VOL.1 ISSUE.

4
www.automotive-electronics.co.uk August/September 2005

SOFTWARE SECURITY
IN INFOTAINMENT SYSTEMS

Using programmable logic

for infotainment

New standards
in electrical
design

Enquiry No: 16
 ae
automotive
CONTENTS 3

electronics
VOL.1 ISSUE. 4
www.automotive-electronics.co.uk August/September 2005

Incorporating SOFTWARE SECURITY

IN INFOTAINMENT SYSTEMS

Using programmable logic

Institute of Vehicle Engineers

for infotainment

New standards
in electrical
design

Shaping The Future Of The UK’s Automotive, The cover to this issue is sponsored by Altera,

Aerospace and Mobility Industries whose Stratix FPGA is being used in infotainment systems
to provide more flexibility.

If we give the impression that something Published by:

momentous has happened in the UK’s MT Publications Limited
Dorchester House
Station Road
automotive industries, forgive us.
Letchworth Garden City
It just has. Hertfordshire SG6 3AW
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The evolutionary process dictates that only
the strongest, most resourceful of any Email: enquiries@automotive-electronics.co.uk
Web: www.automotive-electronics.co.uk
species survive.
Editor:
There will always be casualties, but those Nick Flaherty
Email: Nick@automotive-electronics.co.uk
with inner strength and determination
Editorial Contributors:
John Wilson, Andreas Friedrich,
surely stand on the brink of harnessing the
very power of evolution itself. Axel Zimmerman, Jeremy Flann

Designer:
Lorna Cowan
It happens only rarely, perhaps once in a
lifetime. Email: Lorna@automotive-electronics.co.uk

Advertising Manager:
You know you are witnessing evolution in Matthew Sullivan
the making. Email: matt@automotive-electronics.co.uk

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James Ormiston
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and commitment in abundance, to Publishing Assistant:
champion the cause of the UK’s Sally-Ann Smith
Email: sally@automotive-electronics.co.uk News 4
automotive industries.
Publisher:
David Williams Electrical design and the role of data standards 10
Email: David@automotive-electronics.co.uk
John Wilson looks at new standards for designing integrated systems.
Far East representative:
Running Rich Ltd
1F, Peace Hotel
23 East Nanjing Road Magnet configurations for Hall-effect sensors 14
Shanghai PC 200002 Andreas Friedrich looks at the ways Hall effect sensors are increasingly
Tel: +86 021 6329 7878 (ext 856/866) being used to replace mechanical switches.
Fax: +86 021 6321 0392
Contacts: Wendy Huang or Rachel Gu
Email: wendyhuang1026@hotmail.com

Automotive Electronics is available to

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Leading Our World in Motion 1905-2005
Developing ASSPs with programmable logic 18
readers in the United Kingdom not meeting Axel Zimmerman looks at the advantages of using programmable logic
the terms of control at an annual rate of £55. in infotainment systems.
The overseas subscription rate is US$130
Automotive Electronics is published
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No part of Automotive Electronics may
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Solving software security in an infotainment system 24
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Jeremy Flann looks at the challenges for software in today’s upgradeable
or damage to unsolicited press releases and/or infotainment systems.
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automotive electronics • August/September 05 www.automotive-electronics.co.uk

Enquiry No: 1
4 NEWS NEWS 5

Fujitsu TEN Adopts Celoxica ESL Tools
A LEADING Japanese auto-
motive electronics developer is
using high level design tools
from the UK for developing
equipment and simulating cus-
tomer requirements.
Fujitsu TEN is using the DK
Design Suite from Oxford-
based Celoxica for internal
product development and cus-
tomer services business.
grate C-based design and syn-
thesis with model based design
approaches.This better enables
us to turn software into silicon
and it will have a beneficial
impact on our productivity and
our customer responsiveness,”
said Mr. Tonou, department
general manager at Fujitsu Ten.
“It means we can offer our cus-
tomers real-time modelling
and simulation performance
fy issues in engine design much
earlier than was previously
possible. This leads to better
product quality, improved relia-
bility and lower costs.”
Fujitsu Ten based their decision
on the results of a large scale
project to develop an
advanced motor control hard-
ware-in-the loop (HIL) simula-
tor called CRMS. Algorithm
design was shared between
Simulink model based design
environment from the
Mathworks. DK was also used
for the algorithm acceleration,
parallelisation and direct imple-
mentation of the CRMS system
and software models onto its
simulation platform. The per-
formance of the new CRMS
HIL simulator is 100x faster
than processor-oriented solu-
tions with significantly lower
Pi moves to new operating system for tester
PI TECHNOLOGY in
Cambridge is developing an ‘all
in one’ tester to emulate any
function in the vehicle with a
new operating system that can
run on a wider range of system
processors.
The new system is based on
the AutoSim tester that has
been shipping since the mid-
1990s with the Windows oper-
ating system and an 850MHz
Pentium III processor, with cus-
tomers including General
Motors and other tier one sup-
pliers, mainly in the US.
Pi has used the system to
develop automated testing for
infotainment systems, using a
camera to capture the front
panel image and a plug-in digi-
tal signal processing board to
analyse the image to ensure it
is as the designer intended.
The new system is smaller
with less I/O and is based
around a modification of the
ETS operating system from
Ardence, and will be launched
later this year as part of Pi’s
expansion into Europe, says
Adrian Carnie, Autosim busi-
ness development manager.
The prototype is still based
on the ISA bus, but Pi is looking
at moving to the PCI-Expresss
bus standard, says Carnie. “The
next evolution is to move to a
multi-processor system so we
can distribute the model across
different boxes and increase
the power of the system that
way,” he said. He sees more
demand for testing body mod-
ules which increasingly have
more electronics, and for auto-
mated testing of infotainment,
especially in the audio area.

GOT A STORY?
“Through extensive testing we
have proved that we can inte- and enable engineers to identi- the DK Design Suite and power consumption.

Freescale strengthens contact the AE Newsdesk on

Frankfurt Motor Show lead in engine control +44(0) 1462 673 555
XJTAG Advert 19/1/05 19/1/05 9:42 am Page 1

EIGHT OF the 12 winners of pared for the Williams F1 cars.

Honda launches new the recent International Engine
of the Year Awards contain
The Fiat MULTIJET common
rail control system technology
XJTAG Test drive

Civic at Frankfurt
HONDA IS launching its
eighth generation Civic for the
European market at the
Frankfurt motor show in
September, ready for produc-
tion in 2006.
Wider and lower than the
out-going model, the Civic
now adds the 'Dual Link' con-
WWW.XJTAG.COM
cept, in which important driv-
PowerPC from Freescale
Semiconductor for powertrain
control.
These include the Inter-
was developed at Centro
Ricerche FIAT (CRF) and then
successfully implemented on
the winning 1.3l JTD Diesel
X-RAY
ing information, including vehi-
cle speed, is displayed in the
upper part of the instrument
panel, while other information
national Engine of the Year, Best
New Engine, Best Performance
Engine and Best Above 4-litre,
BMW’s new five-litre V10 as
Engine. It uses electronic con-
trol to divide the main injection
into several smaller ones to
achieve quieter combustion,
VISION
is provided in the lower
part. It also features Vehicle
Stability Assist (VSA) across
Hella combines well as Fiat-GM’s 1.3 litre
diesel, named Best in the 1-litre
to 1.4-litre category.
reduced emissions
increased performance. The
system can be applied differ-
and
XJANALYSER
the range. The PowerPC technology ently depending on the
sensors in the provides injection and engine
management, and enables fea-
engine’s requirements at any
given moment – for example,
tures such as cruise control, to reduce start-up times, pro-
front end unit cold engine startup, fuel shut-
off for safety and security lock-
vide more torque, or lower
noise. The awards are chosen
HELLA PLANS to unveil its Integrative Front End Philosophy (IFP) out. The engine makes use of by a panel of motoring journal-
at the show in Frankfurt, combining solutions for pedestrian pro- BMW’s Formula One knowl- ists from 26 countries, based
tection, crash management, cooling and lighting. edge, using 10 flow-optimised on drivability, performance,
Hella has added the latest lighting technology and electronics intake trumpets to breathe in economy and refinement fea-
air from two intake plenums. tures. Other winners include
View BGA’s on screen.
behind two outer large-area cover lenses made of polycarbonate. Set pin values! Create buses.
They include low beam and high beam on a halogen H7 basis with Each cylinder has its own throt- Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive,
faceted double reflectors which swivel synchronously in bends, plus tle, a feature more akin to a which last year scooped no less PLUS: what you never knew JTAG could do

direction indicator, position and daytime running light using LED powerplant that is designed than four International Engine
• use high level language • re-use test scripts

technology as well as sensors for the driver assistance Adaptive solely for track use, and the of the Year Awards including • test ethernet ports • quickly write test

Cruise Control and the light source for an active night vision sys- blocks for the engine are cast the overall crown, which is still
with real packets for development

tem on an infra-red basis. at the same place as those pre- the Best Fuel Economy engine. Enquiry No: 2

automotive electronics • August/September 05 www.automotive-electronics.co.uk automotive electronics • August/September 05 www.automotive-electronics.co.uk

6 NEWS

The most impressive thing

ADI breaks into infotainment with Green Hills
ANALOG DEVICES expects
to see six infotainment systems
in cars launched next year
using its Blackfin combined
DSP and microcontroller.
The design wins follow the
company’s SHARC digital sig-
nal; processor which has been
used for high end digital audio
post processing, such as Dolby
surround sound, which has
the single chip controller
designs tend to use the
Integrity and velocity real time
operating systems from Green
Hills, he said. The company has
also launched its Blackfin Car
Telematics Platform that uses a
family of Blackfin processors to
integrate several telematics
tasks, including networking
functions such as MOST, onto a
and Echo cancellation algo-
rithms and text-to-speech
applications, to run on a
400MHz processor, along with
the CAN network protocol,
Bluetooth stacks and system
general diagnostics code.
Blackfin has been chosen by
Maxtrack as the main system
processor for Maxtrack’s MTC-
500 and MTC-600 vehicle
about iSystem Emulators?
Engineers at
utilizing Blackfin with an inte-
grated CAN module, will add
new capabilities such as net- Siemens, Bosch,
worked camera, dead-reckon-
ing GPS with integrated ADI Agilent, Visteon,
gyro, SoundMAX audio codec,
spread spectrum integrated
transceiver and much more.
BMW...
“We needed two main func-
tions from our processor, first it
needed to drive GPS,
Over 10,000 engineers

been added to high end ampli-
fiers.
The Blackfin processor is
now being used as the single
controller in navigation systems
and head end systems, says
Mark Gill, global product line
director for infotainment at
ADI. While ADI has its own
real time kernel called VDK for
embedded audio applications,
single processing platform. The
telematics platform uses the
ADSP-BF534 and ADSP-BF539
with Green Hills’ INTEGRITY
RTOS for real time signal pro-
cessing, the vehicle network
stacks, diagnostics code and the
software download functions.
This allows hands-free applica-
tions, speech recognition soft-
ware, multi-microphone Noise
tracking system.The MTC-500,
using Blackfin as the main sys-
tem processor running func-
tions such as high sensitivity
GPS, GSM/GPRS modem, digi-
tal audio and other functions
(with extra performance to
spare), can be delivered in an
ultra-compact device with
dimensions of 12 cm x 7 cm.
The next generation MTC-600
GSM/GPRS, and networked
around the world use
cameras, and secondly it need- iSystem In-Circuit Emulators;
ed to be the central processor
for all other data-driven
which is not surprising as
needs,” said Gustavo Travassos, iSystem's products support
CEO of Maxtrack. “Blackfin not
only provided us with this level
over 600 different 8-32 bit
of sophistication and power, microcontrollers as well as
but it also was more compact
and cost less than leading DSP-
supporting all available
only chips.” in-circuit emulation
technologies and all serial

BOSCH Celebrates Ficosa buys out fractal

debug interfaces such as
BDM, JTAG, ETM and

ten Years of ESP antenna maker

NEXUS.

