The monthly magazine for automotive electronics engineers

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IN THISISSUE

Page 4: Is thisthe end for handbrakes?

Page 6: VolvoXC90 easesparking problems

Page 7: Powerconversionconference

Page 13: Usesfor smallmicrocontrollers

Page 18: Progressin V2Xcommunications

Page 21: Grenoblesmart transportproject

Page 25: FPGAsfor adas

Page 29: Productnews

Page 34: Contactinformation

Issue 08August 2014Only 25% fear safety

in driverless cars

NEWS

Vehicle Electronics August 2014, Page 2

Stella, the world’s first solar-powered family car, enjoyed the brightsunshine of London’ Docklands at last month’s automotive roundtableorganised by NXP Semiconductors. But Juliette van der Lof from theEindhoven University of Technology (pictured with the car) said it ac-tually worked better when it was cloudy because the light spread moreevenly over the panels.

The car has a possible range of 430km and a top speed of 120km/hr.However, work still needs to be done on its efficiency. The goal withthis was to satisfy average mileage demands in the Netherlands, whichare just above 30km a day.

Even though this prototype car works and has been granted a roadlicence, there are no plans to take it into production.

“We built this first one to show that it is possible,” said van der Lof.“If you drive an average 70km a day, this car will produce more en-ergy than it uses.”

The next stage, she said, started in September when a new team atthe university would attempt to build a better version. But she reckonswe are good five to ten years away from a fully solar-powered produc-tion model being available.

Solar car shines in London

Guangdong SteelmateSecurity is to supply toVoxx Electronics on anexclusive basis its fullline of collision avoid-ance and advanced auto-motive accessories.This gives Voxx the op-

tion to distribute selectproducts under the Steel-mate brand.“As a leader in the 12V

aftermarket, Voxx is al-ways looking to expandproduct offerings to meetconsumer demand fornew technologies,” saidTomMalone, president ofVoxx Electronics. “Steel-mate is a respected sup-plier of advancedaccessory products withan emphasis on drivingsafety that is clearly aconsumer hot button.”The first products under

this agreement includethe DVR 700 in-vehicledashboard event videorecorder. If there is an ac-cident, sensors in thecamera automaticallylock the recorded sectionfrom 10s prior to 10s afterthe incident.“This agreement will let

us bring additional prod-ucts into our advanceddriver assistance line giv-ing our retail partnersprofit opportunities andsatisfying the consumer’sdesire for safety prod-ucts,“ said Malone.

Voxx landsSteelmaterights

Only one in four driversare worried about safetyin driverless cars, accord-ing to a survey byOpinium Research forcar insurance companyChurchill. But only 8%said they had no fear at allwhen it came to au-tonomous vehicles.The biggest worry

among the more than2000 UK drivers sur-veyed was that the carmay malfunction, listedas a problem by 60% ofrespondents, while justover half were worriedabout the lack of humancontrol.Cyber security, one of

the biggest headaches de-velopers say they are fac-ing, was a concern forless than a third of re-spondents.Of the 27% who said

they would be willing tobuy a driverless car, athird said it would be be-cause it would give themmore free time while trav-elling and 13% thought

they would be safer.Enjoyment or lack of it

was also a big factor with29% being worried that itwould take away the en-joyment of driving while13% saying it was be-cause they didn’t likedriving that they wouldconsider buying one.“Driverless cars have a

long way to go beforethey win people’s confi-dence,” said Steve Bar-rett, head of ChurchillCar Insurance. “Educa-tion on issues such as

safety standards, includ-ing computer ethics isneeded, as well as a re-think on existing roadrules and amendments toinsurance regulation. It isstill early days, however.”He said this meant that

a certain amount of scep-ticism around such a sig-nificant development wasto be expected.“It is also still too early

to be able to assess theimplications a fully dri-verless car will have oninsurance,” he said.

NEWS NEWS

Vehicle Electronics Vehicle ElectronicsPage 3, August 2014 August 2014, Page 4

Motoring TV personality Quentin Wilson is shown test driving thenew simulator at Tadea’s effective transport facility, near Sunderland,UK. The virtual reality driving training centre uses EAL’s Level OneAward in effective driving techniques and aims to help fleet motoringbecome safer, greener and more financially sustainable.

“I’m hugely impressed with Tadea’s driver education initiatives,” saidWilson. “This is the sort of programme that should be rolled outacross the UK, from schools to the workplace. The benefits to societyfrom safer driving and fuel efficiency add up to hundreds of millions.”

The base level simulators use three-screen technology and the latestsimulation software. There are also higher specification simulatorshoused in BMW Minis, with wrap-around projector screens providinga more immersive and even more authentic training experience. Bothtypes can switch between internal combustion engine and electric vehi-cle, increasing the training opportunities available.

Test drive for simulator

Continental has devel-oped a concept for anelectric parking brake(EPB) for drum brakes. Itis tailored to the lower-priced automotive seg-ment that, up until now,has had to make do withmechanical parkingbrakes built into the exist-ing drum brake on therear axle.“By combining drum

brakes and electric park-ing brakes, we can offereasy, push-button opera-tion on compact cars,”said Matthias Matic, ex-ecutive vice president ofContinental’s chassis andsafety division. “Thesecars can offer the sameconvenience and safetyfunctions found onhigher-priced models but

at a comparatively mod-est cost.”The electric parking

drum brake will go intoserial production by2017.The system consists of

two actuators integratedinto the drum-brake basepanel on the rear axle. Inaddition to the controlsoftware, the electronicsthat electrically activatethe actuators are inte-grated into the electronicstability control (ESC)system. A common con-struction for light com-pact cars, it has solidbracing for the two brakeshoes, a dual-acting hy-draulic cylinder for theservice brake, and me-chanical adjustment.“Low-priced drum

brakes, built-in control el-ements and activation viathe ESC represent ahappy mixture of lowweight, high efficiencyand low overall costs,making them ideal forlight, compact cars,” saidBernhard Schmittner,head of core developmentfoundation brakes forContinental.The functionality of the

electro-mechanical sys-tem can in future also beused for the application inthe duo-servo brakescommon on light trucksand SUVs.From a functional point

of view, electric parkingdrum brakes offer thesame benefits as EPB ver-sions for disc or duo-servo brakes: activation at

the touch of a button, plusvarious assistance func-tions such as startingwhen parked on a slope,serve to enhance conven-ience and safety for driv-ers. Car makers couldenjoy new-found designfreedom in car interiorsbecause there is no longerany parking-brake lever.“We expect the hand-

brake lever to graduallydisappear from more andmore cars of differentclasses over the next tenyears,” said Matic. “In-stead, the cars will beequipped with electricparking brakes. One carin four in Europe will fea-ture an electric parkingbrake by 2015. That’smore than five times asmany as in 2008.”

Development could see end tohand brakes in low-cost carsTier-one automotive sup-

plier KSR has acquiredElectronic Motion Sys-tems, an electronics sup-plier with manufacturingbased in Swansea, Wales,and a development centrein Halifax, Nova Scotia,Canada. Terms of the deal

between the privatelyheld companies were notreleased.The purchase of EMS

boosts KSR’s worldwideemployment base toslightly more than 1700associates. KSR, in busi-ness for nearly 75 years,

provides bumper-to-bumper electronic sen-sors, as well as pedalassemblies, to the globalautomotive industry.The purchase of EMS

brings to KSR specificexpertise in engineeringand manufacturing of

KSR acquires EMS control modules forEHPS and EPS systems,mosfet power modules,and modules used forcabin climate control sys-tems, engine cooling sys-tems and alternatorvoltage regulators.“In addition to new

products and customers,EMS adds to the KSRbench strength,” saidCraigArnold, KSR presi-dent and CEO. “The EMStechnical engineeringcentre in Halifax is worldclass with a team of elec-tronics engineers that setnew standards in controlmodules across a widerspectrum of uses, not justfor automobiles and lighttrucks, but also all-terrainvehicles and other spe-cialised markets.”Joining KSR from EMS

are Rolf Dahlmanns,managing director fromSwansea, and Jim Tomp-kins, director of engineer-ing in Halifax. Arnoldsaid at this point employ-ment levels would remainstable at KSR and EMS.“We want to grow our

engineering, sales andmanufacturing capabili-ties in electronics, andleverage our global foot-print,” Arnold said.“Bringing the EMS teamon board will help usachieve these goals muchmore rapidly.”Over time, EMS will be

integrated into KSR soexisting KSR customerscan use EMS engineeringexpertise.

