Future automotive chip trends will move from MCU to SoC

Ford Motor first introduced a 16-bit Intel Microcontroller (MCU)-based engine injection system to the Escort in 1983. Since the automotive industry has developed, many high-end cars on the market have been equipped with more than 100. A microprocessor, and the original Escort only had one microprocessor.

According to the Semiconductor Engineering website, the electronic control unit (ECU) design used in automotive interior system control has evolved over time. Jim Buczkowski, global CEO of Ford Motor's innovation division, said that the basic system of the car has a long history and is fully electronic and integrated over time, such as the window from hand-driven, electric, to today's smart windows.

The earliest automotive electronic systems operated independently, and the controller systems for functions such as lighting, door locks, transmissions, and anti-lock brakes were different, and now manufacturers are gradually integrating these isolated systems. The first stage of integration is to achieve information sharing, such as the door lock that automatically locks when sensing the speed of the car. It is necessary to connect the transmission control system and the transmission change system into a network to communicate and share different electronic control module systems. The signal between.

Automakers have long since jumped away from independent control systems and introduced controller area networks (CANs). In the future, high-speed communication networks such as Ethernet will be expected to transmit huge data and signals and integrate more micro-controls. The function is to process many different jobs simultaneously in the same unit, which not only reduces costs but also improves performance. ?

Traditional ECUs are based primarily on MCUs. In contrast, new systems such as Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) require different system designs because their performance requirements are completely different. In addition, ECUs have a more powerful core, and MCUs cannot continue to support these systems, especially camera-based systems.

Semiconductor companies are designing system-on-a-chip (SoC) for such ECUs, and thus have many SoC IPs that must be implemented through advanced process technologies such as 28nm.

The SoC-based ECU design is quite different from the MCU-based design. Because the MCU is a ready-made, standard device, there are a wide variety of tools to choose from. However, SoCs are not standard devices, so you must first choose the right IP to build the SoC, while for OEMs, the tool environment is less limited.

There are usually more than 50 ECUs in a car, and there are multiple PCBs and multiple MCUs, power supplies, analogs and other half devices in the ECU. Arteris CEO believes that the ECU can be as many as 145, and most of them are MCUs. Each major subsystem has one SoC, and most of the functions are performed by the MCU. The current trend is that cars are now made up of larger, specialized subsystems, and the best way to update them instantly is through SoCs.

Electric car maker Tesla did not force all manufacturers to electronically, but Tesla's strategy forced automakers to rethink the way cars are composed. The electronic architecture of the car has to be redesigned to be instantly updated, the security chip has to be deployed throughout the car system, and the software has to be re-conceived.

In addition to the general conditions, operating modes, government regulations and other challenges, one of the biggest challenges of ECU design is to enable high-performance processors to meet safety function standards under the constraints of cost and power and temperature conditions. In addition, Hyundai Motor consists of at least 100 million original codes, which are designed by different companies and teams, and meet high demand standards and security systems. Software complexity is also a challenge.

However, a large part of the automotive industry is dominated by automakers, while Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers are often responsive to automakers' requirements. One of the major changes in ECU design in recent years has been the construction of automotive open system architecture (AUTOSAR) systems, which define standard design methods for automakers, allowing manufacturers to define standards, communication methods, data types and messages for ECU software.

AUTOSAR also allows car manufacturers and suppliers to exchange more information, transmitting independent ECU samples to the Tier 1 supplier as a digital specification. Unlike the general consumer market, the automotive industry has to pay attention to many security needs and government regulations. Therefore, the process of transforming from a traditional engine to an electronic system is also cumbersome.

Robert Schweiger, CEO of Automotive Marketing in Cadence Europe, Middle East, and Africa, pointed out that the safety needs of the automotive industry and government regulations have a large impact, which indirectly affects electronics companies such as Yihua Computer and its IP products.

The automotive industry is currently focusing on reducing carbon emissions, and low-power technologies have become important, and this has not only affected the development of electric vehicles, but also the development of traditional gasoline vehicles. Because the design of the engine and power cord will affect the total weight of the car, which will affect the overall carbon emissions. In addition, manufacturers must comply with the government's safety regulations when designing the ADAS vehicle safety system. ? Adam Sherer, executive director of product management at the Automotive Verification System (Systems VerificaTIon Group), pointed out that when developing automotive systems, it is often necessary to perform functional verification, such as medical, military, and aviation. Security verification, which also differentiates the automotive industry from the general consumer market.

Now, the automotive industry has to figure out how to provide the vast amount of information needed for verification, which means compliance with verification requirements from OEM, Tier 1 suppliers, IP, etc., to ISO 9000-based, repeatable, traceable The process and the use of the Automotive Safety Integration Level (ASIL) as a quality standard assessment.

In the past century, the automobile industry has developed toward a trend of increasing safety and stability. In the past 10 years, the automotive industry has also increased the two trends of “efficiency” and “connecTIvity”. Among them, the performance includes fuel efficiency and carbon emission efficiency, while connectivity refers to the connection system based on in-vehicle infotainment system. People's driving experience.

The CEO of Ansys-Apache Application Engineering believes that most modern vehicles are composed of four electronic subsystems: engine and power transmission control unit, safety control subsystem, advanced driver assistance subsystem, and in-vehicle infotainment subsystem. These four electronic subsystems will control the operation and safety of the car body, or will affect the driving and user experience.

In recent years, improvements in electronic component design, integrated circuit performance, and system integration have also improved overall vehicle safety, stability, efficiency, and connectivity. However, in the automotive operating environment, the electronic and safety system is designed to have sufficient stability and anti-interference, and to withstand the temperature difference of -50 to 200 degrees Celsius and high temperature conditions, electromagnetic interference and other harsh conditions.

Temperature stability, electron migration (electmigration), and temperature-sensing fatigue of automotive electronic components have to be verified by simulation tests, and semiconductor ICs have to undergo temperature simulation tests to confirm stability and lifetime effects.

These ICs are subject to varying degrees of electromagnetic interference, such as inductive discharge ignition systems, high-energy interference such as power line discharges, and low-energy interference such as antenna radiation. The IC itself has to be designed to minimize the interference generated by its own operation. All important components of the car should be certified to anti-electromagnetic standards, such as ISO 1152, ISO7673 and so on.

Finally, the ECU update operation is also a major change. In the past, automotive electronic systems did not need to be constantly updated, but now automakers have to import manual or networked software updates to automate the development of consumer electronics. New standards or new applications can update ECUs, including in-vehicle infotainment. System (infotainment) or instrument cluster (Instrument Cluster) and so on.

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