BOSCH HAS celebrated ten years of series production of its

Electronic Stability Program (ESP) technology.
The technology cobines ABS and traction control to prevent a
car from skidding in critical driv-
ing conditions by braking individ-
ual wheels to counter under
and/or oversteer and maintain
vehicle stability. It started as an
option for high-end passenger
cars and is now available as a
safety feature on most new cars
and vans.
To celebrate the event, His
Royal Highness Prince Michael of
Kent, patron of RoadSafe, attend-
ed a reception at the Society of
Motor Manufacturers and
Traders in London.
The seeds of ESP development
can be traced back to 1983
when engineers at Bosch sought
to optimise anti-lock braking
systems (ABS) for better
vehicle stability.
automotive electronics • August/September 05
BARCELONA-BASED
Ficosa International has taken
over control of fractal anten-
na maker.
Advanced Automotive
Ante-nnas (A3) was set up
by Ficosa and nearby tech-
nology developer Fractus in
2002 in Barcelona to develop
fractal-based antennas for
the automotive sector based
on technology developed by
Fractus. It supplies fractal-
based antennas to Fiat and
French group PSA (Peugeot-
Citroën). In early 2005, A3
also signed a worldwide
technology licensing agree-
ment with Japanese-based
Nippon Antenna to develop
and produce antennas for
Nissan and Mazda.
www.automotive-electronics.co.uk
With offices around the
Fractal antenna technology world, you can also rely on
allows significant reductions
in traditional antenna sizes
our local support and
and replaces the traditional expertise to ensure you get
external antenna with a
multi-use internal antenna
the most from iSystem
which can be mounted inside technology.
wing mirrors or rear vision
mirrors for radio, GPS and
telephone. Put us to the test
The deal allows Ficosa to
integrate the A3 business and
telephone:
build on the penetration of
+44 (0)1635 817466
Fractus’ antenna technology
already achieved in the inter-
e-mail:
national automotive sector.
sales@isystem.ltd.uk
The deal includes an exclu-
sive license to Ficosa for
Fractus’ fractal antenna tech-
nology in the automotive
sector worldwide.
Create Outstanding Electronics www.isystem.ltd.uk
supporting Motorola National NEC Intel TI Philips ARC ARM ST and many more
Enquiry No: 3
8 NEWS
Philips wins infotainment design for Nexperia
PHILIPS SEMICONDUCTOR
has won a design for its
Nexperia multimedia system
on a chip in a navigation system
to come to market next year.
Philips has traditionally con-
centrated on the audio side of
The MathWorks expands strategic
relationship with Toyota and DENSO
THE MATHWORKS has
signed a long-term support
agreement with Toyota and
DENSO, Toyotaís primary
automotive supplier, to sup-
port their automotive produc-
tion programs. This agreement
will enable both companies to
continue their commitment to
Model-Based Design and auto-
matic embedded code genera-
tion technology, using
MathWorks simulation, model-
ling, and code generation prod-
ucts in a number of their pro-
duction software development
programs, including powertrain
control and other electronics
control units. The expansion
follows a successful pilot pro-
gram that included the use of
MATLAB, Simulink, Stateflow
and Real-Time Workshop in
production programs. The
new agreement enables Toyota
and DENSO to commit to
Model-Based Design in current
and future production vehicle
programs and to use produc-
tion C code for complex, real-
time embedded systems.
automotive electronics • August/September 05
the business through the radio
systems, and has been looking
to extend that to other func-
tions such as navigation sys-
tems and video. It launched a
car infotainment system based
on Nexperia back in 1999, but
is only now seeing the results.
Part of the issue has been a
concentration on the MIPS
architecture and a collabora-
tion with Microsoft on digital
rights management.
The company sees com-
pound growth of 8% per year
until 2010 in infotainment, with
the European focus on TV in
the car, says Drue Freeman,
"Toyota and DENSOís com-
mitment to Model-Based
Design exemplifies the way in
which MathWorks software is
increasingly being adopted by
automotive industry leaders
around the world for product
design and development," said
Andy Grace, vice president of
design automation develop-
ment at The MathWorks. "We
began our relationship with
Toyota and DENSO over ten
years ago in a collaborative
effort to define the engineering
tools needed by the automo-
tive industry. After building
widespread use in their R&D
groups, we set the goal of
effective deployment of
MathWorks software in their
production environment.
Our strong working relation-
ship with Toyota and DENSO
has now enabled us to meet
this goal. We are looking for-
ward to Toyotaís deployment
of Release 14 and we plan to
continue to improve our tools
to address their future produc-
tion needs."
NEWS 9
SPECIAL REPORTS • Motorcycles
• Field programmable
TO ADVERTISE, CON TACT DAVID WILLIAMS ON
- Oct/Nov issue technology
+44 (0)1462 673555
Vice President of Global ers to compete through differ-
Automotive Sales & Marketing ent architectural approaches
email: david@automotive-electronics.co.uk
at Philips Semiconductors and using devices with different
(left). “The big trend is we will peripherals. As well as ARM,
see a lot of those systems con- the Nexperia platform also
Micronas
verging audio with video or uses the MIPS processor,
navigation,” he said.“The centre TriMedia media processor for
console in the car is prime real all audio and video processing,
joins LIN
estate and there is only so and R.E.A.L dedicated low-
much room in there.” power, real-time re-config- Consortium
But video is not yet part of urable embedded DSP core
the convergence, he says. “I for audio and speech
think there will be systems recognition. The platform
coming out within this decade,” includes front-end silicon for
MICRONAS HAS joined the
he said. He sees a trend to the GPS and radio, and interfaces
LIN Consortium. Micronas is
ARM processor to provide a to various car bus systems
currently shipping several mil-
common base for software can be supported such as
that also allows tier one suppli- CAN. lions of embedded microcon-
trollers as well as hall-effect
sensors into automotive appli-
New EMC directive starts to hit cations. By joining the
Consortium, Micronas will be
A NEW directive on electro- known as ESA (electrical/elec-
able to expand its product
magnetic compatibility is being tronic sub assemblies).
developed that will affect all The new Directive requires portfolio with the integration
new vehicles and aftermarket that from 1 July 2006, a manu- of the LIN functionality.
components from next year. facturer can no longer obtain "LIN has been employed in
The new Automotive EMC approval under the existing automotive applications since
Directive 2004/104/EC will legislation and must adhere to 2003, and meanwhile is applied
cover all new passenger vehi- the new Directive. From 1 by virtually every manufacturer
cles from 1 January 2009, as January 2009, new ESAs which worldwide. Micronas has been
well as new electrical or elec- are intended for aftermarket
producing CAN-compliant
tronic components that are fitment and passenger vehicles
devices for 10 years, and by
intended for fitment to a vehi- must be approved to the new
cle after registration. These are Directive. adding the LIN functionality we
will demonstrate our support
$PNQMFUF
TPGUXBSF
BOBMZTJT
TPMVUJPOT

for the LIN bus", said Peter
Zimmermann, Market Manager
BMW adds thermal imaging system Automotive ICs at Micronas. GPS BVUPNPUJWF
TZTUFNT
The LIN Consortium was
BMW IS adding infrared night vision systems to its 5, 6 and 7 founded by Audi, BMW,
series vehicles this year, giving a 300m visibility via the iDrive DaimlerChrysler, Volvo, and
screen in the cabin. Volkswagen, along with com-
The system uses Far Infrared (FIR) with a thermal imaging munications specialist Volcano
camera directly registering the heat of objects, rather than using Communications Technologies
an infrared light source and camera. BMW engineers say that (now part of Mentor
FIR gives greater coverage and can’t be confused by the lights Graphics) and semiconductor
of oncoming vehicles, as well as using less components. maker Freescale (formerly
The company is also adding a ‘high beam assistant’ that varies
Motorola) in 2000.While CAN
the beam of the headlights depending on the traffic move-
bus is fast and powerful, LIN
ments. A light sensor behind the rear vie mirror detects oncom-
F


JOGP!MESBDPN
ing light source, including street lamps and even cyclists, and offers sufficient speed for most U





automatically switches to the best headlight settings. body control and especially X