The latest Smart Fortwoand Forfour will havecustomised JBL audiofrom Harman and a re-movable subwoofer to in-crease boot space whenneeded. This is the firsttime Harman has pro-vided in-vehicle audio forSmart, a Daimler brand.Designers and engi-

neers at JBL and Smartcollaborated closely tocreate a customised audiosystem that would ensureoptimal sound in the com-

pact interior of the Smartvehicle. For example, thesubwoofer is removableto extend the boot volumewhen drivers need to loadextra baggage.Speakers in both are

placed to ensure driversand passengers are sur-rounded with sound. TheFortwo has a six-channelDSP amplifier and eightspeakers, including theremovable subwoofer.The centre loudspeaker isin the middle of the dash-

board, and there are twotweeters to the left andright of the A pillar.The Forfour has an

eight-channel DSP ampli-fier, plus two pairs ofhigh-frequency and lowmid-range speakers, withthe surround speakers inthe C pillars.The latest Fortwo and

Forfour were unveiledlast month in Berlin. Thecars with the JBL audiosystem are due for gen-eral release in November.

Smart gets audio from Harman

Door speakersinstalled in Smart

NEWS

Page 5, August 2014 Vehicle Electronics Vehicle Electronics August 2014, Page 6

NEWS

A design studio, windtunnel and electronics in-tegration centre are thefirst sections to be offi-cially opened at Porsche’snew development centrein Weissach, Germany. Alarge multi-storey carpark will be finished byOctober. A further projectis the building for drivesystem testing, which isbeing built on the site ofthe Porsche think tank,with completion due in2016.The 18 test benches will

aid the development ofhybrid drive systems, in-ternal combustion en-gines and electric motors.In around two years, 600people will relocate to thecomplex.Test benches, work-

shops and office desks areall housed under one roof.In the future, the powerunits and gearboxes will

Volvo XC90 eases parking headaches

Designed around moderncar buyers’ expectationsof smart functionality, theVolvo XC90 due to be re-leased this month in-cludes a set of features tomake tricky parking situ-ations and manoeuvringin tight spaces easy.The Intellisafe support

technologies include anextended park assist pilot,which also provides auto-matic reversing into aparking bay as well as en-tering and exiting a paral-lel parking spot. TheXC90 can also display adigitally created bird’s-eye view of the 360˚ areaaround the car on thelarge centre screen.“Several studies by re-

search institutes revealthat up to two-thirds ofinterviewed motorists feeluncomfortable in tightparking situations,” said

Peter Mertens, senior vicepresident for research anddevelopment at Volvo CarGroup. “Options such asthe extended park assistpilot and bird’s-eye viewfunction turn these poten-tially stressful situationsinto comfortable, preciseand safe manoeuvring.”The pilot facilitates par-

allel and bay parking bytaking over and operatingthe steering wheel whilethe driver handles thegearbox and controls thecar’s speed.The parking manoeuvre

is based on informationfrom 12 ultrasonic sen-sors around the car. Whenthe driver activates thepilot in a parallel parkingsituation, the sensors startto scan the side of the carfor empty parking slots.When a parking slotmeasuring a minimum of

1.2 times the car’s lengthis detected, the driver isnotified by an audible sig-nal and a message in theinstrument cluster. In abay parking situation, theslot needs to be the widthof the car plus one metre.The display then guides

the driver step by step viatexts and animations inthe instrument clusteruntil the car is parked.The surround view

gives the driver a bird’s-eye view, an overview ofthe surrounding area,seen from a point abovethe car. This is enabled byfour fish-eye cameras –one integrated into thefront, one integrated ineach of the door mirrorsand one fitted above therear number plate.It also gives access to

other views of the sur-rounding area such as

front, rear and side views.“The 360˚ surround

view is exceptionally use-ful in situations where thedriver’s direct view is ob-structed, such as leaving atight driveway with ob-stacles on the sides orwhen reversing towards atrailer or caravan,” saidMertens. “It also providesgreat support during park-ing, for instance whenyou want to make surethat all parts of the car arewithin the lines of a park-ing spot.”Also included is cross

traffic alert, which coversthe driver’s back when re-versing out of a parkingspace. It warns of ap-proaching traffic up to30m on each side, alert-ing the driver with an au-dible signal and awarning on the centrescreen.

Porsche opens firstsections of new centre

also make their way ontothe test benches via theshortest of possible routesfrom the adjacent assem-bly building – all on onelevel and with no delays.Trips to externally leasedtesting facilities will thenbe a thing of the past.Until the facility is

opened, there is still a lotto be done. Heavy ma-chinery is in use. Over thecoming weeks, seven dig-gers will continue digging

out 250,000 cubic metresof rubble to create thefoundations. However, athird of the rock will bebroken up with stonecrushers actually on site,temporarily stored and ata later stage of the con-struction re-used as back-fill. To have the leastpossible impact on the en-vironment, the remainingstone will predominantlybe taken to nearby quar-ries.

Work is continuing at Porsche’s developmentcentre in Weissach, Germany

Via Technologies is col-laborating with IK4-IKer-lan, a provider of R&Dservices for prototypingand project feasibilitystudies, on the develop-ment of M2M applica-tions for the Europeantransportation and e-health markets.“We are excited to have

IK4-IKerlan as a develop-ment partner for the Euro-pean market,” saidTizianoAlbani, Europeanbusiness developmentdirector at Via Technolo-gies. “The demand forM2M devices to powerthe IoT is increasing atlightning speed, and thiscollaboration will enableus to address growingcustomer needs in thetransportation and e-health segments.”The two companies are

leveraging the featuresand functionality of Via’sVAB-820 Pico-ITX boardto offer a growing arrayof services aimed at en-abling the rapid prolifera-tion of M2M applicationsfor the internet of things(IoT), including: develop-ment of rich interactiveuser interfaces; drivercustomisation for verticaltouch screens; robust Canbus support; test suite forfield validation of severalhardware supported func-tions; and Linux imagecustomisation for wire-less 3G and wireless con-nectivity.

Via in M2Mcollaboration

More than 250 studentsare receiving backingfrom Bosch as they pre-pare race cars built totheir own designs to takepart in Formula StudentGermany (FSG).Bosch welcomed 25

teams to its provingground in Boxberg for thestudents to prepare theircars to race in the interna-tional design competition

at the Hockenheimring.Over two days, the stu-dents tested and opti-mised their vehiclesunder race conditions ontest circuits, with expertson hand to contributetheir know-how in sup-port of the engineers.Bosch is supporting

more than 35 race teamsworldwide from Ger-many, Austria, UK,

France, Spain, Poland,USA, India, China, Aus-tralia and Brazil.“Across the world, the

formula student competi-tions have proven to be asuccessful way of com-bining lecture theory withthe practical challengesengineers face in theirdaily work,” said Bern-hard Bihr, president ofBosch Engineering.

Bosch helps students prepare for racing challenge

Vehicle Electronics Vehicle ElectronicsPage 7, August 2014 August 2014, Page 8

Steve Rogerson reports from last month’s NMI PowerConversion for More Electric Transport conference atthe University of Nottingham

POWER PEOPLE

Vehicle ElectronicsPage 9, August 2014 Vehicle Electronics August 2014, Page 10

Reducing the cost of thepower module withinpower electronics sys-tems is crucial if the over-all cost of electricvehicles is going to belowered, according toYangang Wang, principalengineer at Dynex Semi-conductor.Power electronics, hesaid, accounted for abouta fifth of the materialcosts in a hybrid electricvehicle, about the same asthe battery. And thepower module accountsfor about 40% of thepower electronics.“So to reduce the costof the power electronics,you need to address thepower module,” he said.Will Drury, electricdrives team leader at Ri-cardo, said the cost ofpower electronics wasgrowing rapidly. For ex-ample, the inverters inHEVs and EVs accountedfor a total of US$2.8bn in2013 and this was ex-pected to grow to $4.2bnby 2023.Power modules have tosurvive a harsh workingenvironment with tem-peratures up to +150˚Cand high humidity, vibra-tion and shock with fre-quent power cycling.“It is harsher than mostindustrial environments,”said Wang.The challenge, he said,

Power module costs need to come down

was to increase the powerdensity and performanceas well as reducing thesize and weight.“Cost has to comedown and efficiency goup,” he said. “And the re-liability and lifetime haveto improve.”One of the most com-mon sources of failure, hesaid, were the intercon-nections. The die attachwas also at risk becauseof the high temperatureswings.One answer was to usepure inter-metallic joints.Silver sintering can alsohelp. And he said copperwire bonding was thenext standard.“The equipment isready, it is not expensiveand it is easy to produce,”he said.

Other alternatives hesaid included aluminiumribbon and aluminium-clad copper wires. Directlead bonding could beused for direct intercon-nection and flexible PCBscould replace wires.“New structures forpower modules includewith integral liquid cool-ing,” he said. “But weneed more new structuresand analysis.”Drury asked whethermosfet technology, cur-rently dominant in 12Vvehicles, would still bethe right technology withthe move to higher volt-ages. He said super-junc-tion mosfets and IGBTswere possibilities as waslooking at wide-bandgapmaterials such as SiC andGaN.

