Search Results

Trans Tech recently debuted the all-electric eTrans school bus providing a total zero emission school bus. The presentation will demonstrate Smith Electric Vehicles and their history with electric vehicles. The presentation will help ensure that everybody has an idea of what the electric school bus will do and to dispel any rumors about the vehicle. Presenter Brian S. Barrington, Trans Tech. Bus

Multicore processor are well established in classical and tablet personal computers for some year. Such processors use more then one central core for computation and allow to integrate more computational power with smaller costs. However more than 90% of all processors worldwide are not placed in classical IT but are empedded in bigger systems like in modern vehicles or airplanes. Such systems face a very high demand in terms of safety, security an reliability which hinders the use of multicores in such systems. The funded project ARAMiS faces these demands and has the goal to enable the usability of multicore systems in the domains automotive and avionics, as well as later also railway. ARAMiS is the basis for higher traffic safety, traffic efficiency and comfort.

Recently, vehicle networks have increased complexity due to the demand for autonomous driving or connected devices. This increasing complexity requires high bandwidth. As a result, vehicle manufacturers have begun using Ethernet-based communication for high-speed links. In order to deal with the heterogeneity of such networks where legacy automotive buses have to coexist with high-speed Ethernet links vehicle manufacturers introduced a vehicle gateway system. The system uses Ethernet as a backbone between domain controllers and CAN buses for communication between internal controllers. As a central point in the vehicle, the gateway is constantly exchanging vehicle data in a heterogeneous communication environment between the existing CAN and Ethernet networks. In an in-vehicle network context where the communications are strictly time-constrained, it is necessary to measure the delay for such routing task.

With the introduction of the ISO26262 automotive safety standard there is a burden of proof to show that the processing elements in embedded microcontroller hardware are capable of supporting a certain diagnostic coverage level, depending on the required Automotive Safety Integrity Level (ASIL). The current mechanisms used to provide actual metrics of the Built-in Self Tests (BIST) and Lock Step comparators use Register Transfer Level (RTL) simulations of the internal processing elements which force faults into individual nodes of the design and collect diagnostic coverage results. Although this mechanism is robust, it can only be performed by semiconductor suppliers and is costly. This paper describes a new solution whereby the microcontroller is synthesized into a large Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) with a test controller on the outside.

More than ever, microcontroller performance in cars has a direct impact on the driving experience, on compliance with improved safety, ever-stricter emissions regulations, and on fuel economy. The simple microcontrollers formerly used in automobiles are now being replaced by powerful number-crunchers with incredible levels of peripheral integration. As a result, performance can no longer be measured in MIPS (Millions of Instructions Per Second). A microcontroller's effectiveness is based on coherent partitioning between analog and digital, hardware and software, tools and methodology. To make an informed choice among the available devices, the designer needs benchmarks that are specific to automotive applications, and which provide a realistic representation of how the device will perform in the automotive environment.

More than ever, microcontroller performance in cars has a direct impact on the driving experience, on compliance with improved safety, ever-stricter emissions regulations, and on fuel economy. The simple microcontrollers formerly used in automobiles are now being replaced by powerful number-crunchers whose performance can no longer be measured in MIPS. Instead, their effectiveness is based on a coherent partitioning between analog and digital, hardware and software, tools and methodology. To make an informed choice among the available devices, what the designer needs are benchmarks that are specific to automotive applications, and which provide a realistic representation of how the device will perform in the automotive environment. This presentation will explore the role of new benchmarks in the development of complex automotive applications.

The increasingly stringent requirements in relation to emission reduction and onboard diagnostics are pushing the Chinese automotive industry toward more innovative solutions and a rapid increase in electronic control performance. To manage the system complexity the architecture will require being well structure on hardware and software level. The paper introduces GEMS-K1 (Gasoline Engine Management System - Kit 1). GEMS-K1 is a platform being compliant with Euro IV emission regulation for gasoline engines. The application software is developed using modeling language, the code is automatically generated from the model. The driver software has a well defined structure including microcontroller abstraction layer and ECU abstraction layer. The hardware is following design rules to be robust, 100% testable and easy to manufacture. The electronic components use the latest innovation in terms of architecture and technologies.