XXXMESBDPN

sensor applications.
Enquiry No: 4
www.automotive-electronics.co.uk automotive electronics • August/September 05 www.automotive-electronics.co.uk
10 DESIGN
Automotive electrical design & the role of data standards
John Wilson looks at new standards for combining the tools used for automotive design into an integrated system
W
ith the incre-
asing complexity of
today’s automotive
and aerospace electrical sys-
tems, manufacturers now seek
a high degree of integration
between their business and
design tools.The different tools
- PLM, PDM, ECAD, MCAD,
Workflow and ERP systems -
are no longer selected purely
through their individual func-
tionalities, they must also
integrate.
This integration must include
automotive electronics • August/September 05
all data in the process:
• data created, or used, inside
and outside the organization.
Modern design processes
involve scores of companies
working concurrently, each
with their own specialized data
definitions.
• inter-related data stored
across several databases, each
dedicated to particular tasks
and tools – MCAD, ECAD,
optioning, in-vehicle-software,
and so on. Communication of
this data between databases is
typically achieved via a PLM
tool, which also serves as a
data-vault. (Despite a desire to
store everything in a single
database, a single database
would be difficult to achieve -
both practically and technically
- and would almost certainly
result in much slower perform-
ance of many of the tools.)
• data created throughout the
design and product life-cycle,
from concept through to man-
ufacture, service and de-com-
missioning. A particular com-
Figure 1
Elements of
the electrical
design flow.
www.automotive-electronics.co.uk
ponent may need to be repre-
sented at many levels of detail
and through all its design revi-
sion.
As an example, figure 1
shows some of the design data
interactions associated with
the electrical design of a car.
Platform definition, System def-
inition
Achieving a truly integrated
Standard s
environment demands that
software tool developers, and
users, work towards the devel-
opment of a common vision of
the process and the data ‘back-
bone’ required to support it.
This process cannot occur in
isolation, driven by a single
tool developer or tool
user, it requires co-operation
between multiple developers
and multiple users to define
structures that can inter-
operate.
An important building block
in the development of better
integrated environments is the
advent of common data stan-
dards. Since the 1990s these
have moved beyond the simple
definition of file and entity for-
mats to encompass much rich-
er definitions of product struc-
ture, physical and functional
structures, organizational struc-
tures, and much more besides -
figure 2 shows the broad scope
of the STEP AP212 Electro
technical standard.
Design tool developers have
previously implemented pro-
prietary data interfaces to
external systems, with little
recognition of the require-
ments and data scope of an
integrated design flow. Yet the
difficulty of predicting cus-
tomer requirements and its
knock-on impact on future
data-structures and data-for-
mats has often caused big
problems for companies using
these tools. Adding new func-
tionality to a design tool to
improve its integration capabil-
ity will often demand addition-
al data to be input or output
from the tool. This then
requires a new interface defini-
tion, which is often incompati-
ble with previous interfaces
and datasets and, as a conse-
quence, creates problems with
the management and integra-
tion of ‘legacy’ data.
More recently, the use of an
International Standard as a
guiding architecture for data
flows within the design process
has become a persuasive strat-
egy. These standards are the
result of years of effort from a
wide range of experts working
in a wide range of industries –
automotive, aerospace, rail and
other transportation industries,
industrial plant and machinery,
and machines of every variety.
The standards represent a
common superset of defini-
tions for every conceivable
entity used by any of the con-
tributing authors, supporting
the definition of entities at any
level of detail. An important
aspect of this is that the stan-
dards have a richness that can
support both near-term data
exchange requirements, and
automotive electronics • August/September 05
DESIGN 11
more complex data exchanges
that may be required in the
future.
The ability to represent
future data exchanges may
The Challenges
sound obvious, but this is rarely
achieved with proprietary data
interfaces and has usually
of integration
required the interface to be re-
written, often in a format
A comprehensive data reposi- of the physical bill of materials.
incompatible with earlier inter-
tory forms the background for Engine-speed, throttle-position,
faces. Using an International
integration, but this presents etc, might be mapped across
Standard as a guiding architec-
many challenges: several connectors and circuit
ture therefore provides a firm
• there may be significant boards in the same module
basis for developing integrated
duplication between the data and it is not usually possible to
design systems today, that can
used and managed by each of wholly and uniquely associate
be extended in the future with
the integrated systems – a function with a physical part.
functions and features that may
updating the data in one sys- The common data scope
not have been thought of
tem may require a cascade of must also be configurable, so
today.
updates in all the other sys- that particular users can con-
A further benefit of working
tems to ensure data is syn- tinue to use their current
with a published Standard is
chronized process by redefining their
that it can speed integration
• there may be a mismatch in needs within the ‘language’ of
efforts between co-operative
the ‘granularity’ of data used the common vision.
software tool developers -
by different systems – for • The data scope must support
interfacing ECAD with MCAD,
example, the information all of the functionality that is
for example.The principal ben-
required to define a ‘speed commonly needed so that indi-
efit derives from the reduced
sensor’ in a costing system will vidual companies are not com-
effort required to agree com-
be significantly less than the pelled to develop customized
patible data-models – the data-
technical information used in extensions to plug the gaps.
model is defined by the
the design system. • The data scope must deliver
Standard – the only require-
• data can be ‘lost’ if one of the sufficient configurability to
ment is to agree how much of
systems in the process cannot enable companies to add their
the data-model to use. Some
properly represent or manage proprietary elements into the
standards, such as AP212, have
data received from other sys- solution.
a very wide scope, and it is not
tems • The data scope must define
necessary to implement every-
• particular systems may have sufficient integration capability
thing.
different ‘structural views’ of to ensure that key participat-
the same entity. For example, a ing systems can interact with
computer module can be bro-
each other
The STEP AP212 electro tech-
AP212 and KBL
ken down into a physical bill of
• The data scope must ensure
nical standard and its KBL
materials – casing, connectors,
that the configuration and
derivative have become influ-
circuit boards, screws. Yet the
ential in the automotive indus-
same computer module can integration elements do not
try, in Europe and North
be broken down into a func- break when major functional
America, for both software
tional definition that crosses enhancements are introduced
developers and users. An
over the boundaries/structures to particular tools.
continued on page 20
www.automotive-electronics.co.uk
12 DESIGN
continued from page 11
AP212 interface has been
developed by a leading ECAD
and a leading PLM developer
to support the exchange of
data between their respective
systems and there is increasing
enthusiasm in the user com-
munity for these new, open
interfaces. In Europe, the KBL
‘Harness Engineering Info-rma-
tion Model’, a derivative of
AP212, has been developed for
the exchange of harness data
between car manufacturers
and suppliers.
The development of KBL, a
Adoption Issues
derivative of AP212, illustrates
both the advantages of a data
exchange standard, and its
potential disadvantages. A
number of European car man-
ufacturers had originally
planned to use AP212 for the
exchange of electrical harness
definitions. But a technical feasi-
bility study revealed that some
parts of the AP212 standard
were not sufficiently defined to
support the specific require-
ments of harness data
exchange, and furthermore,
there were many parts of the
standard that were over-com-
BOXANDSEATVENTILATION
plex for the specific require-
ments of harness data
exchange. Rather than defining
clarifications to AP212 – which
might be time-consuming and
therefore slow down the intro-
duction of a common standard
- it was decided to develop a
derivative standard that defines
a simplified subset of all ele-
ments involved in describing a
harness, eliminates unneces-
sary definitions and conforms
as closely as possible to AP212
structures and practices.
An advantage of this
approach was the rapid intro-
duction of an AP212-based
interface that could be com-
monly used in the automotive
industry for its specialized pur-
pose. A disadvantage of this
approach is that the specializa-
tion and/or elimination of key
parts of the AP212 standard
reduces the suitability of KBL
for other industries - in
Aerospace for example - and
this weakens the likelihood that
KBL can be adopted in the
wider marketplace.
A further danger with simpli-
fying a comprehensive stan-
dard like AP212 is that impor-
tant structures may be initially
omitted. The absence of these
structures may only be discov-
ered later, as difficulties are
found with describing particu-
lar real-world designs. Although
the missing structures can be
re-introduced, there is a risk
that the reintroduction cannot
be achieved easily – because it
might conflict with new ele-
ments which were deliberately
added to the original ‘simplifica-
tion’ to compensate for the
missing structures! The ‘fix up’
to this type of problem can
then cause divergence of the
simplified standard, away from
the original standard, resulting
in a loss of compatibility with
other AP212 data structures
used elsewhere in the electrical
design process.
The problem, therefore, with
the ‘simplification’ approach -
rather than full conformance
– is that short-term effort
may be reduced, but long-term
maintenance may be increased.
It also dilutes the ‘critical-
mass’ of users working with the
full standard, potentially slowing
the wider uptake of the full
standard across the entire
design process.
The development of KBL has
been a pragmatic solution to a
problem with comprehensive
data exchange standards in
general, and ISO standards in
particular. The richness of the
AP212 Standard is big, com-
plex, and difficult to under-
stand. AP212 is more than
2800 pages in length.
Distributed by ISO, it is rela-
tively costly for wide organiza-
tional distribution, and worse
still, its encryption mechanisms
prevent the use of ‘word
search’ within the PDF docu-
ments (there are twelve),
requiring the user to have
complete familiarity with the
entire document set before
narrowing a specific search to a
few pages.This creates a formi-
dable barrier to understanding
and can discourage adoption.
Additionally, and despite its
size, the AP212 Standard is
lacking in specific detail for
implementing some kinds of
information – an issue that was
addressed by the KBL develop-
ment team, but only for those
data elements involved in the
harness description.
Current experience shows
that this additional detail is
related to clarification of the
DESIGN 13
existing standard and does not and comprehensive strategy but an increasing number of of the design tools and the
require changes to the defini- for creating deeply integrated design tool developers and car data, and, in the future,
tion of the standard. These design processes. These stan- companies are introducing helping to support a more effi-
additional clarifications can be dards are not always easy to them into their processes – cient and comprehensive
achieved by publication, and comprehend, or implement, improving the interoperability design process.
adoption, of ‘Recommended
Practices’ documents. The
John Wilson is Technical Marketing Engineer for the Integrated Electrical Systems Division
of Mentor Graphics in Altrincham, Cheshire.
ProSTEP ECAD-IF group has
been active in this arena and
has already published a
Recommended Practices doc-
ument relating to a particular
subset of AP212 (CC03). More
recently, Mentor Graphics and
UGS have released a bidirec-
tional AP212 interface to their
respective tool flows; this also
required the clarification and
usage of an additional number
of entities, structures, and
libraries (these will also be
published). It is expected that
as more companies begin to
work with the AP212 and KBL
standards additional docu-
ments will be published to clar-
ify the usage of these stan-
dards, further accelerating their
adoption.
The drive towards deeper inte-
Conclusions
gration of design tools and data
is changing the ways that com-
panies select and use their /UR LATEST AUTOMOTIVE BLOWER IS SO COOLx
design tools. The design
process is now being viewed as
a continuous process with data
‘flowing’ along a common back-
bone.The creation and mainte-
nance of the data back-bone
demands a rich, and compre-
)TSSPECIFICALLYDESIGNEDTOMEETTHEDEMANDSCREATEDBYTHEINCREASED
hensive data definition – a def-
LEVELOFELECTRONICSINMODERNVEHICLES!IMEDATE
inition that can satisfy both cur-
APPLICATIONSTHE26RADIALBLOWERPACKSCARLOADSOFEBMPAPSTKNOW

rent, and future, needs.