“There is a lot of workon 48V batteries,” hesaid, “but all the tradi-tional 12V systems willstay on the 12V bus, soyou will need the DC-DCconverters. Selection ofthe right components isessential. High switchingfrequency gives greatbenefits and improvesswitching losses.”He said every decisionyou made had to beviewed in terms of reduc-ing CO2 because that wasthe driving force.However, he said he didnot think power mosfetsand IGBTs were a thingof the past.“DC-DC converters arewell suited to mosfets for48V vehicles,” he said.“And there is no sign ofautomotive manufactur-ers moving away fromsilicon though there is re-search and developmentin SiC at Toyota andDenso. Yet there seems tobe more emphasis on SiCand GaN.”Silicon super-junctiondevices, he said, wereshowing 99% efficienciesin DC-DC converters.“If people can do this insilicon, why move tomore expensive technol-ogy?” he asked. “The costof SiC will come down,but it is being hinderednow by cost. GaN hasbeen making a slow and

quiet approach andmaybe we should belooking at this more.”However, he said theSiC market would beworth about $200m in2014 and could break the$1bn barrier by 2019. TheGaN market was $50m in2014 but that was notlikely to reach £1bn until2022.For the future, he saidthere would be more inte-gration such as sharedcooling systems and com-ponents such as capaci-

tors being used by morethan one system. But hesaid cost was still a blockto the mass use of wide-bandgap devices in auto-motive.“Silicon will alwayshave a place and shouldbe equally consideredwith new and novel de-vices,” he said. “But if wecan get cheaper wide-bandgap devices, we canthen start to reduce thepackaging. We can runthem hotter and there arebenefits in other areas.”Yangang Wang: “We need more new structures

and analysis.”

Will Drury: “Every decision you make comes back to savingCO2 because that is the driving force.”

Technology that cancovert the electrical en-ergy produced by regen-erative braking into heatthat can be dissipated isbeing used by BMW in aprototype and is sched-uled for road vehicles.The technique has beendeveloped by Reo to ad-dress the problem that thekinetic energy that is con-verted to electrical energycan cause the voltage onthe DC bus to rise by anunacceptable amount.“We have a braking cir-cuit that converts thatelectrical energy into heatenergy that can be dissi-pated,” said Tim Cooke,business developmentmanager at Reo. “Thebraking circuit comprisesa chopper and a resistorusing liquid cooling fordissipating the heat.”Liquid cooling meant

the resistor could be up to16 times smaller than itwould be if air coolingwas used.“As power increases forair-cooled modules, thetemperature increasesrapidly but with liquidcooling it remain rela-tively stable,” saidCooke.The dissipated heat canbe used to control the bat-tery temperature and pro-vide heating in the cabinduring winter. It can alsobe used for rapid de-icing.The technology also al-lows the use of thinnerbrake discs and producesless brake dust.“We are starting to usepolymer ceramics, whichcombine excellent heattransfer properties andelectrical insulation prop-erties,” said Cooke.

BMW takes to Reo’s heatfrom braking project

Tim Cooke: “This will be in a road vehicle.”

Vehicle ElectronicsPage 11, August 2014 Vehicle Electronics August 2014, Page 12

More integration isneeded in drivetrains iftargets for weight andcost are to be achieved.This was the messagefrom Chris Gerada, a pro-fessor at the University ofNottingham.“We shouldn’t just lookat power electronics orthe motor, but everythingtogether,” he said. “Thiscan help us reduce costand size.”He said the overall goalwas to have a more elec-trical transport systemthat would produce bene-fits including reducingfuel consumption. Andthere were external pres-sures to do this, such asthe US Department ofEnergy calling for vehicleweight to be reduced bynearly 30% and the cost

of an electrical drive sys-tem to come down from$30 to $8 per kilogram.“The key targets forwhere we want to go withelectrical drives,” he said,“include power density,reliability, cost and effi-ciency. And we want toreduce CO2 emissions.”But he said there were“significant gaps” to whatwas needed to make thesehappen. For example, hesaid if the switchingspeed of power electron-ics could be increasedthen that would allowmore integration.“And there are develop-ments in magnetic mate-rials that can producelower losses,” he said.“We need new converterand motor technologies totake better advantage of

Though shipping was thegreenest form of trans-portation, there was stillpressure to move to elec-tric drives, said DavidHinchley from GE PowerConversion.He said that 95% of theworld’s goods weremoved by sea yet ship-ping accounted for only3% of global emissions ofCO2.But he said that currentfuels produced sulphuroxide and nitrogen oxide,which created smog andrespiratory problems andthe latter also contributedto ozone layer damage.But the big driver, hesaid, for the move to elec-tric drives was cost.“Up to 50% of the oper-ating costs of a vessel isfuel,” he said. “And fuelprices are increasing rap-idly. This is driving a shiftto more electric drives.Power electronics will be-come a key technology atsea.”

Traditional methods fortesting IGBTs are timeconsuming and do notproduce meaningful re-sults, said John Parry,

Phil Mawby, a professorat the University of War-wick, updated delegateson the progress of theVesi (vehicle electricalsystem integration) proj-ect to reduce size and costwhile improving the relia-bility of electrical powersystems.Ten universities areworking together on theproject with 23 industrialpartners who are formingan advisory panel.But Mawby was quickto stress: “This is notabout developing a com-plete solution and goingto market. The focus is onunderpinning technol-ogy.”The teams are workingon six themes that couldlead to improvements.These are semiconduc-tors, design tools, packag-ing, materials, convertersand passives.

Integration needed tohit electrification targets

the new materials.”However, he said a bal-ance was needed betweenintegration and a modularapproach to achieve bet-ter economies of scale.This was important forlower volume transporta-tion applications such asrail and aircraft.This was picked up byDeclan Hayes-McCoyfrom UTC Aerospacewho said there was adrive for more electricalaircraft as part of the goalof making planes smaller,lighter and cheaper.However, he said therecould be conflictingneeds in the desire forless environmental im-pact from aircraft.“They also need to bemore reliable,” he said.“We don’t want to take astep backwards but for-wards. We need to reducemaintenance. The goal is10,000 flying hours be-tween maintenance ratherthan the normal 5000hours. They also need alonger lifespan.”Part of this he said wasto increase the intelli-gence in the systems. Forexample, if it could detectcertain vibration frequen-cies and so on, it couldwork out when a part maybe due to fail and replace

it before it does.But he said the way for-ward was to reduce theamount of mechanical,hydraulic and pneumaticsystems and replace themwith electrical systems.“At the moment, wetake the power and con-vert it to four or more sys-tems,” he said. “This iscostly and weighty anddifficult to manage as anintegrated system. Thegoal is a cheaper and sim-pler system.”Removing the hy-draulics and replacingthem with electrical sys-tems, he said, would save2% in fuel consumptionand remove noxious flu-ids. Switching from pneu-matic to electrical wouldreduce energy consump-tion by about 35% and re-quire less maintenance.

Chris Gerada: “We should look at everythingtogether.”

Declan Hayes-McCoy:“The goal is a cheaperand simpler system.”

Cost drivesmarinemove toelectric

David Hinchley

Universities combine resourcesThe four-year projectstarted in October 2011and has a budget of£3.8m spread over the tenuniversities.On semiconductors,they are looking at SiCbut grown on a siliconsubstrate, which wouldmake it a lot cheaper.They have also sur-veyed the design toolsthat are available.“They are not very welllinked together,” saidMawby. “This is a verymulti-discipline area, so

we are trying to linkthings together.”He said a lot of thiswork concentrated on ap-plying existing thermalmodelling techniques andhe said they have comeup with “some interestingthermal designs”.The packaging work isconcentrating on cellularstructures that could berepeated to allow differ-ent sizes by combiningcells together.Using different materi-als such as ferrite in mo-tors has led the teams toproduce a promising de-sign for automotive appli-cations, he said.On converters, they arestudying multi-functiontopologies such asreusing converters in thecharging system. And thework on passives ismainly looking at mag-netic devices.Phil Mawby

John Parry

Getting more from IGBT testingelectronics industry man-ager at Mentor Graphics.He said there were anumber of different waysthat failure could occurand the goal was to get asmuch information fromeach test as possible.The traditional ap-proach for power cyclingis to run it for a number ofcycles and take it to thelaboratory to see whatdamage has been done.You then run it for more

cycles until it eventuallyfails and then take it tothe laboratory to see whyit failed.“It is very repetitive anderrors can arise throughtaking it out and putting itback,” he said. “It is alsodifficult to get the correctinformation on why thepart failed.”He said using MentorGraphics’ T3Ster couldreduce the testing time bya factor of ten.