This paper proposes end-to-end protection mechanisms to be added to a generic FlexRay network in order to achieve fault detection and integrity levels sufficient for a SIL3 fail safe communication system. The mechanisms are derived from the random hardware failure modes to be considered for communication controllers according to IEC 61508. Mechanisms provided by the FlexRay protocol are pointed out. Additional features necessary to fulfil the requirements are discussed. It is shown how to calculate the failure rate probabilities of the CRC used as a safety code with respect to EN 50159.

The majority of modern automatic transmissions make use of multiple Variable Force Solenoid (VFS) valves within the hydraulic controls. The requirements for the control of these valves are much more stringent in the latest transmission designs. This leads to challenging requirements for the electronic solenoid driver circuit used to regulate the current flowing through the solenoid valve coil. We have developed a current control method that is fundamentally different than those commonly used in solenoid driver circuits. This unique current control method results in several improvements in the key performance characteristics of the solenoid driver circuit, which in turn improves the performance of the transmission system. In addition, this new control method requires less effort to implement into a specific application than state of the art current control methods.

Driven by factors like consumption, power output per liter, comfort and more stringent exhaust gas standards the powertain control area, has developed rapidly in the last decades. This trend has also brought with it many innovations in the ignition application. Today we can see a trend to Pencil-coil or Plug-top-coil ignition systems. The next step in system partitioning is to remove the power driver from the ECU and place it directly in/on the coil body. The advantages of the new partitioning - e.g. no high voltage wires, reduced power dissipation on the ECU - are paid with different, mainly tougher requirements for the electronic components. By using specialized technologies for the different functions - IGBT for switching the power, SPT for protection, supply and diagnostics - in chip-on-chip technology all required functions for a decentralized ignition system can be realized in a TO220/ TO263 package.

The ever increasing use of electronics in modern vehicles has not stopped at comfort systems such as power seats and power windows. Every conventional system that requires operating force will eventually be replaced by a self-powered version. One such item is the electromechanical parking brake of the new Audi A8, offering a host of new features. Despite the many options for new functions, it is nevertheless important to keep the driver in mind. Being engineers, one tends to overlook that not all customers share our excitement for gadgets and overly complicated technical features.

As the demand for enhanced comfort, safety and differentiation with new features continues to grow and as electronics and software enable most of these, the number of electronic units or components within automobiles will continue to increase. This will increase the overall system complexity, specifically with respect to the number of controller actuators such as e-motors. However, hard constraints on cost and on physical boundaries such as maximum power dissipation per unit and pin-count per unit/connector require new solutions to alternative system partitioning. Vehicle manufacturers, as well as system and semiconductor suppliers are striving for increased scalability and modularity to allow for most cost optimal high volume configurations while featuring platform reuse and feature differentiation. This paper presents new semiconductor based approaches with respect to technologies, technology mapping and assembly technologies.

In terms of modern technical systems, the automotive sector is characterized by escalating complexity and functionality requirements. The development of embedded control systems has to meet highest demands regarding process-, time- and cost-optimization. Hence, the efficiency of software development becomes a crucial competitive advantage. Systems design engineers need effective tools and methods to achieve exemplary speed and productivity within the development phase. To obtain such tools and methods, semiconductor manufacturers and tool manufacturers must work closely together. Within the joint efforts of ETAS and Infineon, the software tool suite ASCET-SD was enhanced to generate efficient C code for Infineon's TriCore architecture mapped on ETAS's real-time operating system ERCOSEK. The processor interface to application & calibration tools was realized using the ETK probe based on a JTAG/Nexus link at very high bandwidth.

