EPN Automotive Electronics Blog

Control over F1 cars

When there are 50 people working at high speed on a strange looking, logo-adorned vehicle and one guy sitting low and dry who doesn't do much more than tapping a pedal with his big toe, this guy is the public hero and the whole thing is called Formula 1 racing. These days, even the big toe tapping isn't much of a challenge anymore, since there are so many sensors and actors at work.

European Eco-SoC

In times of growing euro-scepticism the engineering community demonstrates the benefits of cooperation in the union. The recently completed EU FP7 project »ATHENIS« (Automotive Tested High Voltage Embedded Non Volatile Memory Integrated System On Chip) is a successful example of collaborative European Research contributing to the EU 2020 CO₂ reduction objectives with IC products manufactured in Europe.

Signal conditioning

Among the most used electronic components in modern cars are sensors. Since they are omnipresent, they came into focus for space saving. Most (analogue) sensing components can’t shrink much but the ‘back end’ like signal conditioning can.

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.

Hitch your car to a star

The Korean foundry Dongbu HiTek is reaching for the stars: Specialized on analog and mixed signal semiconductor technologies, it’s trying to expand its business into automotive ICs. Its process technologies have undergone high-quality automotive certifications and now they’re ready for more.