issue05 can we achieve zero may2014 deaths on the road? · ncap are working...

The monthly magazine for automotive electronics engineers

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IN THISISSUE

Page 2: Help to beatrecalls

Page 3: Commercialvehicle collaboration

Page 5: Autonet andVisteon partnership

Page 6: Autotronicsreport

4: Assessingautomotive radiotimers

Page 20: Guardingconnected carsagainst hackers

Page 24: Infra-redsensors for airconditioning

Page 28: Circuitprotectiontechniques

Page 33: Productnews

Page 38: Contactdetails

Issue 05May 2014Can we achieve zero

deaths on the road?Fisita congress to explore hot topic in Netherlands in JuneHow BMW and EuroNCap are working to-gether to achieve the vi-sion of zero deaths fromtraffic accidents looks setto be the hot topic atJune’s Fisita World Auto-motive Congress in theNetherlands.An executive trackfocussing on advancedsafety technologies willbe led by global safetyexperts Michiel vanRatingen, secretary gen-eral at Euro NCap, andKlaus Kompass, head ofvehicle safety at BMW.“Following decades ofinnovation in automotivesafety including vehiclestructures, advanced ma-terials, crumple zones,occupant restraints andrecent developments incrash avoidance technolo-gies, the horizon iswidening for engineerswith an eye to the future,”said van Ratingen. “From

biomechanics to sensors,electronics and software,the advanced safety tech-nology sessions will re-veal the latest updatesthat are relevant for engi-neers around the world.”The session will takeplace on Thursday 5 June2014 and the whole eventwill run from 2 to 6 Juneat the MECC Maastricht.The last day of the con-gress will include akeynote provided byAdrian Lund, president ofthe Insurance Institute forHighway Safety and theHighway Loss Data Insti-tute in the USA. The titlewill be: “Advanced safetytechnologies and otherguideposts on the road tovision zero.”Other speakers will in-clude Monica Pla fromIdiada Automotive inSpain, Jitendra Shah fromFord ForschungszentrumAachen in Germany and

Cliff De Locht fromMelexis in Belgium.The aim of the event isto bring the internationalautomotive engineeringcommunity together toaddress the theme: “Intel-ligent transport to solveour future mobility, safetyand environmental chal-lenges and to address themost important issues andchallenges being faced bythe automotive industry.”The programme ismade up of 59 presenta-tions covering: systemsfor crash avoidance ormitigation; requirements,standards, regulations andconsumer tests; pre-crash,in-crash and post-crashaccidentology in the lightof safety; crashworthinessand occupant protection;functional safety, engi-neering methodology andsoftware architecture; andprotection of vulnerableroad users.

NEWS NEWS

Vehicle Electronics Vehicle Electronics, May 2014 May 2014, Page 3

Franz Maidl

Connector-maker Harwin is sponsoring the TUFast Ecoteam fromTechnical University Munich (TU Munich) for the Shell Eco-Marathon this month in Rotterdam. The team uses several highly reli-able and rugged Datamate and Hotshoe connectors in itsenergy-efficient race car.

The event challenges students to design, build and drive the most en-ergy-efficient car. At three events around the world, hundreds of teamscompete to travel the furthest on the equivalent of one litre of fuel. Alltypes of drive concepts and energy sources are allowed, including bat-tery, petrol and diesel, as well as bio fuel, hydrogen and solar.

At the Rotterdam 2014 event, the cars must travel a fixed route ofabout 16.3km in a maximum allowed time of 39 minutes with an aver-age speed of at least 25km/h. The consumed energy is exactly meas-ured and converted to get the equivalent of kilometrage per one litre ofregular petrol.

Harwin sponsors Munich Ecoteam

UQM Technologies andKinetics Drive are collab-orating to offer a robustintegrated electric motorand multi-speed transmis-sion system for commer-cial vehicle applicationsthat will benefit from afull system approach.This system is engi-neered to provide com-mercial vehicle manufact-urers with an efficientelectric drive powertrainwhile reducing develop-ment time for integration.“As we work with mul-tiple partners in Chinaand other regions of theworld, it has becomeclear that for some theability to offer a completesystem will be a competi-tive advantage,” said EricRidenour, president ofUQM Technologies.“By collaborating withKinetics we are able tooffer those customers aproven powertrain sys-tem. The combinedstrengths of our systems,our combined marketingpower and our recentISO/TS 16949 registra-tion will expand our reachin these important mar-kets.”Key advantages will bea fully integrated and cal-ibrated system that allowsquicker time to marketand reduced developmenttime and cost, as well as

UQM and Kinetics integrate electricmotor and transmission for CVs

fewer engineering vari-ables. Systems will useUQM Powerphase HDelectric motors and con-trollers combined withKinetics Nexdrive trans-missions.The Powerphase HDelectric motors and con-trollers were developedfor commercial vehicleapplications, and include

the HD 220 with 700Nmof peak torque and220kW of peak power,the HD 950T with950Nm of torque and140kW of peak powerand the HD 250, which isa high-voltage variantwith 250kW of peakpower and 900Nm oftorque.The Nexdrive EV3-850

transmission is a three-speed dual-clutch trans-mission that works withthe electric motor to re-duce torque interruptionduring gear shifting. Italso enables the electricmotor to operate at peakor near peak efficiencyfor better battery per-formance and vehiclerange.

A half-day workshop toexplain and demonstratehow the more advanceddebug tools are enablingdevelopers to producehigher performance codewhile speeding up reli-able code developmentwill be one of the high-lights of this year’s seriesof Device Developers’Conferences.The one-day events willbe in Bristol, Cambridge,Manchester and Scotland,UK, on 20th and 22ndMay and 3rd and 5thJune, respectively.German debug toolcompany Lauterbach willhost the workshop.“As software has be-come far more complexand is running at everfaster speeds, detectingbugs is now a major chal-

lenge for developers,”said Barry Lock, UKmanager of Lauterbach.“Developing reliablecode is now a big issue,as the cost of failure inthe field is so expensive.Whether it is the damageto the brand of the prod-uct, or simply the cost ofthe recall, investment indebug tools has become acritical business decision.This workshop will giveengineers the chance toexplore what they can ex-pect from the higher endof debug technology.”The workshop will in-volve delegates beinghands-on, using hardwareassisted debug tools at-tached to Arm Cortex-Mhardware, running a real-time application. Dele-gates will explore

techniques such as livetrace, code coverage andcode analysis.“We ran a similar work-shop last year, and itproved very popular,”said conference organiserRichard Blackburn.The events will includeboth software and hard-ware streams. Some keytopics for this year’sevent includeAndroid de-velopment, device-to-cloud technology, opensource software for criti-cal systems, and gui andHMI development.”Attendance at the con-ference, including the se-ries of 40-minutetechnical presentations, isfree to engineers andproject managers. Thehalf-day workshops aresubject to a charge.

Workshop to helpbeat expensive recalls

Altium has joined theAu-tosar development part-nership. The company‘soffering for the automo-tive industry comprisesthe Tasking suite of em-bedded tools and AltiumDesigner IDE.The Tasking develop-ment tools are used bysuppliers within the auto-motive industry to pro-gramme microcontrollerbased powertrain, driverassistance and safety ap-plications.“Altium is workingwith the world’s leadingautomotive manufactur-ers and truly appreciatesthe importance of interna-tional software stan-dards,” said Franz Maidl,managing director of theglobal Tasking businessat Altium. “Our align-ment with Autosar willenable us to continuallyevolve our product offer-ing in line with open in-dustry standards.”

Altium joinsAutosar

Hella is working withGerman firm Paul Vahleto develop wirelesscharging systems to sparkrenewed consumer inter-est in electric and hybrid-electric vehicles.Inductive or wirelesscharging for cars willmake it easier for driversto charge car batteries andextend a vehicle's drivingrange.Marc Rosenmayr, CEOfor Hella Electronics in

America, said if inductivecharging coils were em-bedded in streets, electricvehicles could berecharged when stoppedat traffic lights or evenwhile being driven."Wireless, inductivecharging is a far moreconvenient way torecharge a vehicle's bat-tery system," Rosenmayrsaid.But he said technologi-cal and infrastructure

challenges still must beovercome. Energy trans-fer over high-frequencyfields on inductive sys-tems, for example, causesheat to build up in metalobjects which could leadto safety issues.The impact wirelesscharging has on other ve-hicle electronics such asnavigation, infotainment,driver-assistance and key-less entry systems alsoneeds to be studied.

Hella and Vahle in wireless initiative

NEWS

Page 4, May 2014 Vehicle Electronics Vehicle Electronics May 2014, Page 5

NEWS

The University of Not-tingham in the UK hasbeen awarded £2.85m torun two major engine re-lated research projects forthe development of newtechnologies in low car-bon vehicles. The projectsinvolve partnering withFord and Cummins.The projects are part ofthe recently announcedAdvanced PropulsionCentre (APC), a UK gov-ernment-industry initia-tive established by theAutomotive Council. Itsaim is to help the UK ac-celerate its leadership inadvanced propulsion de-velopment and produc-tion.The APC will see gov-ernment and industryeach invest £500m in thesector over the next tenyears to research, developand commercialise tech-

Saab has received anorder from Finnish mili-tary vehicle maker PatriaLand Systems for vehicleelectronics for the infor-mation systems of PatriaAMV 8x8 vehicles beingdelivered to SouthAfrica.The deliveries include adata network and operatordisplays plus a digitalvideo system with cam-eras. These will be inte-grated in the Patria

vehicles. The deliverieswill take place until 2016.The sub systems will belocally supported inSouth Africa.“Saab is supplying Pa-tria AMV vehicles withthe latest technology,helping to improve localsituational awareness forsoldiers in the field,” saidNiclas Lövgren, directorand head of vehicle sys-tems at Saab.

