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The increasing complexity in automotive systems is resulting in the need for more extensive diagnostics and protection, especially at the output (high stress) portion of the system. These diagnostics are inputs to the vehicle control system which can provide an immediate indication to the driver of the need for servicing and store information for subsequent interrogation by service diagnostic equipment. This paper will present techniques for fault protection, diagnosing faults and obtaining bidirectional communication between various vehicle loads and microcontrollers (MCUs) in vehicle electronic systems through the use of power ICs (integrated circuits) with embedded sensors. The power handling capability of these devices combined with integrated circuit design allows considerable simplification of printed circuit board layout and reduction in electronic module size, while providing the possibility of sophisticated communications with the MCU.

Various sensing technologies are used today for collision avoidance, blind spot detection, and other vision enhancing systems in luxury vehicles. These sensing technologies include radar, lidar, infrared, and ultrasonic sensing as well as CCD and CMOS imaging and, in most cases, require intensive and sophisticated computing capability to implement. Turning these systems and those still in the development phase into standard or optional features on mid-range vehicles will require performance enhancements and considerable cost reduction. However, affordable vehicle systems that anticipate accidents and allow the driver and/or the vehicle itself to avoid them could provide one of the most remarkable vehicle safety advances. This paper will review automotive industry goals and objectives for vision-based systems and present the electronics industries’ current and projected capability to meet these demands.

Doubling or quadrupling the present 12V electrical system provides advantages and disadvantages to many components, and to systems that utilize these components. The effect that this increase has on vehicle electronics starts at the semiconductor component level. Several design implications including technology tradeoffs must be evaluated, and the cost impact on silicon area, processing complexity, and current process limitations considered. This paper focuses on the impact of increasing the system voltage to 24V or 48V with and without centralized load dump transient suppression. The semiconductor devices principally affected are transient suppression devices, power semiconductors, smart power ICs and linear drivers. In addition, the effect of a change in system voltage on MCUs, DSPs, memory devices, and other interface circuits will be discussed.

Now in its third edition, Understanding Smart Sensors is the most complete, up-to-date, and authoritative summary of the latest applications and developments impacting smart sensors in a single volume. This thoroughly expanded and revised edition of an Artech bestseller contains a wealth of new material, including critical coverage of sensor fusion and energy harvesting, the latest details on wireless technology, the role and challenges involved with sensor apps and cloud sensing, greater emphasis on applications throughout the book, and dozens of figures and examples of current technologies from over 50 companies. This edition provides you with knowledge regarding a broad spectrum of possibilities for technology advancements based on current industry, university and national laboratories R & D efforts in smart sensors. Updated material also identifies the need for trusted sensing, the efforts of many organizations that impact smart sensing, and more.