• Article
[ Printer Friendly ]
Published in October/November 2006 issue of Chip Design Magazine
Automotive Electronics Rise To Meet Consumer Demand
With the complexity and quantity of automotive electronics steadily increasing, designers are turning to better EDA tools and programmable solutions.
Today, roughly 50% of a car's value resides in its electronics. That percentage will likely increase, as the worldwide semiconductor market for in-car audio, infotainment, and driver information/telematics is expected to grow from 5.6 billion in 2003 to 12.8 billion in 2010. In terms of temperature and vibration, however, the car's environment is very harsh. As a result, electronics may be the automotive industry's most difficult challenge. Designing electronics for automobiles is extremely complex because of the demanding nature of the automotive industry, constantly changing standards, and the introduction of new consumer-based applications into the vehicle. In this environment, system cost, flexibility, reliability, scalability, and time to market remain key considerations. More than ever before, it has become imperative to meet the needs of designers working in the automotive-electronics market without having to make tradeoffs between these considerations.
To clearly understand the challenges faced by designers with automotive electronics, one needs a better understanding of the key factors driving this industry. In many instances, these factors will dictate the types of technologies that may be considered by the designer--whether they be microcontrollers, applicationspecific- integrated-circuit (ASIC) technologies, or fieldprogrammable- gate-array (FPGA)/programmable-logic-device (PLD) -based solutions. These factors include:
• Changing market requirements
According to Martin Mason, Director of Silicon Product Marketing at Actel Corp., "Designers of automotive systems face constant pressure to add increasingly complex electronics, maintain high standards for quality and reliability, consider consumer demands, and legislate regulations--all this while meeting the stringent demands of low-cost, high-volume production." These factors--along with expanding component counts, greater time-to-market pressure, and increased performance demands--are forcing designers to consider technologies other than the microcontrollers and ASIC technologies they may have leveraged in the past.
• Increasingly sophisticated systems
Features like wiper controllers, power windows, sliding doors, seat controllers, smart keyless-entry devices, anti-theft mechanisms, and intelligent airbag systems are growing increasingly sophisticated. This trend is driving the demand for electronic components that can support the growing functionality of automotive-body and safety-control systems. These components must integrate this special functionality while helping to reduce system cost and development time (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: The 8-bit Fx2 series and 32-bit Fx3 series microcontrollers from NEC Electronics America are based on the company's 0.15-micron process technology. They have up to 1 MByte of embedded-Flash memory optimized for automotive body and safety control applications.
• Fast innovation cycle
The typical vehicle design cycle is every three to four years. For the OEM automaker installing infotainment systems, the development cycle may be as short as eight to nine months (from concept to production). Consequently, there's significant pressure on designers to innovate faster.
• Increasing digital content
As the amount of digital content utilized in the automobile has steadily increased, a range of new semiconductor markets has emerged. Automotive telematics and infotainment have garnered the lion's share of the industry's attention. As applications like rear-seat entertainment, displays, and navigation make their way into the car, however, designers must deal with increasingly complex system-design challenges.
Mark Gill, Segment Business Manager for Automotive Infotainment at Analog Devices, points out another obstacle: "The automotive market is one of the most regulated amongst today's big industries. Models being designed today won't hit the road until 2009 or 2010 at the earliest. Designers therefore must find ways to design systems (e.g., automotive infotainment units) that can withstand the test of time while still providing the incar entertainment experience that today's consumers demand."
• Platform concept
According to Kevin Tanaka, Manager of Automotive Marketing and Product Planning at Xilinx, "Meeting the requirements for customization to specific vehicle lines while maintaining system costs has become more difficult due to rising non-recurringengineering (NRE) expenses at the semiconductor device level for custom ASICs and microcontrollers." Designers must now look to the use of one basic design platform as a viable means of car-model differentiation.
• Product obsolescence
The life cycle of an automobile and its constituent systems can be quite long. As a result, OEMs now require that their suppliers be able to ship products for anywhere from 10 to 15 years. For the designer, selecting a solution that has a long product shelf life is crucial to success.
• Increasing embedded-software content
Today's automobile is one of the most complex consumer products in the world. Consider, for example, that high-end vehicles contain more than 70 microprocessors, which are used to control engine, chassis, safety, and driver systems. According to Larry Anderson, Director of Transportation Market/Europe at Mentor Graphics, embedded-software content also is on the rise. In fact, it's projected to grow at a double-digit pace over the next five years. This embedded content and the large number of microprocessors further complicate an already difficult networkverification process. Unfortunately, conventional electronicdesign- automation (EDA) tools often fall short when it comes to simulating the vehicle network.
