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As features in vehicles and their associated loading on the vehicle's power supply increase, the existing 14V power supply system is being pushed to its limits. At some point it will be necessary to provide a complementary higher supply voltage for higher power loads to ensure reliable operation. Industry efforts have been underway to define the next step(s) toward a common architecture. These efforts are currently focused on a dual voltage 14V/42V system with specified voltage limits. A change in the vehicle's power supply voltage and over-voltage specifications have a direct impact on semiconductors. Cost, reliability, available process technology, and packaging are among the areas that are affected. Reducing or eliminating the load dump transient can provide cost reduction, especially for power switching devices. Smart semiconductor switches with integrated diagnostic and protection features provide the potential to replace fuses in the new architecture.

As the new generation of RISC powertrain MCUs propagate through the automotive development cycle, there will likely be more difficulty in debugging the ECU reliably and efficiently. Simply stated, there is less support for the development process in the new high-performance single-chip RISC MCUs, which could create critical and costly delays in the development cycle. Additionally, as powertrain MCUs continue to evolve, superscalar or multiple-issue RISC implementations may be used as the central processor. With the capability to issue multiple instructions in one clock cycle, this will only magnify the development support problem. Thus it is essential to address this impending problem with a strategy that both automotive and tools developers can agree. A strategy for development standards is presented in this paper, and a new powertrain MCU development interface standard is proposed.

The automotive pressure sensor is one of the most widespread applications of a micromachined device, and has evolved into a relatively mature technology, expanding beyond its original use as an engine control sensor into other vehicle control and diagnostic systems. The need for flexibility in various applications, low cost, high volume manufacturing capability, and survivability in harsh environments has strongly influenced sensor signal conditioning, calibration, element design, and packaging. Many of the issues affecting the development and commercialization of micromachined automotive pressure sensors are also relevant to other emerging microfabricated devices. This paper shows how the commercial success of a product using microfabricated technology is highly dependent upon other core competencies, beyond just the capability to perform the micromachining operations necessary to create the sensing device.

A monolithic sensing solution for manifold absolute pressure (MAP) is presented. This work includes examination of design, fabrication, temperature compensation, packaging and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) testing of the fully integrated monolithic sensor. The circuit uses integrated bipolar electronics and conventional IC processing. The amplification circuit consists of three op-amps, seven laser trimmable resistors, and other active and passive components. Also discussed is a summary of an automotive application MAP sensor general specification, test methods, assembly, packaging, reliability and media testing for a single chip solution.

As more automobile designs utilizing serial multiplex network protocols such as SAE J1850 and CAN go into production, automotive system designers must now seek ways to lower the cost of the multiplex communication devices used in order to allow the number of components communicating across the multiplex bus to expand. The first generation of J1850 multiplex devices were designed as the different versions of the protocol were being developed and as a result seem better suited for use as development tools rather than for use in cost-sensitive production applications. As the next generation of multiplex devices is being defined, a hard look needs to be taken at the actual system requirements for communication on a multiplex bus.