Automotive

Four-channel automotive PMIC is compact

Tue, Mar 26, 2019

Claimed to be the most efficient power supply available today, the MAX20049 is a power management IC (PMIC) for vehicle camera modules that has been released by Maxim Integrated.

It has been introduced to meet the demands of automotive camera modules which are becoming increasingly smaller. The MAX20049 integrates four power supplies into a small footprint. The MAX20049 offers options to support various output voltages while also providing fault mitigation by flagging faults and shifts in output voltages.

The four-channel MAX20049 measures 38mm2 and is almost 30 per cent more compact than competitive solutions, claims Maxim Integrated and offer the highest efficiency among other quad-power power management ICs in its class. It has options to support modules that need various output voltages for different mixes of sensors and serialisers, enabling designers to make changes in layout or to fine-tune the IC to meet specific application requirements. Flexible sequencing and fixed output voltages support various image sensors. The MAX20049 provides fault mitigation to help flag faults and shifts in output voltages to ensure that the cameras are working as needed.

It has over-voltage protection, under-voltage lockout, external power good (PGOOD) signal and cycle-by-cycle current limit. And supports a wide voltage input range from 4.0 to 17V, enabling power-over-coax (POC), typically from 8.0 to 10V. There is also an option of using one of the buck converters as an intermediate supply for generating typical sensor and serialiser rails.

System efficiency at full load is 74 per cent, compared with 69 per cent efficiency for discrete ICs.

Spread spectrum and 2.2MHz switching frequency mitigates electromagnetic interference (EMI) to meet CISPR low-noise specifications.

The MAX20049 is available now and Maxim also offers the MAX20049EVKIT# evaluation kit and EE-Sim models.

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http://www.maximintegrated.com/products/MAX20049

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STMicroelectronics and Virscient partner for vehicle connectivity

Thu, Feb 28, 2019

Wireless connectivity skills from Virscient are used in STMicroelectronics’  Telemaco3P automotive application processors for connected vehicles.

Virscient offers support to ST customers in the development and delivery of advanced automotive applications based on the ST Modular Telematics Platform (MTP). MTP is a development and demonstration platform incorporating ST’s Telemaco3P telematics and connectivity microprocessor. MTP enables the rapid prototyping and development of smart driving applications, including vehicle connectivity to back-end servers, road infrastructure, and other vehicles, explains ST. Virscient brings wireless connectivity technologies and protocols for architecting connected car systems that rely on technologies such as GNSS (precise positioning), LTE/cellular modems, V2X technologies, Wi‑Fi, Bluetooth, and Bluetooth Low Energy.

The Telemaco3P incorporates dual Arm Cortex-A7 processors with an embedded hardware security module (HSM), an independent Arm Cortex-M3 subsystem, and a set of connectivity interfaces.

Telemaco3P SoC ensures a secure connection between the vehicle and the Cloud, explains ST. Its asymmetric multi-core architecture provides powerful application processors as well as an independent CAN control subsystem with optimised power management. Its ISO 26262 silicon design, its embedded Hardware Security Module, and automotive-grade qualification up to 105 degrees C ambient temperature allow for the implementation of a range of secure telematics applications supporting high-throughput wireless connectivity and over the air (OTA) firmware upgrades.

ST and Virscient will be exhibiting the Modular Telematics Platform within the ST Automotive Telematics Ecosystem at Embedded World. Visit ST in Hall 4A, stand 4A-138.

Semiconductor supplier, ST provides intelligent and energy-efficient products enabling smarter driving and smarter factories, cities and homes, along with the next generation of mobile and IoT devices.

Virscient helps the world’s leading semiconductor and product companies get to market faster with quality wireless connectivity solutions for automotive, audio, IoT, and industrial markets. With deep expertise in secure wireless and connected systems, Virscient provides engineering services and intellectual property spanning a range of technologies such as Wi‑Fi, Bluetooth, 5G, GNSS, LoRa, Sigfox and IEEE 802.15.4.

http://www.st.com

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Microcontroller has virtualisation assist for self-drive vehicles

Wed, Feb 20, 2019

For next-generation automotive architectures, Renesas Electronics has introduced a 28nm microcontroller with virtualisation-assisted functions. The 600MHz flash microcontroller combines enhanced built-in self-test (BIST) and a Gbit Ethernet (GbE) interface.

The company described the verification of the automotive test chip as a technological stepping stone toward the realisation of next-generation automotive-control flash microcontrollers employing a 28nm low power process.

The microcontroller has four 600MHz CPUs with a lock-step mechanism and a large flash memory capacity of 16Mbyte as well as virtualisation-assisted functions. This technology allows multiple software components to run on a single microcontroller without interfering with each other to satisfy the requirements of the highest automotive safety integrity level specified under the ISO 26262 functional safety standard for road vehicles, ASIL D.

The enhanced BIST functionality allows for microcontroller self-diagnostic fault-detection, which is necessary to implement ASIL D. The newly developed standby-resume BIST (SR-BIST) function is executed during the standby-resume period.

