROTECTION CIRCUIT PROTECTION

across the capacitor with a peak coefficient (PPTC) devices are amplitude twice the supply volt - ideal for transient protection. Dur - age. A resistor in series with the ing normal operation the PPTC mosfet can protect it by dampen - device has an extremely low re - ing these oscillations. These sistance and remains essentially power resistors often are thick invisible to the circuit. When the film, non-inductive, and rated up operating current reaches the de - to 50W. Isolation from the back - vice’s trip current, the device tem - plane can be an additional advan - perature and resistance rise tage with power resistors. non-linearly to create an effective The choice of resistor depends open circuit. Selection of a PPTC on several application factors. device depends on the applica - High-frequency applications de - tion’s operating voltage, operating mand low inductance since para - current and trip time. Stable re - sitic inductance of the wiring sistance over a wide temperature combined with capacitance of range is desirable as automotive switching components can inter - electronics can require +125˚C Noel Giamello Fig. 1: Flux generated by signal and common mode noise fere with the normal operation of ratings instead of the more com - the conversion circuit. Resistor mon +85˚C ratings. Advanced pulse characteristics indicate manufacturing technology uses ages and trip characteristics. The whether the resistor supports cur - different polymer blends to create varistor clamps the voltage to a quately from various transient the system must be re-examined them effective. rent limiting or capacitor dis - high current capability, low resist - safe level any time an overvoltage events. after all interfaces are in place to charge applications. The ance, high operating voltage and Power condition arises. Low capacitance Electrostatic discharge (ESD) ensure adequate isolation and pro - maximum temperature of the re - high operating temperature capa - and leakage characteristics ensure threatens electronics beginning as tection. In the power supply, various resis - sistor, listed on the datasheet, bilities based on the needs of an it remains invisible to the circuit early as circuit assembly and con - Accurate and stable power con - tors and magnetics ensure stable must exceed the sum of the oper - application. during normal operation. Such au - tinuing throughout the lifetime of version and robust circuit protec - voltage levels. DC-DC converters ating temperature and peak surge tomotive approved varistors are No zapping the car, and must be considered. tion are two areas that help ensure convert from the nominal 14V of temperature of the application. qualified using tests 1-3b of ISO With protection in place, ESAs effective and reliable operation of the main 12V battery down to 3.3 Also on the datasheet, the time As the number of user interfaces 7637. can be connected to the system. automotive electronics. This arti - or 5V, or to up to 60V or hundreds versus energy curve indicates if increases, automotive electronics Working as a system Electromagnetic compatibility cle will describe the power sup - of volts, for example. A basic con - the component can handle the in - must be protected from the risk of (EMC) and common mode noise ply, transient, ESD, and interface verter circuit includes a mosfet stantaneous power expected by a ESD damage. An ESD event may Adequate protection as a stand - (CMN) considerations are re - challenges in the automotive envi - transistor, capacitor, resistor and surge. be temporary but its effects can go alone unit is the mere starting quired at each interface and at the ronment. It also will discuss com - inductor. When the mosfet is on, a undetected for some time. A well- point when introducing an ESA to Transients system reliability level. Finally, ponents with features that make sinusoidal voltage is induced known standard called the human the automotive system. Once con - Transient surges for automotive body model (HBM) characterises nected, an ESA can cause or be electronics are classified in ISO the current versus time curve and susceptible to interference and re - 7637 according to event type as electrostatic surge. ESAs must be liability issues with other ESAs. detailed in Table 1, where Ri indi - tested thoroughly to ensure com - For instance, to remain within the cates the internal resistance of the pliance. HBM tests simulate the stringent emissions guidelines voltage generator. Since transient energy transmitted by human con - specified by the vehicle manufac - surges can last up to several sec - tact handling on the assembly line turer, most ESAs connected to a onds and generate several hundred and in use to help designers quan - Can network contain a CMN in - amps, each ESA must be designed tify the voltage suppression re - ductor. This inductor limits un - to pass ISO 7637 test specifica - quired. wanted high-frequency noise on tions. Designers comply with the In addition to performing as the communications bus, im - requisite level of protection by clamping devices in other areas of proves the transceiver EMC im - adding components to limit the the automotive system, multilayer munity and reduces surge or clamp the voltage. varistors provide continual ESD Table 1: ISO 7637 test specifications electromagnetic interference Polymer positive temperature protection based on the ESA volt - (EMI). With all its benefits the