HOWANDQUALITYINTOASMALLPACKAGE!NDWITHALIFESPANFIVETIMES

Until recently many compa-

LONGERTHANOURCOMPETITORSBRUSHEDMOTORSTHEBRUSHLESS26

nies have used proprietary

COMBINESHIGHPOWERCOOLINGWITHQUIETRUNNINGTOGIVEPASSENGERS

data interfaces between their

INCREASEDCOMFORTANDSAFETY 26THECOOLESTBLOWERFORTHEHOTTEST
CARS.OWFITITFORGETITx
various design tools, but this
has caused problems with data WWWEBMPAPST ADCOM !$SALES UKEBMPAPSTCOM
exchange between design
organizations and has rarely
satisfied the requirement for a
robust data flow. EBM PAPST !UTOMOTIVE  $RIVES 5+ ,TD s 4HE "ARN 3HEEPDOWN %AST )LSLEY s "ERKS 2' ,9

The adoption of Interna-

4  

tional Standards as a guiding

architecture for the common
data back-bone offers a robust
Figure 2
AP212 scope
Enquiry No: 5
0APST26*UNIORAD  

automotive electronics • August/September 05 www.automotive-electronics.co.uk automotive electronics • August/September 05 www.automotive-electronics.co.uk

14 SENSORS
Magnet configurations for Hall-effect sensors
Hall effect sensors are increasingly being used to replace mechanical
H
switches. Andreas Friedrich looks at the different ways they can be used.
all-effect sensor tech-
nology has advanced
significantly in recent
years, and now offers a combi-
nation of high performance,
accuracy, consistency, reliability,
and new feature sets at rea-
sonable cost. In particular, Hall-
effect technology now leads
the way in high-volume auto-
motive applications, where cus-
tomers are notoriously cost-
conscious and also demand
quality and reliability under
harsh environmental condi-
tions. In this sector, Hall-effect
devices have distinguished
themselves, and have become
the preferred technology for
many critical safety and per-
formance uses involving the
sensing of motion, position,
speed, direction, proximity and
electrical current.
Fig.1a
Fig.2a
automotive electronics • August/September 05
In many of these applica-
tions, Hall-effect devices are
used as a direct replacement
for traditional mechanical
switches, with the added bene-
fits of compatibility with ana-
logue and digital electronic cir-
cuitry to allow built-in signal
processing, offset compensa-
tion and diagnostics.
Hall effect devices may never
completely replace mechanical
switches, but they do offer sig-
nificant advantages over other
switch technologies because of
their contactless, bounce-free
switching characteristics. As a
result, failures induced by phys-
ical ‘wear and tear’ are virtually
eliminated. Moreover, these
devices are not affected by
dirt, dust, or other environ-
mental factors normally associ-
ated with ‘harsh’ conditions.
Fig.1b
Above diagrams show the Basic principles of a Hall-effect device
Fig.2b
Above diagrams show Head-on and slide-by magnet configurations
These Hall effect sensors can be
used with a variety of magnetic-
field configurations.
The basic element in a Hall
The Hall effect
effect device is a small sheet of
semiconductor material repre-
sented by Fig.1a. When a con-
stant voltage source is applied
to the element, as shown in
Fig.1b, it forces a constant bias
current to flow in the element.
The output takes the form of a
voltage, which can be meas-
ured across the width of the
sheet.
On its own, this voltage has
negligible strength, but if the
biased Hall element is placed in
a magnetic field that has flux
lines at right angles to the Hall
current (Fig.1c), then the volt-
age output is amplified, becom-
Fig.1c
Fig.2c
www.automotive-electronics.co.uk
MENTOR GRAPHICS:
ONE-STOP SHOP FOR DESIGN TOOLS
Mechatronics Simulation
ing directly proportional to the FPGA/PCB Design
strength of the magnetic field.
This magnetic field can, of
course, be generated by a per- System Prototyping
manent magnet which moves
in relation to the Hall device,
which means that the Hall
device can be used as a simple
method of sensing position or System Modeling
motion.
Even with a simple bar or rod
M agnet arrangements
magnet, there are several pos-
sible paths that the magnet to
take in relation to the sensor.
C
The first possibility is that the
M
magnet could move along a
Y
path that is perpendicular to
CM
the plane of the active face of
Network Design,
the Hall device (Fig.2a). This is
MY
Test & Validation
called the ‘head on’ mode of
CY
operation. In practical terms,
CMY
the magnet is moving straight
K
In-Vehicle Software
System Integration and
Module Design & Analysis Electrical Distribution
Mentor Graphics offers best in class software tools to support the design,
®
integration and verification of platforms in the automotive market. Mentor's
solutions span a wide variety of design challenges in the development process – from
high-level system design, software development, multi-technology simulation to
wiring design and harness manufacturing. Please go to www.mentor.com for more
details.
continued on page 16
©2005 Mentor Graphics Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Mentor Graphics is a registered trademark of Mentor Graphics Corporation.
Enquiry No: 6
16 SENSORS
continued from page 14
towards or away from the Hall
sensor.The resulting flux densi-
ty at the sensor is a function of
the total effective air gap
(TEAG): the sum of the depth
of the active area plus the dis-
tance between the package
surface and the magnet sur-
face. The typical TEAG for a
cylindrical magnet is shown in
Fig.2b.
The second possibility is to
move the magnet in a path
parallel to the active face of the
Hall device. This is known as
the ‘slide by’ mode of opera-
tion. In practical terms, the
magnet is moving across the
Hall sensor. This method typi-
cally results in better sensing
precision, with smaller magnet
travel, than the head-on mode,
but requires the use of
strong magnets or magnets
with ferrous flux concentra-
tors. Further precision can be
obtained by using a lateral ori-
entation, so both poles are
part of the magnetic circuit, as
Fig.3 Principle of the ferrous vane interruptor
Fig.4 (b) Alternative vane designs
Andreas Friedrich is European Sensor Applications Centre Manager at Allegro MicroSystems Europe
automotive electronics • August/September 05
illustrated in Fig.2c. Owing to
the large magnetic slope
between the two poles, this
effect can be used to obtain
very precise switch-point
locations.
A third possibility is referred
to as vane interrupter switch-
ing. In this configuration, the
activating magnet and the Hall
device are mounted on a single
rigid assembly with a small air
gap between them. The Hall
device is held in the ‘on’ state
by the activating magnet. If a
ferromagnetic plate, or vane, is
placed between the magnet
and the Hall device, as shown
in Fig.3, the vane forms a mag-
netic shunt that distorts the
flux field away from the
Hall device.
Using a movable vane in this
way is a practical way to switch
a Hall device. The Hall device
and magnet can be moulded
together as a single unit, there-
by eliminating alignment
problems and producing an
Fig.4 (a) Axle-mount vane
interruptor
Fig.5 Proximity and gear-tooth
sensing
extremely rugged switching
assembly. The ferrous vane or
vanes that interrupt the flux
can have linear motion or rota-
tional motion, and can be
made in many configurations
(Fig.4).
Ferrous vane assemblies are
often used where precision
switching is required because
of the steep flux density/
distance curves that can be
achieved.
Proximity switching and
gear-tooth sensing (either for
speed or position) can be
achieved by back-biased spe-
cialised Hall-effect devices
which sense changes in the
magnetic field caused by the
varying presence of ferrous
material. The ferrous material
shunts, or attracts, the magnet-
ic field of the back-biasing mag-
net to the Hall device. Fig.5
illustrates this application with
a notched wheel and a
toothed gear. However, targets
can be other ferrous objects of
Fig.6 The Allegro ATS650LSH is a two-
wire gear-tooth sensor module designed for
wheel-speed and direction sensing in
automotive ABS applications
www.automotive-electronics.co.uk
I N T E L L I G E N T E L E C T R O N I C S S T A R T W I T H M I C R O C H I P
Innovative Electronic
various shapes and sizes, such
as notches in plates, moving
arms, and so forth.
Solutions Driving Faster
Back-biased sensors can
have a single sensing element
Time to Market
or dual elements. In either
case, this type of sensor is gen-
erally more expensive than a
simple Hall switch and a dis-
crete magnet, owing to the
additional circuitry and calibra-
tion required to accommodate
the large back-biasing fields.
However, these sensor types
do eliminate the need to
worry about magnet place-
ment and selection, once tar-
get size, shape, material, and air
gap have been optimised.
Such integrated Hall-
device/magnet assemblies
form the basis of the
current generation of automo-
tive gear-tooth sensors which
are finding wide application in Microchip Technology provides more than just embedded control silicon
rotational sensing for
cam/crank, transmssion and
solutions that feature the industry’s best price/performance value
ABS applications (Fig.6). We provide a low-risk product development delivery and outstanding technical support set us
environment, lower total system cost and faster time to apart. Put Microchip in control of your next embedded
market. Our innovative solutions for the ever- control design.
expanding spectrum of electronic control units in the
vehicle give our customers a competitive advantage. This application features a Microchip 8-bit
Our commitment to quality and innovation coupled PIC® microcontroller and our low-power analog
with world-class development tools, dependable solutions.
Our Flash-based PIC microcontrollers feature: Typical Application: Reverse Sensing
• A simple instruction set
TC1428 PIC® Microcontroller
• A broad selection of on-chip peripherals TC1047A
MOSFET Temp
Xmtr PWM2 A/D Sensor
Driver
• Seamless migration between product families
• Package options from 6 to 80 pins
CVref USART RS-232
Our extensive analog solutions include: Driver
DC/DC
MCP1650 Controller C1
Program.
• Op amp families with one of the industry’s lowest
Flash
IQ for a given Gain Bandwidth Product (GBWP)
PWM1
EEPROM
Display
• MOSFET drivers that lead the industry in latch-up
MCP6293 LCD or
Op
Rcvr
immunity and stability
Amp LED
C2 Timer1
RC Ref
• Temperature sensors with an extended
temperature range of -40°C to 125°C
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The Microchip name and logo, the Microchip logo and PIC are registered trademarks of Microchip Technology Incorporated in the USA and in other countries. © 2005 Microchip Technology Incorporated.
All rights reserved. ME141Eng/05.05
Enquiry No: 7
18 INFOTAINMENT
Developing Automotive ASSPs
with Programmable Logic
A
pplications Specific
Standard Products
(ASSPs) are widely
used in both automotive and
consumer markets. The pri-
mary benefits of these prod-
ucts are their relatively low
cost together with a ready to
use system functionality.
However, there are hidden
costs associated with ASSPs
including finding an ASSP that
has just the right mix of fea-
tures, and if not having to aug-
ment it with external logic,
software, or other ASICs or
ASSPs. With rapidly changing
requirements in end-markets,
ASSPs might not be available
automotive electronics • August/September 05
any more within a short period
of time. Many ASSPs equipped
with specialized features and a
fixed number of dedicated
interfaces are not fulfilling the
market requirements after a
shor t evaluation period.
Consequently, system suppliers
who designed in these devices
are forced to re-design their
hardware and software. In
some cases they even have to
change the processor core.
Field programmable FPGAs
offer a powerful alternative to
ASICs and ASSPs for automo-
tive applications because they
significantly reduce engineering
development time and the cost
INFOTAINMENT 19
Axel Zimmerman at Altera looks at
the advantages of using programmable
logic in infotainment systems