There is also enhanced networking functionality, including a GbE interface for high-speed transfer of sensor information.

Automotive microcontrollers need to meet the requirements of running software components with varying safety integrity levels simultaneously and without interference. Automotive control requires software independence as well as real time responsiveness. To meet these next-generation requirements, Renesas has developed new technologies led by virtualization-assisted functions for automotive-control MCUs, as demonstrated in the new test chip.

Typically, software-based (hypervisor) virtualisation requires greater processing time as it has to emulate hardware virtually. The increased processing time is problematic for automotive-control microcontrollers that must maintain real time responsiveness. The hardware-based virtualisation-assisted functions were developed to reduce the virtualisation overhead and boost responsiveness. Allowing software components to operate independently makes it possible for the microcontroller to deliver both virtualisation and real-time performance as required by ASIL D.

One way to avoid disturbing a CPU processing period is to to perform self-diagnostics in the period between when the microcontroller enters the standby state and when resume occurs. There is, however, limitation regarding current fluctuations, meaning that the increase in the current fluctuation rate caused by resume due to self-diagnostics is a concern. Renesas has developed SR-BIST to minimise the current fluctuation rate. SR-BIST runs before the CPU begins operating each time there is a transition from standby to resume. To ensure rapid start up, the on-chip oscillator supplies a clock for the fault diagnostics. An N/M divider is used to gradually increase the frequency of the clock, reducing the current fluctuation rate when SR-BIST is executing. As a result, it allows functional safety that meets the requirements of ASIL D, confirms Renesas.

Ethernet will be the high-speed communication interface to handle the volume of data generated by connected vehicles. Renesas has developed a GbE interface using 5V transistors that supports the Serial Gigabit Media Independent Interface (SGMII) standard and provides electrical noise tolerance. To deal with deterioration of the signal bandwidth due to the use of 5V transistors, dedicated circuits were added for receiver and driver. This results in signal quality that complies with the SGMII standard, says Renesas.

Renesas presented the test results at this week’s International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) 2019, in San Francisco, USA.

http://renesas.com

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Safety laser clears a safe path

Thu, Feb 14, 2019

Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) can be operated safely using the RSL 400 safety laser scanner, using protective and warning fields. It also simultaneously captures the measurement values for the navigation software.

When the triangulation principle is used for navigation, AGVs are typically equipped with two different sensors, one for safety and one for navigation. The RSL 400 safety laser scanner from Leuze Electronic, however, not only handles the safety aspects, but also provides all measurement values for the AGV’s navigation based on the natural navigation principle. In addition, the measurement values have an extremely high angular resolution and accuracy, reports Leuze. This is important to precisely determine the position of the AGV. Consequently, only one scanner is needed for safety and navigation functions.

Measurement value output of the RSL 400 is optimised for navigation software that functions according to the principle of natural navigation with simultaneous localisation and mapping (SLAM). With each revolution of its deflection unit, which last 40 milliseconds each, the safety laser scanner emits 2,700 light pulses which are scattered in all directions on obstacles. Parts of the scattered light are transmitted back to the scanner and used to calculate the distance to the obstacle. Similar to a map, the navigation software contains an image of the respective room, including all fixed boundaries. The current position of the AGV is then calculated by comparing the measurement values to the map. This concept is referred to as natural navigation.

The more detailed and exact the measurement values of a scanner are, the more precisely the AGV can navigate. With an angular resolution of 0.1 degrees, the RSL 400 can capture the environment in high detail over the entire measurement range up to 50m. This is achieved through a narrow laser spot that maintains its perpendicular shape over the entire scanning angle. It also reduces incorrect measurements, which can occur on edges.

In addition to the angular resolution, distance values are also important. Typical error accuracy is less than 30mm. The values are not affected by the reflectance of the object, whether it is a reflector or a black wall. The additional output of the received signal strength value for each beam allows autonomous detection of reflectors by the navigation software. When beams strike a reflector, the values differ greatly from any other environment. This makes simple and reliable detection possible.

Safety features include the ability to offer up to 100 switchable protective and warning field pairs. This high number means that the protective fields can be adapted to the respective movement and load conditions as well as the speed of the vehicles. In four-field mode with 50 switchable field sets, the device can monitor up to four protective fields simultaneously. This enables safe and reliable reduction of the speed of AGVs. With a scanning angle of 270 degrees, the RSL 400 can also cover the front and side areas of AGVs at the same time, for example, around corners.

Maximum operating range is 8.25m, meaning that even large AGVs can be safeguarded with only two RSL 400.

The product range includes nine variants, three of which with data output for AGV navigation. All models are available for the four operating ranges of 3.0, 4.5, 6.25, and 8.25m. Models with PROFIsafe/ProfiNet interfaces are also available. These interfaces make it easier to integrate the devices, particularly when many different protective field configurations are used.

 http://www.leuze.com

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