MICROCONTROLLERS MICROCONTROLLERS

Vehicle ElectronicsPage 13, August 2014 Vehicle Electronics August 2014, Page 14

Throughout a modern vehi-cle there is a requirementfor using small 8 or 16bit

microcontrollers in many applica-tions, from position sensors tocontrolling the windscreen wipers.For example, the need for angularposition sensing becomes increas-ingly important as this capabilityis needed for applications such asbrushless DC motor control, pedal

Controlling influencesA look at how 8 and 16bit controllers are findinga wide range of applications in all areas ofmodern vehicles

positioning control, steering anglesensing control and rotaryswitches in the human-machineinterfaces.The angular position sensor con-

trol system analyses the data re-ceived from sensors and

Whatever the vehicle, the use ofmicrocontrollers is increasing

MICROCONTROLLERS MICROCONTROLLERS

Vehicle ElectronicsPage 15, August 2014 Vehicle Electronics August 2014, Page 16

determines the appropriate angu-lar rotation. Four primary sensingtechnologies used to measure theangular position in automotive ap-plications are optical sensors, po-tentiometers, magneto-resistivesensors and Hall-effect sensors.Vision systems too are expand-

ing in the vehicle to provide asafer driving experience. Whetherit’s rear camera visions, parkingassistance, side object detection orlane departure warning, the infor-mation from the vision sources isprocessed and presented to thedriver on displays, via audibletones or a combination of both. Ina rear camera vision system, thecameras serve as sensors monitor-ing the driving conditions and theinputs are processed and providedto the driver for viewing.The Can and Lin buses are also

an area where microcontrollerscan help. The Can bus can bemade deterministic and fault-tol-erant, and transfers data at speedsup to 1Mbit/s. For example,Microchip has a line of products

for embedded Can applications,including standalone controllers,transceivers, and 8 and 16bitmicrocontrollers and digital signalcontrollers with integrated Cancontrollers. Lin can be imple-mented on any Pic microcon-troller with a usart interface. Thefirm also has a robust physicallayer interface, data link layer im-plementation, Lin compliant driv-ers and various development aidsincluding a Lin reference design.Such microcontrollers can also

be used for providing an elec-

tronic compass that can be com-bined with the auto dimming ofthe rear view mirrors to increasedriving safety. The compass sys-tem determines the direction inwhich the car is heading as itsenses the absolute position andthe change in direction of the carusing the earth’s magnetic field asa reference. The direction can bedisplayed using a low end seg-mented LCD integrated with theauto dimming rear view mirror orwith the vehicle’s on board navi-gation display. The sensor tech-

nology used is commonly eithermagneto-resistive or inductivesensors.However, the instrument cluster

is becoming the focal point fordisplaying critical informationalong with the status of varioussystems within the car. In low-endcluster designs for emerging mar-kets, a combination of gauges andsegmented LCDs is used to com-municate speed, tachometer, fuellevel, oil pressure, battery voltageand engine temperature to thedriver. Here again, microcon-trollers such as the Pic range canhelp. The designer can choose amicrocontroller with sufficientperformance to support zero posi-tion detect for stepper motorcontrolled gauges without com-promising the need for high per-formance, real-time control andlow power consumption.Zero position detect is used to

determine the default start-up po-sition and to calibrate the steppermotors. On-chip PWMs can beused for microstepping the steppermotors.The integrated PWM modules

allow for easy implementation ofthe microstepping algorithm tosimplify the design.

A microcontroller can also beused as part of an LED ambientmodule to control an integratedRGB LED, enabling colour andbrightness control. With this de-sign, interior ambient lighting isno longer monotonic. Adjustablemulticolour LEDs can providepassengers with a more person-alised ambient lighting experi-ence. The small size of LEDs alsomakes implementing lighting insmall spaces easier.Smart actuators are actuators

that use microcontrollers to per-form intelligent tasks. They arebeing used more and more in theautomotive engine environment toenhance fuel efficiency improvereliability and reduce cost. They

can be found in applications suchas turbocharger waste gates andEGR valves.

Keyless entryThere are two types of keylessentry systems – passive and re-mote. Remote keyless entry en-ables the locking and unlocking ofthe car doors without having to in-sert a key into the door lock of thecar. By depressing the button onthe key fob, an encoded ultra highfrequency (UHF) signal is trans-mitted to the receiver module inthe car. The receiver module au-thenticates the signal. Upon posi-tive recognition, it instructs theECU to toggle the lock.Passive keyless entry lets the

user unlock a car door withoutpressing any buttons. The moduleinside the door initiates communi-cations by sending out a signal be-tween fixed time intervals tosearch for the paired key fob.When close, the key fob sendsback an acknowledgment signal.Upon positive authentication bythe receiver block, it signals thecar door to be unlocked.A low frequency transmission

signal needs to be generated bythe module in the car door. This

How microcontrollerscan be used toimplement the Linbus

Angular position sensor control system

Camera vision system

Passive keyless entry set up

MICROCONTROLLERS V2X COMMUNICATIONS

Vehicle ElectronicsPage 17, August 2014 Vehicle Electronics August 2014, Page 18

can be achieved using the internalPWM module available on severalsmall microcontrollers such asMicrochip’s Pic 12, 16 and 18. Toperform the filtering and decryp-tion on the receiver end, stand-alone and integrated analoguefront end devices are available insmall eight or 16-pin packages toconserve space on the key fob.For UHF communications be-

tween the fob and the receivermodule in the door, transmitterscan allow the user to perform fre-quency or amplitude shift keyingmodulation to generate the trans-missions. Corresponding receiversare available to perform the filter-ing and decryption of the wirelessdata.

Two wheelsAnd it is not just in cars thatmicrocontrollers can find applica-tions. Scooters, motorcycles andmopeds commonly use an engineignition system based on the ca-pacitive discharge method. Thisuses the energy transferred frommagneto to a storage capacitor.When released, a high-voltagepulse goes via a step-up trans-former to a spark plug that ignitesthe fuel mixture inside the cylin-der. The user can monitor the

speed of the engine to calculatethe accurate timing for the spark,which increases engine efficiency,saves energy and reduces emis-sions.Microcontrollers enable a broad

array of on-chip peripherals thatprovide the system designer withflexible options for addressing therequirements of such a system.For example, the speed of the en-gine can be monitored electroni-cally with a microcontroller thatalso provides accurate timing forthe spark. The ignition spark canbe made to occur anytime for aparticular engine speed allowingignition angle customisation fordifferent engine designs that sup-port the requirements of improvedfuel efficiency and reduced emis-sions.

Windscreen wipersWiper controller systems providea good example of how microcon-trollers can be used.The system controls the wind-

shield wiper motor and the washerfluid pump, and can deliver fur-ther intelligence using Lin to in-teract with the rain sensor andstalk switch. The bidirectionalcommunications via a Lin gate-way enable better system control

and diagnostics capability.The Pic 16 and 18 microcon-

trollers have on-chip peripheralsfor providing more intelligence inthe wiper systems. As the wipersystems move beyond dumb mo-tors moving the wiper blades, therequirements for increased intelli-gence and connectivity must beaddressed by the system designer.Because of the small footprint,

the microcontroller can be inte-grated directly into the motorhousing without compromisingfunctionality while also support-ing a path to allow system weightreduction. With on-chip peripher-als to support Lin protocols, thedesigner can choose the appropri-ate microcontroller and Lin trans-ceiver that matches the overallsystem requirements.

ConclusionAs can be seen, the spread of ap-plications is both wide and in-creasing in today’s vehicles. Ascar manufacturers move to addmore intelligence and connectivityinto their products, this use willcontinue to grow. The flexibilityof the 8 and 16bit microcon-trollers shown here allow them tobe adapted for many present andfuture automotive features.

Wiper control system

There has been a lot of talkin recent months and yearsabout the next explosion in

vehicle technology, one led by aconsumer boom in communica-tions with smartphones andtablets. This type of technology isbeginning to find its way into thelatest vehicles, but not just as a

Keeping in touchSteve Rogerson talks to Tugrul Günerfrom Kapsch Trafficcom about theprogress in V2X communications

V2X COMMUNICATIONS

Vehicle ElectronicsPage 19, August 2014 Vehicle Electronics August 2014, Page 20

way to aid human-to-human orhuman-to-vehicle communica-tions but as the start of a newwave of vehicle-to-vehicle andvehicle-to-infrastructure commu-nications.The potential benefits are enor-

mous. With thousands of vehiclesrelaying information back to theinfrastructure about the state ofthe road, traffic conditions andeven the weather, these data couldbe combined and analysed in realtime given each of those vehiclesvaluable knowledge that can befed into the journey planning sys-tems or prepare the driver andvehicle for what is ahead.Add to that direct vehicle-to-ve-

hicle communications, then im-mediate information about what ishappening in the vicinity could beavailable as well as warningsabout the speeds of vehicles ap-proaching junctions, for example.One company that is hoping to

play a major part in this revolu-tion is Kapsch Trafficcom, whichhas been active in this field since2007, involved with the develop-ment of 5.9GHz roadside and in-vehicle products as well asparticipating in European researchprojects.Tugrul Güner, the company’s

programme manager, believes thenext few years will be crucial forthe success of V2X communica-tions.“It is in preparation,” he said.