of multiple silicon iterations. FPGAs are a cost-effective and DSPs, but at significant required by the automotive
Unlike ASSPs that may have choice for system design. Also, cost, complexity and power. An marketplace. This is a free-of-
needed features missing or their ability to re-use a com- FPGA can be added to the sys- cost reference design running
ASICs that risk re-spins as mon hardware platform is tem to lower the overall cost, on Altera’s embedded proces-
designs change, FPGAs can be important, allowing designers complexity, and performance sor development board with
programmed and repro- to create differentiated systems needs in a graphics system. add-on modules for the cam-
grammed as needed during the that support a variety of fea- Figure 1 shows a flexible and era/video-input and output
design process, enabling more ture sets with one basic design, scalable standard graphics solu- drivers to the display.
rapid prototyping and fast which results in reduced manu- tion that can be used in low- The video input module
time-to-market. They also can facturing costs. end, mid-range as well as in includes a front-end camera
be upgraded in the field if high-end graphics sub-systems. interface and IP for colour-
requirements change - even This low-end variant, marked space conversion, sizing and
after the devices are deployed in blue and featuring a video scaling, and interface to video
Flexible Automotive
in the vehicle. Without the up- input module and LCD graph- memory. The interface to the
Graphics System
front non-recurring engineer- Infotainment applications ics controller implemented in a LCD display includes IP that
Solutions
ing (NRE) costs and minimum require increasingly complex Cyclone FPGA, shows the controls alpha-blending
order quantities associated graphics processing capabilities. power and flexibility available between several layers as well
with ASICs or the hidden costs This processing can be imple- in FPGAs for targeting low-cost as picture-in-picture capabili-
associated with using ASSPs, mented in high-end processors applications such as those ties. These input and output
Figure 1: Scalable Automotive
Figure 2: NIOS II Block Diagram
Graphics System Solution for FPGA
Continued on page 20
www.automotive-electronics.co.uk automotive electronics • August/September 05 www.automotive-electronics.co.uk
20 INFOTAINMENT
Continued from page 19
control blocks are part of an
Altera SOPC Builder system
which is used to seamlessly tie
together all the IP blocks. A
subset of the OpenGL-E
graphics library runs on the
host CPU. The library provides
all functionality for handling
and presentation of bitmaps,
frame-buffer accesses and
drawing of graphic primitives
A powerful host CPU may
be needed to implement the
OpenGL graphics library, since
extended graphics applications
can be compute intensive
when instituting rendering
operations, rotations, line-draw
and polygon operations, tex-
turing and similar tasks. The
automotive electronics • August/September 05
mid-range variant of the
Automotive Graphics System
can provide a solution as a
coprocessor fabric, offloading
the host CPU with algorithms
that typically need the most
CPU power.
Figure 1 also shows an
example of adding a graphics
acceleration coprocessor,
marked in yellow, to the refer-
ence design system. This
coprocessor can take over
many algorithms such as:
• Block Image Transfer (BLIT)
operation such as direct blit,
stretch blit, transparency,
bilinear filtering, per pixel
alpha, colouring, anti-aliasing.
Enquiry No: 8
• Line draw with arbitrary
width, round endpoints,
truncated endpoints, alpha
gradients, soft edges
(blurring).
• Polygon draw of triangles
and quadrangles, alpha gradi
ents, soft edges (blurring).
• Drawing circles, ellipses, and
conic sections.
• Creating quadratic and
cubic Bézier.
With the addition of the
coprocessor, the CPU require-
ments of the host CPU are
www.automotive-electronics.co.uk
INFOTAINMENT 21
dramatically reduced. Of
course more FPGA resources
are used, but the system NdjgC:8:aZXigdc^XhY^hig^Wjidg
designer has freedom to
choose which algorithms will
be implemented in hardware
and which will be implemented
EVENTS DIARY
in software to optimize for
the most critical system con-
INFRARAIL - Int’l Railway
straints (speed, power, cost,
etc.).We can take this offload
Infrastructure Exhibition
approach further and put the
remaining processing tasks in G-MEX Centre, Manchester
the FPGA using a processor
implemented on the FPGA. In
13 - 15 Sept
some systems this may have
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JE9,-;.'&m;=I"'6'"6
the added benefit of removing
a component, the external Frankfurt / M ain International
host CPU, from the system.
Motor Show (IAA)
Continued on page 22
Frankfurt, Germany I]ZgZ^hcdHeVXZZ^i]Zgdc
17-25 Sept ndjgE87cdg^cndjg6eea^XVi^dc4
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NEC Birmingham I]^hB^XgdXdcigdaaZgd[[Zgh8dbeVi^W^a^inVcY
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5 - 6 Oct XdcigdaaZgXdcXZei#>ciZ\gViZYeZg^e]ZgVah
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gZfj^gZbZcih!hjX]Vh/
Motorbike Show O AdlKdaiV\ZYZiZXi^dc
O G8DhX^aaVidg
NEC,Birmingham O EdlZgdcGZhZi
27th Oct – 6th Nov O I^bZgh
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The Classic Motor Show, 6ahdVkV^aVWaZVgZ/
i^cn(%!(+!))!)-VcY+)E^c9Zk^XZh#
NEC, Birmingham
4-6 Nov 8]ZX`dji<aZ^X]bVccjcYZg/
c_bjeda[od[i ciY#][$Yec
>ejb_d[0CWha:[l[dfehj&'/&.)//--(
Embedded Automotive Seminar
Moat House, Bar Hill =b[_Y^cWdd;b[Yjhed_YiKABjZ$
K"-T'%%*"B9:K"'%%%
'+!A^c[dgY;dgjbÆGdX`^c\]Vb9g^kZÆA^c[dgYLddY
Cambridge B^aidc@ZncZhÆB@&)+AN
E]dcZ/ ))&.%-(..,,%Æ;Vm/ ))&.%-(..,,.
15th Nov lll#bhX"\Z#Xdb
Enquiry No: 9
automotive electronics • August/September 05 www.automotive-electronics.co.uk
22 INFOTAINMENT
Continued from page 21
Cyclone II FPGAs are opti-
Embedded Processors
mized for processor-based
applications, especially those
that benefit from the use of an
embedded soft processor such
as Nios II processor (shown in
Figure 2). A typical Nios II con-
troller system consists of a
CPU, the on-chip RAM and
ROM, an external memory
controller, and a number of
serial and parallel interfaces. All
modules are connected to the
Avalon bus via a multi-master-
capable switch matrix. The
Nios II processor is a 32-bit
RISC processor and is based
on a Harvard architecture that
has completely separate data
and address buses fully sup-
ported by the Avalon switch
matrix. The Nios II processor’s
synchronous interface and
small resource utilization and
optimized performance make
it particularly well suited for
implementation in programma-
ble logic devices.
Users of the Nios II proces-
sor also have the option to add
custom instructions to their
processor designs. These
instructions can be defined by
the user and implemented in
hardware. For example, a mul-
tiplication function, which takes
up about 80 clock cycles when
emulated in software, can be
performed in just two cycles
VOL.1 ISSUE. 3
www.automotive-electronics.co.uk
TRANSFORMING
NETWORK DESIGN IN VEHICLES
Developing a PC system
for trucks
Driving the
CAN aftermarket
automotive electronics • August/September 05
when executed as a custom
instruction.This makes it possi-
ble to integrate a variety of
functions such as accelerating
line drawing tasks, with the
instruction set capable of han-
dling up to 256 different
instructions. The Nios proces-
sor design environment con-
sists of a parameterizable hard-
ware description and an auto-
matically-adapted software
development environment.
Nios II processors can be
implemented in Altera devices
such as Cyclone II, Stratix II and
HardCopy devices. Typical
Nios II processor implementa-
tions in FPGAs achieve per-
formance levels between 100
and 225 MIPS. Operating sys-
tems already ported to the
soft processor include ATI
Nucleus, µ C l i nux, µC/OSII,
and KROS.
By using FPGAs in an automo-
Conclusion
tive system, the same platform
can be used to address differ-
ent market requirements. The
variants of the automotive ref-
erence design described in this
paper shows how this concept
works. A reference platform
was used to implement several
variations of a graphics con-
troller module based on mar-
ket needs. By using standard IP
and reference designs, the
development team can focus
June/July 2005
AUTO MOTIVATE
YOUR MARKETPLACE…
w w w.automotive-electronics.co.uk
INFOTAINMENT 23
editor’s comments
its efforts (and expense) on
differentiating products from
competitors and meeting cus-
Infotainment
T
tomers needs instead of on
basic programming. Fur th-
ermore, the use of FPGAs he industry move away from a vertically integrated supply chain to a more horizontal model is opening up
does not preclude implement- opportunities for new technologies and design techniques, and the Infotainment sector is leading the way.
ing an ASIC later. The design
implemented in an FPGA can Levels of integration that the industrial sector takes for granted are now starting to be seen in automotive info-
be migrated to a structured tainment systems.
Nick Flaherty
ASIC such as Altera’s
People now want to connect their iPods and other entertainment devices in the car, and this is triggering a
HardCopy device or a full cus-
tom ASIC because all basic IP is whole range of different architectures and network approaches that mean that there is still plenty of
reusable for future device gen- opportunity to innovate and differentiate. It won’t be long before the first hard disk drives are integrated into
erations.
mainstream cars.
Although automotive appli-
cations often can justify the Yet while infotainment often takes the limelight for new and sexy technologies, there are new hardware and
high volumes necessary for a software technologies and design and test methodologies that mean that the equipment throughout the vehicle
profitable ASIC implementa-
can be developed faster and more reliably.
tion, when increased complex-
ity and time-to-market pres- These developments are just as important as the infotainment systems that often grab the headlines, and more
sures are considered, FPGAs important to the broader development of the automotive electronics business.
can meet or beat the overall
project cost targets. The com-
bination of this low-cost struc-
ture with abundant device
Dear Nick,
resources available in FPGAs
allows designers to impl-
ement complete, economical A couple of points on the article "let the car park itself" for you to consider.
solutions ideal for this
volume production applica-
The article is clearly describing the Bosch demonstration that your author attended at Boxberg. However the picture which
tion.Furthermore because of
the flexibility of FPGAs, these describes the ACC adpative cruise control system demonstrated on a VW Phaeton is actually the TRW AC10 ACC sensor, not a
designs can be modified and Bosch product! I think you will find the TRW sensor performance to be significantly superior to the Bosch system!
enhanced quickly to meet
changing market requirements
and create product differentia-
Axel Zimmerman is
It’s a fair cop! The picture was another Bosch demonstrator for the diesel system, not the ACC.
tion without the costly
Market Development
redesign of the overall
Manager for Automotive
platform.
at Altera The article also refers to the 24 GHz sensors having to be upgraded to 79 GHz in 2012.This is actually not technically correct.
The legislation states that 24 GHz UWB (ultra-wide-band) sensors need to be upgraded to 79 GHz UWB
sensors in 2012. However a 24 GHz narrow band sensor does not need to be upgraded and hence the market potential for such a
sensor provides a much more interesting business case!
Mark Basten
TRW UK ACC Engineering Manager
corrections and clarifications
In the Jun/Jul issue of AE we mis-spelt the name of LDRA. Apologies.
www.automotive-electronics.co.uk automotive electronics • August/September 05 www.automotive-electronics.co.uk
24 INFOTAINMENT INFOTAINMENT 25