• Network protocols
The automotive industry has very specific network protocols, which help govern the vehicle network. These protocols include Controller Area Network (CAN), Local Interconnect Network (LIN), Media-Oriented System Transport (MOST), and the emerging FlexRay protocol. The complexity of these vehicle networks and the fact that different protocols may be connected via gateways mandates the need for more optimized solutions for design, test, and validation.
A LOOK AT SOLUTIONS
A number of different solutions and technologies are now available to help designers address the many challenges that they face. On the design-tool front, Mentor Graphics offers a full suite of network-design tools, in-vehicle software, and test and validation tools for all major automotive networks. Varying from the traditional approach of designing-in extra network headroom and then physically testing, the company's Volcano family of solutions allows the network designer to guarantee that all signals are scheduled properly. It automatically generates in-vehicle software for LIN and CAN target packages. It also provides a means of interfacing the virtual-prototyping world with the legacy physical world.
The MathWorks is another design-tool provider working to address the needs of the automotive market. Its MATLAB solution is used for performing mathematical calculations, analyzing and visualizing data, and writing new software programs. The Simulink product both models and simulates complex dynamic systems (e.g., a vehicle's automatic transmission system). Together, these solutions allow designers to rapidly prototype vehicle concepts and then deploy them to production hardware.
With respect to test and measurement, Agilent Technologies features a broad range of solutions for the automotive industry including an electronic functional test platform and a CAN/ LIN measurement capability for its 6000 Series oscilloscopes. The Automotive Functional Test Platform, TS-5020, is well suited for testing small body electronic-control modules. It can perform both standalone RF and combination AC/DC functional tests, such as remote keyless entry. In addition, it is used as the base platform for Agilent's Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS).
A number of companies are now promoting programmable solutions as the ideal way to address the challenges of automotive electronics. These solutions feature a number of key benefits including: economies of scale, low inventory risk through end-ofline programmability, easier design rework, faster time to market, field reprogrammability, and lower up-front NRE charges. They also allow for customer-specific product derivatives from a single scalable platform design.
Actel, for instance, offers a programmable solution that includes nonvolatile (Flash- and antifuse-based) FPGAs, development platforms, and intellectual-property (IP) cores (e.g., CAN and LIN). It also provides a soft ARM7 core. The solution's nonvolatile FPGAs promise reliability, consistent performance, increased features, lower cost, and flexibility (see Figure 2).
Figure 2: The Flash-based FPGAs from Actel target a range of automotive systems.
Another company featuring programmable solutions is Altera. Its FPGAs, CPLDs, IP cores, embedded processors, development kits, and reference designs can be used in a range of automotive applications (see Figure 3). The company's Stratix II FPGAs vow to deliver twice the performance and 40% lower cost than their predecessor for high-density, general-purpose applications. The Cyclone II FPGAs promise to provide a flexible, low-risk, low-cost solution, making them an attractive alternative to lowand mid-density ASICs.
Xilinx flaunts a full line of automotive-qualified Xilinx Automotive (XA) FPGAs and CPLDs. The devices themselves are programmable. In addition, Xilinx and its Alliance Partners have banded together to develop automotive IP, middleware, and software. As a result, automotive engineers now have more architectural flexibility and scalability. Xilinx also recently announced its programmable-solutions roadmap for automotive electronics, which is based on the MOST networking protocol.
This hardware/software offering includes the LogiCORE highperformance MOST Network Interface Controller (NIC), associated software stack (e.g., network-services middleware), and application-tailored IP cores. It is supported by the Xilinx Spartan-3, Spartan-3E, and Virtex-4 FX12 devices.
Another company touting the benefits of programmability is Analog Devices. Its Blackfin processor is one part digital signal processor and one part control processor. This flexible, convergent device is capable of supporting multiple standards and delivering multi-format content to the automobile. The BF539F Blackfin processor was the first to be combined with Flash memory in a single package. It was specifically developed to provide CAN and MOST bus connectivity.
Figure 3: This prototype/demo system of a dual-view automotive display utilizes an FPGA-based electronic graphic engine, which was jointly developed by Altera and Trilogy. The liquid-crystal display from Sharp allows two different images to be displayed on the same screen simultaneously as they are viewed from different angles. It can be used in either the front or rear areas of a vehicle for entertainment and/or driver information.
