Software Tools: Automakers Continue to Push Suppliers for More
By: By Randy Frank Contributing Editor
Coordinating the increasing network of software and hardware modules in today's vehicles requires forming a system model to account for all the interfaces...
Controlling Power in Automotive Body Systems
By: by Adam Prengler NEC Electronics America, Inc.
The amount and sophistication of electronics in cars is increasing at a very fast pace, driven primarily by two goals: to increase the functionality and...
Active high-voltage transient protectors trump conventional approaches
By: by Robert Regensburger Maxim Integrated Products, Germany
Various electric and electromagnetic disturbances generated inside and outside a car can be hazardous to vehicle electronic equipment. They can degrade...
Key trends to watch
By: by Ashok Bindra Editor, RF Design
While there are a number of OEM applications of powerline communications in the works and portable device connectivity is on the rise, the automotive...
Autosar transitioning from promise to products
By: By Randy Frank contributing editor
This spring's release of the AUTOSAR 2.1 specification has forged a major milestone in standardization, while increasing its implementation in vehicles at partner companies....
Under the hood of the Volkswagen Passat
By: by Randy Frank Contributing Editor
Volkswagen worked with several partners to implement AUTOSAR-compliant software into an ECU in a production Passat. Using the expertise of Hella, Elektrobit,...
Basic analysis and evaluation of low-dropout regulators
By: by John Pyle, Paul Emerald, and Denis Galipeau
A spectrum of silicon technologies has evolved, each with its own inherent set of properties. Strengths, shortcomings, and trade offs are apparent with each analysis. And, designers must choose the optimal approach to meet their system objectives....
IDE-based tools enhance designer productivity in embedded applications
By: by Jin Xu, Priyabrata Sinha and Jorge Zambada
Development tools—hardware, software and reference designs— are playing a crucial role in supporting the embedded designer, as the pressure to get products to market faster mounts. In particular, IDE tools, together with application-specific software libraries and reference designs, are enabling automotive embedded designers to focus on important design details....
Automotive, the next frontier for EDA tools
By: by Ashok Bindra Editorial Director, Power Electronics Technology & RF Design
This year's 44th Design Automation Conference has a special theme, "Automotive Systems." While DAC is more of a silicon design conference, automotive is more than silicon design as it involves several disciplines....
Automotive software development—Trends for maturity
By: by John Cain Vector CANtech Inc.
Electronics and software development are a key feature — in terms of cost and value — for automotive manufacturers and suppliers. With complexity and challenges in quality, cost and time to market, companies are looking for better ways to deliver high quality and reliability....
Preventing recurrence in future designs
By: by Jason Matthews Mercedes-Benz Technology
Once the root cause of a particularly troublesome problem has been identified, the problem-solving team will usually enter a euphoric stage, anticipating...
MODEL Behavior
By: by John H. Day contributing editor
New design tools coincide with the advent of AUTOSAR to ease engineers' application development burdens....
Navigating automotive body-control design challenges
By: by Willie Fitzgerald and Greg Robinson, Microchip Technology
As electronics growth continues to outpace mechanics, pneumatics and hydraulics, OEMs are facing increasing challenges in manufacturing vehicles that are safer, smarter and more energy efficient. Electronic control modules are helping to address these issues....
Addressing increased complexity with model-based design
By: by Jon Friedman The MathWorks Inc.
Today's automotive companies and suppliers face conflicting goals of reducing development time and improving quality in the face of increasing demands of greater system complexity from both customers and the government. To meet these challenges, industry-leading companies have adopted Model-Based Design....
Engineering electrical/electronic architecture for today's high-tech vehicles
By: by Dave Wright Delphi
Coping with the complexity of the electrical-electronic architecture in modern vehicles requires an integrated design methodology. Using this approach, new designs reduce mass by up to 20% and cost by as much as 30%....
Meeting Bandwidth Challenges With New System Architectures
By: by Adam Prengler NEC Electronics America Inc.
To design body electronics that allow for
greater efficiency, higher reliability, increased flexibility and improved performance, designers are taking advantage of new technologies....
Satisfying the Growing Demand for Data Storage
By: by Mike Alwais Ramtron International
Uses for non-volatile memory can be divided into three categories: program or firmware storage, configuration storage and data storage. The most relevant distinction between these is how the information changes....
Right Sizing Embedded Processors
By: by Randy Frank Contributing Editor
MUCs and DSPs need to meet the needs of today's applications while providing a transition path for future performance....
Model-based Design Signals Paradigm Shift
By: by Ashok Bindra Editorial Director, RF Design
From simply rolling your windows up and down to controlling your powertrain, microcontroller-based electronic control units (ECUs) have become part and...
Advanced System Design for Body Applications
By: by Nicola Liporace, Joseph Notaro and Giovanni Torrisi
The penetration of semiconductors inside an automobile is forecasted to increase rapidly in the coming years. Today, a high-end car is estimated to contain...
Digital Power Modules: The Convergence of Power and Body Electronics
By: by Daniel D. Moore
Many applications are taking advantage of digital power modules to combine power and body electronics into a single module. The flexibility and scalability afforded by the DPMs also present worse-case scenarios for designers. Thus, designers must consider trade offs between cost and function /performance....
Sophisticated Designs Drive Demand for 32-BIT MCUs
By: by John H. Day Contributing Editor
Increasingly complex applications are fueling demand for more processing capability and greater memory capacity - that's good news for makers of 32-bit MCUs....
Turning Comfort and Convenience into Vehicle Differentiation
By: by Randy Frank Contributing Editor
How many body electronics modules will carmakers supply to satisfy the average automotive buyer? The answer apparently is as many as it takes. According to Strategy Analytics, body electronics represent the highest volume electronics applications in today's vehicles. This report explores just a few of the changes that can be expected within the next few years....
Automotive Electronics Spurs Semiconductor Growth
By: by Ashok Bindra Editorial Director, RF Design
Because there is pressure to implement emerging advanced automotive safety, engine, infotainment, chassis control, and wireless technologies, analysts predict this decade will witness an unprecedented growth in automobile electronics content....
