EPN Automotive Electronics Blog

Threewise triple MCU

In modern automotive systems, various bus systems, rigid safety demands and the need for high performance at low power have to be balanced. While there are many specialized automotive chips like microcontrollers and SoCs around, this  is an area where the general trend towards higher integration finally makes sense.

embedded world 2011: Infotainment-SoC

For me it is not terribly clear why one needs high-definition video in a car’s dashboard, since one is not supposed to watch the newest Coen brothers movie there and even a Sat Nav doesn’t need 1080p, much less the »virtual« tachometers. However, nowadays it’s even being installed in mid-range cars, so there seems to be some kind of demand. A good thing for semiconductor manufacturers.

Sensor manufacturer chairs DASH7 AWG

The newly formed automotive working group within the DASH7 Alliance is co-chaired by the Belgian semiconductor company Melexis. The company’s mission as co-chair will be to craft a multi-year roadmap for bringing DASH7 into a variety of automotive applications and markets.

“Energy-Efficient Driving 2014”

The complete supply chain around the automotive industry has joined the new research project called Energy-Efficient Driving 2014 (EFA 2014), bringing its expertise in direct co-operation. In fact, not many important brands are missing there: Audi, Audi Electronic Venture, BMW Group, Bosch, Continental Automotive, Elmos Semiconductor, Flextronics Automotive, FZI Forschungszentrum Informatik, Harman Automotive Division, Infineon Technologies and metaio . They are all focussing on the one and only target: cutting consumption by up to 10 % till 2014.

Car, house, grid

Japan sets the Trend: Instead of seeing the electrical vehicle individually as Europeans and Americans tend to do, Japanese cars and houses have more in common than a garage, at least when a German building company is part of the deal. In marketing terms this translates as “environmental friendly mobility meets ecological building”. This is also quite attractive for semiconductor manufacturers and as such a good reason for TI to join the HomeGrid Forum board of directors.

Decorated Power

Power loss actually happens in hardware, but software has a big impact on its magnitude. Optimizing software with respect to power consumption can make a huge difference in systemwide losses. A new tool from Hitex Development Tools takes care of that issue and made an impression on the award committee of embedded world 2010.

embedded world 2010: That’s how the future will look like

Despite the crisis, the the industry’s international get-together continues its growth: The trade show embedded world 2010 is setting trends and records. Especially within the automotive area there is a lot of movement going on: The amount of electronics, software and control devices installed in motor vehicles is growing dramatically, and the move towards electric cars will only strengthen this trend.