Visteon is to integrateAu-tonet Mobile’s telematicstechnology into its next-generation products forglobal vehicle manufac-turers.The two companies willprovide car makers with acomplete end-to-end soft-ware and app platform,designed to integrate withvehicle electrical archi-tectures and networks toenable new vehicle fea-tures. This will incorpo-rate a telematics controlunit (TCU), operatingsystem, apps and techni-cal support.Autonet’s product letsthe vehicle connect tomobile devices, M2M,vehicle-to-anything andthe internet of things.Apps such as parentalcontrols, fleet manage-ment and remote vehiclecommands support cate-gories such as usage baseinsurance, parking andtoll.Under the agreement,Visteon will lead designand integration effortswith global vehicle manu-facturers andAutonet willprovide software, IP andnetwork operation serv-ices.“The embedded auto-

motive telematics marketis forecast to grow at acumulative rate of 42%,reaching a vehicle instal-

Autonet and Visteon partnerto hit connected car market

Marty Thall:“Automotivetelematics market isforecast to grow.”

lation rate of 50% by2018,” said Marty Thall,Visteon’s president. “Vis-teon and Autonet Mobileare leveraging their com-plementary capabilities tobecome a driving force inthe development of next-generation in-vehicleapps and services for theconnected car.”Autonet’s IP-basedTCU is designed to con-nect cars in motion withreliable content deliveryand app services. Thecombined telematicsproducts will let vehiclemanufacturers connectcars to high-speed mobilenetworks and delivercloud computing, mobileapps and fleet telematics,

while being compatiblewith essential vehiclefunctions and external de-vices.“Autonet Mobile isproud to partner with aworld-class, tier-one au-tomotive-grade technol-ogy provider,” said BobSick, Autonet’s chief ex-ecutive officer. “Thispartnership extends Au-tonet’s reach further intothe global automotivemanufacturing marketand expands Visteon’srich connected vehicleplatform offerings for ve-hicle manufacturers.”Autonet’s customers in-clude Fiat-Chrysler,Dodge, Jeep, RamTrucks, Mercedes Benz,

Maserati, Subaru andGeneral Motors. Visteonexpects to begin manu-facturing for various ve-hicle manufacturers in thesecond half of 2014.

University lands £2.85m to developlow carbon vehicle technologies

nologies for the vehiclesof the future. Four proj-ects are receiving govern-ment funding, with £18mbeing invested to supportthe research led by Fordand Cummins. Notting-ham is the only university

that will play a role insupporting two of the lat-est APC projects.The Ford project,known asActive, is a col-laborative R&D projectthat accelerates the intro-duction of advanced lowcarbon technologies intomainstream vehicle appli-cations targeting largeCO2 savings.“We have been workingin collaboration with Fordfor more than 30 years tohelp improve the per-formance of their en-gines,” said Paul Shayler,professor of mechanicalengineering at the univer-sity. “This project is an-other important milestonein our relationship withthe company and our en-gines research group will

be involved in helping tofurther improve the effi-ciency of the Ecoboostengine.”The second project iswith Cummins, a de-signer and manufacturerof diesel and gas enginesand related technologiesincluding electrical powergeneration. Known asFirst, the project centreson the development of anovel, compact dieselelectric propulsion sys-tem with energy recoverycapability, improving fuelefficiency and reducingCO2 emissions. For oper-ations with frequent stop-start cycles, such as busesand delivery trucks, thereis an opportunity for fuelsavings of up to 20%.The university’s workwill focus on its powerconversion research toensure the project deliv-ers an advanced automo-tive power drivetrain.“We are very pleased tobe part of the excitingAPC initiative,” saidChristopher Gerada, pro-fessor of electrical ma-chines at the university.“The Cummins Innova-tion Centre at the Univer-sity of Nottingham is aUK centre of excellencein electrical machines andrelated technologieswhich focuses on bothfundamental and appliedresearch.”

Ford Ecoboost engine

Patria picks SaabIoxus, a manufacturer ofultracapacitor technologyfor transportation, indus-trial and energy applica-tions, has opened itssecond manufacturing fa-cility in Oneonta, NewYork. The 2000m2 plant,about a kilometre fromthe firm’s headquarters,will increase capacity forelectrode manufacturingand module assembly.“Opening our secondplant in Oneonta is theculmination of a busyfour months for the com-

pany,” said MarkMcGough, CEO at Ioxus.“So far in 2014 we an-nounced Flexgen Powerand the Long Island RailRoad as new customers,launched the IMod X se-ries and received $21m inseries C funding.”Ultracapacitors chargeand discharge quickly,making them suitable forvoltage support needs andrecovering energy thatwould otherwise be lost.“Customers love ourproducts, and that is why

we are seeing Ioxus ultra-caps designed into abroad array of productsincluding buses, trains,cars, heavy machinery,solar panels and other in-dustrial equipment,” saidMcGough. “The expan-sion of our manufacturingfacilities lets us meet thesupply requirements ofmajor new customers inthese applications.”The site will add morethan 30 jobs, increasingthe number of US em-ployees to 150.

Ioxus opens second plant

Vehicle Electronics Vehicle ElectronicsPage 6, May 2014 May 2014, Page 7

Steve Rogerson reports fromlast month’s Autotronicsshow in Taipei, Taiwan

TALKINGTAIWAN

Tiffany Lin Amanda Yang Charlie Fu

A high-power 650V,120A silicon carbide(SiC) Schottky diode andan LED current controlIC were among the win-ners in theAutotronics In-novations Awards.The diode took one ofthe gold awards and isclaimed to be the first SiCproduct to be developedand produced in Taiwan.Aimed at electric vehi-cles, it was made by start-up company HestiaPower in collaborationwith Tong Hsing Elec-tronic and is about two tothree years away fromproduction.“We went for SiC be-cause it has higher ther-mal conductivity thansilicon,” said Hestia salesmanager Amanda Yang.“The performance is bet-ter than traditional siliconand helps to make themotors smaller.”The LED current con-trol IC is claimed to elim-inate EMC and EMIproblems by manufac-turer Alpha Light, andearned silver in theawards.Alpha Light presidentCharlie Fu said the ideafor the product came tohim five years ago whena Japanese customer usedPWM techniques for cur-

SiC diode and currentcontrol take top awards

rent control but found itinterfered with the carradio.“So I designed a linearIC that uses no coil,diode, resistor or capaci-tor,” said Fu. “It is alldone digitally.”The product was intro-duced in October and has

already attracted interestfrom car makers in Japanand the USA.The awards are jointlyorganised by Taitra, Tai-wan’s external trade de-velopment council, andItri, the industrial technol-ogy research institute.Taitra representative

Tiffany Lin said: “Theyare judged on their contri-bution to industry, aes-thetics, efficiency andinnovation.”A silver award alsowent to ATBS Technol-ogy for an external sensorfor a through-flow tyrepressure monitor.

Charlie Yu (left), sales director atPhotic Electronics, proudly showsthe rear-view mirror camera sys-tem that the company designedfor Nakomichi. This was intro-duced in September and is alreadybeing used by Toyota in vehiclessold in Japan and Taiwan.

“This is tinted to make it saferfor night driving,” said Yu.

For the future, the company islooking at DVRs that can addressfeatures such as blind spot view-ing, collision warning and GPS.

Mirror Magic

Vehicle ElectronicsPage 8, May 2014 Vehicle Electronics May 2014, Page 9

The production value ofTaiwan’s automobile andmotorcycle industry hasquadrupled in the 30years the Taipei Ampashow has been runningfrom NT$1251m in 1984to NT$5084m last year,according to Jan-PeiJuang, chairman of theautomotive manufactur-ing committee ofTTVMA, Taiwan’s trans-portation vehicle manu-facturers’ association.Over the same period,the number of cars madein Taiwan has grownfrom 165,000 a year to339,000 and the number

Taiwan needs to export to grow

of motorcycles from677,000 to 1.1m.

“The Taiwan market issmall,” said Juang. “To

expand the scale, the onlyway is to export to theworld. In recent years,Taiwan’s automobile andauto parts exports reacheda high record.”In 2013, auto parts ex-ports from Taiwan hitNT$1979m, up 1.6% onthe previous year.He said Taiwan had a“competitive advantage”in the ICT industry, whichwould help it grow in au-tomotive electronics.• The Taipei Ampa show,of which Autotronics is apart, had 1346 exhibitorsthis year, up slightly onthe previous year

Jan-Pei Juang: “To expand, the only way is toexport to the world.”

The aftermarket for LEDlighting products pro-vides engineers withmore opportunities to usetheir innovative skills, ac-cording toAlisaWu, salesmanager at Coplus.The company sells itsLED lighting productsroughly equally betweenthe aftermarket andOEMs, but Wu said themain focus was going tobe the aftermarket.“We can put more ideasinto aftermarket productson the look and appear-ance,” she said. “OEMsare more focussed onsafety whereas the after-market can have more de-sign innovation.”Though the company

sells into North Americaand Europe, 70% of itsproducts go into Japan.Often, it will take anOEM design and improveon it, hoping that car buy-ers will switch when theysee the new look.“We make a whole newdesign that is differentfrom the OEM’s to give itanother look,” said Wu.One of the company’slatest innovations is to in-stall daytime runninglights into fog lights soseparate lights do nothave to be added to thefront bumper or grilles.Called BiLight, thecombined fog light anddaytime running lights ismade to the same specifi-

Aftermarket allowsmore LED innovation

cation as the existingOEM fog light, makinginstallation easier.The first generationcombines LED running

lights with a projectorhalogen bulb but the sec-ond generation replacesthe halogen bulb with anLED fog light.