“Tier ones and OEMs are prepar-ing to put the technology into se-lective models. They have put outtenders to the suppliers.”In Europe, he sees the first seri-

ous deployment starting in 2016or 2017 with North Americashortly afterwards.“It will be limited to new mod-

els,” he said. “The distributionwill not be very high. So they willonly benefit on vehicle-to-vehiclewhen they meet each other, andthat will be seldom.”

EuropeAs to vehicle-to-infrastructure,that will be limited to where theinfrastructure is in place, and thatwill be slow to roll out. There are

corridor projects in parts of Eu-rope, notably the Netherlands,Germany and Austria, and possi-bly France.“There will be some roads that

will benefit from this,” he said.“In Austria, for example, it willbe deployed on the highwayfrom Germany to Vienna andin some cities such as Graz.”In these areas, the infra-

struc-ture will beable to measure theflow of traffic and provideinformation on roadworks andspeed limitations, or even if thereis a slippery road surface.“All this will be dynamic,” said

Güner. “Some of this informationis available now through overheadsigns, but it is not everywhere.”And everywhere is something

that will not be seen soon. Thereis a certain caution to those rollingout the system, both from a tech-nology and cost point of view, andGüner expects it to be another fiveto ten years before there is seriousdeployment. This though will beboosted by the interest comingfrom the aftermarket.“When these start to get rolled

out and there is deployment onmany roads, there will then be re-quests in the aftermarket to popu-late the technology into existingvehicles using on-board devicesand smartphones,” he said.

Far EastIn the Far East, Japan is well

ahead of the rest of theworld in that it has been using theDSRC (dedicated short-rangecommunications) system for anumber of years, starting withtolling systems and moving it ontointelligent transportation.This is purely for vehicle-to-

infrastructure rather than vehicle-to-vehicle and the range is muchlarger than being envisaged inEurope. It is also a more expen-sive system.“Europe will be a cheaper sys-

tem,” said Güner. “Japan uses anactive system that is always beingpowered by the car and transmit-ting large data rates over long dis-tances. This costs more.”There is also a lot of interest in

this technology from Singaporewhere they want to deploy a sys-tem to improve traffic flow andincrease safety.“They also want a tolling system

using this technology,” saidGüner. “We expect there will be a

tender within the month and I ex-pect the deployment will be intwo to three years.

ConclusionKapsch’s role in this is supplyingthe road-side transceivers as wellas units to be mounted in the vehi-cles.“If we can do it for the infra-

structure, we can do it for the ve-hicle,” said Güner. “The softwareis the same and the radio is thesame. We are making it for tierones and OEMs as an in-vehicleunit and in a few years we will belooking at the aftermarket.”He is dismissive that smart-

phones could take over as the in-vehicle unit saying they wouldneed an external antenna to getthe transmission power to make iteffective, but he does see themplaying a part as the interface be-tween the driver and the vehicle.He also believes they could be im-portant for tracking pedestrianmovements in areas.Tugrul Güner: “Europe will be a cheaper system.”

Evaluation kit fordeveloping V2Xcommunications

V2X COMMUNICATIONS

V2X COMMUNICATIONS V2X COMMUNICATIONS

Vehicle ElectronicsPage 21, August 2014 Vehicle Electronics August 2014, Page 22

You hear a lot about futuremobility, smart cities andother innovations

designed to make cities and urbantransport more pleasant andmanageable in years to come.Concrete examples, however, arestill few and far between. Whenthe back-to-school season beginsafter this summer, this dream willbecome a reality in Grenoble andthe outlying area, making theFrench Alps city a pioneer in fu-ture mobility.In October this year, 70 Toyota

I-Road and Coms compact elec-tric vehicles, and around 30 charg-ing stations developed andmanaged by EDF’s subsidiarySodetrel, will be open for servicefor three years thanks to a partner-ship between the city and the met-ropolitan area of Grenoble, Frenchenergy company EDF, Japanesecar maker Toyota and Citélib, alocal car-sharing operator.Connected to the public trans-

port system’s IT infrastructure,this car-sharing scheme will com-plement Citélib, the current car-sharing service of Grenoble, byallowing users to pick up one ofthe small EVs at one location anddrop it off at another. The projectalso aims to promote interconnec-tivity of public transport methods(trams, buses and trains) and anew type of personal mobilityusing small vehicles that don’ttake up as much space as a normalcar. The main idea is to allowcommuters to drive the first or lastkilometres of their journey for in-creased flexibility and time sav-ing, thus contributing to reducingtraffic congestion and improvingair quality in city centres.Recent social trends and con-

BON VOYAGEA three-year project to increase urbanmobility is due to start later this yearin Grenoble

V2X COMMUNICATIONS V2X COMMUNICATIONS

Vehicle ElectronicsPage 23, August 2014 Vehicle Electronics August 2014, Page 24

that morning? No problem. Thereare around 30 stations in Greno-ble, a network tight enough to getyou as close as possible to yourdestination.

PartnershipBy bringing together their respec-tive competencies, the projectpartners are offering Grenoble aninnovative service thorough theevaluation of the potential of thisnew form of mobility.“The Grenoble-Alpes Métropole

community has always been opento innovation,” said ChristopheFerrari, president of the Grenoble-Alpes Métropole. “In terms ofscale, it’s perfectly suited to thiskind of test, and in Grenoble wehave a tradition of daring to dothings. The partnership itself, be-tween us, Toyota, EDF andCitélib, a local car-sharing opera-tor, is in and of itself also an inno-vation in France.“It’s a great opportunity for our

community to test, for three yearsand exclusively in Europe, a newmode of mobility that’s not onlyinnovative but also economic andecological. It’s an experimentationthat is bound to be followed byothers for the benefit of our citi-zens.”The scale of this integrated and

complex project means it’s impos-sible to realise alone: partnershipsand collaboration are key to itssuccess – between the projectpartners of course, but also withthe local communities.EDF is bringing around 30

charging stations to the project,but also more than a half centuryof experience in developing elec-tric mobility, both through batterytechnology and managing charg-ing infrastructures. EDF aims to

accompany its public, corporateand private customers in transi-tioning towards modes of trans-port that are more sustainable, lessnoisy and CO2-emission free.“To become the city of tomor-

row, Grenoble must be both at-tractive economically, and a niceplace to live,” said ChristianMissirian, director of EDF Com-merce Rhone-Alpes Auvergne.“Electric mobility offers a goodmeasure of both, by allowing dif-ferent types of transport to com-plement one another. It bringstogether traditional types of trans-port with innovative ones such asthis type of last-mile mobilitybrought about with this project.”Sodetrel, a fully-owned sub-

sidiary of EDF, brings its expert-ise to the project: this includesmanagement of charging infra-structure for EVs and PHEVs,commercial management ofcharging services, and car-sharingservice management for the publicand private sectors.Toyota is providing the 70 elec-

tric vehicles: the Coms (single-seater, four wheels and a smallrear storage compartment) and theI-Road (two-seater, three wheelswith active lean technology). Verycompact, the latter combines thehandling of a motorcycle or ascooter with the comfort and sta-bility of a car. Four I-Roads oc-cupy the footprint of a single car.Toyota is also developing a data

management system that will en-able the visualisation and reserva-tion of the vehicles. The systemwill integrate with Grenoble’s ex-isting transport IT system to pro-vide route planning with differentmodes of transport from a smart-phone. Citélib by Ha:mo is Toy-ota’s second Ha:mo (short for

harmonious mobility) project andthe first outside Japan.“This concept fits within our

overall future mobility visionwhich is based on four pillars:safety, comfort, ease of use andecology,” said Michel Gardel,vice president of Toyota MotorEurope. “Ha:mo was designed toreduce the stress caused by trafficjams, peak traffic hours andsearching for a parking space. Italso allows a reduction in emis-sions that cause poor air quality incity centres.”Citélib was chosen for its track

record, with more than ten yearsof experience in running car-shar-ing programmes in the region.“On top of our current vehicle

range, from two to nine occu-pants, Citélib by Ha:mo will fillan important gap for short-dis-tance travel and allow our cus-tomers to pick up and drop offtheir vehicles at different loca-tions,” said Martin Lesage, gen-eral director of Citélib. “We haveseen 30% annual growth of carsharing in Grenoble, and our serv-ice attracts 50% private and 50%corporate customers. It supportsthe development of economic ac-tivity in various areas of the met-ropolitan area, and linksuniversity campuses and researchcentres.”