THE BOTOM LINE
The increasing consumer demand for automotive multimedia applications will continue to raise the complexity of automotive electronics. Designers must be able to absorb the rapid changes in the consumer market. At the same time, they must meet the industry's requirements for flexibility, minimized system cost, reliability, scalability, and shortened time to market. In this dynamic environment, specialized design tools, test and measurement solutions, and programmable architectures will be crucial to success.
Cheryl Ajluni, Senior Contributing Editor, Chip Design. Cheryl is a contributing editor and freelance technical writer. She has over 12 years experience covering the high-tech industry for such publications as Electronic Design and Embedded Systems Development and served as Editor in Chief of Wireless Systems Design. To clearly understand the challenges faced by designers with automotive electronics, one needs a better understanding of the key factors driving this industry. In many instances, these factors will dictate the types of technologies that may be considered by the designer--whether they be microcontrollers, applicationspecific- integrated-circuit (ASIC) technologies, or fieldprogrammable- gate-array (FPGA)/programmable-logic-device (PLD) -based solutions. These factors include:
• Changing market requirements
According to Martin Mason, Director of Silicon Product Marketing at Actel Corp., "Designers of automotive systems face constant pressure to add increasingly complex electronics, maintain high standards for quality and reliability, consider consumer demands, and legislate regulations--all this while meeting the stringent demands of low-cost, high-volume production." These factors--along with expanding component counts, greater time-to-market pressure, and increased performance demands--are forcing designers to consider technologies other than the microcontrollers and ASIC technologies they may have leveraged in the past.
• Increasingly sophisticated systems
Features like wiper controllers, power windows, sliding doors, seat controllers, smart keyless-entry devices, anti-theft mechanisms, and intelligent airbag systems are growing increasingly sophisticated. This trend is driving the demand for electronic components that can support the growing functionality of automotive-body and safety-control systems. These components must integrate this special functionality while helping to reduce system cost and development time (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: The 8-bit Fx2 series and 32-bit Fx3 series microcontrollers from NEC Electronics America are based on the company's 0.15-micron process technology. They have up to 1 MByte of embedded-Flash memory optimized for automotive body and safety control applications.
• Fast innovation cycle
The typical vehicle design cycle is every three to four years. For the OEM automaker installing infotainment systems, the development cycle may be as short as eight to nine months (from concept to production). Consequently, there's significant pressure on designers to innovate faster.
• Increasing digital content
As the amount of digital content utilized in the automobile has steadily increased, a range of new semiconductor markets has emerged. Automotive telematics and infotainment have garnered the lion's share of the industry's attention. As applications like rear-seat entertainment, displays, and navigation make their way into the car, however, designers must deal with increasingly complex system-design challenges.
Mark Gill, Segment Business Manager for Automotive Infotainment at Analog Devices, points out another obstacle: "The automotive market is one of the most regulated amongst today's big industries. Models being designed today won't hit the road until 2009 or 2010 at the earliest. Designers therefore must find ways to design systems (e.g., automotive infotainment units) that can withstand the test of time while still providing the incar entertainment experience that today's consumers demand."
• Platform concept
According to Kevin Tanaka, Manager of Automotive Marketing and Product Planning at Xilinx, "Meeting the requirements for customization to specific vehicle lines while maintaining system costs has become more difficult due to rising non-recurringengineering (NRE) expenses at the semiconductor device level for custom ASICs and microcontrollers." Designers must now look to the use of one basic design platform as a viable means of car-model differentiation.
• Product obsolescence
The life cycle of an automobile and its constituent systems can be quite long. As a result, OEMs now require that their suppliers be able to ship products for anywhere from 10 to 15 years. For the designer, selecting a solution that has a long product shelf life is crucial to success.
• Increasing embedded-software content
Today's automobile is one of the most complex consumer products in the world. Consider, for example, that high-end vehicles contain more than 70 microprocessors, which are used to control engine, chassis, safety, and driver systems. According to Larry Anderson, Director of Transportation Market/Europe at Mentor Graphics, embedded-software content also is on the rise. In fact, it's projected to grow at a double-digit pace over the next five years. This embedded content and the large number of microprocessors further complicate an already difficult networkverification process. Unfortunately, conventional electronicdesign- automation (EDA) tools often fall short when it comes to simulating the vehicle network.
• Network protocols
The automotive industry has very specific network protocols, which help govern the vehicle network. These protocols include Controller Area Network (CAN), Local Interconnect Network (LIN), Media-Oriented System Transport (MOST), and the emerging FlexRay protocol. The complexity of these vehicle networks and the fact that different protocols may be connected via gateways mandates the need for more optimized solutions for design, test, and validation.
