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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.

The transition of the vehicle from mechanical to mechatronics systems is encountering some technology tollbooths. The increasing number and level of vehicle electrical loads cannot be met with the existing automotive electrical system and will eventually require the vehicle's primary voltage to increase to 42V to minimize current, copper cost, wiring harness size and weight, and even di/dt. At the same time, the increasing power requirements for newer loads that range from 1 to 20kW limit the use of existing semiconductor techniques to control these loads. Automakers have already started to implement or plan for the changes in the vehicle's architecture. Automotive electronic suppliers have designed systems to provide power management. However, non-automotive systems that are in production may have features that could be emulated in the automotive environment. Adapting the behaviors of other industries could also provide benefits of reduced time to market as well.

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.

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.

New approaches to the design of automotive electronic systems can be used to achieve reliability and cost objectives for future vehicles. Present systems can benefit by applying fault tolerant design concepts. This paper is in two sections. The first section discusses the application of fault tolerant concepts to ECU design. The second portion covers the important role played by sensors in fault tolerant system designs.

Electronics has been providing custom features, increased reliability, extended component life and, in general, solving complex automotive problems since the first solid state radios and voltage regulators were introduced into the automotive environment in the early 60's. More recently, microprocessors, solid state sensors and power electronics have dramatically added to the number of automotive applications. Multipoint fuel injection, anti-skid brake systems and electronic transmissions are made possible only by the availability of highly reliable and cost effective electronic components. Significant advances are occurring in the area of power electronics which will further enhance future vehicles' safety, performance, economy and comfort. This paper will discuss a number of devices and their potential application to existing and future automotive systems.