Why Grenoble?Grenoble has long been an inno-vative city. Its famous Presqu’îlescience park is home to presti-gious institutions and companies,such as the CEA and ST Micro-electronics. Its slogan is: “Wherewe imagine the city of tomorrow.”Its university has more than60,000 students on one of themost modern campuses in France.

sumer behaviour make it clear thatsustainable mobility is here tostay. The only question is how fastthis market will develop.Surveys show that the average

daily commute in Europe takesbetween 40 and 50 minutes. In-creasingly, commuters use publictransport, but most of them stillhave to walk a good 15 minutes toreach their final destination. NewIT technologies paired with inno-vative mobility are starting toallow the introduction of moreflexibility to urban mobility, andwill undoubtedly make up the cor-nerstone of future smart cities.Just imagine: it’s Monday morn-

ing. You leave your apartment onthe outskirts of Grenoble at7:25am to go to work. Halfasleep, you take the tram to thecity centre – a 20-minute ride.You get off, and wait for the con-necting bus for five minutes. Tenminutes later, the bus drops youoff five minutes from your office.It’s 8:05am. You’re late, again, forthe eight o’clock meeting and

haven’t even had time for a cof-fee. Sometimes, for more flexibil-ity, you take your car. You drive tothe city but this means you mustleave even earlier, at 7:15am –and that’s not a guarantee you’llarrive on time, with traffic and thetime it takes to find a parkingspot. Sound familiar?With Citélib by Ha:mo, during

your tram ride, you whip out yoursmartphone. With an app, you canvisualise the available I-Roads atyour usual stop. In a few clicks,you reserve and pay. Another appcan also allow you to see the sta-tus of traffic and public transportbefore you leave, so you can planthe best route that day.Once you get off the tram, all

you have to do is flash your phoneonto the charging station to re-lease your vehicle. In six minutes,you ride to the charging stationnear your office, two minutesaway. It’s 7:53am – plenty of timefor a coffee before that meeting.You just saved 30% of your com-mute time. Going somewhere else

In 1987, Grenoble was the secondFrench city after Nantes to re-introduce electric trams. In 2013,78 million people used the localpublic transport network. Today,the fifth line of the tram networkis beginning operation. Other eco-logical modes of transport havealso an important place in thecity’s transport system, such as5000 Metrovélo bicycles andmore than 320km of bicycle lanes.Grenoble metro community citi-

zens can already pre-register forCitélib by Ha:mo. If they registeras early as this summer, they willreceive time credits towards fu-ture usage of the service when itbecomes operational in October.How Citélib works

Charging station

DRIVER ASSISTANCE DRIVER ASSISTANCE

Vehicle Electronics August 2014, Page 26Vehicle ElectronicsPage 25, August 2014

While there are still manylegislative challengesahead, the dream of au-

tonomous vehicles is a technicalreality. As a result, demand formore advanced adas is rising, put-ting increased pressure on OEMsand tier-one suppliers to makebest use of the latest technologies.This can often be a challenge inthe automotive domain, due to therelatively long design cycles andoverall product lifetimes required.Many integrated devices areevolving too quickly for automo-tive manufacturers to make fulluse of them; before they’re fullydesigned-in they’ve been replacedor upgraded.Fig. 1 illustrates the problem,

showing that development on theelectronic system(s) can start asmuch as three years before the ve-hicle is expected to go in to pro-duction, with all parts beingavailable more than ten yearslater.One solution to this problem is

to use asics, but while they offerthe security of guaranteed supply,their design is highly specialisedand costly, and they remain inher-ently inflexible and not easily ableto adapt to the rapidly evolvingworld of adas. The alternativewould be an ASSP, developed byan integrated device manufacturer(IDM) specifically for the auto-motive market. These typicallycomprise a standard microcon-troller or DSP architecture, cou-pled with peripherals designed forautomotive applications.The design effort in this sce-

nario is predominantly in the soft-ware running on the ASSP. It hasbeen well documented that elec-tronic design teams now comprisemostly of software engineers;

Adapting to adas design flowsDevelopers of modern advanced driver assistance

systems (adas) face a challenge to adopt thelatest technology without risking missing their

market window, says Stephan Janouch

DRIVER ASSISTANCE DRIVER ASSISTANCE

Vehicle ElectronicsPage 27, August 2014 Vehicle Electronics August 2014, Page 28

hardware having become almoststandardised, it is in the softwarethat OEMs are now able to differ-entiate most strongly.Despite understanding their rela-

tive benefits, many tier-one sup-pliers still favour an MCU-DSPapproach over the third option ofan FPGA. Often this is not be-cause they can’t provide a bettermethod — in fact their flexibilitymeans they are much better suitedto applications with rapidlychanging requirements (such asadas) — but because of a higherperceived level of complexity atthe design stage.Hardware description languages

(HDLs) have long been the stan-dard method of developing asics,as well as designing and configur-ing FPGAs. Within today’s teamsof software engineers, few willhave experience or expertise inVHDL or Verilog, and this may bebecause asic design is often out-sourced to a specialist provider.As such, adopting an FPGA in adesign flow would require an en-gineering team with expertise inHDL.If this impasse were to be re-

moved, OEMs and tier oneswould be free to exploit the poten-tial of FPGAs much more easily.This is even more relevant when

developing an adas system.

VisionaryMuch of the effort going in to de-veloping adas products is fo-cussed on fusing the input frommultiple sensors, to provideenough data for the system(s) tomake a decision, such as when toapply the brakes, when to alert thedriver or even when to take con-trol of the steering column.The predominant technology

used here involves some form ofimage capture, be that using radar,ultrasonic sensors or cameras.Bringing all these data together

Using an HLS tool for soft-ware and hardware co-development when target-ing an FPGA featuring,say, an Arm processor sub-system means design opti-misation becomes morespecific to a particular de-vice within the family.When the processors ineach member of the familyare identical, software de-velopment can start muchearlier in the design cycle.As the design develops, thedesign environment cansupport design partition-ing, allowing the imple-mentation to adapt tochanging or evolving per-formance goals, based onthe available resources.This flexibility allows thedesign team greater free-dom when selecting thebest part for the applica-tion. Once developed, thedesign environment canautomatically generate theconfiguration data fromthe high-level source code,be that C, C++, System Cor Open CL.The same design flow canbe used in FPGAs thatdon’t have an Arm coresub-system; in this scenariothe engineering teamwould generate hardwareIP from algorithms (soft-ware) without the need toemploy RTL. The designenvironment can then takethat IP and integrate itwith existing IP.

Tools for the job

Fig. 1: Development lifecycle of an automotive embedded system

Fig. 2: A C-based approach can simplify hardware design whilespeeding verification time

and processing them requires animmense amount of processingpower; by using an FPGA a largeamount of that processing burdencan be accelerated using hardwareinstantiated in the logic fabric.Many modern FPGAs now im-

plement high-performance multi-core Arm-based processingsubsystems, which are closely in-tegrated to the logic fabric. Adasapplications can therefore be opti-mised to run in the processor sub-systems, supported by hardwareacceleration (such as DSP blocks)that works seamlessly with theembedded software.FPGA platforms that integrate

Arm processor subsystems alsoprovide the perfect environmentfor integrating existing IP, writtenand verified in an HDL, to runalongside the application soft-ware. Developing such a methodincurs much lower NRE than anasic, while remaining much moreflexible to future changes.To give OEMs and tier ones

access to this new class of FPGA,IDMs are making it easier to inte-grate them in to an existing, soft-ware-centric design flow. Fig. 2shows that, by using high levelsynthesis, it is now possible to by-pass the HDL stage, removing theneed for specialist knowledge of

Verilog or VHDL, or even a clas-sic FPGA design flow. Instead,software developers can targetthese platforms using conven-tional C/C++.Without this approach, engineer-

ing teams targeting an FPGAwould need to translate the C/C++algorithm to HDL manually; aprocess that is laborious and error-prone. Using a form of high-levelsynthesis, the translation fromsoftware to hardware – or synthe-sis – is handled by the develop-ment environment, resulting in acombination of hardware and soft-ware optimised for the applica-tion, generated from just C/C++.This has far reaching benefits,

as not only does it allow develop-ment teams to implement a designmore effectively, it also offers theability to optimise a design forperformance and/or power con-sumption. Simpler synthesismeans it is easier for engineeringteams to target the right platform,as it can be scaled up or down tosuit the requirements. Simpler de-sign migration also allows any fu-ture features to be accommodated,

by moving to a platform withgreater performance or capacity inthe logic fabric (see box right).