Alisa Wu: “We can put more ideas intoaftermarket products.”

Jet Optoelectronics ishoping for a commerciallaunch in October of amobile phone wirelesscharging system thatworks with the com-pany’s rear-set entertain-ment products. A conceptversion was on displayand showed that thephone could be put into aslot on the screen andcharge while the enter-tainment system madeuse of the phone’s apps.“You can have the con-tent of the phone on themonitor while the phoneis being charged,” saidDaniel Tsai, Jet’s execu-tive vice president. “We

are still working with ourcustomer and expect acommercial version to belaunched in October.”The company is alsoworking on a head-up dis-play product that will beon the market in two tothree years time. This willuse three-colour laserscontrolled by a memschip to produce contenton the windscreen.“This gives full colouron the display,” said Tsai.“It will put key informa-tion on the screen for thedriver such as speed, fuellevels, temperature and soon as well as warning in-formation. It may be two

to three years away, butcould be five years.”At the show, the com-pany launched a 25cmAndroid-based back-seatflip-down monitor. Userscan view and share filesusing installed Wifi andBluetooth. It is aimed atthe aftermarket in theUSA.“It is very easy to in-stall,” said Tsai. “We willnot be selling this toOEMs because it lookstoo much like an add-on.OEMs prefer the inte-grated versions and weare working on develop-ing an Android versionfor use by OEMs.”

Wireless charging plan for October

A lower cost version forthe aftermarket that doesnot use Android waslaunched last September.

Daniel Tsai: “It is veryeasy to install.”

Fair Sun Industrial is work-ing to expand the geo-graphic reach of its switchesfor automotive applications.The company, which startedoff making light bulbs, al-ready sells its automotiveswitches to companies inNorth America and Iran.The next target is Brazil.“We are talking with acompany in Brazil,” saidvice president LourdesChiu. “This is an OEM that

makes buses. The make bigbuses and minibuses. Theyhave a plan for next year touse our combinationswitches.”She said the company wasalso talking with distributorsto open up markets in Ger-many and the Middle East.“We also hope we can sellto Japan,” she said. “Someof our aftermarket productsgo there but nothing yet toOEMs.”

Lourdes Chiu: “We are talking witha company in Brazil.”

Fair Sun targets Brazil,Germany and Middle East


Tung Thih plans technologyroute to sales growthNight vision, stop-and-gosystems and 3D aroundvision monitors will pro-vide the main technolo-gies in the next two yearsto help Tung Thih Elec-tronic hit its sales target in2017 of US$333m com-pared with an estimated$180m for this year and$115m in 2013. Over thepast five years the com-pany has grown sales atbetween 10 and 15%.The company sells di-rect to car manufacturersand 64% of its sales are inparking assist systems,with other cameras ac-counting for 15% andanti-theft devices 8%.“We have an ultrasonicsensor system that canwork with no ECU inter-vention,” said SarahChen, manager for over-seas sales. “These are forparking aids, blind spotdetection and front colli-sion warning.”Ford is the company’sbiggest customer ac-counting for 62% of itssales in Taiwan and 18%of its exports. GeneralMotors is second on theexport list at 17% fol-lowed by Volkswagenand Nissan, both on 15%.In Taiwan, Renault comessecond on 13% followedby Mitsubishi on 7% andNissan on 6%.

The company has threefactories – one in Taiwanand two in China – andlast year opened a Euro-pean sales office inFrankfurt. In Taiwan, 70of its 300 employees areinvolved in R&D and inChina there are nearly300 R&D personnel outof the 1700 employees.“Next year, we will belaunching night visionand stop-and-go sys-tems,” said Chen. “By2016, we will have 3Daround video monitors.Our current 2DAVM usesfour cameras to produce atop view. With 3D, youcan see it as if you werein the middle and lookinground. But it will needmore cameras.”She said that ideallysuch a system would need12 cameras but the com-pany knew that wouldmake it too expensive forthe end customer and thusits engineers were work-ing on reducing the num-ber of cameras.She acknowledged thatno customer had ex-pressed an interest yet.“Our products are soldto OEMs,” she said,“though some can bedone on dealer options.We don’t sell to the after-market because we can’tguarantee the quality of

the installation.”The decision to moveinto night vision, she said,came from requests fromcar makers. She saidthe company could pro-duce night vision systemsnow but the cost would betoo high and thus the de-velopment team wasworking on how to make

them cheaper.“Once more peoplewant to buy this, we willhave the bargainingpower to reduce price,”she said. “We will thoughlaunch at a high price.”The system uses infra-red to detect body heat tohelp drivers avoid hittingpeople at night.

Sarah Chen: “We don’t sell to the aftermarketbecause we can’t guarantee the quality of theinstallation.”

Automotive lightingcompany TYC Brother istargeting the OEM mar-ket for future growth ina bid to increase prof-itability.At present, only 30% ofits LED lighting productsgo to OEMs with the restsold to the aftermarket,but senior vice-presidentCarlos Ting wants thebalance to be 50% toeach.“We want to hit this tar-get as quick as possible,”he said. “The OEM mar-ket is more profitable.The reputation of being inthat market is also veryimportant so our strategyis to attack it.”One region where this islikely to happen is Eu-rope, where Ting admit-ted the company was “not

LED lighting firm targets OEMs

very successful”.“Our target is the pre-mium OEM brands inNorth America and Eu-rope,” he said. “We have

had success in Japan, andthey supply all over theworld.”Meanwhile, the com-pany’s R&D engineers

are working on a laserheadlamp; at present, allits lighting products areLED based.He said the companywas working with a Euro-pean company to bringout a laser product.“I want a laser head-lamp,” he said. “We arepressurising our engi-neers to have these prod-ucts ready as soon aspossible, but we can’t sayyet when it will be ready.”• The company received asilver award at the Au-totronics InnovationAwards for a headlampwith a DRL LED lightguide that integrated bi-functional beam tech-niques and patentedoptics. It was designed toimprove heat transfer ef-ficiency.

Carlos Ting: “I want a laser headlamp.”

A government-ownedTaiwanese aerospacecompany’s sideline auto-motive business has be-come so successful it maybe span out into a sepa-rate company before theyear is out.The firm was display-ing its automotive prod-ucts at Autotronics,but said this may bethe last time under thename Aerospace Indus-

trial Development.The company, whichsupplies products into thecommercial and militaryaerospace industry, in-cluding the Taiwan AirForce, first moved in theautomotive sector tenyears ago when it part-nered a car manufacturerto make a car phonelinked via the Can bus.“We went on to linkabout ten companies’

products using Can andLin in the car,” said Kuo-Jiun Lin, senior managerfor the automobile busi-ness.“And about five yearsago we extended intoother products using Canbus control. We also de-veloped systems for busesand trucks.”Today, among its mainranges are body controlmodules for buses. How-

ever, the automotive sidestill only accounts for twoto three per cent of itsbusiness.“Our main business isstill in the aircraft indus-try,” said Lin.“We are a governmentowned company but willbe a private company bythe end of the year. Theautomotive business willbe spun off at the sametime.”

State-owned aerospace companywants automotive spin-off

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

Tesor Plus is close to adeal with an OEM tohave a device that givescontrol of a car via asmartphone factory-fittedinto new cars. At present,the product, which workswith Android and Applesmartphones, can only bebought as an aftermarketproduct.“We are discussing withsome OEMs, but we can’tsay with who yet,” saidBruce Rau, deputy gen-eral manager.The product lets userscheck the status of the carthrough their mobile. Forexample, they can see ifthey have remembered tolock it and if not use thephone to lock it.“You can check yourcar wherever you are ifyou have internet access,”

said Rau. “You can evensee where the car is. Theywill work everywhere ex-cept Japan but the nextmodel will work in Japanas well.”The product will workon its own but also withsome aftermarket alarmsystems. It can provideany data availablethrough the car computer.These include tempera-ture and tyre pressure.One phone can monitorup to three cars and onecar can be monitored byup to three phones.The company alsomakes a wireless immo-biliser that can replace theOEM’s starter relay andthe next version of thesmartphone app willallow this to be remotelyactivated.

Tesor in OEM talksfor smartphone app

Bruce Rau shows the smartphone app

Innovation is the key tosuccess in the rapidlyevolving automotive elec-tronics market, believesBill Wu, vice-president atE-Lead Electronic.“We think innovativedesign, and that is our pri-ority,” he said. “It is thekey to opening marketdoors for us. That is whywe are a key patent win-ner in Taiwan.”At the show, the com-pany launched a head unitthat connects with asmartphone and can workwith systems such asdriving recorder, head-updisplay, rear-view cameraand tyre pressure moni-toring systems (TPMSs).

All the firm’s productsare sold direct to car man-ufacturers and fall intothree categories – mediacentres, rear-seat enter-tainment and accessories,such as driver recorders,reverse cameras, parkingsensors and TPMSs.The company is alsodeveloping a car naviga-tion module for Volkswa-gen, a version of whichwas on display.“Our next step is to lookat cloud application,” saidWu. “The cloud can linkthe phone to the headunit. Everything is in thesmartphone. We can usethat resource to supplymany functions.”

Innovation focus

Bill Wu: “We are a key patent winner in Taiwan.”

