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Microcontroller is optimised for automotive radar applications

Wed, Oct 16, 2019

Designed to address automotive 77GHz radar applications such as corner radar systems for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and automated driving, the TC3A has been added to Infineon Technologies’ Aurix family.

The TC3A includes a new signal processing unit, a large SRAM dedicated to radar and four TriCore processors running at 300MHz with two additional lockstep cores.

The TC3A’s signal processing unit, the SPU 2.0, is an evolution of Infineon’s accelerator for radar processing with reduced latencies for fast fourier transform (FFT) processing, extended capability for interference mitigation and different modulation schemes to improve radar resolution at lower cost, explains Infineon.

ADAS will mean that more cars will be equipped with more radar units to perceive their surroundings.

The microcontroller joins the TC39, TC35 and TC33 Aurix devices for long-, mid- and short-range radar application. The TC3A is based on the TriCore architecture and has four cores, two lockstep ones running at 300MHz. The SPU 2.0 has extended features for real-time interference mitigation and lower resources consumption while 6Mbyte of embedded SRAM stores data during processing.

The high-speed radar (monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) interface has up to 600Mbits per second.

For security the microcontroller is hardware security module (HSM) -compliant with EVITA full specification.

Samples will be available to selected customers in 2022.

http://www.infineon.com

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Arm and Green Hills Software collaborate on functional safety design

Mon, Oct 14, 2019

Software and tools by Green Hills are now part of Arm’s Functional Safety Partnership Program, announced at Arm TechCon 2019.

The software company has supported the Arm architecture since 1997 for safety-critical embedded systems for automobiles, building security, aircraft, surgical devices and industrial machinery.

Arm helps its customers enable functional safety on next-generation SoCs through a range of IP, design tools, support and involvement with international safety organisations. Arm’s Functional Safety Partnership Program promotes proven partners such as Green Hills Software in the categories of Software and Tools, Design Services and Training Services.

Green Hills provides safety-certified real-time operating system (RTOS) for critical embedded applications. The Integrity and Integrity-178 tuMP RTOS with secure Multivisor hypervisor technology and Multi C/C++ compilers and run-time libraries have achieved certification for avionics (RTCA/DO-178B/C Level A), automotive (ISO 26262 ASIL D), industrial (IEC 61508 SIL 3) and railway (EN 50128 SIL 4).

Founded in 1982, Green Hills Software specialises in embedded safety and security. In 2008, the Green Hills Integrity-178 RTOS was the first and only operating system to be certified by NIAP (National Information Assurance Partnership comprised of NSA and NIST) to EAL 6+, High Robustness, the highest level of security ever achieved for any software product. The open architecture integrated development solutions address deeply embedded, absolute security and high-reliability applications for the military/avionics, medical, industrial, automotive, networking, consumer and other markets that demand industry-certified solutions, says Green Hills.

The company is headquartered in Santa Barbara, California, USA and has its European headquarters in the United Kingdom.

http://www.ghs.com

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TRIAC thyristor series improve thermal management for smart homes

Wed, Oct 09, 2019

Designed for appliances, lighting and controls, an additional five high-temperature Alternistor TRIAC switching thyristors have been added to Littelfuse portfolio.

The thyristors are designed for use as semiconductor switches in appliances and equipment powered by line AC voltages up to 250V RMS.

The high-temperature Alternistor TRIACs provide easier thermal management, especially in application with limited or no heat sinking. They are also available in mechanically and thermally robust clip-attach packages. Their size allows designers to use smaller board sizes in low power applications, while they ensure higher surge capability to withstand short-duration overload conditions.

They are available in five compact, surface-mount and through-hole packages and extend the Littelfuse TRIAC product line by making high 150 degrees C maximum junction temperature devices available in 600 to 800V with ratings of 12, 16, 25, 30 and 40A.

According to Littelfuse, the combination of high temperature capabilities, space-saving packaging and current rating choices make them suitable for IoT smart home applications that require compact design but without continuous high currents. Typical examples are light dimmers, kitchen and home appliances, tankless water heaters and electric tools.

Littelfuse offers high-temperature TRIACs in TO-220AB, TO-220 isolated, TO-263 (D2-PAK), TO-218 isolated (TOP3 Ins) and TO-218X isolated packages with loop leads. Sample requests may be placed through authorised Littelfuse distributors.

Littelfuse manufactures circuit protection, power control and sensing products. Customers in over 150 countries operate in the automotive and commercial vehicles, industrial applications, data and telecommunications, medical devices, consumer electronics and appliances markets.

http://www.littelfuse.com

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Functional safety verification accelerates certification time for ISO 26262 IP

Tue, Oct 08, 2019

Synopsys claims to offer the industry’s first comprehensive functional safety verification suite. It includes unified failure modes and effects analysis/ failure modes, effects and diagnostic analysis (FMEA/FMEDA) and fault classification automation, powerful verification engines and ISO 26262-certified tools for IP and SoC certification.

According to Synopsys, it can reduce the effort required for functional safety verification up to 50 per cent compared to traditional manual and error-prone functional safety verification point tools.

The suite targets ISO 26262 certification for automotive IP and semiconductor companies for the highest Automotive Safety Integrity Levels (ASIL D).

Part of the verification solution is the VC Functional Safety Manager, a FMEA/FMEDA and fault classification automation technology.   

Automotive semiconductor designs are growing in complexity to meet the increasing functionality demand for applications such as powertrain, advanced driver assistance, and autonomous driving. At the same time, semiconductor companies are required to deliver ISO 26262 certification for their products to customers. This combination is expected to increase verification efforts by a factor of two to three. Synopsys’ unified functional safety solution provides technologies to bridge the current productivity gaps by delivering a comprehensive FMEA/FMEDA and fault classification automation solution using a unified fault definition and database with the fastest verification engines. Synopsys also provides tool certification and services to accelerate planning, development, and work product generation for assessors and customers.

In addition to the VC Functional Safety Manager, automation tool delivering the highest productivity through a FMEA/FMEDA and unified fault campaign process, there is the Synopsys TestMAX FuSa, used to perform early functional safety analysis at RTL- or gate-level and identify candidates for TMR and DCLS redundancy.

The Z01X fault simulator is for fast and proven digital fault simulation and the VC Formal FuSa app accelerates fault classification using formal filtering.

Synopsys TestMax CustomFault for analogue and mixed-signal fault simulation provides full-chip functional safety and test coverage analysis and ZeBu Server is claimed to be the industry’s fastest emulator, to perform fault emulation for long software-rich tests.

For debug, planning and coverage there is Verdi Fault Analysis and Certitude functional qualification demonstrates verification flow robustness in support of ISO 26262 Part 8-9 assessments.

The Synopsys Unified Functional Safety Verification Solution and VC Functional Safety Manager are available today for select customer engagements.

http://www.synopsys.com

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