ConclusionWhile there is much work to bedone to make autonomous vehi-cles a reality, and the legislativeprocess will likely be lengthy,adas systems are developing at arapid rate. Car manufacturerscan’t afford to wait to implementnew systems, and consumer de-mand and expectation is alreadyescalating. Self-parking cars andrear-view cameras are only the be-ginning; as adas penetrates everyaspect of driving, road users andpedestrians can look forward to amuch safer environment.The use of FPGAs will help ac-

celerate the next generation ofadas, supported by powerful hard-ware platforms and more sophisti-cated software developmentenvironments, underpinned byhigh-level synthesis.

Stephan Janouch is seniormanager for automotivemarketing in Emea for Xilinx

Stephan Janouch

PRODUCTS

Vehicle Electronics Vehicle ElectronicsPage 29, August 2014 August 2014, Page 30

PRODUCTS

A 320W high intensityLED light for use in min-ing applications as well asheavy equipment, hunt-ing, boating, vehicle, mil-itary, law enforcementand industrial manufac-turing is available fromLarson Electronics.

The LED10WSA-320LED light produces29,446 lumens whiledrawing 320W at 12.53Afrom a 12V electrical sys-tem. It is a replacementfor fragile 400W metalhalide lamps.

This unit is multi-volt-age capable and can runon any voltage from 11 to65V DC. The drivers pro-vide the ability to monitorand adjust input currentautomatically to maintainthe correct LED voltagelevels regardless of inputlevels across a specificrange. With the ability tosense and adjust inputcurrent, it protects againstvoltage spikes and dropsthat can occur in vehicleelectrical systems, whichwould otherwise result inburning up or prematureLED failure.

Features include soft-start technology, a smallprofile, low powerrequirements, high dura-bility and a shock damp-ening mounting system

LED protected againstspikes in vehicle electrics

that makes the emitterssuitable for rough appli-cations where power andreliability are critical.

Soft-start technology al-lows the LEDs to increasegradually to maximumintensity. Low in rushcurrent at start-up reduceswear on associated com-

ponents, increasing theoverall life of the internalelectronics and improvingdowntime.

These light bars are wa-terproof to 3m, sealedagainst intrusion by dustand dirt, and ruggedlyconstructed to withstanddemanding environments,

conditions and applica-tions.

Each unit is equippedwith a trunnion stylemounting bracket that al-lows the light to be at-tached to flat surfaces andadjusted through 360˚ ofvertical movement. Thelight head is secured tothe mounting bracketwith shock dampeningrotating inserts.

“This LED light carriesan IP69K rating making itcompletely sealed fromintrusion of dust andwater,” said Rob Bresna-han of Larson Electron-ics. “This protectionmakes it ideal for mining,dump trucks, constructionmachinery, cement mix-ers and car washes.”

Aimed at infotainmentsystems and intelligentkiosks is the AdvantechArk-1550, a slim andmountable fanless em-bedded system withfourth generation IntelCore i5-4300U 1.9GHzor Celeron 2980U1.6GHz processor. The i5dual-core CPU has turboboost enabled.

The computer is46.6mm high, has noise-less operation, operatesfrom -20 to +55˚C andhas multiple IOs. It pro-vides EMC and safetycertifications – CE, FCC,UL, CCC, CB and BSMI.

With 64bit, multi-coreprocessors built on 22nmtechnology, it supports upto triple independent dis-plays (VGA, HDMI and

LVDS optional); theHDMI can support up to4K2K resolution, plusimproved security tofocus on multiple displayapplications. It can alsobe integrated with differ-ent kinds of panels due toits slim design and Vesa,Din rail or wall mountingkits, and it can be usedindoors or out.

IO ports include twoGbE, HDMI, VGA,RS232, two RS232/422/485, two USB3.0,two USB2.0, 8bit DIO,audio line in-out, andmic-in.

A latching connector IOdesign provides for powerinput, com ports, DIOport, DVI port, HDMIport and expansion slots.The design maintains

Fanless infotainment usesfourth generation Core i5

solid cable connectionseven when there is vibra-tion.

For storage, there aretwo flexible, hot-swap-pable 6.35cm hard drivebays and mSata support.

The case is certifiedIP40 dust-proof for harshenvironments.

For smarter and safercontrol, it comes with thecompany’s Susi Accessbuilt-in, which provides aremote management APIthat lets users monitor,configure and control alarge number of terminalswith centralised real-timemaintenance.

A 40V capable switchingcontroller has been addedto Exar’s line of DC-DCpower conversion prod-ucts. The XR75100 syn-chronous step-downcontroller supports point-of-load supplies from in-dustrial 24V DC and ACrectified sources.

The emulated currentmode constant on-time(CoT) control schemeprovides the fast transient

response of conventionalCoT controllers withoutany of the compromises.This device delivers corevoltage rails for asics,FPGAs, DSPs and otherprocessors in automotive,medical, instrumentationand industrial markets.

Line regulation is0.008%/V across the en-tire input voltage rangeand it has 1% output ac-curacy over the full tem-

perature range to provideincreased headroom toengineers for easier de-sign implementations.

The CoT control loopenables operation withceramic output capaci-tors, eliminating loopcompensation and reduc-ing component count forease of system design.

Input range is 5 to 40Vand it delivers an ad-justable output from 0.6

Step-down controller supports point-of-load suppliesto 30V. Additionally, thedevice has a host of su-pervisory and protectionfeatures for proper se-

quencing, safe operationunder abnormal operatingconditions and light loadoperation.

“The XR75100 hasbeen developed in re-sponse to our broad spec-trum of industrialcustomers who need topower modern highpower FPGAs and DSPsfrom traditional sourcessuch as 24V AC and DC,”said James Lougheed,vice president for powermanagement products atExar. “The 40V operatingrange allows for a wide

range of input fluctua-tions. Hardware engi-neers responsible forboard level power sys-tems will appreciateExar’s patented CoT con-trol scheme, which makesthe XR75100 easy to de-sign with and keeps thecomponent count low.”

The device is availablein an RoHS compliant,green, halogen free 16-pin 3x3 QFN package.

PRODUCTS

Vehicle ElectronicsPage 31, August 2014

PRODUCTS

Vehicle Electronics August 2014, Page 32

A debug tool capabilitythat enables the exportingof task event based tracedata for external timinganalysis has been an-nounced by Lauterbachas a feature of its Trace 32tools.

The trace tools providetrouble-shooting capabil-ities to detect complex er-rors that only occurduring run-time condi-tions. With the latest ad-dition, the recordedprogramme and data flowis time stamped to allowan overall analysis of thesystem performance, aswell as for quality assur-ance features such ascode coverage, cacheanalysis and timinganalysis.

“Timing is essential tothe success of real-timeembedded system devel-opment,” said BarryLock, UK manager ofLauterbach. “This newfeature of our Trace 32tools supports the require-ments of quality stan-dards by providing proofof timing and code per-formance.”

This is done by extract-ing the real-time taskevent based trace datafrom the programmeflow. These data arerecorded in the hardwareas part of the hardware

A motor pre-driver IC forautomotive applicationssuch as electric powersteering (EPS) wheresafety is paramount hasbeen announced byToshiba Electronics. TheTB9052FNG is for use insystems adhering to Asil-

D, the highest automotivesafety integrity level infunctional safety standardISO 26262.

In addition to the mainpre-driver circuit, the de-vice incorporates variousfailure detection circuitsfor functional safety. Ele-

Debug tools provide proof oftiming and code performance

based trace flow, for ex-ample via Nexus or ETM.

The extracted data con-tain task event informa-tion and time informationand can be saved and ex-ported in CSV format,which can then be usedby any external timinganalysis and verificationtool that supports this fileformat. It is then possibleto analyse the timing datato perform worst-caseanalysis, peak loadingand other parameters tohelp with optimising thedesign. This feature wasdeveloped for Autosar butcan be applied to otherenvironments.

“Software reliability isnot only a critical com-mercial issue, but veryoften a safety issue also,”said Lock. “The abilityto export task event basedtrace data for externaltiming analysis is an im-

portant advance. Thisnew technology withinthe Trace 32 debug toolswill greatly assist engi-neers worldwide in thedevelopment of reliablehigh performance embed-ded systems.”

Pre-driver IC for EPSments included are bat-tery under voltage detec-tion, over temperatureand driver short detectioncircuits.

The IC has four chan-nels – two high side andtwo low side – and in-cludes a charge pumpsolely to drive n-channelmosfets. It is contained ina HTSSOP48-P-300-0.50package measuring 12.5by 6.1 by 1.2mm. Operat-ing voltage is +6 to +18Vand operating tempera-ture is from -40 to+125˚C.

Three-terminal feed-through filters to meet theautomotive industry’s de-mands for EMC compo-nents in safety andinfotainment applicationsare available from TDK.They come in case sizesEIA 0603 (1.6by 0.8mm)to EIA 1206 (3.2 by1.6mm) with rated capac-itances from 22pF to 1µFand rated voltages from10 to 100V.