Dashboard systems thatcan be fitted as a dealeroption and let users linkto the car with their An-

droid phones are the latestofferings from Royal Tek.“We are not concentrat-ing on the aftermarket,”

explained senior salesspecialist Jansen Chang.“These are factory fittedand sold as a dealer op-

Dealer option for Androidtion for those who buy acar and want to upgrade.They are custom madefor different cars.”Typical of this is thecompany’sAndroid HeadUnit, a car DVD systemthat runs on Android 2.3.Users can surf the internetvia Wifi as well as accessthousands of apps. In-structions can be given byvoice and the display canshow what’s on the user’ssmartphone screen,This uses an Arm Cor-tex A9 CPU core runningat 800MHz and has a20cm touchscreen colourTFT LCD.Jansen Chang with some of the company’s replacement dashboard modules

Tariff barriers will con-tinue to hold backTaiwan’s automotiveelectronics exports unlessmore free trade agree-ments can be set up,Wen-Jo Kiang, deputy directorgeneral for foreign tradeat the Ministry of Eco-nomic Affairs, told dele-gates.At the event’s opening

ceremony she said thatSouth Korea had 43 freetrade agreements in placeand they accounted for36% of the country’s ex-ports. In contrast, Taiwanhad just five agreementsaccounting for 9% of ex-ports.“We need to accelerateour efforts in this,” shesaid. “We need to con-

sider global economicfactors and tackle the tar-iff barrier problems. Weare seeing some progressbut we are falling inglobal rankings becauseof the high tariffs weface.”“With years of hardwork, Taiwan’s automo-tive electronics havegained global admiration

in terms of technologyand product quality,” saidFu-Hsiong Cheng, vicechairman of Teema, Tai-wan’s electrical and elec-tronics manufacturers’association.He said that in 2013 thecountry’s automotiveelectronics output wasabout NT$133.9bn, up12% on 2012.

Taiwan seeks more free trade agreements

INFOTAINMENT INFOTAINMENT


In-vehicle infotainment is a hottopic in the automotive world.At the heart of today’s sophis-

ticated automotive infotainmentplatforms is a high-performanceautomotive radio tuner, an essen-tial component that provides astate-of-art radio listening experi-ence to drivers and passengers.Automotive radio is a large mar-ket that continues to grow alongwith the increasing volume of au-tomobiles being produced. In2012, 84.1 million cars and com-mercial vehicles were manufac-tured worldwide. In the first sixmonths of 2013, 44 million vehi-cles have already been produced.The size of the automotive after-market is many times larger as itis estimated that there are morethan one billion vehicles on theroad around the world.Assuming each car has at leastone radio and given the large mar-ket size, why are there only a fewautomotive radio tuner supplierscompeting in this large and grow-ing market?

Difficult marketThe automotive tuner segment is adifficult semiconductor market toenter due to various reasons.Today’s complex, ever-changingdriving environment requireshigh-performance radio tunertechnology.Automobiles are constantly onthe move. This extreme mobilityrequires the automotive tuner toreceive radio signals in a widevariety of reception conditions.Tuners must handle various typesof signal impairments such asmultipath generated by the broad-cast signal reflected off mountainsand buildings. The amplitude and

IN TUNE

Arthur Chan explains how to assesshigh-performance automotive radiotuners for infotainment systems



phase of the resultant signal re-ceived also may change, leadingto distortion and or loss of audio.Weak signals occur in remoteareas affecting signal quality.Power lines and broadcast towerscan transmit strong signals thatinterfere with the broadcast radiosignal.

In-car interference.Inside the car, poor EMI shieldingon electric motors running wind-

shield wipers, windows, the sun-roof and other body and cabincomponents, and even the engineand horn, can cause interference.Improper antenna connections canalso produce interference. Addi-tional interference can come fromthe car radio PCB where DC-DCconverters, large LCD panels andother high-speed digital circuitryare housed.Competitive pressures requiretuner IC companies to supply

tuners with higher integration andwith no compromise in perform-ance.Traditional tuners were manu-factured in bi-cmos technologies ageneration ago. With today’smounting pressure to reduce cost,RF tuner design has migrated tocost-effective cmos technologiesat foundries such as TSMC toachieve lower cost mixed-signalintegration at deep sub-micronnodes. Only a few tuner suppliersin the world can perform ad-vanced low-cost RF cmos designof digital low-IF architecture forradio tuners.To serve the automotive OEMmarket, a tuner IC supplier typi-cally must be an ISO/TS16949-certified company, providingAEC-Q100-qualified tuner ICs.Automotive tuner suppliers musthave a global presence to provideon-site support worldwide for de-sign and test drives. RF PCB lay-out and automotive test drivesrequire local support to shortendesign cycles and facilitate radiotuning during test drives.The combination of these suc-cess factors results in a high bar-rier to entry that permits only afew semiconductor companies tosupply tuners to the global auto-motive infotainment market.

Tuner requirementsA strong suite of key performanceparameters and features is re-quired to overcome the challeng-ing environment in whichautomotive radio tuners operate.These parameters include excel-lent sensitivity to pull in a weaksignal.If you live in a rural area faraway from the transmitters ofmost radio stations, the sensitivity

Arthur Chan

of a tuner will be of great impor-tance. A good tuner with-3.5dBµV sensitivity can pull in asignal at 0.5µV extending its abil-ity to tune in to a station up to160km away.Selectivity refers to a tuner’sability to receive a weak station inthe presence of stronger stations atsmall frequency offsets, as shownin Fig. 1. This is especially impor-tant for receivers in crowded FMspectrums in urban environments.Adjacent channel selectivity,which refers to suppression of sig-nals ±100kHz away from thetuned frequency, is important inEuropean markets as the adjacentchannel blockers can be as closeas ±100kHz for FM broadcast inborder regions.A high-performance automotivetuner should have at least 65dBselectivity with ±100kHz block-ers. Some tuners can achieve thisselectivity with a powerful state-of-the-art radio DSP algorithmthat dynamically optimises the de-sired channel bandwidth by gaug-ing several signal metricsincluding adjacent and alternatechannel conditions, narrowing thechannel bandwidth in the presenceof strong blockers.IP3 is a figure-of-merit measureof a tuner’s linearity. Higher IP3means better linearity and less dis-tortion. The most severe distortionis third-order inter-modulation(IMD3) distortion resulting fromtwo close-in blockers that showup on-channel on the desired sta-tion (see Fig. 2). In crowded FMspectrums, very common in urbanmarkets, the blockers are too closeto the desired spectrum to be eas-ily filtered out.To reduce third-order distortionproducts, IP3 performance must

be increased. Tuners with low IP3will require very expensive highQ tracking filters to avoid IMD3break-in, an extremely unpleasantexperience to the listener. A lead-ing automotive tuner will have anIP3 of 117dBµV coupled withsensitivity at -3.5dBµV at full RFgain. It should also provide a verywide IMD dynamic range to offerprotection against IMD3 break-inwith no external filtering blocks.In Europe, AF is a choice thatallows the car radio tuner to tuneto a different frequency that pro-vides the same station, when thefirst signal becomes too weakwhen moving out of range. This isoften used in European car radiosystems, enabled by RDS wherethe AF list is transmitted via RDSdata. In higher end cars, a dedi-cated background companiontuner is used to scan the AF listproviding AF station metrics tothe host to decide when to jump tothe AF station when the primarystation becomes compromised.In cost-sensitive radios (in

which two tuners are too expen-sive) the primary audio tuner istuned to the AF station to qualifythe AF station and re-tuned to theprimary station without causing aperceptible break in the audio.The maximum time accepted inexecuting the AF check operationis under 10ms. Most tuners in themarket are able only to qualify theAF station’s received signalstrength indication (RSSI). Top-performing automotive tuners areable to perform an AF check oper-ation at 6ms or less and qualifynot one but four station metrics,including RSSI, SNR, frequencyoffset and multipath interference.Multipath interference is thebane of FM radio reception in mo-bile environments especially athigh speeds. Multipath distortionis caused when two or more radiosignals broadcast from the samesource arrive at a receiver at dif-ferent times and with differentphases and attenuation levels dueto reflections of the signal fromvarious objects.

Fig. 1: Superior selectivity and dynamic bandwidth controlare important in receiving weak signals among strong stations



The radio signal prior to arrivingat the receiver can experiencechanges in amplitude and phasedue to two types of multipath fad-ing: flat and frequency-selective.In urban environments, reflectionsfrom close-in objects such asbuildings result in short delaymultipath fading, causing wide-band deep fades. In this scenarioall spectral components of the sig-nal experience amplitude attenua-tion simultaneously (flat fading),leading to harsh audio pops anddrop outs. In turn, long multipathdelay (frequency-selective fading)arises due to reflections from ob-jects several kilometres away suchas distant hills and tall buildings.In this scenario certain spectralcomponents will be attenuatedcausing deep notches in the chan-

nel leading to audio distortion.The traditional approach is tomitigate the effects of multipathwith techniques such as blendingback to mono audio from fullstereo audio, deploying low passaudio filters (high-cut and high-blend), attenuating the audio levelwhen there are harsh pops due tosevere multipath and soft mutingas the last resort. Automotivetuners should have the abovebasic mitigation engines run au-tonomously, activated and moni-tored by signal quality metricscontinuously.A good automotive tuner shouldhave an FM channel equaliser tocancel frequency selective multi-path fading, thus yielding audiowith low distortion. Theequaliser’s adaptation algorithm

continuously seeks to restorespectral components attenuateddue to frequency-selective fadingeffects, thus restoring the signaleven as the vehicle travels throughmultiple fading situations. The re-sult is reduced audio distortionand a lower level of sound-com-promising mitigation applied tothe audio, such as stereo-monoblend and high-cut and high-blend.