The concept of “Simulatable Specifications” is applied to a Smart Bridge-Driver-IC in order to support an integrated development process of a Direct Injection System. It is demonstrated that the impact of the IC concept on system performance can be investigated long before first Silicon is available. Thus, considerable time in systems development can be saved and, in addition, the feedback loop for conceptual redesigns of the chip is reduced by up to 60 percent.

The reference pressures are determined in automotive wind tunnels by measurement of pressures and pressure differences at upstream positions along the wind tunnel nozzle. For closed wall wind tunnels usually the so called nozzle method is used, where the volume flux is calculated from a pressure difference measured at the nozzle contour and a calibration factor determined in the empty test section. For open jet wind tunnels a choice is available between nozzle and plenum method. For the plenum method the reference static pressure is taken from the plenum chamber and the dynamic pressure also refers to the plenum conditions. The static reference pressure in closed wall tunnels is calculated by subtracting the dynamic pressure from the total pressure in the settling chamber. In this paper, the definitions and the differences between the two methods are discussed in detail.

A cooperation of several research partners supported by the German Federal Ministry of Research and Education proposes a new active matrix LED light source. A multi pixel flip chip LED array is directly mounted to an active driver IC. A total of 1024 pixel can be individually addressed through a serial data bus. Several of these units are integrated in a prototype headlamp to enable advanced light distribution patterns in an evaluation vehicle.

Driven by the growing internet and remote connectivity of automobiles, combined with the emerging trend to automated driving, the importance of security for automotive systems is massively increasing. Although cyber security is a common part of daily routines in the traditional IT domain, necessary security mechanisms are not yet widely applied in the vehicles. At first glance, this may not appear to be a problem as there are lots of solutions from other domains, which potentially could be re-used. But substantial differences compared to an automotive environment have to be taken into account, drastically reducing the possibilities for simple reuse. Our contribution is to address automotive electronics engineers who are confronted with security requirements. Therefore, it will firstly provide some basic knowledge about IT security and subsequently present a selection of automotive specific security use cases.

The automotive industry experiences a major change as vehicles are gradually becoming a part of the Internet. Security concepts based on the closed-world assumption cannot be deployed anymore due to a constantly changing adversary model. Automotive Ethernet as future in-vehicle network and a new E/E Architecture have different security requirements than Ethernet known from traditional IT and legacy systems. In order to achieve a high level of security, a new multi-layer approach in the vehicle which responds to special automotive requirements has to be introduced. One essential layer of this holistic security concept is to restrict non-authorized access by the deployment of embedded firewalls. This paper addresses the introduction of automotive firewalls into the next-generation domain architecture with a focus on partitioning of its features in hardware and software.

The potential of determining the change of injury severity in the accident event taking passive as well as active measures into account at the vehicle (integral systems) are at present limited to pedestrian protective systems. Therefore, an extension of the existing methods for the application with common integral systems (front protection, side protection, etc.) is suggested. Nowadays the effectiveness of passive safety systems is determined in crash tests with very high accident severities. However, approximately 90% of real-world accidents have a lower accident severity as the required crash tests. Thus, this paper will present a method calculating the effectiveness of such an integral system based on real-world accident data. For these reasons, this paper is presenting a method for a more valid prediction of injury severity. The German In-Depth Database GIDAS allows clustering the accident event in relevant car-to-car scenarios.

ISO 26262 is the actual standard for Functional Safety of automotive E/E (Electric/Electronic) systems. One of the challenges in the application of the standard is the distribution of safety related activities among the participants in the supply chain. In this paper, the concept of a Safety Element out of Context (SEooC) development will be analyzed showing its current problematic aspects and difficulties in implementing such an approach in a concrete typical automotive development flow with different participants (e.g. from OEM, tier 1 to semiconductor supplier) in the supply chain. The discussed aspects focus on the functional safety requirements of generic hardware and software development across the supply chain where the final integration of the developed element is not known at design time and therefore an assumption based mechanism shall be used.