A LOOK AT SOLUTIONS
A number of different solutions and technologies are now available to help designers address the many challenges that they face. On the design-tool front, Mentor Graphics offers a full suite of network-design tools, in-vehicle software, and test and validation tools for all major automotive networks. Varying from the traditional approach of designing-in extra network headroom and then physically testing, the company's Volcano family of solutions allows the network designer to guarantee that all signals are scheduled properly. It automatically generates in-vehicle software for LIN and CAN target packages. It also provides a means of interfacing the virtual-prototyping world with the legacy physical world.
The MathWorks is another design-tool provider working to address the needs of the automotive market. Its MATLAB solution is used for performing mathematical calculations, analyzing and visualizing data, and writing new software programs. The Simulink product both models and simulates complex dynamic systems (e.g., a vehicle's automatic transmission system). Together, these solutions allow designers to rapidly prototype vehicle concepts and then deploy them to production hardware.
With respect to test and measurement, Agilent Technologies features a broad range of solutions for the automotive industry including an electronic functional test platform and a CAN/ LIN measurement capability for its 6000 Series oscilloscopes. The Automotive Functional Test Platform, TS-5020, is well suited for testing small body electronic-control modules. It can perform both standalone RF and combination AC/DC functional tests, such as remote keyless entry. In addition, it is used as the base platform for Agilent's Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS).
A number of companies are now promoting programmable solutions as the ideal way to address the challenges of automotive electronics. These solutions feature a number of key benefits including: economies of scale, low inventory risk through end-ofline programmability, easier design rework, faster time to market, field reprogrammability, and lower up-front NRE charges. They also allow for customer-specific product derivatives from a single scalable platform design.
Actel, for instance, offers a programmable solution that includes nonvolatile (Flash- and antifuse-based) FPGAs, development platforms, and intellectual-property (IP) cores (e.g., CAN and LIN). It also provides a soft ARM7 core. The solution's nonvolatile FPGAs promise reliability, consistent performance, increased features, lower cost, and flexibility (see Figure 2).
Figure 2: The Flash-based FPGAs from Actel target a range of automotive systems.
Another company featuring programmable solutions is Altera. Its FPGAs, CPLDs, IP cores, embedded processors, development kits, and reference designs can be used in a range of automotive applications (see Figure 3). The company's Stratix II FPGAs vow to deliver twice the performance and 40% lower cost than their predecessor for high-density, general-purpose applications. The Cyclone II FPGAs promise to provide a flexible, low-risk, low-cost solution, making them an attractive alternative to lowand mid-density ASICs.
Xilinx flaunts a full line of automotive-qualified Xilinx Automotive (XA) FPGAs and CPLDs. The devices themselves are programmable. In addition, Xilinx and its Alliance Partners have banded together to develop automotive IP, middleware, and software. As a result, automotive engineers now have more architectural flexibility and scalability. Xilinx also recently announced its programmable-solutions roadmap for automotive electronics, which is based on the MOST networking protocol.
This hardware/software offering includes the LogiCORE highperformance MOST Network Interface Controller (NIC), associated software stack (e.g., network-services middleware), and application-tailored IP cores. It is supported by the Xilinx Spartan-3, Spartan-3E, and Virtex-4 FX12 devices.
Another company touting the benefits of programmability is Analog Devices. Its Blackfin processor is one part digital signal processor and one part control processor. This flexible, convergent device is capable of supporting multiple standards and delivering multi-format content to the automobile. The BF539F Blackfin processor was the first to be combined with Flash memory in a single package. It was specifically developed to provide CAN and MOST bus connectivity.
Figure 3: This prototype/demo system of a dual-view automotive display utilizes an FPGA-based electronic graphic engine, which was jointly developed by Altera and Trilogy. The liquid-crystal display from Sharp allows two different images to be displayed on the same screen simultaneously as they are viewed from different angles. It can be used in either the front or rear areas of a vehicle for entertainment and/or driver information.
THE BOTOM LINE
The increasing consumer demand for automotive multimedia applications will continue to raise the complexity of automotive electronics. Designers must be able to absorb the rapid changes in the consumer market. At the same time, they must meet the industry's requirements for flexibility, minimized system cost, reliability, scalability, and shortened time to market. In this dynamic environment, specialized design tools, test and measurement solutions, and programmable architectures will be crucial to success.
......................................................................