FM phase diversityIn recent years, European automo-tive OEMs such as BMW, Audi,VW and Daimler have adoptedglass and patch active antennasystems, moving away from pas-sive whip rod antennas. However,with small glass antennas, FMradio reception becomes compro-

mised. With dual antenna andphase diversity tuner systems,OEMs circumvent the issue bycombining two antennas to pro-vide more signal strength and sig-nificantly improved resistance tomultipath fading.Dual-tuner phase diversity sys-tems with channel equalisationcan be implemented with leadingautomotive tuners to address bothflat and frequency-selective fad-ing, whereby the dual tuner out-puts are combined to alleviatefading to improve audio qualitygreatly.In an antenna phase diversitysystem, the RF signal is receivedby two uncorrelated antennasspaced at an optimum distancefrom each other, and they are con-nected to two tuners tuned to thesame frequency. The signal propa-gation path at one antenna loca-tion may experience a deep fadewhile the other signal propagationpath at the other antenna locationdoes not.Dual-tuner antenna phase diver-sity systems provide the capabilityto combine the multiple antennaoutputs to reduce poor signal re-ception due to flat fading. The tworeceivers use a common referenceclock to ensure they are tuned tothe same channel frequency tostream the IF signal and associ-ated signal quality metrics fromone receiver denoted the second-ary receiver to the other denotedas the primary receiver. The twoIF signals are phase aligned andcombined in the primary receiverusing proprietary phase diversityalgorithms.The combined IF signal is sub-sequently channel equalised, FMdemodulated, MPX decoded and

signal conditioned in the primaryreceiver. The output is stereoaudio to an audio signal process-ing unit in the system.

HD radioHD radio digital radio broadcast isgaining traction in automotive ra-dios in the USA. Previously rele-gated to high-end cars, HD radiois now moving into mid-rangeplatforms for the American mar-ket. Automotive OEMs that haveadopted HD radio include Ford,Volvo and BMW. Several moreOEMs are moving to wider adop-tion in the immediate future. It isestimated that by 2015 well overhalf of all cars shipping in theUSAwill have HD radio recep-tion. The HD tuner must be certi-fied by IBiquity, the developerand licenser of HD radio technol-ogy for automotive OEM gradeAM and FM tuner performance.

Looking to the futureInfotainment system developersare demanding ever-higher qualityof automotive radio performanceat a lower system cost. Today’s

consumers also expect a CD-qual-ity audio experience from their carradios.Automotive OEMs and tier-onesuppliers understand this trendand are responding by designingsophisticated infotainment sys-tems that incorporate the latest au-tomotive tuners that deliversuperior sensitivity and selectiv-ity, excellent IP3 performance andFM phase diversity receptionwhile supporting digital radiostandards such as HD radio tech-nology.Automotive tuners with excel-lent performance and cost benefitare being adopted by automotiveOEMs and tier-one infotainmentsystem suppliers in mass produc-tion projects now. These advancedautomotive tuners have set a newbenchmark in price and perform-ance value for automotive cus-tomers while enabling a superiorin-vehicle audio experience forconsumers.

Arthur Chan is senior productmarketing manager forSilicon Labs

Fig. 2: Good IP3 offers strong protection against inter-modulationdistortion

Infotainment developers are demanding increasing quality from automotive radios



Connectivity is increas-ingly a critical element inthe development of the

latest infotainment systems andresearch suggests this is going tocontinue to rise. A recent studyby the IEEE claims by 2025 ei-ther Bluetooth or Wifi technolo-gies will be in just about every

Beating the hackersThe increased use of connectivity canopen modern cars to unwanted access,as Kelei Shen explains

The Jeep Cherokee usesthe UConnect platform

new car being built.Much like smartphones andother consumer devices, there is agrowing expectation that in-carentertainment systems shouldfeature internet connectivity andenable integration with mobiledevices. Coupled with more con-sumer service providers such asGoogle growing their presence inthe automotive space, it is a trendset to continue.The latest infotainment unitsnow allow apps to be downloadedfrom the internet on to the headunit, examples include ChryslerUConnect and BMW ConnectedDrive platforms. Consumers areseeking seamless connectivitybetween mobile devices such assmartphones and tablets with thein-vehicle infotainment system.Manufacturers including Audi,which recently launched LTE con-nectivity in cars across its range,are satisfying consumer demandfor in-car internet access, withconnectivity to rival smartphonesand tablets.Other infotainment systemshave USB and phone connectivity,allowing users to transfer musicfiles and other data from theirsmartphones, MP3 players and



USB sticks on to the unit’s harddisc. This is a significant step toallow third-party data onto a vehi-cle infotainment system.Take rates suggest that this en-hanced connectivity improves theenjoyment, experience and safetyfor the driver and passengers butthe possibility to load unknownsoftware and files into a vehicle aswell as to open the vehicle to datafrom outside is starting to raiseconcerns among leading suppliers.Research suggests an infotainmentsystem connected to the internetdirectly or via a networked device

is potentially open to cyber-at-tacks and malware if not suffi-ciently secured. The risksuggested is that comprehensivein-car connectivity could lead tocyber-attacks that have the poten-tial to range from inconvenientthrough to impacting safety criti-cal systems.

Consumer experienceConsumers have become accus-tomed to using consumer devicesthat come ready with built-insecurity software or the chance tochoose aftermarket alternatives.Very few consumers expect a needfor car security beyond alarms orimmobiliser and awarenessremains low. Programme plannersand engineers have yet to imple-ment measures to reduce infiltra-tion and intrusion and it feels likethe first wave on internet-enabledcomputers that lacked any protec-tion.For tier-one suppliers trusted inthe sector it’s a factor that they be-lieve OEMS need to consider.Researchers at the Centre forAutomotive Embedded SystemsSecurity claim to be able to seizecontrol of a vehicle’s engine orbrakes by connecting a laptop to acar’s on-board diagnostic port andhacking the vital systems. Usingan OBD port is some way fromhacking using software to accessthe car’s electrical system and allhacks to date have been under-taken under research conditions,but the threat is sufficient for in-terested parties to sit up and takenotice.However, to date, successful carhacks have required direct hard-ware access to the car’s systemsand few have been implementedoutside of research conditions.

Yet, likely, the potential exists tohack a car and wrest control of itscritical systems via malwaretransferred over an internet orwireless network connection.

Supplier answersOEMs offering the level of con-nectivity that consumers wantneed to start thinking about fire-walls such as those found on PCsand they need to develop systemswith encryption. The process ofdealing with unwanted attention isnot something new for the carmakers to have to face. Thieveshave targeted vehicles and with aswitch to electronic rather thanmechanical immobilisation theylearnt new methods to disable im-mobilisers and start the car with-out any keys.

Integrated networksThe multitude of microprocessorsand independent systems are typi-cally linked via integrated net-works and as the infotainmentsystems require access to speeddata and safety critical systems ittends to be the connectivity gate-way that is the most likely entrypoint for malware finding its wayinto the car.Malicious code could lurk be-hind an app downloaded or beembedded in a music file trans-ferred onto the system via asmartphone or USB connection.Once in the infotainment system,a virus or malware could manifestitself in a number of ways fromsimply disrupting the operation ofthe infotainment system, such asmusic playback errors, incorrectnavigation instructions or disrupt-ing the display. These could beconsidered annoying or frustratingto an end customer but there are

more serious issues. A virus couldcollect personal data that are ondevices connected to the network.Perhaps most concerning is forany virus to migrate to another in-car network such as the Can bus,providing access to engine andbraking controls.Taking inspiration from robustPC and laptop security technol-ogy, firewalls and other softwaresecurity measures are being con-sidered to act as a barrier betweenmalware and an infotainment sys-tem. As an example, an entertain-ment platform presented at theGeneva Motor Show used sepa-rate computing domains using atype one hypervisor for securingcritical vehicle functions from er-rant or malicious software for au-tomotive grade robustness that isthe first of its kind in the industry.It partitions the system into twovirtual domains. One domainmanages critical car functionssuch as vehicle network commu-nications, and the second domainhandles infotainment applicationssuch as navigation and internet ac-cess. The vehicle domain is se-curely firewalled from the

infotainment domain, preventingany impact on safety-relevant fea-tures in the car.With advanced security tech-niques such as secure boot anddata encryption such a combina-tion creates a trusted infotainmentarchitecture that should deliverclass leading security. Engineersare also looking at other measuressuch as developing a process thatisolates crashed or compromisedparts of an infotainment systemfrom other connected componentsand networks.Some methods involve develop-ing software that partitions vari-ous hardware parts using amicro-kernel to define strictly theamount of access individual pro-grammes have to vehicle informa-tion. Furthermore, suchtechniques are used to limit theamount of resources other soft-ware has access to; therefore ifthat system becomes corruptedand fails it does not compromisethe functionality of another.

Another wayOEMs may have an alternative toembedding the technology partic-

ularly those set to offer 4G con-nectivity in the car.As 4G and communicationstechnology improve and spread,the need to run an infotainmentsystem on local software can bebypassed. Processing power andsecurity duties can be carried outby a robust and secure server,which can then stream the re-quired infotainment functions to avehicle, significantly lowering therisk of malicious software frombeing downloaded onto an in-carsystem.It must be emphasised that noreal-world occurrences of suchcyber attacks have been recorded,and the benefits thatinfotainment systems can bringto both safety and drivingenhancement certainly outweighthe risks to security. Moreover,to prevent against the futurepotential of remote car hacking,various manufacturers areconsidering and developingprevention measures.