Page 30 , May 2014 Vehicle Electronics Vehicle Electronics May 2014, Page 31 CIRCUIT PROTECTION PRODUCTS Device extends IO for car navigation

Tokyo Electron Device grated into a single chip. has launched the Inre - This allows for a direct vium LSI TE7740RPF connection with a CPU with extended IO and an bus through the 8bit asyn - automotive AEC-Q100 chronous interface and compliant qualification helps resolve the IO func - for in-car ICs. tion insufficiency prob - The high functionality lem of car navigation of car navigation systems systems. in recent years, especially Required interface high-end models, means functions and universal the number of IO func - IO ports can be selected Fig. 2: Application of switching spark gap tions is increasingly in - using a register setting. sufficient when only the It is suitable for in-car CPU’s built-in IO func - infotainment devices common mode inductor can in - unwanted noise on the return controlled switching of capacitive tions are used. such as car navigation duce a high voltage across the lines. discharge circuits where high en - With this device, IO systems. Can transceiver, which must be Advancements in inductor tech - ergy, low loss and fast rate of functions such as SPI (up IOs include 36 GPIOs, clamped to protect ESAs from nology such as flat wire conduc - switching are required. to 6MHz CPI clock fre - five-channel uart (one 2 overvoltage damage. tors and powdered iron cores help quency) and uart (up to channel with flow capa - two-channel I C (master). +85˚C. The device comes Design success Shielded high current inductors achieve high efficiency in com - 3Mbit/s baud rate), which bility), four-channel SPI, External input clock is in an 81-pin PFBGA with at the power supply interface and pact packages. Flat wire raises the Designing a stable and reliable are required for car navi - two-channel PWM, two- up to 48MHz. Operating 0.8mm ball pitch and the Can transceiver help achieve use of surface area to increase system begins with understanding gation systems, are inte - channel pulse counter and temperature is -40 to measuring 8 by 8mm. the required low EMI levels. conductivity and handle high fre - the power supply, threats and in - Common mode inductors connect quency switching. The type of terfaces. Along with stable, robust each winding in series with an core, wire and construction of the power conversion design, circuit MLCCs withstand flex cracking input line and phasing is arranged chosen inductor as well as the cur - protection is necessary to ensure Soft-termination MLCCs by 0.5mm) to 3025 (7.5 CGA series is now avail - after the MLCCs are such that the flux created by each rent determines the ESA’s electro - the electronics are not affected by designed to withstand by 6.3mm) and with vari - able for general-purpose mounted on the board. winding appears to cancel the flux magnetic emissions. outside surges, human interaction flex cracking caused by ous capacitance values. applications as well. They These mechanical stres- of the other in the absence of or other electronics in the system. In action bending stresses to the The soft-termination are for use in electronic ses can cause flex crack - CMN. The opposing flux gener - Automotive electronics can be PCB are available from technology already circuits where the PCBs ing in the MLCCs. ated in the core ensures that virtu - In many cases, new technology is protected by PPTC devices for TDK. They come in case proven in automotive require handling after To absorb these board ally no voltage is induced in either necessary to meet demanding re - transients; multilayer varistors and sizes from EIA 0402 (1.0 grade components of the MLCCs have been sol - stresses, an elastic con - winding, so the current can pass quirements of applications such as clamp devices for ESD; and com - dered, such as smart - ductive resin electrode through the common mode induc - DC-DC conversion for high inten - mon mode chokes for EMI. Ad - phones, PCs, TVs, power material is used with ad - tor with almost no power loss. sity discharge (HID) lamps in ve - vancements in technology are supplies, game consoles, vanced electrode forming However, unwanted CMN can hicle lighting systems. HID lamps making it possible to meet in - car multimedia equip - technology. The result is appear in one or both input lines, require a very high ignition volt - creasingly complex requirements. ment and base