Solving Software Security in a Modern

Automotive Infotainment System
Jeremy Flan n looks at the challenges for software in today’s flexible,
upgradeable infotainment systems

I
t is easy to see the increasing
number of cars on the road
with after-market electronics
attached to the dashboard.
Clearly the consumer has a
desire for additional functional-
ity, whether it is telephony, nav-
There must be a centralised and navigation systems were
While cost is a factor that
cannot be ignored, a much
greater issue is that a three
year old car today was
designed probably seven or
eight years ago, before phones
in the consumer arena.
So, either the car manufac-
turer has to give up the idea of
selling this functionality, (which
represents an ever increasing
percentage of the car’s value)
or the systems that are
tion, and there should be a
capability to upgrade them in
future production releases and
as an after-sale upgrade.
There are good reasons for the
Design Cycle

igation, or music,ofthat was not

to eachconsidered in main-stream designed for a new car must be length of the design cycle. The
selected, or available, when the cars, and certainly before music specified more closely to the software and hardware in the
allocation resources
application, including memory
vehicleallocation,
was first purchased.
cpu time, and accessdownloads and MP3 files were time the car goes into produc- automotive infotainment head
to hardware.

REGISTER NOW FOR YOUR PERSONAL FREE SUBSCRIPTION! Traditionally, applications have been upgraded together with the release of a new head unit, which does not fit with the dynamic con-
sumer requirements
Title First name Surname Job title

Company name Address

unit has often been developed recorder or flash drive), cell applications in the system. This
Town County Postcode

over many years, and in some As well as the issue of design phone downloads, and even relies on an architecture that
System Security
Telelephone Fa x
cases before modern 32bit cycle of new features, the sec- the ability to add whole new has dedicated resource alloca-
processor features, such as ond major change is in soft- applications to the system. tions for each application, stack
Email

Signature
IMPORTANT: This form must be signed and dated to qualify for a free subscription
Your responsibilities:
Your company:
Vehicle manufacturer
OEM
R&D establishment
memory management units, ware security. It is straightfor- Each functional block may or device driver, so they can
Date
were available. Complexity of ward to design a closed elec- well have a different product operate independently.
design forced suppliers to tronic system, but as soon as a life cycle, so it is useful to archi- This type of software archi-
undergo extensive testing, to capability to connect into the tect a system with sufficient tecture has been used in the
Which of these products do you specify or influence the purchase of? (tick all that apply)
Microcontrollers/Microprocessors/DSPs Systems software ensure that the advanced sys- system is added, the funda- modularity to allow an upgrade aerospace industry for several
Development hardware Semiconductors tems have the same reliability mental architecture must be to one function, without years. Fundamentally, if the
Instrumentation Power supplies/sources as the rest of the vehicle, changed to provide security. impacting other functions run- operating system is proved to
Development software Displays/Imaging including a 10-20 year life For instance, adding Bluetooth ning on the same hardware. support this architectural

automotive
expectancy. It can cost up to to car infotainment systems approach, then high reliability
Other (please specify) Board level products Other (please specify)
around £600 to recall a vehicle has already resulted in the tested code can be run on the

electronics
for a software upgrade, so a reports of Bluetooth viruses. The goal is to have a hardware same hardware platform as
System architecture

PLEASE NOTE: We cannot guarantee to send you major recall due to software Customers are asking for USB and software architecture in less important applications,
further editions of the magazine unless you FULLY bugs in the infotainment sys- sockets in the dashboard (to which individual modules can which by nature have lower
complete and fax back this form to: 01462-673777, tem could quickly render the transfer in, or play MP3 music be designed, tested and used standards for testing.This archi-
or register online at our website address below. whole vehicle un-viable. from an external USB media without reference to other tecture is known as MILS
The RTOS can provide segregation
w w w.automotive-electronics.co.uk between applications, and manage
resources and communications.
Continued on page 26

automotive electronics • August/September 05 www.automotive-electronics.co.uk automotive electronics • August/September 05 Enquiry No: 13 www.automotive-electronics.co.uk
26 INFOTAINMENT INFOTAINMENT 27

Continued from page 25

RTOS kernel must never be
allowed to run out of memory,
as the whole system would
stop. Secondly, no application
can be permitted to take
memory from another applica-
tion running at the same time.
So the RTOS should have the
capability to allocate memory,
either statically at boot time,
or by allowing dynamic
sharing between authorised
applications.
The second part of resource
allocation is to make sure that
each application gets enough
processor time (CPU cycles)
to perform it’s task.This can be
achieved using a technique
known as partition scheduling.
Partition scheduling ensures
that each application, or parti-
tion, has the highest priority for
a percentage of the CPU
cycles. So, if a Bluetooth stack is
allocated 20 percent of CPU
time, then for 20% of the
cycles, this application has the
highest priority. If there is no
activity to run, then the cycles
can be given up to other lower
priority applications. An addi-
tional feature of partitioned
systems is the communication
between applications. The
RTOS should decide at start-
up which applications can com-
municate, and provide a mes-
saging service to facilitate this.
Of course, these features
must be provided in an auto-
motive-friendly environment.
Automotive systems are con-
nected to hard real-time buses
and hardware. So, the infotain-
ment module must be linked
to CAN and MOST buses.
With this privilege comes a
responsibility, to have a fast
boot time, so responses to
CAN interrupts can be made,
and to have a deterministic
interrupt response. This means
that the verification process
can count how many cycles it
will take, worst case, to enter
the interrupt service routine.
The hardware and software te-
Conclusion
chnology to support a shorter

Continued on page 29

Embedded Automotive
Embedded Automotive
FlexRay
Development
Embedded Tools
Automotive
Development Tools
Development Tools
Multiple

Development
- Alptex
Tools
Indepen-dent
FlexRay CCM
Levels of Security. overall design-
-- Alptex
ARM Ltd
Car Communication Module
The Real-time
MILS allows the process to create a
PC interface for FlexRay

-- ARM
Avocet
LtdSystems
The real-time operating system
Operating System
designer to upgrade or add modular system. From a
and CAN

modules without having to hardware perspective, the is a critical component of an -- Ceibo

Alptex
- Avocet Systems
- Embest
ARM Ltd
FlexRay Analyser
advanced software architec-
-- Ceibo
extensively re-test the Theoretically the system most important features are provides functions for
ture. It can provide memory on
unchanged applications. (This is sufficient system resources, and
- Huntsville
Avocet Systems
-- Embest Microsystems
could also permit customers to
reception, transmission and
even applied to adding applica- a processor that can provide a static or dynamic basis, allo-
download their own software, -- IAR
Ceibo
tracing of messages, and
cate an amount of processor
tions to the ECU which runs
whilst restricting access to
software segregation. This is
- Huntsville Microsystems
- Jobmatch
Embest
the display & interpretation

-- IAR
the flight control system of a usually achieved through a vir- time, provide or deny commu-
hardware, system resources or
of physical signals
nications between applications,
- KADAK
Huntsville Microsystems
-- Jobmatch
commercial airliner) tual memory mapped Memory
other applications. This could manage interrupts and a whole
- Keil
IAR
The impact on life cycle can Management Unit, so each
Multibus Analyser
-- KADAK
include Bluetooth profiles, host of additional features.
be huge, as the only testing software module is invisible to
option allows the
audio algorithms and media - Leap
Jobmatch
-- Keil
required for an upgrade is the other modules. With a TLB A fundamental requirement
simultaneous analysis of

-- Macraigor
KADAK
files. If application separation is is to keep the RTOS itself
both FlexRay and CAN
particular changed module, type memory management
not provided, then bad or mali- secure and reliable. This is - Leap
- Tern
Keil
systems synchronously
and tests to ensure that overall unit, each application believes it
-- Macraigor

www.gwmicros.com
cious code could cause issues achieved by excluding all
systems resources are suffi- has total access to the memo-
such as system failure, denial of device drivers, stacks, middle- - Leap
- Tern
Experts in Embedded Systems Call for further information or visit our website
cient. ry in the system, but what it

This technology enables soft-
service attacks, or theft of pro-
www.gwmicros.com
can see is entirely managed by
ware and applications from the
memory region required by
- Macraigor Experts in Embedded Systems

ware modules to be down- prietary content. the real-time operating system. - Tern

www.gwmicros.com
the kernel. In this way, a bug in
loaded to a vehicle after From a software perspective, a device driver cannot influ-
Experts in Embedded Systems

delivery, without the usual risk
that the new code causes
incompatibility, or renders the
system inoperative.
Application Resource
In order to use this segregated
Requirements
architecture, there must be a
positive decision early in the
the real-time operating system
must be architected in a partic-
ular way to provide system
resources to each application.
ence kernel code, or deny
01962 841 290 sales@nohau.co.uk
services to the RTOS.
www.nohau.co.uk/flexray
Memory allocation is a key
part of the solution. Firstly, the Enquiry No: 11
Enquiry No: 10

automotive electronics • August/September 05 www.automotive-electronics.co.uk automotive electronics • August/September 05 Enquiry No: 13 www.automotive-electronics.co.uk
 INFOTAINMENT 29

Electrical / Electronic Design Systems Professionals Continued from page 27

Mentor Graphics® is a global leader providing software for electronic design

automation (EDA). The Integrated Electrical Systems Division (IESD) creates
software for design and production of the Electrical Distribution System (EDS) used
in cars, planes, and trains. IESD software captures and allocates electrical
systems & devices into platforms, then automates interconnection in a way that
supports all option and variant configurations. Designs are analysed for functional
compliance & reliability and then merged with mechanical models to derive &
engineer the wiring harnesses. Data is centrally managed and documentation
synthesised for onward use. A number of key posts have opened within IESD.