Kelei Shen is senior vicepresident for global engineeringat Harman Automotive

Connected cars can provideroutes for hackers

Entertainment platform at the Geneva Motor Show

SENSORS SENSORS


With oil reserves beingfurther and further de-pleted, petrol prices

continuing to rise and legislativepressure to lower carbon emis-sions becoming increasinglyacute, the task of keeping modernvehicles’ power budgets in checkis of ever greater importance toautomotive design engineeringteams. Air conditioning and cli-mate control systems draw a con-siderable amount of current froma vehicle’s battery and their usewill therefore have a notable im-

pact on the overall fuel economy.Research undertaken in Europelast year by the AllgemeinerDeutscher Automobil Club (Adac)examined the power needed to runvarious different automotive airconditioning systems and foundthat, in some cases, when they areactivated these systems can con-stitute as much as 15% of the ve-hicle’s total fuel consumption.At the moment, automotive in-dustry type approval does not re-quire tests to show how therunning of the air conditioning

KEEPINGCOOL

Peter Riendeau explores theimplementation of infra-redsensing technology in advancedautomotive air conditioningsystems

system will affect a vehicle’s op-eration, and car manufacturers arenot obliged to disclose any figureson this function’s influence onoverall fuel usage. All this is dueto change in the near futurethough as industry bodies inseveral of the largest westerneconomies begin to implementtest procedures which take the in-creased energy consumption thatthe air conditioning system causes

The proportion of a vehicle’s fuel consumption due to itsair conditioning system will be at its highest when vehiclesare in congested urban environments

SENSORS SENSORS


into consideration.The air conditioning and climatecontrol mechanisms that are cur-rently found in vehicles can becharacterised as follows:

1. Manual – In this type of systemthe vehicle’s occupants set boththe temperature level and the in-tensity of the air flow through theblowers themselves. This requiresregular readjustment as conditionschange.2. Semi-automatic – Here the tem-perature of the cabin can be main-tained at a set level, defined bythe vehicle occupants, but the airflow intensity still has to be ad-justed manually.3. Fully automatic – For this typeof system different sensors areemployed so that optimal cabinconditions for vehicle occupants’comfort can be constantly main-tained. This is based on a pre-de-fined temperature chosen by theoccupants, with the system mod-erating the air flow and air vol-ume that passes through theblowers, as well as the tempera-ture of the air flow.

The Adac research found that,when used correctly, fully auto-

matic air conditioning systemswill consume much less energythan will be needed for the far lessadvanced manual systems, andthereby have less of a bearing onthe vehicle’s consumption of fuel.That said, if these automatic sys-tems are not operated correctly,but instead controlled to some ex-tent manually, then no improve-ment in the fuel economy will berealised.It has been shown that the pro-portion of a vehicle’s fuel con-sumption due to its airconditioning system will be at itshighest when vehicles are situatedin congested urban environments.If a vehicle is moving slowly, theair conditioning will represent amuch larger drain on the batterythan any of the other power con-suming accessories it possesses(potentially reaching as much as70% of the total electricity beingdrawn). As already stated, vehi-cles using some form of fully au-tomatic air conditioning systemwill prove considerably more fuelefficient than ones with conven-tional manual or semi-automaticsystems – but to do so advanced,highly effective sensor technologyneeds to be implemented.

Sensor optionsThe sensor functionality deployedin many cars will just rely on asimple temperature dependent re-sistor to determine the cabin’s airtemperature and thus regulate theinternal climate as is appropriate.As heating via incident radiationfrom the sun is not factored inthough, this method often givesout rather inaccurate data when itcomes to assessing the well-beingof the vehicle’s occupants.If infra-red (IR) sensing mecha-nisms, rather than passive semi-conductor technology, areemployed in these systems, thenefficiency levels can be signifi-cantly boosted. Such sensors canreact far quicker than conven-tional sensor devices to anychanges in the temperature level.They can take the influence ofsunlight on the temperature per-ceived by occupants into consider-ation, as well as the ambient airtemperature, and respond accord-ingly.In the next few years, multi-zone air conditioning mechanismswill become more commonplace.These will deal with the unevendistribution of sunlight throughoutthe cabin and make possible the

setting of optimal conditions foreach of the vehicle’s occupants.Implementations of this kind, ineither high-end or mid-range carmodels, will require the specifica-tion of multi-element IR sensorarrays for continuous productionof precise temperature profile datathroughout the vehicle cabin.Through these arrays it will bepossible to address any changesthat take place in the heat loadmore effectively – thus improvingcabin temperature stability and thevehicle occupants’ comfort, whilesimultaneously lowering powerconsumption, restricting the bill ofmaterials costs associated with thesystem and facilitating the wholeimplementation process.It is now widely agreed withinthe automobile industry that theuse of multi-element far infra-red(FIR) thermopile sensor arrays,covering the -20 to +30˚C temper-ature range, will be best suited tothis type of application. An arrayof this kind can measure the emit-ted IR energy from the driver andpassenger(s) then compensate fortheir perceived temperature level,without being effected by solarheating conditions that could oth-erwise lead to erroneous results. Itallows the creation of an accurate,

relatively detailed map of heatvalues for a given target area inreal time, avoiding the need toscan the area with a single pointsensor (which would take an un-acceptable amount of time) or em-ployment of a micro-bolometerdevice, which would most likelyprove to be too costly.

Electric carsAlthough the efficiency of airconditioning systems has to beconsidered for all new automobilemodels, more effective air condi-tioning is of particular importancewhen applied to the rapidly grow-ing hybrid electrical vehicle(HEV) and electrical vehicle (EV)sectors. EVs, for example, willgenerally experience much greaterdifficulty when it comes to pro-viding efficient cabin temperaturecontrol compared with vehiclesthat are based on internal combus-tion engines. The main reason forthis is there is not any waste heatbeing dissipated from the enginecooling system, so as a result thisheat is not available to an EV forcarrying out cabin heating. Fur-thermore, any drain on the batteryof an EV will severely shorten thedistance that can be covered be-tween recharges, with the conse-

quence of the driver and passen-ger(s) being inconvenienced bymore frequent recharge periodsbeing required.

ConclusionWith ever growing pressure beingexacted onto car makers toheighten fuel efficiency bench-marks, their engineering teamsmust do everything possible tocombat difficult technical chal-lenges so that they can reduce in-cabin power consumption whilestill being able to deliver the lev-els of comfort that customers havecome to expect. The effect that anautomotive air conditioning sys-tem can have on a vehicle’s fuelefficiency is profound and manu-facturers need to act now to lowerthis as much as possible. Deploy-ment of sophisticated, FIR sensorarray technology is now permit-ting the development of next gen-eration multi-zone in-cabinthermal imaging that promises tomaintain driver and passengercomfort while significantly reduc-ing power consumption andthereby improving fuel economy.

Peter Riendeau is globalmarketing and communicationsmanager at Melexis

FIR array provides a thermal profile of the vehicle cabin

CIRCUIT PROTECTION CIRCUIT PROTECTION


Themodern vehicle has de-veloped into a collection ofelectronic systems that

work together to perform enginecontrol, safety and diagnostics, in-fotainment, and many more func-tions. As the list of features andlevel of sophistication escalates,so do the challenges associatedwith integrating and operatingthese various systems efficiently

and reliably.Each electronic subassembly(ESA) must be powered, pro-tected, and connected to its re-spective interfaces within theoverall automotive system. Fromone main battery, DC-to-DC con-verters translate voltages for nu-merous application power levels.Once powered and operating, theelectronics must be protected ade-

Protection packets

Noel Giamelloexplains how to meetpower, protection andinterface challenges, includingfor HID lamps

HID headlamp on a 2009 Lincoln MKS(Photo from Ford)

CIRCUIT PROTECTION CIRCUIT PROTECTION


quately from various transientevents.Electrostatic discharge (ESD)threatens electronics beginning asearly as circuit assembly and con-tinuing throughout the lifetime ofthe car, and must be considered.With protection in place, ESAscan be connected to the system.Electromagnetic compatibility(EMC) and common mode noise(CMN) considerations are re-quired at each interface and at thesystem reliability level. Finally,

the system must be re-examinedafter all interfaces are in place toensure adequate isolation and pro-tection.Accurate and stable power con-version and robust circuit protec-tion are two areas that help ensureeffective and reliable operation ofautomotive electronics. This arti-cle will describe the power sup-ply, transient, ESD, and interfacechallenges in the automotive envi-ronment. It also will discuss com-ponents with features that make

them effective.

PowerIn the power supply, various resis-tors and magnetics ensure stablevoltage levels. DC-DC convertersconvert from the nominal 14V ofthe main 12V battery down to 3.3or 5V, or to up to 60V or hundredsof volts, for example. A basic con-verter circuit includes a mosfettransistor, capacitor, resistor andinductor. When the mosfet is on, asinusoidal voltage is induced

across the capacitor with a peakamplitude twice the supply volt-age. A resistor in series with themosfet can protect it by dampen-ing these oscillations. Thesepower resistors often are thickfilm, non-inductive, and rated upto 50W. Isolation from the back-plane can be an additional advan-tage with power resistors.The choice of resistor dependson several application factors.High-frequency applications de-mand low inductance since para-sitic inductance of the wiringcombined with capacitance ofswitching components can inter-fere with the normal operation ofthe conversion circuit. Resistorpulse characteristics indicatewhether the resistor supports cur-rent limiting or capacitor dis-charge applications. Themaximum temperature of the re-sistor, listed on the datasheet,must exceed the sum of the oper-ating temperature and peak surgetemperature of the application.Also on the datasheet, the timeversus energy curve indicates ifthe component can handle the in-stantaneous power expected by asurge.