stations. a soft termination that can as seen in Fig. 1. The CMN cur - age pulse of several thousand Taking advantage of efficient fea - PCBs are exposed to withstand a board deflec - rent returns to the noise source volts followed by a constant volt - tures and components for power mechanical bending tion of up to 5mm over a through the ground connection, age. To provide this high ignition supply, transient, ESD and inter - stress during a number of length of 90mm, making and this current sees the full im - voltage from the nominal car bat - faces, designers can focus on the handling processes such the joint 2.5 times pedance of one or both windings tery, a transformer coil and a design. as board splitting, inser - stronger than that of stan - of the common mode inductor. switching spark gap are used as il - Noel Giamello is marketing tion of sockets and leaded dard MLCCs, all but The CMN voltages must be atten - lustrated in Fig. 2. High voltage director for the consumer components, and screw- eliminating the risk of uated in the windings of the com - switching spark gap devices are segment at Bourns down, which take place flex cracking. mon mode inductor to reduce designed specifically for voltage Page 32 , May 2014 Vehicle Electronics Vehicle Electronics May 2014, Page 33 PRODUCTS PRODUCTS Binary IO on Compact PCI Telematics platforms for railway applications re-launched at CV Show The F403 3U Compact abling fast installation, PCI board with 16 bidi - while ensuring a secure Mix Telematics used the rectional digital IO chan - connection. Commercial Vehicle nels has been designed Operating temperature Show in Birmingham, for modern railway appli - is -40 to +85˚C for quali - UK, at the end of April to cations. Made by MEN fied components. The launch revamped ver - Mikro, the board is suit - board withstands a maxi - sions of its hardware and able for control functions mum of 95% relative hu - software telematics plat - such as door-locking con - midity during operation forms. The products have 2 trol and interior lighting. and shock up to 50m/s . been upgraded using the The 16 digital IO chan - Functional vibration is US$80m the company 2 nels are organised into 1m/s and lifetime vibra - raised following its listing 2 four optically isolated tion is 7.9m/s , both from on the New York Stock groups for reliable data interrupt. being able to handle digi - 5 to 150Hz. Exchange in August last transmission with four A voltage range of 14.4 tal IO signals with differ - The board is equipped year. channels in each group. to 154V DC with a cur - ent voltage levels and with all safety measures Two new hardware plat - In addition to accommo - rent output of 1A at 24V ground references. necessary for mobile en - forms will be on show – Datatrak is dating configuration as complies with EN 50155, The four front connec - vironments, including the Mix2000 track-and- viewable on smartphones either an input or output, making the board ready tors use spring cage ter - voltage and temperature trace product and the each channel has an for immediate use in train minal blocks facilitating supervision as well as FM35xx fleet manage - individual edge-triggered applications, as well as low wiring outlay and en - read-back of outputs. ment system. clear, intuitive and simple show a vehicle’s actual “This means we can be “They have been re-en - to use. All data are stored speed rather than just more flexible because gineered so they are com - on the company’s secure flagging an alert if a you can develop on the Six memories added to range pletely new products,” servers, with reports and speed limit is broken. The platform,” said Coffin. “It said Steve Coffin, mar - alerts being available to product is also viewable also has vehicle diagnos - Spansion has added six All six have achieved for automotive grade the most critical needs of keting director at Mix operators round the clock. on smartphones and tics, which it didn’t have automotive-grade devices AEC-Q100 qualification components as applica - automotive applications," Telematics. “They use the The company is also tablets as well as PCs. before.” to its flash memory port - and meet PPAP produc - tions such as advanced said Alan Niebel, CEO at latest chipsets and are known as a software-as-a- The company’s top of Fleet Manager can be folio – three serial NOR tion part approval process driver assistance systems, Webfeet Research. "Au - fully up to date technol - service (SaaS) provider the range software prod - used with onboard equip - and three NAND memory requirements. instrument clusters, info - tomotive-grade devices ogy wise.” and has rewritten its two uct is Mix Fleet Manager. ment such as accident densities qualified to "With our broad portfo - tainment and data logging with AEC-Q100 qualifi - The predecessor to the web-based software plat - “This is where we go recorders, safety cameras meet the extended ranges lio of automotive-grade systems