Strategic Programs Director (SPD) - Ref SPD01

As a senior staff member the SPD contributes across all IESD activities including product &
business vision. The SPD must create, analyse & absorb the broad range of inputs that shape
IESD strategy and tactics. He/she has the charisma to influence all levels of staff within both
Mentor Graphics and our customers. The SPD should be comfortable creating collateral that
interprets & influences industry perceptions, and also be able to engage at a technical level.

Leading a small team of technical marketing staff tightly engaged with key customer
acquisition programs, the SPD must enthuse and enable a central sales resource to succeed
with our products. The team is responsible for lead generation & outbound marketing and will
influence closure of all key customer programs. The SPD should have 10+ years of senior
industry experience and be a domain expert in one or more related areas that may include:

• Deep engagement directly in or with Automotive, Aerospace or Rail industries.

• Systems design, integration or analysis; EDS design and/or harness

engineering/manufacture.

• Enterprise level data-management or and work flow expertise in related environments.

• Creation of complex software products ideally aimed at electrical or electronic domains.

Strategic Programs Manager (SPM)- Ref SPM01

Reporting to the SPD this role carries many of the same challenges. This is a senior post
where individuals may have responsibility for a region (e.g. Europe), a specialist market time to market, greater flexibil-
(e.g. Rail) or even a specific project of importance to us (either product or customer ity, and security is available
related). Again, such individuals must have the required technical capabilities and today. In fact, it has been in use
charisma to manage such programs in a detailed and professional manner on either for several years in avionics and
an ongoing or targeted basis through to full success. other safety critical applica-
tions. This capability should
Technical Marketing Engineers (TME) - Ref TME01 allow the automotive manufac-
turer to support and benefit
TMEs are product specialists attached to one or more of the IESD products lines.
more fully from the consumer’s
They bring deep expertise in specific domains such that they can engage with
customers to absorb, interpret and reflect their needs into the software products we willingness to purchase info-
produce. They are key members of the products lines and assist with all customer facing tainment technology. There
activities including program support, product collateral and training as required. should also be a strategic
advantage to the vehicle deal-
Applications will be considered for either German or UK locations. ers, as, for at least the first few
years, there is a regular oppor-
tunity to sell technology to the
owner while their vehicle is
being serviced. The car manu-
facturers do not manufacture
the automotive infotainment
equipment themselves, but
procure it from their tier 1 sup-
pliers. For companies with a
long history in automotive
infotainment, moving to a new
architecture will require unp-
icking the applications that
have been running together in
a flat memory space.This could
be a point of resistance to
change, as it is costly and
requires innovation. However,
for new entrants, this
provides an excellent opportu-
nity to offer a more dynamic
product with a faster time
to market. The other
barrier to entry is the applica-
tion code, and here the market
is also changing. There are
commercially available middle-
ware blocks such as navi-
gation, noise reduction and
speech solutions that make
the applications easier to
write. So, the field is
opening up to new players and
innovation, which can only
be in the interests of
consumers.
Traditionally, applications
have been upgraded together
with the release of a new
head unit, which does
not fit with the dynamic
consumer requirements.

To apply for one of the above positions please forward your CV

Jeremy Flann is Director of Automotive Business Development at Green Hills Software in Winchester

by email to: uk_recruitment@mentor.com. Please quote the

job ref number.

Mentor Graphics, The Pavilion, Newbury Business Park,

London Road, Berkshire, RG14 2PZ. automotive electronics • August/September 05 www.automotive-electronics.co.uk
www.mentor.com/harness

The UK's largest event
for system engineering &
embedded software development
The UK's product showcase:
Microprocessors
Microcontrollers
Reconfigurable Architectures
Real-Time OS
PRODUCTS 31
Hall-effect switches and latches feature chopper stabilisation
Allegro MicroSystems Europe is expanding its family of successful chopper-sta-
The broadest range of applications: bilised Hall-effect switches and latches with four new products: the A3241,
Wireless Networks A3242, A3230 and A3282.
Consumer Devices Each device includes, on a single silicon chip, a voltage regulator, Hall voltage
Data Processing
generator, small-signal amplifier, chopper stabilisation, Schmitt trigger, and a short-
circuit protected open-collector output.
Security

The chopper-stabilisation feature of the new devices provides accurate and

Software Development Automotive & Transport

stable switch points over temperature and minimises the effects of physical
Embedded Application Development Aerospace
System-on-Chip Design Defence
Software Modelling Image Processing stress. Allegro's patented dynamic offset cancellation reduces the residual offset
Digital Signal Processing Industrial Automation
voltage normally caused by device overmoulding, temperature dependencies,
and thermal stress.
Bus-Based Modules Control & Monitoring

The output of the A3241 and A3242 switches is 'on' in the presence of a suf-
High-Speed Interconnect Networking

ficiently strong south-pole magnetic field facing the marked side of the package.
Testing Tools Medical Equipment
Networking Protocols
It will remain 'on' until the presence of a weaker south-pole magnetic field, and
remain 'off' with zero and north-pole magnetic fields.
Conference Latest The output of the A3282 latch will be 'on' in the presence of a sufficiently strong south-pole magnetic field facing the marked side of
the package, and will remain 'on' until the presence of a sufficiently strong north-pole magnetic field.
The ESS 2005 Conference has expanded to provide a wide range of high-quality tracks The A3230 bipolar Hall-effect switch generally switches 'on' with a south pole of sufficient strength, and switches 'off' with a north pole
of sufficient strength.The output state, however, is not defined if the magnetic field is removed, so an opposing magnetic field of sufficient
covering both hardware and software engineering. We are joined by the editors of
strength is needed to ensure that the device switches. Advanced BiCMOS wafer fabrication processing is used to optimise the devices for
Electronics Weekly, the Object Management Group and the Professional Networks of the

low-voltage operation, component matching, very low input-offset errors, and small component geometries.
Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) as co-organisers and promoters of the Conference

These new switches and latches feature robust ESD capability, reverse battery protection and output short-circuit protection, and will
to ensure that ESS remains the UK's foremost event for the embedded systems community.

operate from an unregulated supply.Two package styles provide magnetically optimised configurations for most applications. Suffix 'LH' is
a miniature low-profile surface-mount package, while suffix 'UA' is a three-lead ultra-miniature single-inline package for through-hole
i. FPGA Developer Forum - advanced FPGA devices and tools for system-level
design, supercomputing and embedded processing applications, organised by
the IEE PN for Microelectronics & Embedded Systems. mounting. All four devices are rated for operation over the temperature range from -40°C to +150°C.
ii. Embedded MicroDeveloper Forum - the state-of-the-art and industry for
Allegro Microsystems w w w.allegromicro.com
microprocessors and microcontrollers in embedded systems, organised by
Enquiry No: 100
the editors of Electronics Weekly.
iii. Signal Integrity Engineering - real-world challenges for embedded system

Exhibition latest
iv. Software Development for Critical Systems - real-time embedded software
The exhibition is set to be up to 50% larger this year - new
exhibitors include Toshiba, LSI Logic, Altera, Actel, Lattice
Semiconductor, Synplicity, Bluegiga, M-Systems and Radisys.
In addition the DTI makes a welcome return with a big roll-out
hardware engineering, covering high-speed interconnects, physical board
design and FPGA implementation, organised by EDA Exhibitions.
Single Chip CAN Repeater
AMI Semiconductor has started sampling its ISO 11898-2 compatible AMIS-
42700 CAN transceiver IC. The new transceiver provides the interface
development techniques and technologies including Design Patterns for
between two physical CAN lines, allowing the device to act as a low-cost and
Safety-Critical Systems, Coding Standards Compliance and Software Quality,
low component count CAN repeater.

of its Nextwave Technologies initiative for Pervasive
Computing.
Full listing:
Accelerated Technology (Mentor Graphics), 2001 Electronics, Accelonix,
Actel, Adacore, Adaptsys, AGP Micro, Altera, Asidua, Blue Horizon,
Bluegiga, Broadband Technology 2000, CML Microcircuits, Cyan
Technology, Digi, dSPACE, DTI - Nextwave Technologies, ECE Magazine ,
Electronics Weekly, Elsevier/ Newnes, ENEA Embedded Technology,
Eointec Solutions, esmertec, Ezurio, Green Hills Software, Hero
Electronics, Hitex, IEE, IPL, Infoteam Software, Jade Communications,
Kennedy Carter, Lantronix, Lattice Semiconductor, LDRA, Lexcom, Logic
Technology, LSI Logic, McObject, Miles Industrial Electronics, MKS,
MSC, M-Systems, MTe, Multi-Tech Systems, Nallatech, National
Instruments, Nexcom, Polyspace Technologies, Programming Research,
Radisys, Sarsen Technology, Schroff, SDC Systems, SSV Embedded
www.embedded.co.uk
and Hard Real-Time Determinism with Java; organised by ESE magazine.
v. Distributed and Communicating Systems - systems and software The dual high-speed transceiver provides a single chip repeater solution for
interfacing between up to two physical bus lines and the protocol controller in
architectures for wireless and wired embedded connectivity, especially when
handling large volumes of data, will be described by industry experts; short high-speed controller areas networks (CANH). The AMIS-42700 can be used
for both 12V and 24V systems.
tutorials will inform on choosing the right wireless technology, designing
The AMIS-42700 addresses the needs of CANH busses, including control of
safety-critical networks, handling high data throughput with databases and
engine management units and body electronics such as power windows, air
the inner workings of the Zigbee protocol; organised by ESE magazine.
conditioning and vehicle lighting.
vi. System & Software Modelling - object-oriented programming techniques,
The devices comprise two differential line transceivers and a logic block that
rapid code generation techniques, migrating from structured methods legacy
incorporates a repeater function and feedback suppression. Protection is pro-
to model-based design, will all feature in this track organised by ESE
vided by a thermal shutdown circuit and electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection up to +/-8KV.
magazine and the Object Management Group.
Housed in a compact ‘green’ SOIC 300 20-pin package the AMIS-42700 operates with very low electromagnetic emission (EME) thanks
to very close matching of the output signals. This means a common-mode choke is not required. In addition, the wide common-mode
Please visit the website to register for the conference online:
voltage range of the receiver inputs allows the AMIS-42700 to offer very low electromagnetic susceptibility (EMS).
www.embedded.co.uk
The AMIS-42700 is ideal for providing a diagnostic access point to a CANH bus without the need for a separate microcontroller.This

results in direct access for diagnostic tools at speeds of up to 1Mbit/s. Using the repeater, the impedance of the CAN line remains con-
Systems, Synplicity, Toshiba Electronics, Wind River, Xilinx, Zircon
Software (Correct on 08/08/05)
stant regardless of whether interfaces are connected or disconnected.The AMIS-42700 can also be used to provide a cost-effective way
EDA Exhibitions Ltd

of extending the physical length of a CAN bus; this is especially useful in many industrial applications such as elevators.
63/66 Hatton Garden, LONDON EC1N 8SR, UK
You can find the up-to-date floorplan and full exhibitor listing at
Tel +44 (0)20 7681 1000 Fax +44 (0)20 7242 5124
www.edaexhibitions.com/ess/exhibition www.edaexhibitions.com
AMI Semiconductor w w w.amis.com
Enquiry No: 101
Sponsored by
automotive electronics • August/September 05 www.automotive-electronics.co.uk
Enquiry No: 12
32 PRODUCTS PRODUCTS 33