The components, whichcan withstand tempera-tures up to +125˚C andare rated for currents upto 10A, are suitable fornoise suppression appli-cations in automotiveelectronics. They fulfil re-quirements for EMC fil-tering – for most typeseven in applications con-nected directly to the bat-tery. Mass production isset to begin in January2015 and they are for usein petrol, diesel and elec-tric vehicles.

Noise suppression re-quirements are rising asmore vehicles have so-phisticated safety featuressuch as collision avoid-ance systems.

Filterssuppressnoise

Altium has announced aTasking C compiler forthe Renesas RH850 auto-motive microcontrollerfamily. The RH850 pro-vides functional safetyand embedded securityfeatures in a range ofCPU core structures –single, multiple, lock-stepand combinations thereof.

The Tasking VX-toolsetsupports all availableRH850 devices and thecompany plans to con-tinue working with Rene-sas to support futurevariants. The toolset issaid to be the first com-piler to incorporate sup-port for the latest MisraC: 2012 guidelines for Cprogramming, in additionto the Misra C: 1998 and2004 guidelines.

“With the RH850 archi-tecture, Renesas has builta microcontroller familythat has gained a lot ofrecognition among ourautomotive customers, re-sulting in a strong interestfor Tasking’s robust andefficient VX compilertechnology to support theRH850 series,” saidHarm-Andre Verhoef,product manager at Al-tium. “Thanks to closecooperation with Renesasin the development of thenew VX-toolset, as wellas our ability to develop a

Compiler adds supportfor microcontroller

compiler that works inde-pendently from compilersfor other architectures,we have been able to cre-ate a stable and highly op-timised compiler for theRH850 in a very shorttime.”

Viper technology usedin the RH850 compilerensures compatibility toother popular Taskingtoolsets and eases appli-cation migration fromother architectures. Thecompiler is suitable forautomotive uses such aspower train, body control,chassis control and safetycritical applications.

The Viper compiler pro-vides a caching function-ality that saves thecompiler’s intermediateresults to avoid full com-pilations, enabling shortproject build times of em-

bedded applications andsaving developers timeand cost.

Features of the toolsetinclude an Eclipse basedIDE with integrated com-piler and debugger, aswell as profiling throughcode instrumentation andrun-time error checkingcapabilities. A config-urable linker with versa-tile script languageimproves memory con-trol.

Tasking’s ISO 26262support programme isavailable for the toolset tohelp users achieve certifi-cation for functionalsafety standards such asISO 26262.

Release v2.1 of thetoolset is available nowon PC and Windows, withother platforms supportedon request.

PRODUCTS

Editor and Publisher:Steve Rogersoneditor@vehicle-electronics.biz

Advertising Manager:Jayne Fosterjayne@vehicle-electronics.biz

Web Site Manager:Martin Wilsonadmin@vehicle-electronics.biz

Published by: Vehicle Electronics Magazine,72 Westwood Road, Nottingham NG2 4FS, UK

Web site: vehicle-electronics.bizTwitter: @velectronicsmag

© 2014 Vehicle ElectronicsISSN 2055-1177

Vehicle Electronics is available to readers world-wide. It will be published approximately twelvetimes a year in a digital-only format. All rights re-served. No part of Vehicle Electronics may be re-porduced or transmitted in any form or by anymeans, electronic or mechanical, including photo-copying or recording on any information storagesystem, without the written consent of the pub-lisher. The publisher cannot be held responsiblefor loss or damge to unsolicited press releases orphotographs. Views of contributors and advertis-ers do not necessarily refelect the policy ofVehicle Electronics or those of the publisher.

PRODUCTS

Vehicle Electronics August 2014, Page 34

A synchronous step-upDC-DC controller that re-places the boost diodewith a high efficiency n-channel mosfet has beenintroduced by LinearTechnology to increaseefficiency and output cur-rent capability.

The LTC3769 produces24V at up to 5A outputfrom a 12V input with upto 98% efficiency, mak-ing it suitable for automo-tive, industrial andmedical use where a step-up DC-DC convertermust have low heat dissi-pation in a small size.

Input range is 4.5 to60V during start-up, andit maintains operationdown to 2.3Vin afterstart-up and can regulatean output as high as 60V.

Step-up DC-DC controllercan replace boost diode

The 28µA quiescent cur-rent extends the run timein battery-powered appli-cations when in standbymode with the outputvoltage in regulation.

The 1.2Ω on-board n-channel mosfet gate driv-ers are capable of slewinglarge mosfet gatesquickly, reducing transi-tion losses and enablingup to 10A output current.

The controller has ad-justable cycle-by-cycle

current limit protectionand uses either a sense re-sistor or monitors thevoltage drop across theinductor (DCR) for cur-rent sensing. In applica-tions where the inputvoltage may exceed theregulated output voltage,it keeps the synchronousmosfet on continuouslyso the output voltage fol-lows the input voltagewith low power loss.

Current-mode architec-

ture enables a selectablefrequency from 50 to900kHz or the device canbe synchronised to an ex-ternal clock from 75 to850kHz. Furthermore,this device has adjustablesoft-start, a power goodoutput signal and main-tains ±1% reference volt-age accuracy over a -40 to+125˚C operating tem-perature range.

It is available in 20-leadtssop and 24-pin 4 by4mm QFN packages.Four temperature gradesare available, with opera-tion from -40 to +125˚Cfor the extended and in-dustrial grades, a hightemperature automotiverange of -40 to +150˚Cand a military grade of-55 to +150˚C.

The Neo-M8 series ofstandalone concurrentGNSS modules, built onthe U-Blox M8 GNSS(GPS, Glonass, Galileo,Beidou, QZSS and SBas)engine in the Neo formfactor, has been added toAlpha Micro’s portfolio.It is for use in coverttracking devices for as-sets, vehicles and ani-mals.

Within the series is theNeo-M8M/Q for costsensitive applications andthe M8N for easier RF in-tegration. They combinerobustness and integra-tion capability with flexi-ble connectivity options.

The modules include aninternal flash that allowsfirmware upgrades forsupporting additionalGNSS systems. Thismakes it suitable for in-dustrial and automotiveapplications.

The DDC (I2C compli-ant) interface providesconnectivity and enablessynergies with most U-Blox cellular modules.For RF optimisation, theM8N/Q has an addi-tional front-endLNA foreas ie ra n -tennai n t e -g r a -tion and af r o n t - e n d

Satellite systemscombined in module

saw filter for increasedjamming immunity.

The modules use GNSSchips qualified to AEC-Q100, are manufacturedin ISO/TS 16949 certifiedsites, and are fully testedon a system level. Quali-fication tests are per-formed as stipulated inISO16750.

“U-Blox has continuedto invest in improving thetechnology, power usageand cost effectiveness ofits products,” said Chris-tos Papakyriacou, manag-ing director of AlphaMicro Components.“Successor to the Neo 7family, the Neo-M8 issignificant in that unlikeits predecessor this devicecan concurrently receivesignals from the GlonassRussian satellite, BeidouChinese satellite and thetraditional US GPS. It isideal for customers devel-oping products that ad-dress all three markets.The initial feedback fromcustomers has been very

positive.”

Vehicle ElectronicsPage 33, August 2014

AEC-Q200-qualified,AC-line-rated ceramicdisc safety capacitorsfrom Vishay Intertechnol-ogy are designed to pro-vide reliability for classX1 (440V AC) and Y2(300V AC) automotiveapplications in accor-dance with IEC 60384-14.3, third edition.

Featuring U2J, Y5S andY5U ceramic dielectrics,the AY2 series is for on-board chargers and bat-tery management inelectric cars and plug-inhybrid electric vehicles,as well as high-reliabilityindustrial applications.

Capacitance is from 10to 4700pF with tolerancesdown to ±10% over atemperature range of -55to +125˚C. They canwithstand more than 2000temperature cycles with-out a failure, twice theAEC standard.

The devices consist of asilver-plated ceramic disc

with tinned copper con-nection leads that are0.6mm diameters. Theyare available with straightleads with spacing of 5,7.5 and 10mm. RoHS-compliant and halogen-free, the devices’encapsulation is made offlame-resistant epoxyresin in accordance withUL 94 V-0.

As well as complyingwith IEC 60384-14, thecapacitors are qualified toAEC-Q200. A good ex-ample of the differencebetween the two stan-dards is temperature cy-cling. The IEC 60384-14standard requires capaci-tors pass five full cyclesover the complete operat-ing temperature range. Incontrast, the AEC stan-dard requires a minimumnumber of 1000 tempera-ture cycles.

Samples are available.Production quantities willbe ready later in the year.

Caps pass heatcycling tests