become standard cation, which follow fleet management system forms. into driver behaviour and and sensors. It also works and stringent quality re - flash memories and offerings in a wider range PPAP, meet the most was five years old and “They now use HTML- so on,” said Coffin. “It is with the optional Ribas quirements of the auto - proven quality, technical of vehicles." stringent requirements Coffin said the technol - 5 so they have faster per - a far more comprehensive dashboard-mounted dis - motive industry. support and product NOR part numbers are defined by auto makers ogy in that had moved on formance and it lets you suite. The previous one play unit with coloured The three in the FL1-K longevity, Spansion has S25FL1-16K, -32K and worldwide. Spansion's both in performance and develop on the platforms was ten years old. We status lights that tell the NOR family are for use maintained its leadership -64K. N AND part numbers active role in the develop - reliability. more quickly,” said Cof - have done a complete driver when he or she is from -40 to +125˚C in 16, in automotive flash de - are S34ML0-1G1, -2G1 ment, test, delivery and Data captured by the fin. rewrite of the software to driving correctly, when a 32 and 64Mbit densities. vices for more than 20 and -4G1. support of high-perfor - computer are relayed to Mix Datatrak lets com - bring it up to date.” pre-programmed parame - The NAND memories are years," said Robin Jigour, "Extremely high relia - mance, high-quality em - Dynamix, an online soft - panies track and trace ve - It is now easier to cus - ter is in danger of being qualified for -40 to senior VP at Spansion. bility and the ability to bedded systems for ware and reporting suite hicles. tomise to the require - exceeded and when a pa - +105˚C, in 1, 2 and 4Gbit "Automotive OEMS are operate at wide tempera - automotive has led to which has been designed The main improvement ments of individual rameter has been ex - densities. increasing their demand ture variances are among their market leadership." from the ground up to be has been that it will now clients. ceeded.

Page 34 , May 2014 Vehicle Electronics Vehicle Electronics May 2014, Page 35 PRODUCTS PRODUCTS Current sensor needs Wireless microcontroller delivers automotive use cases no shunt resistor The Simplelink Bluetooth seat entertainment. low energy CC2541-Q1 The device includes the A reference design board over its entire operating is an integrated wireless company’s BLE-Stack that measures current to temperature range (-40 to microcontroller (MCU) software and sample ap - an accuracy of ±1% by +125˚C) without the nor - from Texas Instruments plications including over- monitoring the voltage mal requirement for a that delivers automotive the-air download support drop across a copper track precision shunt resistor connectivity to emerging for in-field updates. The on a PCB has been intro - with a low temperature smartphone-controlled controller, host and appli - duced by AMS. coefficient. and wire-replacement ap - cation with integrated The technique uses the “When paired with a plications. flash are on one 6 by firm’s AS8510 data-ac - precision 100µΩ resistor, The device leverages 6mm device. quisition front end, letting the AS8510 provides ex - the company’s automo - There is planned sup - designers of battery man - tremely high accuracy of tive connectivity offer - port for Bluetooth 4.1 as agement systems (BMSs) ±0.5% over a current ings for combo Wifi, well as proprietary modes reduce costs by eliminat - range from a few mA up Bluetooth and GNSS at 250kbit/s, 500kbit/s, ing the precision shunt re - to several kA,” said (Wilink 8Q) and dual- 1Mbit/s and 2Mbit/s. sistor normally used in Bernd Gessner, vice-pres - mode Bluetooth Features include less current-sensing applica - ident and general man - (BL6450Q). It is targeted smartphone control, fast discovery and easy than 1µA of sleep current tions. ager of AMS’ automotive at an emerging market of keyless entry using a pairing with in-car Blue - with RTC and ram reten - Accurate current meas - of up to 40A. One channel is used to business unit. “This new automotive features Bluetooth Smart Ready tooth Smart technology, tion, operation from a urement is an essential The same design can measure current by sens - reference design from aimed at using Bluetooth smartphone or Bluetooth wire replacement to re - coin cell battery, low av - function in a BMS, which also be adapted to meas - ing the voltage drop over AMS shows how the Smart technology to Smart key fob, lighting duce weight and cost, erage power to allow ap - provides functions in - ure currents of up to 100A a 10mm section of a PCB same device can be used make it easier for con - controls, diagnostic infor - wireless infotainment plication to remain on cluding monitoring of a using only the resistance track with a known resist - to capture measurements sumers to get information mation to help