Micronas Expands 32Bit MCU Line 32bit CISC upgrade

for Dashboard and Car Body for automotive control
Renesas Technology Europe has launched a 32bit CISC microcontroller for
Micronas has expanded its CDC 32xxG family of controllers with advanced automotive control systems.The single-chip package H8SX/1544F enables
the CDC 3217G and CDC 3257G MCUs. Both chips feature the lower system cost to be achieved by reducing the number of external parts
Device Lock Module, which prevents unauthorized Flash access. required and offers 512Kbyte flash memory that is accessible in one cycle, increas-
Like all members of the family, the new chips integrate the 32bit ing program processing speed, and can be rewritten on- chip, reducing debugging
ARM7TDMI RISC processor core to meet the demand for more and system development time. The product also includes a controller compatible
powerful dashboard and car body electronics. with the CAN (Controller Area Network) in-vehicle LAN standard.
The CDC 3217G expands the high end of the family, with 1 MB The H8SX/1544F uses the H8SX 32-bit CISC CPU core providing 40MIPS of
of Flash and 32 KB of RAM on chip, plus four CAN Bus controllers. processing at a maximum operating frequency of 40MHz, which is sufficient for mul-
The CDC 3257G extends 32-bit power to lower-cost applications, tiple high- performance control systems such as meter panel, airbag and chassis control.
with 256 KB of Flash, 12 KB of RAM, and two CAN Bus con- The CPU core instruction set is upward-compatible with that of Renesas Technology’s current H8S Family 16bit microcontrollers,
trollers. Both chips include a wide range of other peripherals, enabling programs of systems developed for the H8S family to be used while improving ROM code efficiency by approximately 20%.This
including multifunction ports, a special function ROM and a sound not only allows H8S core product software resources to be used, but also enables programs to be made more compact thanks to the
generator. Additionally, there are two UARTs, two SPI, two I≤C and improved ROM code efficiency.
up to 102 pins of general purpose I/O. The H8SX/1544F also offers a number of on-chip peripheral functions, including an enhanced two-channel controller with filtering func-
The CAN Bus controllers in each MCU support all 32 message tion, compatible with the CAN in-vehicle LAN standard, a SCI (Serial Communication Interface), SSU (Synchronous Serial Communication
objects with 512 bytes of dedicated RAM each, and are compliant Unit) and 16-bit general-purpose timer. An external bus extension function allows high speed access to external devices, a DMAC (Direct
to the Bosch V2.0B specifications. Four CAN Bus controllers on- Memory Access Controller) enables high-speed data transfer and an integrated stepping motor timer and driver capable of driving up to
chip enable the dashboard controller to work as a gateway to six meters, such as a tachometer or speedometer, simultaneously, are also featured.
process data to and from the engine controller, the radio/multimedia unit and the ABS module. Both devices feature a dedicated module
to display information on an LCD panel up to 192 segments (48 x 4) without any additional hardware. The chips operate from a single
Renesas Technology Europe w w w.renesas.com

5V power supply and can work down to 3.5V, fulfilling the special requirements of automotive manufacturers.They are specified for a tem-
Enquiry No: 104

perature range between -40? and +105? C.

Micronas
Enquiry No: 102
w w w.micronas.com CAN Communication for In-Vehicle Data
Freescale ramps up its HCS12X Acquisition and Control
National Instruments has introduced the new Controller Area Network (CAN) interface module for its flexible, high-performance
CompactRIO platform. The NI 9853 module is a two-port, high-speed CAN interface that combines with NI reconfigurable I/O (RIO)

with real time interrupt engine technology to deliver the highest-performance in-vehicle measurement and control platform on the market. The NI 9853 module plugs
into any CompactRIO chassis to offer a wide variety of capabili-
ties for automotive and industrial applications, including monitor-
Freescale Semiconductor has released its HCS12X family of 16bit microcontrollers onto the general market with a coprocessor to han- ing in-vehicle CAN buses, reading and writing values to CAN
dle interrupt events without intervention by the CPU to give 32bit performance from a 16bit core. The HCS12X family offers an easy devices such as electronic control units (ECUs) and actuators
performance upgrade (up to 40MHz) for current HCS12 MCU customers and gives new customers a powerful and flexible platform to and communicating with industrial devices such as motion drives
develop complex control systems for industrial applications. and motors.
The XGATE co-processor runs from random access memory (RAM) at twice the clock speed of the CPU (80MHz) and relieves the With CompactRIO and the 9853 CAN module, engineers can
CPU from executing time-consuming interrupt handlers, allowing it to concentrate on application-related tasks. The performance and effi- use the LabVIEW graphical development environment to pro-
ciency of the HCS12X family is greatly increased by an enhanced CPU with 172 additional instructions for improved memory mapping, gram the field-programmable gate array (FPGA) chip within the
code efficiency and 32-bit calculations. The family also maintains a high degree of pin and code compatibility with the HCS12 family. CompactRIO platform to respond to incoming CAN data with
Freescale offers two development platforms for product designers: decisions at rates up to 40 MHz and synchronise the module
• DEMO9S12XDT512: a demonstration board for quick and easy application development using the MC9S12XDT512 MCU. with any CompactRIO I/O module offering hardware CAN and
• EVB9S12XDP512: a more powerful evaluation board that includes the needed tools to fully use the main peripherals of the data acquisition synchronisation with up to 25ns resolution. The
MC9S12XDP512 MCU. 9853 CAN module also delivers 11bit and 29bit arbitration ID
The HCS12X family is upwardly code compatible with the HCS12 family, allowing developers with previous systems based on the support for communication on J1939 networks.
HCS12 to reuse design tools for their new HCS12X applications.
Freescale w w w.freescale.com National Instruments w w w.ni.com/uk
Enquiry No: 103 Enquiry No: 105

automotive electronics • August/September 05 www.automotive-electronics.co.uk automotive electronics • August/September 05 www.automotive-electronics.co.uk

34 PRODUCTS

Vector fills out formats in Diagnostics

With version 4.0 of its CANdelaStudio tool, Stuttgart-based developer Vector has
expanded the range of diagnostic description data it can acquire in the automo-
tive development process.
Export and import interfaces to standardized and OEM-specific diagnostic
exchange formats have been significantly expanded in the new Version 4.0 prod-
uct and other changes include improvements to fault memory processing and doc-
ument compatibility. Several modifications were based on the results of customer
surveys that flow directly into tool development. For importing or exporting diagnostic description data, CANdelaStudio supports ODX
2.0, CDI, CSV and A2l. Export in OEM-specific formats such as MDX or SGM is also possible. Expansions in fault memory processing, e.g.
sorting by columns in DTC tables, are now available in the new version of the diagnostic tool. The Vector diagnostic tester CANdito,
CANape Graph and CANoe are upward-compatible to CANdelaStudio 4.0. This means that Vector diagnostic testers based on
CANdelaStudio 3.0 are able to read-in diagnostic description data generated with Version 4.0. Sindelfingen/Germany, October 13
Vector w w w.vector.de
Enquiry No: 106 Edinburgh /UK, November 01
Reading/UK, November 08
Scalable platform for GUI development
Lectronix has introduced AFrame, an application framework and development suite for automo-
tive OEMs and integrators to offer one platform solution that scales from entertainment and mul- Conference and Exhibition about:
timedia to vehicle information, management and communications.
Tilcon Software was chosen as Lectronix's graphics provider as its real-time embedded graphics
server (the Embedded Vector Engine - EVE), and its platform independent, codeless screens are not >> Microcontrollers & Microprocessors
bound into the core application, unlike traditional code based GUI solutions, which require engi-
neers to generate and bind project/brand specific code into their core application,
This means OEMs and integrators can employ Tilcon's point and click tools to build and re-brand >> Development Tools & Real-Time Operating Systems
their user interface without affecting application code.This enables OEMs and integrators to focus
on high value user interface engineering, rather than low value code generation, integration and
debugging.
Lectronix
Enquiry No: 107
w w w.lectronix.com Tilcon Software w w w.tilcon.com Major Topics:
Serial to Ethernet adapter with rail approval >> Microcontroller/Processor Architectures
With Ethernet becoming ever more prevalent within industrial communications there is a growing need to connect existing serial equip- >> Hardware and Software Development Tools
ment and devices to these new Ethernet networks. Westermo Data Communications, has released a low cost, high specification Ethernet
to serial adapter to perform this task.
The EDW-100 is a serial to Ethernet adapter providing connection to Ethernet networks for RS-232 or RS-422/485 devices. The unit >> Real-time Operating Systems
enables almost any serial devices to interface through a new or existing Ethernet network. It can also be used as an Ethernet terminal
server and comes supplied with a free to use com port emulation package for Windows PCs. >> Model-based Design
The unit is DIN-rail mountable and incorporates galvanic isolation and enhanced surge/transient protec-
tion on all ports.These features, along with the high EMC immunity, enable the device to be used in proj-
ects where a high degree of reliability is required. The unit has been approved for use within a range of >> Processor-based FPGAs
industries including railway signalling and telecommunications. The unit can support either RS-232, RS-485
or RS-422 based protocols running at up to 115.2 kbit/s.Two EDW-100 units can be used to create a sim-
ple point-to-point link or multiple units can be linked to form a simple one to many Ethernet network.The

InVents UK
EDW-100 has the unique ability to configure a point-to-point network using both UDP and TCP. Where More information:
TCP is used the unit can act as both client of server. Ethernet connection is via a standard RJ-45 port with
MDI/MDI-X. 0The EDW-100 can be easily configured via the onboard Web based configuration tool.
Network interface properties such as speed, duplex and auto-negotiation as well as serial port properties
such as data-rate, flow control and data bits can all be configured. The unit also offers redundant power
and a wide range of DC inputs. phone: +44 (0) 18 43- 60 93 64 • e-mail: info@invents-uk.com
Westermo Data communications w w w.westermo.co.uk
Enquiry No: 108

automotive electronics • August/September 05 www.automotive-electronics.co.uk www.Chips-and-Tools.co.uk Enquiry No: 13