TransientsTransient surges for automotiveelectronics are classified in ISO7637 according to event type asdetailed in Table 1, where Ri indi-cates the internal resistance of thevoltage generator. Since transientsurges can last up to several sec-onds and generate several hundredamps, each ESAmust be designedto pass ISO 7637 test specifica-tions. Designers comply with therequisite level of protection byadding components to limit thesurge or clamp the voltage.Polymer positive temperature

coefficient (PPTC) devices areideal for transient protection. Dur-ing normal operation the PPTCdevice has an extremely low re-sistance and remains essentiallyinvisible to the circuit. When theoperating current reaches the de-vice’s trip current, the device tem-perature and resistance risenon-linearly to create an effectiveopen circuit. Selection of a PPTCdevice depends on the applica-tion’s operating voltage, operatingcurrent and trip time. Stable re-sistance over a wide temperaturerange is desirable as automotiveelectronics can require +125˚Cratings instead of the more com-mon +85˚C ratings. Advancedmanufacturing technology usesdifferent polymer blends to createhigh current capability, low resist-ance, high operating voltage andhigh operating temperature capa-bilities based on the needs of anapplication.

No zappingAs the number of user interfacesincreases, automotive electronicsmust be protected from the risk ofESD damage. An ESD event maybe temporary but its effects can goundetected for some time. A well-known standard called the humanbody model (HBM) characterisesthe current versus time curve andelectrostatic surge. ESAs must betested thoroughly to ensure com-pliance. HBM tests simulate theenergy transmitted by human con-tact handling on the assembly lineand in use to help designers quan-tify the voltage suppression re-quired.In addition to performing asclamping devices in other areas ofthe automotive system, multilayervaristors provide continual ESDprotection based on the ESA volt-

ages and trip characteristics. Thevaristor clamps the voltage to asafe level any time an overvoltagecondition arises. Low capacitanceand leakage characteristics ensureit remains invisible to the circuitduring normal operation. Such au-tomotive approved varistors arequalified using tests 1-3b of ISO7637.

Working as a systemAdequate protection as a stand-alone unit is the mere startingpoint when introducing an ESA tothe automotive system. Once con-nected, an ESA can cause or besusceptible to interference and re-liability issues with other ESAs.For instance, to remain within thestringent emissions guidelinesspecified by the vehicle manufac-turer, most ESAs connected to aCan network contain a CMN in-ductor. This inductor limits un-wanted high-frequency noise onthe communications bus, im-proves the transceiver EMC im-munity and reduceselectromagnetic interference(EMI). With all its benefits theTable 1: ISO 7637 test specifications

Fig. 1: Flux generated by signal and common mode noiseNoel Giamello

CIRCUIT PROTECTION PRODUCTS


common mode inductor can in-duce a high voltage across theCan transceiver, which must beclamped to protect ESAs fromovervoltage damage.Shielded high current inductorsat the power supply interface andthe Can transceiver help achievethe required low EMI levels.Common mode inductors connecteach winding in series with aninput line and phasing is arrangedsuch that the flux created by eachwinding appears to cancel the fluxof the other in the absence ofCMN. The opposing flux gener-ated in the core ensures that virtu-ally no voltage is induced in eitherwinding, so the current can passthrough the common mode induc-tor with almost no power loss.However, unwanted CMN canappear in one or both input lines,as seen in Fig. 1. The CMN cur-rent returns to the noise sourcethrough the ground connection,and this current sees the full im-pedance of one or both windingsof the common mode inductor.The CMN voltages must be atten-uated in the windings of the com-mon mode inductor to reduce

unwanted noise on the returnlines.Advancements in inductor tech-nology such as flat wire conduc-tors and powdered iron cores helpachieve high efficiency in com-pact packages. Flat wire raises theuse of surface area to increaseconductivity and handle high fre-quency switching. The type ofcore, wire and construction of thechosen inductor as well as the cur-rent determines the ESA’s electro-magnetic emissions.

In actionIn many cases, new technology isnecessary to meet demanding re-quirements of applications such asDC-DC conversion for high inten-sity discharge (HID) lamps in ve-hicle lighting systems. HID lampsrequire a very high ignition volt-age pulse of several thousandvolts followed by a constant volt-age. To provide this high ignitionvoltage from the nominal car bat-tery, a transformer coil and aswitching spark gap are used as il-lustrated in Fig. 2. High voltageswitching spark gap devices aredesigned specifically for voltage

controlled switching of capacitivedischarge circuits where high en-ergy, low loss and fast rate ofswitching are required.

Design successDesigning a stable and reliablesystem begins with understandingthe power supply, threats and in-terfaces. Along with stable, robustpower conversion design, circuitprotection is necessary to ensurethe electronics are not affected byoutside surges, human interactionor other electronics in the system.Automotive electronics can beprotected by PPTC devices fortransients; multilayer varistors andclamp devices for ESD; and com-mon mode chokes for EMI. Ad-vancements in technology aremaking it possible to meet in-creasingly complex requirements.Taking advantage of efficient fea-tures and components for powersupply, transient, ESD and inter-faces, designers can focus on thedesign.

Noel Giamello is marketingdirector for the consumersegment at Bourns

Fig. 2: Application of switching spark gap

Tokyo Electron Devicehas launched the Inre-vium LSI TE7740RPFwith extended IO and anautomotive AEC-Q100compliant qualificationfor in-car ICs.The high functionalityof car navigation systemsin recent years, especiallyhigh-end models, meansthe number of IO func-tions is increasingly in-sufficient when only theCPU’s built-in IO func-tions are used.With this device, IOfunctions such as SPI (upto 6MHz CPI clock fre-quency) and uart (up to3Mbit/s baud rate), whichare required for car navi-gation systems, are inte-

grated into a single chip.This allows for a directconnection with a CPUbus through the 8bit asyn-chronous interface andhelps resolve the IO func-tion insufficiency prob-lem of car navigationsystems.Required interfacefunctions and universalIO ports can be selectedusing a register setting.It is suitable for in-carinfotainment devicessuch as car navigationsystems.IOs include 36 GPIOs,five-channel uart (onechannel with flow capa-bility), four-channel SPI,two-channel PWM, two-channel pulse counter and

Device extends IO for car navigation

two-channel I2C (master).External input clock isup to 48MHz. Operatingtemperature is -40 to

+85˚C. The device comesin an 81-pin PFBGAwith0.8mm ball pitch andmeasuring 8 by 8mm.

MLCCs withstand flex crackingSoft-termination MLCCsdesigned to withstandflex cracking caused bybending stresses to thePCB are available fromTDK. They come in casesizes from EIA 0402 (1.0

by 0.5mm) to 3025 (7.5by 6.3mm) and with vari-ous capacitance values.The soft-terminationtechnology alreadyproven in automotivegrade components of the

CGA series is now avail-able for general-purposeapplications as well. Theyare for use in electroniccircuits where the PCBsrequire handling afterMLCCs have been sol-dered, such as smart-phones, PCs, TVs, powersupplies, game consoles,car multimedia equip-ment and base stations.PCBs are exposed tomechanical bendingstress during a number ofhandling processes suchas board splitting, inser-tion of sockets and leadedcomponents, and screw-down, which take place

after the MLCCs aremounted on the board.These mechanical stres-ses can cause flex crack-ing in the MLCCs.To absorb these boardstresses, an elastic con-ductive resin electrodematerial is used with ad-vanced electrode formingtechnology. The result isa soft termination that canwithstand a board deflec-tion of up to 5mm over alength of 90mm, makingthe joint 2.5 timesstronger than that of stan-dard MLCCs, all buteliminating the risk offlex cracking.

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Vehicle Electronics Vehicle ElectronicsPage 34, May 2014 May 2014, Page 35

PRODUCTS

The F403 3U CompactPCI board with 16 bidi-rectional digital IO chan-nels has been designedfor modern railway appli-cations. Made by MENMikro, the board is suit-able for control functionssuch as door-locking con-trol and interior lighting.

The 16 digital IO chan-nels are organised intofour optically isolatedgroups for reliable datatransmission with fourchannels in each group.In addition to accommo-dating configuration aseither an input or output,each channel has anindividual edge-triggered

Binary IO on Compact PCIfor railway applications

interrupt.A voltage range of 14.4

to 154V DC with a cur-rent output of 1A at 24Vcomplies with EN 50155,making the board readyfor immediate use in trainapplications, as well as

being able to handle digi-tal IO signals with differ-ent voltage levels andground references.

The four front connec-tors use spring cage ter-minal blocks facilitatinglow wiring outlay and en-

abling fast installation,while ensuring a secureconnection.

Operating temperatureis -40 to +85˚C for quali-fied components. Theboard withstands a maxi-mum of 95% relative hu-midity during operationand shock up to 50m/s2.Functional vibration is1m/s2 and lifetime vibra-tion is 7.9m/s2, both from5 to 150Hz.

The board is equippedwith all safety measuresnecessary for mobile en-vironments, includingvoltage and temperaturesupervision as well asread-back of outputs.

Spansion has added sixautomotive-grade devicesto its flash memory port-folio – three serial NORand three NAND memorydensities qualified tomeet the extended rangesand stringent quality re-quirements of the auto-motive industry.

The three in the FL1-KNOR family are for usefrom -40 to +125˚C in 16,32 and 64Mbit densities.The NAND memories arequalified for -40 to+105˚C, in 1, 2 and 4Gbitdensities.

All six have achievedAEC-Q100 qualificationand meet PPAP produc-tion part approval processrequirements.

"With our broad portfo-lio of automotive-gradeflash memories andproven quality, technicalsupport and productlongevity, Spansion hasmaintained its leadershipin automotive flash de-vices for more than 20years," said Robin Jigour,senior VP at Spansion."Automotive OEMS areincreasing their demand

for automotive gradecomponents as applica-tions such as advanceddriver assistance systems,instrument clusters, info-tainment and data loggingsystems become standardofferings in a wider rangeof vehicles."