users controls in the steering while the automobile is battery’s state of charge of a PCB’s copper track. ance value and tempera - almost as accurately and control automotive understand engine warn - wheel, low data rate sys - off, 95dB link budget and and state of health. The The reference design ture coefficient. The while completely elimi - systems. ing lights, services with tems, and Bluetooth -40 to +105˚C tempera - reference design board takes advantage of the other, matched channel nating the resistor. Applications include IBeacon technology for Smart remotes for rear- ture rating. provides a blueprint for high sensitivity and preci - measures the temperature “For designers of BMS the current measurement sion of the AS8510, an in - of the copper track. This for use in pedelecs and function in a BMS, and tegrated data acquisition temperature measurement electric scooters, for in - Mosfets for light EV inverters can be applied in e-bikes, front end that provides can be performed either stance, which are subject pedelecs and other appli - two measurement chan - internally by the AS8510 to very wide swings in International Rectifier has The devices have an cations drawing current nels. or by an external temper - ambient temperature, the expanded its Strong IRFet Rds(on) on-state resist - ature sensor. technique for temperature mosfet portfolio to in - ance to suit low fre - Accurate current measurement By applying a compen - compensation imple - clude 60V devices for ap - quency applications. For sation algorithm, the de - mented in this design is a plications such as power a maximum Vgs of 10V, is essential in a BMS, which vice can eliminate the valuable breakthrough, tools, light electric vehi - Rds(on) ranges from 2.0 provides functions such as effect of the variation in enabling a worthwhile re - cle inverters, DC motor to 7.3m Ω for through- the resistance of the cop - duction in component drives, Li-ion battery hole versions and from monitoring a battery’s state of per track over tempera - cost while meeting many pack protection and 1.4 to 5.0m Ω for surface- ture. This means it can applications’ requirement switched mode power mount D2-pak devices. ical threshold voltage to avalanche tested at the in - charge and health produce current measure - for measurement accu - supply secondary-side They use a soft body improve noise immunity. dustry’s highest ava - ments accurate to ±1% racy.” synchronous rectification. diode and have a 3V typ - Each device is 100% lanche current levels.

Page 36 , May 2014 Vehicle Electronics Vehicle Electronics May 2014, Page 37 PRODUCTS Inductor provides continuous operation up to +180˚C

An automotive-grade IHLP low-profile, high- current inductor with a claimed industry-high continuous operating temperature range to +180˚C has been intro - duced by Vishay In - tertechnology. Offered in the 2525 case size with a profile of 3.0mm, the new Dale IHLP-2525CZ-8A pro - vides a range of induc - tance values from 0.47 to 22µH. With a frequency range units, diesel injection high transient current mechanical shock and vi - up to 1MHz, the AEC- drivers, entertainment spikes without hard satu - bration. The inductor is Q200-qualified device and navigation systems, ration. Packaged in a Pb- RoHS-compliant and can be used in voltage noise suppression for mo - free shielded, composite halogen-free. Typical regulator modules and tors, windshield wipers, construction that reduces DCR is 3.87 to 163.0mΩ DC-DC converters in HID and LED lighting, buzz noise, the device is and maximum DCR 4.14 high-temperature auto - heating and ventilation specified for an operating to 174.0mΩ. Heat rating motive applications. End blowers, and power seats range of -55 to +180˚C, current is 2.8 to 20.0A products include engine and mirrors. with high resistance to and saturation current 2.2 and transmission control The device handles thermal shock, moisture, to 14.0A.

Editor and Publisher: © 2014 Vehicle Electronics Steve Rogerson ISSN 2055-1177 [email protected] Vehicle Electronics is available to readers world - Advertising Manager: wide. It will be published approximately twelve Jayne Foster times a year in a digital-only format. All rights re - [email protected] served. No part of Vehicle Electronics may be re - Web Site Manager: porduced or transmitted in any form or by any Martin Wilson means, electronic or mechanical, including photo - [email protected] copying or recording on any information storage system, without the written consent of the pub - Published by: Vehicle Electronics Magazine, lisher. The publisher cannot be held responsible 72 Westwood Road, Nottingham NG2 4FS, UK for loss or damge to unsolicited press releases or photographs. Views of contributors and advertis - Web site: vehicle-electronics.biz ers do not necessarily refelect the policy of Twitter: @velectronicsmag Vehicle Electronics or those of the publisher.

Page 38 , May 2014 Vehicle Electronics