NOR part numbers areS25FL1-16K, -32K and-64K. NAND part numbersare S34ML0-1G1, -2G1and -4G1.

"Extremely high relia-bility and the ability tooperate at wide tempera-ture variances are among

the most critical needs ofautomotive applications,"said Alan Niebel, CEO atWebfeet Research. "Au-tomotive-grade deviceswith AEC-Q100 qualifi-cation, which followPPAP, meet the moststringent requirementsdefined by auto makersworldwide. Spansion'sactive role in the develop-ment, test, delivery andsupport of high-perfor-mance, high-quality em-bedded systems forautomotive has led totheir market leadership."

Six memories added to range

Mix Telematics used theCommercial VehicleShow in Birmingham,UK, at the end of April tolaunch revamped ver-sions of its hardware andsoftware telematics plat-forms. The products havebeen upgraded using theUS$80m the companyraised following its listingon the New York StockExchange in August lastyear.

Two new hardware plat-forms will be on show –the Mix2000 track-and-trace product and theFM35xx fleet manage-ment system.

“They have been re-en-gineered so they are com-pletely new products,”said Steve Coffin, mar-keting director at MixTelematics. “They use thelatest chipsets and arefully up to date technol-ogy wise.”

The predecessor to thefleet management systemwas five years old andCoffin said the technol-ogy in that had moved onboth in performance andreliability.

Data captured by thecomputer are relayed toDynamix, an online soft-ware and reporting suitewhich has been designedfrom the ground up to be

Telematics platformsre-launched at CV Show

clear, intuitive and simpleto use. All data are storedon the company’s secureservers, with reports andalerts being available tooperators round the clock.

The company is alsoknown as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) providerand has rewritten its twoweb-based software plat-forms.

“They now use HTML-5 so they have faster per-formance and it lets youdevelop on the platformsmore quickly,” said Cof-fin.

Mix Datatrak lets com-panies track and trace ve-hicles.

The main improvementhas been that it will now

show a vehicle’s actualspeed rather than justflagging an alert if aspeed limit is broken. Theproduct is also viewableon smartphones andtablets as well as PCs.

The company’s top ofthe range software prod-uct is Mix Fleet Manager.

“This is where we gointo driver behaviour andso on,” said Coffin. “It isa far more comprehensivesuite. The previous onewas ten years old. Wehave done a completerewrite of the software tobring it up to date.”

It is now easier to cus-tomise to the require-ments of individualclients.

“This means we can bemore flexible becauseyou can develop on theplatform,” said Coffin. “Italso has vehicle diagnos-tics, which it didn’t havebefore.”

Fleet Manager can beused with onboard equip-ment such as accidentrecorders, safety camerasand sensors. It also workswith the optional Ribasdashboard-mounted dis-play unit with colouredstatus lights that tell thedriver when he or she isdriving correctly, when apre-programmed parame-ter is in danger of beingexceeded and when a pa-rameter has been ex-ceeded.

Datatrak isviewable on smartphones

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Vehicle ElectronicsPage 36, May 2014

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Vehicle Electronics May 2014, Page 37

Accurate current measurementis essential in a BMS, whichprovides functions such as

monitoring a battery’s state ofcharge and health

A reference design boardthat measures current toan accuracy of ±1% bymonitoring the voltagedrop across a copper trackon a PCB has been intro-duced by AMS.

The technique uses thefirm’s AS8510 data-ac-quisition front end, lettingdesigners of battery man-agement systems (BMSs)reduce costs by eliminat-ing the precision shunt re-sistor normally used incurrent-sensing applica-tions.

Accurate current meas-urement is an essentialfunction in a BMS, whichprovides functions in-cluding monitoring of abattery’s state of chargeand state of health. Thereference design boardprovides a blueprint forthe current measurementfunction in a BMS, andcan be applied in e-bikes,pedelecs and other appli-cations drawing current

The Simplelink Bluetoothlow energy CC2541-Q1is an integrated wirelessmicrocontroller (MCU)from Texas Instrumentsthat delivers automotiveconnectivity to emergingsmartphone-controlledand wire-replacement ap-plications.

The device leveragesthe company’s automo-tive connectivity offer-ings for combo Wifi,Bluetooth and GNSS(Wilink 8Q) and dual-mode Bluetooth(BL6450Q). It is targetedat an emerging market ofautomotive featuresaimed at using BluetoothSmart technology tomake it easier for con-sumers to get informationand control automotivesystems.

Applications include

Wireless microcontrollerdelivers automotive use cases

smartphone control,keyless entry using aBluetooth Smart Readysmartphone or BluetoothSmart key fob, lightingcontrols, diagnostic infor-mation to help usersunderstand engine warn-ing lights, services withIBeacon technology for

fast discovery and easypairing with in-car Blue-tooth Smart technology,wire replacement to re-duce weight and cost,wireless infotainmentcontrols in the steeringwheel, low data rate sys-tems, and BluetoothSmart remotes for rear-

seat entertainment.The device includes the

company’s BLE-Stacksoftware and sample ap-plications including over-the-air download supportfor in-field updates. Thecontroller, host and appli-cation with integratedflash are on one 6 by6mm device.

There is planned sup-port for Bluetooth 4.1 aswell as proprietary modesat 250kbit/s, 500kbit/s,1Mbit/s and 2Mbit/s.

Features include lessthan 1µA of sleep currentwith RTC and ram reten-tion, operation from acoin cell battery, low av-erage power to allow ap-plication to remain onwhile the automobile isoff, 95dB link budget and-40 to +105˚C tempera-ture rating.

Mosfets for light EV invertersInternational Rectifier hasexpanded its Strong IRFetmosfet portfolio to in-clude 60V devices for ap-plications such as powertools, light electric vehi-cle inverters, DC motordrives, Li-ion batterypack protection andswitched mode powersupply secondary-sidesynchronous rectification.

The devices have anRds(on) on-state resist-ance to suit low fre-quency applications. Fora maximum Vgs of 10V,Rds(on) ranges from 2.0to 7.3mΩ for through-hole versions and from1.4 to 5.0mΩ for surface-mount D2-pak devices.

They use a soft bodydiode and have a 3V typ-

ical threshold voltage toimprove noise immunity.

Each device is 100%

avalanche tested at the in-dustry’s highest ava-lanche current levels.

Current sensor needsno shunt resistor

of up to 40A.The same design can

also be adapted to meas-ure currents of up to 100Ausing only the resistanceof a PCB’s copper track.

The reference designtakes advantage of thehigh sensitivity and preci-sion of the AS8510, an in-tegrated data acquisitionfront end that providestwo measurement chan-nels.

One channel is used tomeasure current by sens-ing the voltage drop overa 10mm section of a PCBtrack with a known resist-ance value and tempera-ture coefficient. Theother, matched channelmeasures the temperatureof the copper track. Thistemperature measurementcan be performed eitherinternally by the AS8510or by an external temper-ature sensor.

By applying a compen-sation algorithm, the de-vice can eliminate theeffect of the variation inthe resistance of the cop-per track over tempera-ture. This means it canproduce current measure-ments accurate to ±1%

over its entire operatingtemperature range (-40 to+125˚C) without the nor-mal requirement for aprecision shunt resistorwith a low temperaturecoefficient.

“When paired with aprecision 100µΩ resistor,the AS8510 provides ex-tremely high accuracy of±0.5% over a currentrange from a few mA upto several kA,” saidBernd Gessner, vice-pres-ident and general man-ager of AMS’ automotivebusiness unit. “This newreference design fromAMS shows how thesame device can be usedto capture measurementsalmost as accuratelywhile completely elimi-nating the resistor.

“For designers of BMSfor use in pedelecs andelectric scooters, for in-stance, which are subjectto very wide swings inambient temperature, thetechnique for temperaturecompensation imple-mented in this design is avaluable breakthrough,enabling a worthwhile re-duction in componentcost while meeting manyapplications’ requirementfor measurement accu-racy.”

Vehicle ElectronicsPage 38, May 2014

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Editor and Publisher:Steve [email protected]

Advertising Manager:Jayne [email protected]

Web Site Manager:Martin [email protected]

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.

An automotive-gradeIHLP low-profile, high-current inductor with aclaimed industry-highcontinuous operatingtemperature range to+180˚C has been intro-duced by Vishay In-tertechnology.

Offered in the 2525case size with a profile of3.0mm, the new DaleIHLP-2525CZ-8A pro-vides a range of induc-tance values from 0.47 to22µH.

With a frequency rangeup to 1MHz, the AEC-Q200-qualified devicecan be used in voltageregulator modules andDC-DC converters inhigh-temperature auto-motive applications. Endproducts include engineand transmission control

Inductor provides continuousoperation up to +180˚C

units, diesel injectiondrivers, entertainmentand navigation systems,noise suppression for mo-tors, windshield wipers,HID and LED lighting,heating and ventilationblowers, and power seatsand mirrors.

The device handles

high transient currentspikes without hard satu-ration. Packaged in a Pb-free shielded, compositeconstruction that reducesbuzz noise, the device isspecified for an operatingrange of -55 to +180˚C,with high resistance tothermal shock, moisture,

mechanical shock and vi-bration. The inductor isRoHS-compliant andhalogen-free. TypicalDCR is 3.87 to 163.0mΩand maximum DCR 4.14to 174.0mΩ. Heat ratingcurrent is 2.8 to 20.0Aand saturation current 2.2to 14.0A.

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